# Are my fry eating?



## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

Hello,

This is my first time breeding bettas and first post here so hello! I've done my homework and have everything ready and have 5 day old fry. My question was how do i know if the fry are eating? I spread the microworms all over the tank but I'll see a few dart through the cloud of worms but I never see them eating from the bottom. What does it look like when they're eating?

Thanks,
Justin


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Welcome to the forum.....

The way I tell if my fry are eating is by their stomach....it should look round and full...with live MW I would suspect that the stomach would also be a brown color....I don't use MW so I honestly can't say what color the full tummy should be....with infusoria it is black dots and BBS it is orange/pink tummies....generally the tummy takes on the color of the food too along with looking full/round.....

Be sure a siphon off any uneaten MW within 30 min or so after feeding so they don't pollute the water killing the fry or cause bad bacteria that can sometimes cause missing ventral fins.....

Love to see some pics and hear more about your breeders and fry......


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

Ok, they're still pretty small and I'm unable to capture a good picture, but if I look closely enough their stomachs do look like a pastey white.
Dad is a Super Delta Twin Fin.
I'm not sure what mom is.

Again sorry for the terribly quality photos I'll work on getting better ones!


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

MW are white so the fry will have white bellies if they're eating. I'll repeat what OFL said about siphoning the bottom. Excess food at the bottom of the tank can foul the water quickly and lead to velvet and possibly missing ventrals.


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

1fish2fish said:


> MW are white so the fry will have white bellies if they're eating. I'll repeat what OFL said about siphoning the bottom. Excess food at the bottom of the tank can foul the water quickly and lead to velvet and possibly missing ventrals.


Ok, they all have white bellies just a big relief... I added some snails recently to help the clean up but I do siphon when theres excess food.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Moms bowl looks pretty dirty...


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

bettafish15 said:


> Moms bowl looks pretty dirty...


She got cleaned and moved to a half gallon tank.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Oh okay. Is the half gallon her permanent home? It's on the small side, and you'd need to do 100% water changes every day on it ^^


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

No, I'm letting her re cooperate for abit then shes going back in the community tank. If my fry are eating the microworms their stomachs should be white?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Yep white or off white. Either way you should be able to tell they've eaten something. Let me see if I have a picture that can show you what it should look like.

Here's a picture of a fry that's only a few days old. You can see the brownish white tummy (these guys were eating vinegar eels).









This one's a little more blurry but again you can see their tummies with the brownish/white/gold vinegar eels in there.


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

How do you keep your water so darn clean?!:shock:

My ten gallon houses
- 6 day old betta fry
- a few snails
- dried out almond leaf (the one they were born under)
- a Lee Sponge Filter
- air stone
- live SwordTail plant
- Java Moss

I do a gallon water change almost every other day, when they hit about two weeks of age I was going to transfer them into a twenty gallon with two sponge filters buttttt two weeks isn't close and the tank seems dirty.. I' am over feeding? When I feed I take a coffee filter cut it to the size of a baseball lay it in the microworm culture and let it sit for a hour or two and then spread the entire thing all over the tank.

I tried getting the best picture of the fry as I could, does it look like they're eating microworms?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Yep they're eating them.

I add water up until 7 days and then begin siphoning the bottom. It's labor intensive since I have to look for any sucked up fry but it keeps the water quality good. I think 2 weeks is a little early to move them to a 20 gallon.. it'll make it harder for them to find food.

Depending on your tank size 1 gallon may not be enough water to change. I try to change out 1/2 of the water in the tank when they're little (up to 2 weeks old) and then after that I try to do as close to 100% water changes as possible without harming the fry.


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

Ok they're eating! Big relief... do you think I might be over feeding?
When would you move them to a different tank?
Also I'll start doing more frequent water changes.. and how could you not like staring into your bucket looking for almost invisible fry!:-D


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I don't think your over feeding. IMO fry will not eat themselves to death. You just have to make sure your not putting so much excess food in there that it's going bad and fouling the water... water changes will help with that though.

What size tank are they in now?


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## JustinDavis (Apr 18, 2011)

The tank they're in now is a ten gallon. Should I be adding water into their tank until a week then start siphoning?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

That's what I would do.

In a 10 gallon they should be fine until they're about 4-6 weeks old (depending on how many there are) then they can be transferred into the larger tank.


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