# What do you do with all the fry?



## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

I'm looking into breeding and want to practice before I try and breed for specific types and colors. There is no way I can keep every betta. What do you guys do with the extras you don't want or need Craigslist them? Sell or give them to friends family? Can petco take them? 

It also occurred to me that maybe some of you use them as feeder fish? Do people do that?


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Start with high quality stock with colors people want, and you won't have a problem getting rid of them. I'm pretty sure Myates sold the majority of her last spawn in 24 hours. 

Petco won't take them, but local fish stores very well might. You might even get a little cash, depending on the type and what they sell them for. 

I don't cull for numbers, color, or form... Deformed/sick fish I do though. The best method is clove oil.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

Hopefully I won't have too. But should I need to, just add some clove oil to the water or put the fish in 100% oil?


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Uh, neither..? You just add a couple drops to a jar with their tank water, shake it up, and drop them in. 

But seriously, it shouldn't be done unless you exhaust ALL other options.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

I meant for sick ones etc. I don't have the heart to do that. I just rescued a betta this weekend because my girlfriends roommate doesn't take care of it. He is big and in a tiny vase and his water looked like it hadn't been changed for weeks.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

That's why I posted asking what people do with them. Don't take me as cruel please. Thanks for info though.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Don't worry. No one is going to think you are cruel. Culling means different things to different people and depending on what your goals are and how your spawn goes, you may have to do a little or a lot.


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

I guess the question is why are you breeding if you don't know where the fry are going?

Most of us are breeding here to improve a certain line. We keep the best for breeding, show the second best, sell the third best and give away anything else.

Are you wanting create a line? There really isn't any reason to practice breeding. It either happens or it doesn't. Might as well start out right. It doesn't have to be a high dollar import pair but don't just buy a male and female from the pet store to practice with.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

I'm breeding because I want too. I know what kind I want to breed. And I do have homes for some of them. I'm asking because I want to know my options in case I end up with more than I can handle. Thanks for your post, but I found it more insulting than informative.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Breed whatever fish you want - its just a hobby. Cull if you want, don't if you don't. Culling is really a merciful act though, so don't get hung up on the fact that you are killing them. What you are really doing is saving them from suffering a drawn out death (for sick/deformed/etc fish). Some people prefer to let them die naturally. Those people will sleep better not having had to do the dirty work. Others sleep better knowing that they aren't forcing the fish to suffer for the majority of its existence. Only you know what kind of person you are.

There are 4 options for dealing with fry. Selling them, giving them away, keeping them or culling them. If you can't sell, give away or keep them, then you are left with destroying them.


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

Being that I am working on my first spawn right now, this has crossed my mind a lot...to cull or not to cull. And I've come to the conclusion that I agree with MattsBettas cull practices 100%. I will not be culling for numbers, color, or form. Only deformities/illness. If I have 500 fry from one spawn...ill just have to figure something out lol.


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## Ilikebutterflies (May 19, 2012)

My posts are never meant to be insulting and I do apologize that it came across that way. It was an actual question and not an insult."Practicing" is sorta frowned upon in the betta breeding circle. It's hard to answer _"What to do with all the fry" _when I'm not sure what fry we were talking about in regards to "practicing". If I don't know what type of fry you are talking about I can't really give you the best ways to re-home them-and I am realllly good at rehoming fry. 

Honestly, and just as an example, if you decide to "practice" with a male and female from Wal-Mart whose tail types and colors aren't compatible you are going to end up with a mess of a spawn and will be hard pressed to even give them away if more than just a few survive. Then you would have to decide if you were going to keep them forever or give them away as feeder fish because aqua-bid, FB Betta groups and CL would likely be a bust. Only so many friends are going to take fish-especially ugly ones.


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## shannonpwns (Jul 15, 2013)

I agree with that, that you should at least start out with a quality pair so they can be rehomed easier. I, like the OP, was going to jump into it with a "practice pair", but after much advice from people on this forum, I ultimately decided against it and started a plan as to what I wanted to work towards by breeding as a hobby. For me, I fell in love with koi/marble bettas, and got LUCKY that someone on here was selling a GORGEOUS imported female at an extremely reasonable price. I finally found the male I was looking for on eBay, he was a little overpriced, so I contacted the seller and offered a lower price, which he accepted. So now I have exactly what I want, and am attempting to spawn them right now. If I went with the fish I originally planned to breed, despite already having a deal with my LFS to buy my male fry off me, I know I would be stuck with almost all of them. 

I'm a very impatient person, so it was HARD for me to control my urges to rush into breeding (LOL), but now that the time has come, I know I made the right choice for myself, and for my fish and future fry.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

I have a double tail male, and a crown tail female. I wanted to go for the doubletail crown tail line. Their colors aren't the same but I don't see that being an issue if I remember my biology right.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

Ilikebutterflies said:


> My posts are never meant to be insulting and I do apologize that it came across that way. It was an actual question and not an insult."Practicing" is sorta frowned upon in the betta breeding circle. It's hard to answer _"What to do with all the fry" _when I'm not sure what fry we were talking about in regards to "practicing". If I don't know what type of fry you are talking about I can't really give you the best ways to re-home them-and I am realllly good at rehoming fry.
> 
> Honestly, and just as an example, if you decide to "practice" with a male and female from Wal-Mart whose tail types and colors aren't compatible you are going to end up with a mess of a spawn and will be hard pressed to even give them away if more than just a few survive. Then you would have to decide if you were going to keep them forever or give them away as feeder fish because aqua-bid, FB Betta groups and CL would likely be a bust. Only so many friends are going to take fish-especially ugly ones.


Maybe I was being over defensive, I just felt attacked after making this thread when really I made it with the best intentions of the fish in mind.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Some posters do tend to come on pretty strong when it comes to breeding bettas. Culling is always a controversial subject, with no right or wrong answer. Somehow threads about what to do with fry always turn out to be arguments about what and when to cull. 

However, I think that perhaps the word 'practice' was not the right one to use. You mustn't forget that these are living things you are bringing into the world, and they would not exist were it not for you. I feel hobbyists who only have one or two spawns a year have a greater responsibility to ensure that the fish they produce find themselves a home better than those fish on the shelf at Walmart.

You should never attempt to breed without a goal in mind, and a market for any fry you produce. It's only fair to your fish, and I personally wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I'd had no option but to dump all my fry off at pet store because no one wanted them.

I suggest having a look on AB and seeing what fish (both tail type and colour) are selling well. You are not a bad person if you don't breed show quality fish (show people make up a very small percentage of betta owners), but you should also not just throw two pet store VTs together because they were what you had on hand at the time.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Remember at culling means more then destroying. Whenever you don't keep a fish to breed it (and sell, give away, or destroy) you are thus removing it out of your gene pool and culling it. Lots of hobbyists just like to use culling almost exclusively to mean killing because it sounds better then "I killed 20 today". 

I've said it before, but I'll say it again... I see no problem whatsoever in euthanizing/killing/culling/whatever you wanna call it deformed, sick (I'm talking about incurable, fatal, or painful things, not something like fin rot.), or otherwise suffering fish... In fact, I would consider it cruel to prolong the suffering of a fish. However, I do have an issue with killing healthy fish because of numbers, colour, or form. If you were breeding dogs, would you put one down because it doesn't conform to standards? Didn't think so.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Well I squashed a sick juvenile with my shoe the other day (unfortunately was suffering and needed a quick death) so I am definitely not afraid to use the word 'kill'.

Also, culling has always been strongly associated with the breeding of animals. Even Wikipedia has this on the page about culling:



> For livestock and wildlife alike, culling usually implies the killing of the removed animals.


Most dog breeds today were created by culling. Honestly as long as the death is humane I really don't care whether someone culls a whole litter of puppies or not. They are dogs, they really have no concept of a forthcoming death, and having been there when my own dogs were euthanised it is generally an incredibly peaceful experience. 

I find it hypocritical for people to be so against culling, and yet they purchase fish from overseas breeders, some of who I am sure would be quite heavy-handed with their culling practices. Seems very out of sight, out of mind. 

But like I said, why does every thread about breeding seem to devolve into an argument about culling?


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

+1 lbf


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Well I squashed a sick juvenile with my shoe the other day (unfortunately was suffering and needed a quick death) so I am definitely not afraid to use the word 'kill'.
> 
> Also, culling has always been strongly associated with the breeding of animals. Even Wikipedia has this on the page about culling:
> 
> ...


Great post!


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Because it's probably the single largest controversy in breeding, there are valid points for and against it, and there are passionate people on both sides of the issue. 

How healthy animals being killed is considered humane is possible still saddens me. Humans feel the need to shape animals to our desire/whatever standard some organization came up with standards for no reason other than looks... Not that there is any real problem with that (until you get into the inbreeding and the messed up things that happen), but is it really right to do that be killing those that don't conform? 

First off, I've never actually bought fish from aquabid, so I don't have the greatest idea of what goes on there not have I supported Thai breeders. Second, I'm pretty sure that one of two things will happen to a fish that isn't bought... It will be sold to someone else, or killed. No matter if you buy it or not, the breeder either gets the money or the fish gets killed. 

Too many have a " greater than thou" attitude towards animals...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Well honestly if you are so against culling as a way of shaping a species, you probably only should keep something like a wild-caught betta. That way the only culling that has gone on is 100% natural. 

This is one of those topics where one has to agree to disagree. I am never going to change the minds of those against culling, while they are not going to change my mind to the contrary.


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Kinda don't get your logic on the first one (the majority of my fish are from either me or a no cull breeder), but you're definitely right that not everyone will agree. Ever.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I meant in that if you went back enough there would most likely be culling/killing going on that wasn't necessarily for removal of sick or deformed fish. 

While my posts may suggest otherwise, I personally hate having to cull my fish, and was literally in tears when I had to kill my 100 odd sick juveniles and sub-adults. I think most people don't just needlessly cull, as it takes a lot of time and effort to first get a successful spawn, and then rear any subsequent fry. Plus I have to do it really early on because otherwise they start to recognise me and respond to me and it makes me feel like a murderer.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

A large portion of the world believes that humans have dominion over the animals. It may or may not be a belief that you share, but in either case using animals to suit our needs has been instrumental in our advancement as a society. Of course one could make the argument that we were better off as nomads, but that ship has long since sailed and it would be an apples to oranges comparison.


Things get heated when people get emotional - doesn't matter what the topic is.


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## snowflake311 (Jun 19, 2013)

I have around 180-200 fry they are 11 days old. I will be feeding deformed small ones to my 8" Severum. Feed little fish to big fish that's the natrual way. 

I am going to sell my good fry to people on forums they will get first pick. Then aquabid and eBay. The left overs I will try and make a few bucks selling them in bulk to mom and pop shops. I will also put up a Craigslist add. I have ever been working on a website since I am a webdesigner. People can buy fish off the site with pay pal. 

Learn how to ship fish that will be your best bet for finding fish homes. If you want to make money selling fish you will need to ship.


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

I feel like I started World War 3 here.... Anyhow just to make it very clear once again. I am NOT killing "culling" whatever you want to call it due to numbers. I simply wanted some info to see if you guys had ideas or a way different than what i had already thought of myself for finding homes etc. This was not supposed to be an argument or debate about killing fish :|


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## tilli94 (Nov 30, 2012)

Sorry your post got hijacked skuldance.  if I'm not mistaken a crowntails mixed with a double tail should produce some fullsuns (which I absolutely love!) do you have some pics of your fish that we could see? :-D


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## Skuldane (Aug 22, 2013)

Yes i do! I just made this a few minutes ago! Please give me info!

Thread with pics and info 

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=269169


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## bambijarvis (Jul 15, 2012)

I rehome to friends/family first.
after that I try to look on webistes like this one or ultimatebettas for other betta lovers willing to adopt.

From there my local privately owned petstore will take any healthy fish I couldn't rehome.


If you aren't breeding a quality pair i wouldn't try to 'sell' them, maybe a small fee if you rehoming a few to one person(Like $5-$10+ shipping for a sibling sorority).


Even if you decide to practice with petstore bettas(most of us started like that) try to get a good pair. avoid spoonheads, look out for warped scales and the like. If breeding blues try to avoid any with red.

marbles and butterflies seem to be easier to rehome
I'd get a marble or butterfly HM or DT male and a marble or clean female(something other than VT if available where you are unless you want to work with vts, if the male is blue get a blue female, if the male is red get a cambodian or red or orange girl).


((If I ever mention 'culling' I use it as 'removing from a breeding population' so I rehome to non-breeding home only with my 'culls'))


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

The best thing you can do as a breeder who culls as a last resort is to partner up with a local fish store to sell your less than perfect fry. give to the store cheap so they can make some money and pass the savings on to the customer. Also running an ad online via craigslist or kijiji is a good idea. I will not enter the culling debate only say that it is very difficult for me to cull for anything other than deformities which has been very rare here thankfully.


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