# Fancy dragon HMPK pair



## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

I finally got round to breeding my hmpk pair, unfortunately the male ate a lot of the eggs and only about 10-15 hatched so I think I will respawn them in a couple of weeks time. 

Female is my favourite little girl, her branching is a too heavy for my liking so Im hoping the male can help reduce it. Im also hoping the female can smooth out the topline of the male since hes a bit spoony. I also gope the girl can tidy up the males caudal since its a bit round and spade shaped.

Ive tried vinegar eels for the first time and love em, the fact that they stay suspended and survive for ages in the water gives me a bit of relief. Fat round tummies every second of the day without me needing to worry.

Ive also found a big colony orf mysterious worms living/breeding in the tank, but they dont seem to be doing any harm and when they bettas get big enough it can be another thing for them to feast on.

anyway heres the happy couple, lol I think my iphone photo skills are slowly getting better


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Lovely! And vinegar eels are amazing, aren't they?


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## TerriGtoo (Jul 2, 2013)

Oh! That is a LOVELY couple! Put me down for a baby or two if you decide you are going to sell them. Seriously! I can't wait to see how they turn out.


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

Very nice sir. Should look amazing. What are you hoping for in the spawn?


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Wow! So beautiful!

I'm planning to re breed mine as well, due to the fact I only have a couple fry :/

Small spawns can be enjoyable too!!!


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

i actually prefer smaller spawns, it makes the kids way easier to manage and they grow faster too. only problem is that you severely reduce your chances of finding that perfect fish... sigh.


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## hrutan (Jun 25, 2014)

Yes, I'm rather dreading jarring time. And trying to fit extra grow-outs is a huge chore, heh.


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

Agreed! I've never actually had a large spawn. The fry I have now are my first fry... It sounds like a lot of jarring if you have a lot of those lil nuggets!


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

Gorgeous parents! Looking forward to seeing how the fry turn out. 

I'm hoping for a small to medium spawn for my first attempt. Having hundreds of babies sounds fun until I think about all those jars. lol


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Thanks guys. They have grown faces now, so they arent just eyes with tails anymore. I saw some blue irid on a few today when I shined a light on them.

From this spawn Im hoping for sharp finned marbles. Hopefully monster because I like the contrast. But I'll be happy with any marble as long as it doesnt suck away the dragon layer and turn them into brown slugs like it did for a lot from my last spawn.

Yeah I agree Amphirion lol, its like a double edged sword, good for the fry and easier for you but less to choose from... lol I suppose the good outweighs the bad
I did a count up and at this rate Im only going to need 11 jars, knowing my luck they will all be females 

Haha Hrutan, just another excuse for a massive fishroom! 

Heres dad having a bit of fun in the sun catching mozzy larvae and reconditioning. They just fatten themselves up on every greeblie that exisits in that muck. I which it stayed warm over night though, I feel a bit guilty taking them out and putting them back into their boring tank
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVZWJNp3aVY&feature=youtu.be


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Respawned these guys so fingers crossed the eggs are all fertilised and father will leave these ones alone


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

This time the father did a proper job and fertilised more than enough eggs for me. He still blows a crappy nest and forgets about them as soon as he see mes and thinks food is coming, but I'm much happier with these results 
The older fry are still doing well and growing nicely on bbs


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## andakin (Aug 10, 2009)

Congrats! I hope things work out well for you.


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

Any news?


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

All was going perfect until this morning. We were breathing air, developing swimbladders, looking like fish instead of tadpoles etc, then I did a waterchange as usual and now they are sulking on the bottom ignoring food...
The only thing I did differently was give them some tiny mosquito larvae and creepy crawlies last night so Im thinking its either contaminated mosquito water or somethings gone wrong with the tap water... I gave them another water change incase its contamination and am desperately hoping its not the tap waters fault because then Im screwed...I'll have to get it tested
Not happy


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

D'aww, that's not good! I'm sure it's just a temporary thing. They'll bounce back in a couple of days, I'm sure.


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

Stunning pair. Cannot wait t see the babies


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## ozymandius (Dec 16, 2014)

hope you figure out the issue this is a beautiful pairing


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I hope everything works out, the parents are absolutely stunning.


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Bpth spawns died, have 3 survivours but they are stunted and runty and I know why... my tap water is insane! Nitrites off the charts, ammonia and nitrate present aswell... at least I found the problem though. Im gonna complain to the council since thats just ridiculous. No idea how my poor adults have survived with me basically pouring nitrite into their tanks this whole time with every water change. Im too scared to even drink that water


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

Holy carps, that's a lot.

That can't be healthy. I've heard of small amounts of Ammonia being in municipal water supplies, but Nitrites that high? Ugh.


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

I know right? I had to test it 3 time to make sure because I couldnt believe it! The only safe thing to drink around here is the wine. I hope the council is able to so something about it. I never thought Id say it but the poor things are safer without waterchanges in my house lol. Ive just gone to the supermarket and bought 3 massive jugs of springwater which has safe params to clean them up a bit but its a bad long term plan. 
Any ideas on how to filter nitrite out of tap water? 
Im going to start collecting rainwater since it rains here almost every day


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Heres the lone survivor of the nitrite spawn
Hes nothing special but still cute, really wished I could have seen what his siblings looked liked but oh well


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## BlueInkFish (Jan 13, 2013)

So sorry about the fry!

The survivor looks very beautiful!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Were you in QLD when you had the issues with the water? I have read some QLDers having issues with the quality of their tap water, and losing stock. 

Your survivor is nicely coloured. You always seem to breed fish I would want in my tanks.


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Yeah good old qld, I wonder what they are doing to our water to mess it up so bad. 

Haha thanks hes just a fat angry little man though. Im going to put him in a little show in a few weeks, theres a special class for babies lol hes not going to very well since his form is wack and stunty but it will be a fun time


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yeah I've read a few grim tales about people in QLD losing whole tanks of stock after water changes. Most seem to double or triple dose Prime when they do water changes. I'm always thankful Melbourne water stays fairly stable. 

Haha good luck with him at the show. Who knows, he may improve with age. If not at least is sounds like he has a lot of attitude.


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

Aw that sucks! I think qld just hates fishkepers, they keep poisoning our water so we cant expand our territory. Kinda miss christchurch where we didnt even need to add dechlorinator to our tap water... but its a trade off...better fish in oz, or better water in nz...

At the show I kinda want to buy some wilds, bit keen on mahachai and smaragdina, ahh but persephone is beautiful too and all of them. I managed to get work off for the weekend of the show ...(somehow Ive become a sub steward...) ..:-o so Im counting it as a bit of a shopping spree!

What species would you recommend for a newb wilder?


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I personally would not recommend the persephone for a first time wild betta keeper, and this is coming from someone who went and purchased fish from this complex as their first ever wilds. Even in the coccina complex they tend to be a bit more difficult to breed, and I know some hobbyists have different views, but IMO they _need_ a very low hardness/pH to thrive. 

Anything from the splendens complex seem to be very easy to keep and breed. I had a pair of Betta stiktos in a 20 litre tank and they spawned regularly without any real effort on my part. Being bubblenesters, this complex is one of the more aggressive ones. So be aware, some breeding pairs can live together full-time without issue, whereas, some may need to be kept separate unless being used for breeding. It all depends on the individual. 

Otherwise, any of the mouthbrooding complexes are good, particularly the smaller mouthbrooding species. I always recommend the albimarginata complex because they breed like guppies, have endearing characters, and are not fussy about water conditions/tank set-up. However, if you have softer water and a larger tank, the foerschi complex contains some stunning species. The unimaculata complex is another good one if you want to work with large fish. I probably wouldn't recommend going out and purchasing a pair of Betta macrostoma right off the bat (expensive fish to lose), but the other species are very personable and generally easy breeders. 

I personally prefer to work with wild-caught fish as my foundation breeding pair, as I have found the quality lacking in some species (particularly splendens complex where it seems like a lot of hybrids get passed around as pure). I will not sell a fish unless it is healthy and in top condition, but I have seen some wilds that looked pretty haggard getting passed around.


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