# how do i know if his nest is big enough?



## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

i have lots of jars, and omega red is fat with eggs, i just dont know how to tell if jacks nest is big enough...


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

If it's a good head start (a small nest) you can release her. See what happens is that he will chase her and what not and while she hides he will continue on the nest. Eventually he will try to get her under the nest.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

i have them intoduced, kinda through glass and she is trying sooo hard to get to him and he is filping out!! okay now do the babies need brine shrimp i have live plants so small bacteria is growing for them to eat and i read if i blades of grass in it will creat the food then when i seperate them feed them finely crushed flaked beta food.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> i have them intoduced, kinda through glass and she is trying sooo hard to get to him and he is filping out!! okay now do the babies need brine shrimp i have live plants so small bacteria is growing for them to eat and i read if i blades of grass in it will creat the food then when i seperate them feed them finely crushed flaked beta food.


 
Live plants will increase the infusoria but it shouldn't be relied upon to feed the entire spawn. They do need baby brine shrimp (my personal choice). Feed them brine shrimp after you remove the male.

Where are you getting your info?


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

No....If you are going to have fry you will need to start feeding them walter worms when they are free swimming! They will start to do this on day 2...You will need to feed 2 times a day! Then you can start feeding them a bigger worm called Microworms in their 2 week...You can also start with the BBS...But never feed flakes!!!!!!!!!!!
And you will need to have this food ready before you spawn..


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

thanks thats what i was trying to find out. im getting my info from everywhere. ive been reading books at barns and noble and websites like crazy, but i think its probably better to talk to acctually breeders thats why im consulting you all before i jump. okay so do most pet stores, or petsmart petco's carry these worms?


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Yes...when you see them free swimming. That is the best time to remove the male, as he might start to snack on them...And you do know to remove the female as soon as she releases some of her eggs.....Also how big is your spawning tank???


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

No...Maybe Petco...But you will need to order of the web...
Try Aquabid..


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

will the freeze dried kinds work? brine shrimp, and worms?


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

yea i know to remove the female and my tank is 10 gallons


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

No...The fry will need to get the stimulates of live foods...Or they will decided not to eat the "nonmoving" foods..
You will need atleast one of the three..


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Good. And I would only let her release about 4 times, as you dont want so many fry..
Are you going to use a growout tank?


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

that is not a term i have come across..grow out tank...? what about live black worms or blood worms?


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

They are to big for your fry to eat on...


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

okay so i need to order the worms off line. will do before i mate them.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

Yes....Look at this web
www.aquabid.com


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

thanks i was just there, im so excited i cant wait for my first spawn!!


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Those worms have to ordered. I use them but I like Baby Brine Shrimp because they get the fry to grow.

Flakes can only be used starting at week 6 and they have to be very small peices. DONT OVERFEED FLAKES


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

where do you suggest i get the baby brine shrimp?


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> that is not a term i have come across..grow out tank...? what about live black worms or blood worms?


 
Trying to put fry in a 10 gallon tank will kill them (unless it's a small spawn). Fry should be moved at around 5-6 weeks of age.

Black worms have three downsides.

1. Hard to culture: they require so much work such as rinsing them everyday etc

2. they're to big for a frys mouth

3. ever heard of dropsy? feeding these guys almost guarentees they will die from dropsy.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I found a website in my book called brineshrimpdirect.com or you can google brine shrimp to find places that sell baby brine shrimp or the eggs so you can set up your own hatchery.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> where do you suggest i get the baby brine shrimp?


 
You can get the eggs at a fish store and hatch them. 

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_brineshrimp_hatchery.php 

is a great hatchery idea. It's the one I used


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Its best to spawn them in a bigger tank because they are easier to keep clean.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

so about how much brine shrimp will i need. i just found 1 pound for 15$ that seems like alot


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> so about how much brine shrimp will i need. i just found 1 pound for 15$ that seems like alot


 
THAT'S CHEAP!!! Ususally it would be a lot more for a pound. Buy it!!

It might be a lot but I guarentee your gonna get into breeding.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Is it live food?


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> Is it live food?


 
They're dried eggs that once put in water hatch into little shrimp


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Good!


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ya or otherwise the fry would be like "and what are we supposed to do with these?"


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

so hatching brine shrimp easy yea? from what ive read it is. god i am soooo excited right now and whats even cooler is my dad is just as into this as me so hes helping me and is all excited. so they will eat a whole pound that seemed like alot but you the breeder man so im gonna buy it.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Thats great that your Dad is helping you.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

yea hes a wierdo, but we are ordering the brine shrimp eggs tonight and then very soon i will have many little fry, so after about 4 times of her releasing the eggs how many about should i get...cause my first time around i would like as little as possible i was thinking about only letting her release 2 times


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You can control the amount of fry that you have by taking the female out after just a few embraces.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

They wont eat a pound of it but that's an awesome deal 

My parents said they would help but they have no clue about bettas so it's all me 

Ok you don't want to many fry? Well your gonna need to let her do more than five embraces. The first few produce not eggs.

When I first started I wanted as few as possible too but I soon changed my mind and went with full spawning.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

okay so ill do about 5 then see how i feel....can you see the eggs release?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yes, you can.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

fantastic


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You'll see the male swim down to the bottom to pick up eggs and swim back up and spit them into the nest.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

great, im buying brine shrimp eggs tomorrow morning and probably breeding the next  if i bought the pound...its eggs by the way.... would they stay good or how fast would i need to hatch them?


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

how soon can i tell if the fry are male or female?


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> great, im buying brine shrimp eggs tomorrow morning and probably breeding the next  if i bought the pound...its eggs by the way.... would they stay good or how fast would i need to hatch them?





Ilovemyshiny said:


> how soon can i tell if the fry are male or female?


 
Most of those of those brine shrimp eggs are thousands of years old. They never go bad (until you put them in water).

At about two months of age males will become aggressive and start showin finnage. If your unsure of a bettas sex jar it. If it blows a nest then it's a male.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

oh fantastic..ill buy the pound of eggs, and hopefully ill be putting omega red it with jack tonight!!!! does any one know any thing about mixing colors to get other colors? i have an all white male, voodoo, and omega red is mainly a pearly color with deep red fins, if i were to breed those two would i pretty much get only white an red fry or is it just pretty much whatever happens happens?


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Its really hard to predict unless you know the genetics and stuff which I dont, but I remember reading somewhere that the White color in bettas is made from the combination of blue, yellow, and red or something like that. If thats tru then you should expect a little bit of anything. 

Also when your determining how many eggs you want her to release, remember unless your experiences or lucky, some of them may not survive. So I would do a little extra in case.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> oh fantastic..ill buy the pound of eggs, and hopefully ill be putting omega red it with jack tonight!!!! does any one know any thing about mixing colors to get other colors? i have an all white male, voodoo, and omega red is mainly a pearly color with deep red fins, if i were to breed those two would i pretty much get only white an red fry or is it just pretty much whatever happens happens?


 
You could mix and maybe come out with some cambodians or just white with red wash. You can try it and see what happens. If your not into breeding for show then you can do this. I reccomend you try it...maybe I'll buy some 

This is a Red Camdodian:


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

my girl omega red looks identical to that fish except of course with short fins but that is her exact coloring.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ilovemyshiny said:


> my girl omega red looks identical to that fish except of course with short fins but that is her exact coloring.


 
Cambodians are becoming more popular here in Colorado. 

She is compatible with other cambodians and pure red bettas


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

i have a pure red and a white with tiny red flecks in his fins (and blue eyes)


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

If you breed her to the pure red you can get some good Red VT's (I'm guessing these fish are VTs) goin.


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

yea ive been looking everywhere for a crowntail, but i cant find one that suits me.

the boy shes breeding with now is mainly red with 2 teal-ish spots on his upper and lower fin, and hes REALLY big


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Big males can squeeze the life out of the female. So keep an eye on the love birds (or fish, whichever yuou awant to call them, lol).


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

i got a two bamboo sticks that are shaped like a heart for the looove tank


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Hmmm maybe I should try that


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

lol. yea, i was wondering if you can use any kind of paint to paint on things like the inverted pots....i wanted to write "love shack" on the cave


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

It would be cute to write something on an inverted pot but I'd be afraid to use paint.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ya it could poison them and kill them (fry included)


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## Ilovemyshiny (Jun 14, 2009)

eeeeee, okay i wont do it


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Ya


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