# Have they spawned?



## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

well i setup my spawn and i went to practice but when i got back the male had a huge bubble nest and is always tending it. the female was let out because i read that sometimes males dont build bubblenests and need the female to be out. well the female is hiding but ocasionally comes out and goes underneath the nest and flares and bites the male. the male sometimes chases her away but is always underneath the nest. i breed them in a tub so you cant really tell if there are eggs. she is still barred up though? do you think they have spawned or not?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Does she look like she's still full of eggs?


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

I don't think they have yet. This sounds like the beginning of spawning when the female comes out every so often to inspect the nest. Soon the male will try to woo her out if he's ready to spawn. He'd be a lot more defensive of the nest if it had eggs.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

oh okay thanks!! and yeah she still looks about the same size as when i last saw her


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

Now the male is just chasing her around and nibbiling hard on her tail.....


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Does she have places to hide? Chasing is normal but don't let him hurt her. If he's constantly chasing and not taking a break to work on his nest than that's an indication you need to separate them
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

there is a lot of spaces and yeah he is taking breaks now to keep building his nest. he often comes underneath the nest and starts swaying side to side but the male does nothing...


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

they embraced but no eggs came out. is this something wrong?


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

If it's their first time spawning they probably haven't gotten a hang of the embrace yet. It took my bettas nearly 4 hours of "practice" embraces before the female dropped any eggs. They may even take a break in between attempts! Soon they should work it out


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

they just embraced!!!!!!!and eggs fell out!!


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

Yey!!! How exciting  I hope for many more embraces and eggs so you have a nice buffer of eggs to work with


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

yeah!!! she drops like 3-7 eggs per embrace and they have been at it for almost an hour


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

and they are still going at it!!


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

Lol ya they could spawn over many many hours. Mine spawned for 4, but I've heard as high as 8 hrs!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

dang well mine just finished spawing and i removed the female i hope the dad takes good care of them!


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## shadowsbiker (Mar 1, 2011)

I hope you have a good daddy fish and he does a great job with the eggs.


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

I hope you have some babies soon  what you starting them on food-wise? I always like to hear how other breeders go about their business!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

some bbs and i have some live plants in the breeding tank so i think there will also be some natural food in there


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

Yey infusoria  I don't usually have that ready to go, but for my next spawn I think I'm going to plant the tank so I do!

Remember to get pics if you can


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

Congrats on the eggs!
I think infusoria is the best and easiest way to insure your new babies aren't going to starve.


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## vaygirl (Sep 10, 2009)

Just wanted to say good luck.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

Thanks! I have a soccer game tomorrow but hopefully when i come back the fry have hatched. And how long should i leave the male with them? I have heard alot of so i was wondering.


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

Most will leave the male until the fry are free swimming. Or at least some of them are. This way you can avoid him eating fry to reduce the number to a manageable size when they're all over the place!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

Okay!! this is my first spawn haha i am so excited!!


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

It is a very exciting time!! Keep us posted and I hope your guy is a good daddy!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

when the male is taking care of the fry do you feed him?


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## monroe0704 (Nov 17, 2010)

Chances are that he won't eat so don't bother dirtying up the water w unearth food. A healthy betta can go a week without eating no problem.

Lol edit: Uneaten not unearth. I'm at work on my iPhone oops!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

oh okay thanks alot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## vilmarisv (Apr 17, 2010)

I usually feed my male once a day while in the spawning tank. 
I just wiggle bloodworms close to the nest and wait until he comes get them. I'm careful of not overfeeding and not leaving anything left over in the tank.
I do not feed pellets because, IMO, they will look too much like eggs to the male and he might end up eating the egg or fry. 
It's so excting, isn't it? I love watching fry!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

It is!!!!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

the dad is tending the nest all the time!! i hope he isnt eating it and i started my bbs hatchery like 3 hours ago


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

You won't need bbs that soon. It takes up to 48 hours for them to hatch and then another one to two days for them to be free swimming. Personally I like to wait 3 days from free swimming to begin feeding anything other than what microorganisms were already in the tank.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

okay! and how long do the bbs stay alive for?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

It usually takes them 12-24 hours to hatch and then if you keep them bubbling you can usually keep them alive for another 12 hours give or take.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

oh okay well then i will just feed most of that batch to my other bettas and guppies =), so when should i start the batch for the fry? like 3-4 days right?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm not entirely sure because I don't like to feed BBS until the fry are two weeks old. Personally I feel BBS are too big for fry but others feel differently. The day they're free swimming I would start your hatch and then feed the following day. Remember though that your going to have to start doing water changes immediately because the BBS at the bottom will go bad quite fast.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

yeah i plan on transferring them to a 20G growout tank after a week.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

What size tank are they in now? It might be better to wait longer to move them. You don't want to stress such young fry out plus the smaller your tank the easier it'll be for them to find food.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

there in like a 5G tub. the water is only up to 5inches.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Well here's what I do after the fry are free swimming..

I add about 1/2 to 1 gallon of water a day (make sure you age it and heat it prior to adding it). Add it VERY slowly and try make too much of a current because the fry will get knocked around.

After several days your tank will be full. Begin siphoning off the water every day, it's up to you whether or not you suck stuff off the bottom. Some breeders say make sure you suck all the detritus off the bottom very early and some say wait until the fry are bigger to begin siphoning stuff off the bottom. The difference is if you wait the fry will be bigger and easier to see and therefore not suck up.

I would leave the fry in the 5 gallon for at least the first 2 weeks, even 3 or 4 depending on the size of the spawn. My last spawns have been very small so I kept them in the spawning tub for an entire month.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

oh okay!! thanks you have been a big help!!!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

for 1 liter of water how much salt should i add for my bbs?


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

attention they are hatching right now


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## anbu (Nov 7, 2010)

@miggy10 I think we had a spawn on the same day!


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

thats awesome maybe we could trade a pair of our spawn!!!???


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## pdxBetta (Mar 15, 2011)

Miggy10 said:


> for 1 liter of water how much salt should i add for my bbs?


It's not terribly critical, I've been using 1 tbsp per half liter (the package suggests 2 tbsp per quart), but I think that 1 tbsp per liter is sufficient. I've even heard of people hatching them in fresh water, but they don't live long if you do that. Mine live for about a day.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Yeah I think I use about a tbsp as well. To be honest I really don't pay attention... I just put some salt, a dash of baking soda, a pinch of eggs, water and turn on the bubbler.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

is the baking soda neccasary? and some of the fry now can fall down and go up to the bubble nest!!!!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I don't think it is.. it acts as a buffer so it can help you have a higher hatch rate.. but without it you'll still get a hatch.. just not as big.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

oh okay and what do you consider free swimming?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Free swimming is when they completely leave the nest to go out in search of food. You'll know when they're free swimming because you'll check the nest and it will be completely empty. Keep an eye on your male around this time because some fathers will tend eggs but eat fry that are free swimming so it's a good idea to remove the male as soon as you see the fry begin to swim horizontally.

If your fry hatched today they'll probably be free swimming on Wednesday.


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## anbu (Nov 7, 2010)

Miggy10 said:


> thats awesome maybe we could trade a pair of our spawn!!!???


Im doing regular VT breeding. Nothing special. What kind of betta are you breeding with? You should upload a picture of the pair .


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

its a opaque double tail with a extended red female also vt


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

An extended red female?? lol


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

some of the fry have fallen down and the dad hasnt noticed them yet. if he doesnt pick them up will they die??


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

No.. they'll either swim back to the nest or will lie there until they can swim horizontally.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

oh alright thanks


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

and after i remove the male would it be alright to turn on my sponge filter. its a little strong so i turned it off so it wouldnt mess up the bubblenest. but is it alright if the fry are for me to go ahead and turn it on?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I would wait until the fry are older. Young fry have a very hard time swimming against a current.


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

okay. so i will be adding 1G of aged water everyday after they are free swimming until it is full then be taking away 1G of water. i might fill it up and drain it twice before i move them to the growout tank. does this sound fine for them?


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## Miggy10 (Dec 23, 2010)

^^^^do you guys think this is good?


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