Anasfire Posted November 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 ooooh in that case I might just remove him in his log and put it into the 2ft grow out tank! I can't see the large mystery snail and the 8 week old bettas giving him too much greif. Plus the bn fry will have plenty of uneaten food to clean up once they emerge from the cave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Will they chase each other around the tank or will he just stay at the cave? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 He might come out of the cave at times and lunge at her or head butt her out of the way or whack her with his tail (seen a male swat a 6cm mystery snail out of the way once!) Very rarely will adults go swimming all over the tank (tend to get lazy as adults and don't clean glass even as good as they should!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 My female is very dark brown/blackish. The male I have is a caramel brown with bristles (though not quite as bristley as your boy Cassi!). He was classed as "X large" but I think Mrs Bn is 1/2 a cm longer! Keep us posted how you go and I really really hope you get babies!!! Thanks heaps Wayne for all your advice It helps a lot when someone with experience gives us a hand :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 16, 2009 Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 Glad to share the thoughts of a madman with you :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2009 I now have little yellow dots with white wiggling tails all through the cave and some near the entrance. I think the male is freaking about keeping the water circulating around the eggs that haven't hatched yet, that he's not paying enough attention to fry that have hatched! At least I got to see them before I went away! Yay!!! I hope the clown loach doesn't get them before I get back. Might have a go at catching him later and cart him off to the LFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 17, 2009 Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 yay!!!! I am so happy for you! Are they meant to have a lot of water flow around the entrance of the cave/log? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2009 No idea, mine don't. I just have a 300l/h filter in the tank and they get what ever current that created in the tank. It's not super strong but there is a small one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 19, 2009 Report Share Posted November 19, 2009 Just a gentle water circulation is all that's needed - but then I had albinos breed in a 2ft tank that had an 800l/hr otto blasting water across the back of the tank and created many eddies and swirls in the water at the front. It was pretty heavily planted with lots of stems in it though so that probably cut the water flow near the log entrance a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 OK I'm back from Grafton. Before I left I took him, in his cave, with as many babies as I could catch and see (the ones that were out of the cave) and transferred them to the betta grow out so the clown loach didn't get peckish and devour them. There doens't seem to be too many in there but he could be hiding a whole heap under his body and I'd never know. They've used up their egg sacs by the looks of things and have darkened up considerably. I fed the betta fry grated bloodworm tonight and a small amount of MW so if the BN fry get out of the cave at night they'll be able to find something to eat, hopefully. I've got some bbs on to hatch for the betta fry so i'll make sure to add some of that to the growout for the bn's as well. Will try and get some pics of them when they start making trips out of the cave and out of dad's protection. When can I remove him back to the main tank with his cave to entice the female again? lol. I want more bn babies already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 21, 2009 Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 Sounds like you're doing a double fry raising trick there - one cleaning up after the other - smart move.... Re the dad getting back to his cave with his lady friend.... give him enough time to feed up a bit and recover from his couple of weeks of egg duty - during this time he won't have eaten much. Then return him and start again! I've just had another common swarm hatch out - everywhere i look in the bn tank is baby commons. The marbled ones are looking good too - no idea how many as they have scattered and are amongst plants etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 21, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 21, 2009 I've worked out that I need to push some small pieces of gravel into the holes at the end of the cave, might even use silicone to stick them there coz the babies were getting out at the end and either getting eaten or getting lost. I'll get around to catching the clown loach at come point so I can just let them breed and grow out in the community tank. I also should move the snail from that tank into another so the Bn's have something to clean up, the snail does a good job :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 Noticed these little guys out of the cave last night frantically sucking along the bottom of the tank, cleaning up after the fry. I've added some algae pellets for them to also munch on and hope Dad is having a snack also! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 24, 2009 Report Share Posted November 24, 2009 Oh wow they really are tiny!!! I think I might arrange for my Mr and Mrs Flathead to have some quiet time The tank they are in at the moment has become overrun with baby mystery snails! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2009 Ok, babies are all now out of cave (I've removed cave but not Dad as I need to repair the cave before he gets intimate with his lover again) and I've noticed the IAL I have in there is looking veiny..is it possible that they're eating it? I see a lot of them on and around the leaf and it is old, disintergrating so probably should have taken it out by now..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 29, 2009 Report Share Posted November 29, 2009 It's possible they're having a chomp on the IAL - they really need some driftwood in the tank to chew on though (something to do with digestion) - IAl debris is probably just for playing in! Hope they're all swarming over your tank - I have so many common bn babies at the moment I can't count them all - and found a common male in a log with an albino female and looks like a small mound of eggs in there with them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Nice going Wayne My mother on Saturday decided she didnt like the noise of my air stone in the tank with my 2 bns and without my knowing switched it off!!! Needless to say I returned the next day to check my tank and she'd killed off one of my bn's and the 4 neons in the tank were at the surface gasping. ARGH!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Lyarlla did you tell your mum that one day she might have a respirator that makes and annoying noise...... LOL... seriously - sorry to hear about your bn... did the tetras recover ok? Seems like my bn numbers have recovered totally after the mass extinction that happened in that other tank (which is now full of plants and has guppies breeding like flies in it!) How are your babies Cassi? Try putting a bit of zucchini in there and see how they all swarm over it (then you can have a go at counting the tails!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 They're doing well I think, just getting around cleaning up after the betta fry. I caught one baby bn and whacked it one of the other grow out tanks as the snail in there died and it seems to still be alive. I've been putting in algae pellets but I think the male has been getting into them. I've repaired his cave and it hass set for 72hrs now so I'll stick his cave along with him back into the community tank tomorrow. I'll go do some zuccini for them now :welcome: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Lyarlla did you tell your mum that one day she might have a respirator that makes and annoying noise...... OMG Wayne.... too funny :welcome: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted November 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 Ok I added some zuccini for the bn's last night before going to bed only to wake this morning to full little betta bellies. I think the pigs ate all the BN's zuccini, there's no other explaination. Don't know if the zuccini is going to help them grow any, might be good for their digestion though. grrr now I'm trying to work out what else to feed the bn's. Wayne did you mention blanched lettuce? how exactly would I do that? drop a leaf in boiling water for a second then straight into cold water? Does it matter what kind of lettuce? I've got some Cos here... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted November 30, 2009 Report Share Posted November 30, 2009 (edited) Hi Cassi, I put some washed lettuce leaves (cos is fine) into a coffee mug (minus the coffee!) and then pour boiling water over it and let it sit for 20-30 seconds. It should turn wilted. Then I rinse it off with cool water and weigh it down in the tank with a rock. They also seem to love blanched shelled peas. I tried cucumber.... and my betta ate it... Edited November 30, 2009 by Lyarlla Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Yep what Lyarlla said Cassi.... with cucumber I get the tiny ones that are about 3" long (thinking they may have less acid than the larger ones) and the bn clean them up really well. Some even cook carrot for their bn I've read - seems like most green / orange vegies are ok for them - just don' tleave them too long in the tank to cause cloudiness. Cos lettuce is usually the best lettuce for fish (well that's what I use and can get hold of). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anasfire Posted December 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 Awesome, well the baby bn now have some new zuccini (the bettas have been fed grindals to try and keep them off the bn's food) and i've also weighted down a blanched peice of lettuce with a rock. I counted about 12 babies in there today. Not bad for my first spawn of them (i know it's not the pair's first spawn but they're mine ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 1, 2009 Report Share Posted December 1, 2009 If you can count 12 then there's probably 24 in there with the other half hiding under things! Now all you have to do is feed them up and enjoy their antics! (or referee fights over food by the sounds of it!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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