I'm posting this to get some thoughts about it and anything you want to say about it.
Parent Info:
Ash- He is Heterogeneous for double tail on his fathers side. Shows marbling coloration (dark blue) in the front half of his body. Half moon Plakat white with iridescence (light blue/ green under the light). 3.5-4 months old (June 2011) at breeding. Pectoral fins show some permanent curling.
Lady Blanc- Ashs sister. Also heterogeneous for double tail on her fathers side. White Plakat with iridescence covering her body. Light blue in the top fin with a patch of pale red. 3.5- 4 months old (June 2011) at breeding. Thicker bodied than her sister.
Breeding set up:
20 gallon long with approximately 10-12 gallons of water in it. 82 degrees. Sponge filter and some live hornwort.
Breeding log:
Saturday (June 9th 2011): They started to spawn just before 4 pm in the afternoon.
Sunday (June 10th 2011): The father is doing an excellent job keeping the eggs in the nest.
Monday (June 11th 2011): Approximately 12 am-1 am the eggs started to hatch. The rest of the day he made a larger nest around the previous one and did a good job keeping them in it.
Wednesday (June 13th 2011): Some of the fry start to become free swimming at this point. Feed with green water and infusoria every 4 hours from that point.
Week one: Bettas growth is off to a good start. Male was removed Thursday (June 14th 2011) as all of the fry were disappearing and becoming free swimming. He was moved to a cycled 5 gallon tank and has since done beautifully in the set up. The fry are fed with liquid fry food, infusoria and I added a thriving culture of copepods directly to the tank. This was a decision made after some research revealed that they do like to chase pods and eat them. 3 different kinds were present. I witnessed on several occasions some of the fry hunting these pods. At this stage I started to feed them newly hatched baby brine shrimp. The larger fry ate it without any problems and the smaller fry continued to eat infusoria and pods. Apple snails added to eat left over food.
Week two: Bettas growth is fast. Theyve doubled in size since hatching and are all doing well. Dorsal and anal fins are becoming visible. The bigger fry continue to stay ahead of the others and are seen more often. Their growth exploded throughout the week and feedings were cut back to 2 times a day. At the end of week 2 the largest fry is half an inch with the smaller fry being closer to .3-.4 inches long. Double tail fry are making their appearance with, at first lopsided lobes, which become more and more equal as they grow. The two pectoral fins on their abdomens are becoming visible now. First color visible on some of the medium large fry. 2 kinds of the pods are almost gone from the tank now. A thriving culture of black worms was added to the tank. The fry enjoy hunting and trying to eat them. The largest fry are even succeeding at eating whole worms (smaller). The snail poop has had an effect on the copepod population since snails are notorious for not digesting food well. The hornwort seems to be helping with water quality and it has not become necessary to change the water yet.
Week three: Fry are thriving. The largest fry are breathing at the surface now and the largest has started to color. Iridescent light blue color on his body and bottom fin when he hits the light. Red coloration (dominant gene) is making itself known on a good amount of the fry. An interesting thing is that the ratio of double tail to normal tail fry seems to be 1:1 if not a couple more double tails than there are regular tailed fry. I find this interesting since neither the male or female of this pair expresses the Dt, Dt gene pairing that expresses itself as a double tail fry. My estimations were 25% of the fry would be double tail and it has been closer to 50%. Another interesting thing is that the double tails are the smaller fry in the bunch. None of the larger (.5 inch) fry have double tails. Some territorialism is starting in the larger fry. They occasionally face off. No flaring yet (not sure they have beards yet). No injury thus far but I fear I will need to separate them earlier than the 3 months that seems common. I will be adding more hornwort or plants to the tank to give them more places to hide, as that seems to be where most of the confrontations happen.
Video of them spawning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rdaZYObcag
Thier fry at 3 weeks old: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm2MQb0yd-g
Betta Breeding Log.
Ash- He is Heterogeneous for double tail on his fathers side. Shows marbling coloration (dark blue) in the front half of his body. Half moon Plakat white with iridescence (light blue/ green under the light). 3.5-4 months old (June 2011) at breeding. Pectoral fins show some permanent curling.
Lady Blanc- Ashs sister. Also heterogeneous for double tail on her fathers side. White Plakat with iridescence covering her body. Light blue in the top fin with a patch of pale red. 3.5- 4 months old (June 2011) at breeding. Thicker bodied than her sister.
Breeding set up:
20 gallon long with approximately 10-12 gallons of water in it. 82 degrees. Sponge filter and some live hornwort.
Breeding log:
Saturday (June 9th 2011): They started to spawn just before 4 pm in the afternoon.
Sunday (June 10th 2011): The father is doing an excellent job keeping the eggs in the nest.
Monday (June 11th 2011): Approximately 12 am-1 am the eggs started to hatch. The rest of the day he made a larger nest around the previous one and did a good job keeping them in it.
Wednesday (June 13th 2011): Some of the fry start to become free swimming at this point. Feed with green water and infusoria every 4 hours from that point.
Week one: Bettas growth is off to a good start. Male was removed Thursday (June 14th 2011) as all of the fry were disappearing and becoming free swimming. He was moved to a cycled 5 gallon tank and has since done beautifully in the set up. The fry are fed with liquid fry food, infusoria and I added a thriving culture of copepods directly to the tank. This was a decision made after some research revealed that they do like to chase pods and eat them. 3 different kinds were present. I witnessed on several occasions some of the fry hunting these pods. At this stage I started to feed them newly hatched baby brine shrimp. The larger fry ate it without any problems and the smaller fry continued to eat infusoria and pods. Apple snails added to eat left over food.
Week two: Bettas growth is fast. Theyve doubled in size since hatching and are all doing well. Dorsal and anal fins are becoming visible. The bigger fry continue to stay ahead of the others and are seen more often. Their growth exploded throughout the week and feedings were cut back to 2 times a day. At the end of week 2 the largest fry is half an inch with the smaller fry being closer to .3-.4 inches long. Double tail fry are making their appearance with, at first lopsided lobes, which become more and more equal as they grow. The two pectoral fins on their abdomens are becoming visible now. First color visible on some of the medium large fry. 2 kinds of the pods are almost gone from the tank now. A thriving culture of black worms was added to the tank. The fry enjoy hunting and trying to eat them. The largest fry are even succeeding at eating whole worms (smaller). The snail poop has had an effect on the copepod population since snails are notorious for not digesting food well. The hornwort seems to be helping with water quality and it has not become necessary to change the water yet.
Week three: Fry are thriving. The largest fry are breathing at the surface now and the largest has started to color. Iridescent light blue color on his body and bottom fin when he hits the light. Red coloration (dominant gene) is making itself known on a good amount of the fry. An interesting thing is that the ratio of double tail to normal tail fry seems to be 1:1 if not a couple more double tails than there are regular tailed fry. I find this interesting since neither the male or female of this pair expresses the Dt, Dt gene pairing that expresses itself as a double tail fry. My estimations were 25% of the fry would be double tail and it has been closer to 50%. Another interesting thing is that the double tails are the smaller fry in the bunch. None of the larger (.5 inch) fry have double tails. Some territorialism is starting in the larger fry. They occasionally face off. No flaring yet (not sure they have beards yet). No injury thus far but I fear I will need to separate them earlier than the 3 months that seems common. I will be adding more hornwort or plants to the tank to give them more places to hide, as that seems to be where most of the confrontations happen.
Video of them spawning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rdaZYObcag
Thier fry at 3 weeks old: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mm2MQb0yd-g
