# My first spawn! [White HMPK Pair]



## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

My first successful spawn with eggs in the nest! I'm really excited and am hoping for input and suggestions along the way!

Here's the pair. Mom and Dad are both helping with the nest, I'm really proud of them!
















Wrapping!














Spawned on 1/24/2014, between 12:00-14:00.


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## KafkaDream (Dec 30, 2013)

Ooh this is exciting! I can't wait to see how all the fry turn out. I wonder if you will get any strange coloring.  keep me updated!


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## snowflake311 (Jun 19, 2013)

Awesome looks like you will have babies for sure. Congrats.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

My first time rearing fry, I hope I don't do anything wrong that'll harm them!

I have Vinegar Eels, banana worms and walter worms ready. Should I rinse them with water before feeding? (When the fry are free-swimming). Will also start BBS hatchery later tonight!

When is a good time to add more water? I'm scared to pop the nest. Should I just drop a little prime in there for now?


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## valen1014 (Jan 20, 2013)

Aryia said:


> My first time rearing fry, I hope I don't do anything wrong that'll harm them!
> 
> I have Vinegar Eels, banana worms and walter worms ready. Should I rinse them with water before feeding? (When the fry are free-swimming). Will also start BBS hatchery later tonight!
> 
> When is a good time to add more water? I'm scared to pop the nest. Should I just drop a little prime in there for now?


Congrats!! Beautiful pair =D

I'm sure other people will have better feedback but for the banana and walter worms, I just use cotton swabs and I make sure that I grab from the wall so that the culture media doesn't get into the fish tank. I don't put the swab directly into the tank, I just put it in a small container with fish tank water and then use a plastic pipette to transfer them into the tank. I do wash the BBS though, but I would think that the worms will go through most materials.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

I bought some micron-sized filter that can be used on rotifers. I'll try that on the worms! Hopefully the water goes through fast enough.


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## valen1014 (Jan 20, 2013)

Aryia said:


> I bought some micron-sized filter that can be used on rotifers. I'll try that on the worms! Hopefully the water goes through fast enough.


Oh that's a good idea, I might try that next time! Let us know if it works :-D


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## MinjaBetta (Jan 25, 2014)

Nice... congrats.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Eggs! That slightly yellowish mass under the cup ^^ Ok I should really stop staring.


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## greatfiasco (Sep 27, 2012)

Pretty pair. Interested to see how their babies look. Subbed!


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

I see some tails! Daddy moved the nest outside of the cup. The inside looked a little dirty I guess o.o


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

I think they're free-swimming! Is it time to remove daddy? He's been moving them all under the Styrofoam cup. They're two days old~


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Removed the male just now, most of the fry were all over the tank and he didn't seem to carry them back to the nest anymore. Removed the Styrofoam cup as well, parts of it looked like it had algae or something starting to grow on it.

I saw a couple fry freeswimming. Most are stuck on the glass, laying on the bottom of the tank, or lying very still on the water surface. Is that normal? There's also a couple lying near/under the filter.

Is it too early to put a spongefilter in? The filter I have in right now barely gets any air at all.


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## alunjai (Jul 29, 2012)

Congrats on your spawn! Is it a big spawn? 

Yes, everything sounds normal so far. You will get some fry that just lie around motionless and dart around now and then. 

I wouldn't add any water or turn on the sponge filter just yet. With my latest spawn I didn't add water until the 2nd week when I started to suck up some of the gunk at the bottom and I only turned my sponge filter on after 6 weeks when they got a bit stronger at swimming.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

I'm horrible at guesstimating how many there are. About half of them were under the cup when I took that picture, so I would guess there's at least 50-100 of them right now? Right now they are spread all over the tank, I saw some of them swimming pretty good. I've started feeding them VE since last night

I'm a little concerned about this surface film. Is it anything I should be worried about? The water here tends to do that, will it affect the little ones from getting air? The surface film would get broken if I added an airstone or spongefilter. *Sorry you have to squint really closely at it, my camera sucks* If you squint close enough you might even see a free-swimmer's eyes in the middle xD


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## alunjai (Jul 29, 2012)

When I first estimated my spawn I roughly guessed around 70-100 but when they reached 6 weeks I moved them to a larger tank and counted 180 fry!! lol

I think that film on the surface looks like dust and I don't think it will effect them getting air? Try putting cling film (veg wrap) over the top to prevent any more dust getting in. I did have a similiar problem but after putting cling film on top of the tank it reduced it.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

I have plexiglass over the top right now. I added a gentle spongefilter and it seems like the film is breaking up.

I noticed some fuzzy stuff on the indian almond leaf so I removed it and inserted a new one, hopefully it wasn't too late! I noticed a lot of fry hiding underneath it ~

When is a good time to switch to BBS? I can't tell if they're eating the VE, but their bellies look round.


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## alunjai (Jul 29, 2012)

I've never used VE before so not sure about that. 

I only started feeding BBS 4-5 days after free swimming as some people say BBS are too big for newly hatched fry. So for the first few days I fed them an egg/water mixture ( but this will pollute your water if left in for too long). 

If the bellies look round they should be eating the VEs.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

ok, maybe i'll try some walter worms tonight too, just to have a nice mix up.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Noticed a couple dead fry (10-15) in the tank, I tried to remove them.

I'm not sure what the cause for this is, but I do think I see some fuzzy things on some fry, but they're so small I can't be sure. Is Jungle Fungus Clear safe to use in the tank?

Also, how big are the fry supposed to be by now? They should be about a week old now.


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## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

Gorgeous pair! What are your plans for the fry? I might be interested in buying a female if you plan on selling. My tank will be up and running by then. Congrats!


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Depends on how many fry I have left. I want to keep 1-2 pairs to myself and the rest I will be selling first on first to people on this forum and friends, and then aquabid, and lastly some good local fish shops that I have talked to (not retailers like Petco and Petsmart). 

Considering this is my first spawn my stupidity might cost some of these fry : ( But I will be trying to spawn the same pair again a little later!


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## MinjaBetta (Jan 25, 2014)

Aryia, put me on that list. . I'm gonna keep my eye on this thread. Good luck with them.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Thank you! ^^ I'll keep you all updated. 

I had to treat the tank with Jungle Fungus Clear, a lot of fry were dying off and I couldn't seem to find a reason. It looks like the remaining ones are doing a lot better now though!


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

I wish I could be on the list but I am in no position to get more. gorgous pair though


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Very nice pair. Your spawn tank is set up exactly like mine. Good luck.


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## smilingdoberman (Jan 27, 2014)

Aryia said:


> Thank you! ^^ I'll keep you all updated.
> 
> I had to treat the tank with Jungle Fungus Clear, a lot of fry were dying off and I couldn't seem to find a reason. It looks like the remaining ones are doing a lot better now though!


How are they doing now? Beautiful Pair, ccant wait to see them! How old are they now?


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

They should be 2 weeks today!

I think the disease outbreak stunted them a little, but after treating for a couple days I noticed a really big growth spurt which is giving me hope that I didn't mess everything up!

Managed to snap a picture of the biggest fry and the smallest together! Funny thing was.. I saw the little guy bully the larger one! So I don't think big guy is going to think of messing with the smaller one for a while at least ^^


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## DBanana (Nov 20, 2013)

Beautiful babies!


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Started them on BBS a couple days ago, and I can see their bellies filling! Sadly it seems like whatever disease it was took a lot of the fry.. hopefully the ones I have left will make it! On the bright side, the ones left look healthy and strong.


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## Araielle (Jan 16, 2014)

I hope to see more pictures in the future.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Sorry for going AWOL for so long! Unfortunately the March spawn did not make it. Whatever disease was present when the pair was introduced went through every last fry and it was excruciating watching them disappear one by one. 

I moved to Oregon (my excuse for going AWOL!) and I spawned the same pair again after a full month. These two are VERY good parents. And here they are : ) My 4/11 Spawn:

















There is quite a bit of debris on the bottom of the tank, but I've been changing 2-3 gallons per day and they're being fed MW/BBS switched everyday.

Also was successful in breeding my Red HM Pair 5/5 I believe. The fry are just starting to become free-swimming! They're tiny specks right now, the free-swimmers are on the left side, the ones still nesting are under the cup!


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Picture Time!


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

They are all stunning. I love them


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

Thanks! These are the babies now at 2.5 months, they'll be moved to a 20G soon. I noticed a bit late that the 10G was cracked x.x so I had to do crazy water changes and keep the water level at half.










And I'm super confused because of this long-fin boy here.. I thought the parents were both plakats, I wonder what's going on?


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Is plakat recessive or dominant over long fins?

I know in humans, dark hair and dark eye color is dominant, which means blonde / blue eyes can hide for generations before randomly popping out in one of the kids. Wonder how many divorces were caused by that fun fact. ;-)


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## taylorrae (May 24, 2014)

Wow they are absolutely gorgeous! Do you plan to sell the fry?


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

hrutan said:


> Is plakat recessive or dominant over long fins?
> 
> I know in humans, dark hair and dark eye color is dominant, which means blonde / blue eyes can hide for generations before randomly popping out in one of the kids. Wonder how many divorces were caused by that fun fact. ;-)


I'm a great example of this, along with being so pale I can burn honking about the sun.


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## Aryia (Oct 10, 2013)

hrutan said:


> Is plakat recessive or dominant over long fins?
> 
> I know in humans, dark hair and dark eye color is dominant, which means blonde / blue eyes can hide for generations before randomly popping out in one of the kids. Wonder how many divorces were caused by that fun fact. ;-)


Longfin is dominant over shortfin, which is why I'm confused that there's only one semi-long fin fry out of 20-30.



taylorrae said:


> Wow they are absolutely gorgeous! Do you plan to sell the fry?


Thanks : ) And yes I plan to sell them once they hit normal size. I just need to figure out to tell their genders apart. It's a little hard with the possibility of short fin females mixed with long fin females (which visually are short finned) and then plakat males T.T


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## InStitches (May 26, 2014)

eee I want one  So pretty!


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