# Help me take care of newborn fry :omg:



## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

A week ago I bred a pair of beta fish and all went well :-D I have been feeding the fry liquid food and brine shrimp. Just help me if there is anything I missed :roll: cause I love all my fish sooo much I don't want anything bad to happen so if u have bred beta fish before me then please help me!! :lol: oh and this is a pick of the whole family. The mom (Angela) is in the small tank and angle the dad is in the big tank to the right and the kids are in the spongebob tank ;-)


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## kevinap2 (Apr 3, 2014)

I may just not be able to see them, but where are your heaters? Your bettas all need to be heated, the fry especially. 78F for the adults, 82F for the fry. That halfmoon tank for the fry will be outgrown shortly, I hope you have a larger grow-out than that. I would also ditch the Tetra 3i filter in there, you don't want the fry to get sucked up. If you don't have a pre-cycled sponge filter, I would go without one for now and keep up on your water changes.

Speaking of water changes, what have you been doing and what is your plan going forward?


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

i do have a really big tank with a heater and stuff and i don't use that filter i use a sponge filter but its not in there at the moment and i change the water buy removing the fry with a cup is that okay? and also i do have heaters i just remove them when i am not using them


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## kevinap2 (Apr 3, 2014)

How many fry do you have in there? I would think that would be tedious. How often are you doing changes?

I do have to ask- why are you not using the heaters right now? Your fish need stable temperatures to be as healthy as possible. If the sponge filter is cycled, you should be using that. Remove the Tetra filter ASAP.

When you move to the larger tank, I would not use substrate. It will be easier for cleaning as well as monitoring the fry (and finding sick or dead ones).


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## kevinap2 (Apr 3, 2014)

If you have not read the stickies in this section, I would highly recommend doing so. There's some great info in there. Link: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=116065

Also, another site with some good information on breeding: http://www.bettysplendens.com/raising-the-fry.html


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## FinnDublynn (Feb 27, 2015)

Did they bred in the spongebob tank? Did it have the gravel in it? I would wonder how many, possibly 100+ eggs fell into the gravel where the dad wasn't able to reach them and get them back into the bubblenest because they were down in the cracks... Would they have even hatched that way? What a sad way to go.. hatched but not free swimming and stuck down there til a water change and then just washed away...


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

No they did not breed in the spongbob tank and i change the water every week and now i removed the filter and added a heater the temp right now is about 25 degrees


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

Thx guys


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

Also i have about 50 fry in there


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## Revosok (Aug 11, 2015)

Do you have a grow out tank? I don't think that the spongebob tank will be large enough. If you don't you can buy a storage box, they don't cost a lot, and it will give the babies the space they need once they grow too large for the spongebob tank. Do you have 50+ jars to jar the bettas once they are large enough? Do you have the food the baby bettas need? Do you have a heater? Do you change the water *frequently*? Do you have a place for all the unwanted fry to go?

The best thing you can do now is read the sticky on breeding and raising fry.

And another question: Did you breed the fish for a specific reason? Or did you just want to try it to see if you like doing it?


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

I bred to try the hobby. Well my dad wanted to try it but i did it all by myself


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

You should be doing DAILY water changes to remove the growth stunting hormone.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Firstly I would remove the gravel from the fry tank. This will only make water changes more difficult, and it's likely waste and uneaten food are going to become trapped in the gravel and potentially cause issues with your water quality. 

As others have mentioned, you will definitely need a much larger tank if you intend on growing 50 fry out to a saleable size. Based on what I've read most breeders use tanks that are 20 gallons or upwards as grow-outs. 

When you say you are feeding them brine shrimp, is this freshly hatched baby brine shrimp? Diet plays a very important role in the growth and health of young fish. Freshly hatched BBS is very nutritious. The only risk is that you can cause problems with the swim bladders of your fry if you overfeed it. 

It's good you've added a heater to your grow-out. I'd recommend turning the heater up two or three degrees more (if possible), as most breeders of Betta splendens seem to run their grow-outs at a higher temperature. 

As mentioned, water changes are extremely important. Fry are very sensitive to ammonia, and this can build-up quickly when there are a large number of fish and uneaten food sitting on the bottom of the tank. Once a week is not going to be enough. 

Don't remove the fry from the tank. At only a week old they are going to be particularly fragile, so stability is the key. When I was doing large water changes on my grow-outs, I'd use airline tubing and a turkey baster to remove waste and dirty water. Just make sure to check your bucket before emptying it, as fry can be very easily sucked up and you don't want to tip them down the sink. Fresh water is then slowly added to the tank using more airline tubing. You don't want to be changing the pH or temperature of your water too quickly - at least not when the fry are this young. 

Again, based on what I've read and what I've done in the past, most breeders seem to perform daily or near daily water changes on their grow-out tanks. Not only does this help maintain good water quality, but it is thought to help improve the rate of growth by removing/diluting growth-inhibiting hormones.


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## Nova betta (Dec 5, 2014)

How big is the really big grow out tank for the fry?


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

Its about 20 gall


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## Strawberry12 (Mar 6, 2015)

Do you have jars for the males as well?


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

Of course I do


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## Strawberry12 (Mar 6, 2015)

how are you planning on heating the jars, heat tape, floating, or a warm fish room? 


(I don't mean to sound like the Spanish inquisition, just thinking of different things!)


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## betta fish lover2323 (Aug 21, 2015)

i will use heat tape


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## SplashyBetta (Jul 28, 2014)

Do you have the jars and shelving and heat tape all set up and ready to go?


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

As others have suggested, do more water changes without moving fry. You want to remove any pebbles to make life easier. Siphon out water carefully and drip water back in so water pram doesn't change drastically. Smaller tanks need more frequent water changes. When I breed in 1g, I may do 2-3 water changes daily. 

Best to make temp 27-28. Move to growout when fry hit the 3-5mm mark. Dip the small tank in the growout for about 30 minutes (or more). Add some growout water to the fry tank until full. Then slowly release/pour fry into growout. If done correctly, fry will quickly out grow a 20g.

Good luck.


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