# Male Crown Tail X Female Half Moon



## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

Spawn: 6/22
Hatch: 6/24
Free swimming: 6/28

FireEye (male)











Bluebird (female)


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## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

After 3 weeks, the fry have grown quite a bit. There’s about 70+ fry.


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## CosmicSyringe (Jul 20, 2013)

Cute babies! I love the names of the parents!


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## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

Fry’s new pic! A little more than 2 months old.


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## CameronsBettas (Mar 1, 2020)

2 months old? How often are you feeding them and doing water changes?


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## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

2 1/2 months to be exact. For the first two weeks or so, I didn’t even do water change. I’d use the colander to sift out the debris every few days but kept the same water. Now I give them complete water change every 4 to 5 days. I feed them BBS twice a day and occasionally frozen tubifex worms. You think they are growing faster than usual? They are only about 1.5 cm long.


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## The Outlaw (Sep 11, 2020)

Wow. They're amazing!


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Any updates?


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## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

Thanks for checking in. I have been distraught over the last couple of months. It turned out there were more than 150 fry but the numbers have dramatically decreased. They are down to only about 20 or so. I really don’t know what caused the casualties. I fed them regularly, I kept their water neutral, I changed their water once a week, I get them plants, I put almond leaves in the tank. They have heat and air stones. I even tried separating them out in their individual cups and they would die off on their own. The little guys would be lethargic and be on their sides or upside down. They seemed to have swim bladder disease and would pass after a few hours. The other scenario would be discovering their tiny carcass in the morning. Their insides and eyes would be completely gone, leaving just their shell, like some kind of shellfish. I think this might be the case of them being bullied or attacked and then being gobbled up. What do you think?
I just can‘t seem to figure out what is killing them in general. Is this part of the “Only the Strong Survives” rule in nature? Is this a normal survive rate for betta fry? The remaining ones seem to thrive okay. They are only about 2 cm long and it’s been 4 1/2 months already. I’d thought they would be bigger by now. Let’s hope they continue to grow. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

Great picture! I don’t know what to say about the losses. My first spawn only produced 8 😂 the second spawn was much bigger at around 40. The way I transferred mine was a straight pour into a bigger tanks so I never counted them. I suspect I did lose some fry but with a gravel bottom and fully planted tank I never saw any bodies. As far as fighting I have one fry with only one ventral fin and one baby lost an eye to fighting. Mine grew slowly as well and I’ve fed a wide variety of foods two or three times a day. I currently have two tanks with runts. Some of them are so small they look way younger than 5 months. I only do water changes if the nitrates get to 10ppm, which is maybe once a week in the 10 gallons. (Lots of live plants) 
I’m super sorry to hear about the troubles you’ve been having. Mine weren’t quite 2 months old when the bad bad fighting started between some of them. I still can’t believe captain lost his eye. He was adopted by my mother, she has a soft spot for animals that need special care 💜 
On a side note: I had a horrible time trying to feed my spawn and making sure they all ate. There are always a large group that’s is first to the dinner bell and the others wouldn’t even try to compete for food. 
the whole no eyes or organs really trips me out. Not something I experienced. I know that cosmic syringe and fish for sale both had a point were their spawns were going belly up after water changes. I don’t think they ever figured out why it happened either.


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

I have incredibly hard water off the scale on the kh and gH tests. 8.0 Ph. Really not the best parameters for raising betta, but maybe it’s a good thing too because I have no worry of ph swings


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## X skully X (Mar 17, 2020)

By the way, captain has been alone since he lost his eye and he is still one of the smallest in the group 🤷🏻‍♀️


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## ralphybetta (Jul 3, 2020)

I think I read somewhere that there's a hormone the fry produce that blocks the smaller ones from growing. Maybe with more frequent water changes they will grow faster? I have currently my first spawn. There are 115 fry and I do water changes every 3-4 days. There are a few smaller ones but apart from that, they are all growing pretty nicely.


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## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

I thought I take pictures of a couple of adolescents. They are going on 6 months and yet they are still kind of small. They probably need another 6 months, I guess, to become adults.


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## slam (Jul 16, 2020)

More pictures...


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## Katlyn Josephine (Feb 3, 2015)

wow, they are beautiful!


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