GeraldtonWA Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 After conditioning my petshop bettas for some time now, I purchased a tank a couple of weeks ago, aged some water, then put in the male and eventually added the female. I was using bubble wrap for the male to nest with. Well the male was very keen, but the female never seemed keen. Anyway I kept them in the tank for about 4 days as the male did not appear to be being too aggressive. The did not ever appear to be a bubblenest under the bubble wrap. Nothing seemed to be happening, so last night I decided to clean the tank. In the process, I bumped the bubblewrap and to my surprise hundreds of eggs cascaded to the floor. For the next hour or so the male vacumed the floor retrieving them. Is this spawn doomed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forever_and_a_day Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 not necessarily, though you're just going to have to wait 3/4 days to see if anything starts swimming. good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Nah, I've done it - cracked the sads with stupid fish not blowing stupid nests and wrapping. I go to tear down the tank and find hundreds of noodle fish (tails) Leave the tank covered so he dosen't see motion outside the tank - he'll feel better and will be less likely to eat the kids. Carry on as usual - 24-48 hours you'll see tails.... or you'll learn that they weren't fertilized. Good luck - you got Vinegar eels or Microworms for when they're all free swimmin? x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeraldtonWA Posted May 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 I've got microworms and brine shrimp bubbling away. Also a large bin of water , about 80 l, that i put some water and lettuce in about 4 or 5 weeks ago. I can't see anything in it and the water is clear, so perhaps it has no infusoria? The male continues to be vigilant in retrieving eggs - the process must exhaust him. No sign of tails yet but I guess tomorrow will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Hey Gerald ton I realy dont think it will make to much of a diferance I have had girls go skitzo be for I have had time to take them out and eggs have gone every where but the male has eventualy got them together back into the nest. just site back and supress the erge to intervene as it is a learning curve for the male and nature needs to kick in, you have done all you can do and you are prepared for the next stage. Give yourself a pat on the bacg and have a Rum I say Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeraldtonWA Posted May 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 All my fry have now died. They are all on the glass bottom. They mainly seem to have large heads so I am wondering if I took the male out too soon ??? Any other suggestions. One thing that I think I did wrong was having too much water. I had about 12 inches instead of 3 inches. I have since figured that the male busted a gut trying to cover that distance. Any advice or suggestions for next time appreciated.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 There are several contributing factors as to why this might not have worked, if they did actually hatch - this is great, you know the male and female successfully wrapped and fetalized eggs - you'll find once they've done this the next courtship will be a lot easier on everyone involved. In that the fry have sunk to the bottom, big heads or not (they are a weird shape when they hatch) I would suggest we investigate your water chemistry - there might be something a little bit off that's upset them. Do you know what your ammonia / ph / carbonate hardness is? A little test kit can go a looooong way in working out what's going wrong Taking the male out just after he's wrapped, or 3 months later - won't have changed much for you - he did his job, it sounds like the environment wasn't suitable for them. I'd suggest around 11-15cm of water... sometimes I have mine at around 20cms when I first introduce the pair, and it slowly evaporates to the right level by the time they decide to wrap. (or I siphon a bit out with an airline hose when I get the idea they're thinking of spawning) You're on the right track, re-condition the pair, and let's look at water for the babies, they're pretty susceptible at that young. -Ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeraldtonWA Posted May 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 Thanks for the suggestions and encouragement. The water was rainwater in a plastic rain water tank. I aged it in a plastic bin, added aquarium salt and then aged it again in the tank before adding the male. I had a small filter driven by an air pump. I thought it would have been betta paradise - but obviously I'm wrong. I will check the water as you suggest. Again thanks - and I'll act on your suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted May 8, 2012 Report Share Posted May 8, 2012 All good - keep us posted, it's great to see someone so keen on getting it right! -Ness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 Lost the post I had planned... Sorry bout the loss of fry. The problem you have experienced is an infection that can wipe out fry populations. Search "swollen head" in the clinic and/or spawn logs... It's been discussed on this forum before. It's deadly, and usually quite rapid onset. Has nothing to do with depth or volume of water, has nothing to do with taking dad out. General principles though are still worth sticking with... It's always good to have good water conditions/parameters. Better luck with the next spawn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted May 9, 2012 Report Share Posted May 9, 2012 I'm touching wood. I've never come across this. http://ausaqua.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=7531&st=0&p=84872&hl=+swollen%20+head&fromsearch=1&#entry84872 http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/killer.htm Spooky business I hope you can diagnose the cause. yikes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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