Bettarazzi Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 My new breeding stock arrived today. Luckily only a handful of people noticed my embarrassing display of childish excitement earlier. Unfortunately it wasn't a simple matter of opening the bags and plopping them into their containers. Before that I had to scrub out the 16 little 20 cm cube tanks which were filthy from long neglect. But before I could clean the tanks I had to replace all the fluoro tubes which hadn't been replaced for at least a year and some wouldn't even light up any more. Even in the dark I knew the tanks were dirty. The smell kinda gave it away. But before I could get to the fluoros I had to clear away the accumulated junk that some crazy hoarder (not me) piled in front of the tanks. Ok, alright, I am the hoarder. So much of it I didn't recognise and couldn't think why I kept them in the first place that I could be forgiven for thinking someone else left them there. What?? Bored of my story? You just want to see the fish? Ahh.... well there lies another tale. I started taking some video, got four of them. Then the batteries ran out. But I always keep some spares charged up. I continue, get a few more and those batteries run out as well. And without any power I can't get what I have taken off the camera. But all is not lost. Here are the links to the archived AquaBid auctions. They don't all still look as pretty. A few of them decided their tails would make a good snack. The super blue isn't the one I won but is a sibling which looks pretty much the same. And I didn't have to pay nearly as much. . Enjoy! http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1286557221 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1286838073 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1286229903 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1285776131 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1287061390 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1285765613 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1285776398 http://www.aquabid.c...tashm1285778035 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Fantastic I love them all! And I totally get the hoarding thing, you should see how many tanks I have laying around the yard . I also got some stock in today and it looks like Melbourne will have some nice strains to go on with once they stop us bringing the fish in. Quick question ... I thought super black females were sterile? Bec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 (edited) VERY nice selection Razzi.... I like the blues / blacks / coppers.... That DT looks brilliant and the super blue too.... Now where are all the jars you're going to need? Hope that crazy hoarder has some hidden somewhere! Bec - its the melano black females that are sterile... Edited November 4, 2010 by fishbites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadoh Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 You better keep them locked up tonight! That black orchid male might "mysteriously" disappear ... B) Some beautiful fish you have there. Well chosen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 Great selection Michael! Wish I had the set up (and the time) which would allow me to keep as many beautiful fish and have several spawns at the same time. Is the "super blue" actually a dragon? Just looks metallic in pic. Plus, the copper female looks dragon? Beautiful fish none-the-less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 They are wonderful Mike! What are you going to breed first? Good luck with them, I hope all the fry turn out like their parents. Lucky you on the super blue one. I don't know what I like better, they are all fabulous. Oh, and that was not childish excitement earlier.. do not worry, I promise it was still dignifying! :betta: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neffy Posted November 4, 2010 Report Share Posted November 4, 2010 They are stunning !! i really like the green ohm and the black butterfly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Is the "super blue" actually a dragon? Just looks metallic in pic. Plus, the copper female looks dragon? It doesn't have the thick scales of a dragon and in real life doesn't look especially metallic. When the light hits it at the right angle the colour seems more intense than a regular royal blue. The copper female isn't dragon either. Well I don't think it's thick enough to be called dragon. Her colour seems paler than normal coppers I think that could be the lack or reduction of some of the other colours. Maybe she doesn't have as much red, blue or black and that's affecting the copper. She's a tad larger than the males. Hopefully that won't be too much of a problem. What are you going to breed first? I have basically divided them into a solid group and a butterfly group. I'm going to attempt to get one spawn from each group to start off with. I have a little problem in that I'm going to be away for a week at Christmas and will need my fish looked after. Any fry will need to be past the brine shrimp stage to make them easier to feed. If it's only a matter of chucking some pellets and/or frozen food into the fry tank I could even get my mother to look after them for a week. But she wouldn't do the bbs thing. So what I'm going to do is prepare all of them to spawn but only release 2 pairs at a time. As soon as one pair from each group spawns I'll stop teasing the rest. But really, the spawns have to happen no later than next weekend which is kind of a big ask for fish that have been in transit for 2 days. I'm counting on Fishchick's excellent care during quarantine. The pairs are in neighbouring tanks and I couldn't resist uncarding them a little bit yesterday. (I know, I know the Cruelty Kids are going to come after me.) All of them, without exception, reacted to each other. So I'm hopeful but we'll just have to see what happens. I might just have to try again after Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somchai2500 Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Hmmm.....Chadstone eh..have you got a Doberman All look fantastic. :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted November 5, 2010 Report Share Posted November 5, 2010 Sounds good. Hopefully the first pair will spawn quickly, well, and the males will be great fathers. Good luck! Hopefully they will be on the dry food stage when you are going away. Some of mine nibbled at ground pellets at about 1 week. I know, not the right nutrition, but I only gave them a little bit and that was with live food too. GOOD LUCK ONCE AGAIN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 The Black Orchid DT has spawned with the super black female. She'd dropped some eggs when I went to feed them yesterday morning. It didn't look like a full load so I thought I'd put her with the male. Then immediately regretted it and stressed all day about whether or not to pull her out. But she really didn't like the betta scoop and absolutely hated being netted. Anyway I left them together last night. Had to rush off to work and didn't get a chance to check them. But when I got home this evening there were eggs in the nest. Two other females also dropped their eggs in their tanks today. One of them dutifully blew a bubble nest and spat the eggs in there. Her mother clearly neglected to have that special chat with her. The second one looked quite freaked out and was swimming around with fins clamped. Annoyed about that because she and her male were going to be first of the butterflies that I was going to put together. Her male had a huge bubblenest all ready to go. Maybe I'm taking the teasing thing a bit too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Really not sure how I managed to miss this thread. I am sure that I have visited AAQ since 4.11.... ? And my internet has decided to get patchy today and I can't get the aquabid photos to open so I can't join in the fun of admiring them (leaving tabs open to be refreshed tonight !) Anyway, this is very exciting Michael! I like your plan re setting up several pairs at at time. Too bad about the over-eager females but it's great that you've had a spawn already. Hopefully the male's father had that special talk to him and he won't eat them or engage in some other act of betta bastardry. I LOL'd at the Cruelty Kids comment. You know they're gunning for you anyway, right? :giggle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Well I assume the people who leave the "that's cruel" comments on my YouTube videos of bettas in beanie boxes must be from the Cruelty Kids Club. So they've firing shots at me for ages now. I just roll my eyes and hit delete. I wasn't going to tell anyone about this but in what was probably an ill-advised moment of reckless abandon, I put another four pairs together last night. Must be the same attack of betta fever that saw me bringing in 15 fish instead of just 8. I'm sure they won't all spawn. I'm thinking that putting them together sooner rather than later makes a spawn more likely. But yeah..... growing them out and then jarring them is probably going to be a little bit of an issue. Now where are all the jars you're going to need? Hope that crazy hoarder has some hidden somewhere! I meant to answer this.... Apart from the beanie box barracks which holds 64, I do have a little stash of hoarded bottles. Not that I really need to hoard bottles. We only drink bottled soda water so there are plenty of 2 litre bottles. We also go through a not insignificant number of 1.5 litre bottles of Schweppes tonic. (Yeah, the 300 ml bottles just don't cut it at our place. ) The plan is to reduce the numbers quite severely before jarring. But you know how it is. When it actually comes time to part with them it's a totally different story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettc777 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 The plan is to reduce the numbers quite severely before jarring. But you know how it is. When it actually comes time to part with them it's a totally different story. Plus some of the runts can turn out to be the best! Looking forward to all the progress! Sounds like a really good start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flipper Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Nice fish. Really like th Copper HM female. I'm off to thialand on Saturday for 2 weeks to look at a few Betta farms and buy a heap of new breeding stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Make sure you have your video camera on at all times. *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 The Green pair and the Super Blue pair have also spawned now. Very excited about the Super Blue. Can't wait to see the results.I have tails from the Black Orchid x Super Black pair. Relieved that the female is fertile and didn't turn out to be a plain old melano. I suppose I should start a proper spawn log.I've aborted the Copper pair. The female has some bad injuries. She's going to need some major TLC over the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Woah! You wont need to worry about batch testing! Seems you'll be supplyng the entire country with splendens locally bred! Awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted November 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Super Blue is looking very, very full. I didn't feed him. Did anyone else feed him? Did yummy insects fall into his tank? No.... I think Bluey's been a bad, bad boy. Okay... maybe it was my fault. The activity around his tank could have freaked him out a bit. Never mind. Little rest for the girl and we'll try again. And the moral is? Never count your bettas before the eggs have been eaten. *lol* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 ... and make sure that fathers have that special talk with their sons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Wow.. you must have lots of tanks hoarded over your place to do that many spawns all at once! Good luck with them, and congratulations! So good to hear the super black female is fertile. :cheer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Thankyou. Showed this to my wife......... suddenly I am not so bad with tanks, microworms,bbs,cat,guinea pig. Just need to threaten the idea of two or three spawns going at once and she starts to sweat and get shakes.........ha ha Thankyou. This proves I am not so bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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