3rd Time Trying To Breed Bettas

[MerrittA]

Okay, so today I have decided I am going to try to breed bettas once again. I am doing more research on the process and was wondering what is the best fry food?

I have read that people feed microworms, vinegar eels, and crushed egg yolk. Which would you guys suggest I try? I am going to get the setup ready to go and conditioning the parents started tomorrow. I have read that I should condition for 2 weeks so I want to get an early start. I am going to update this post with whats going on and add some pictures of the parents. I am so excited!

[PhishPhreek]

I currently use freezedried rotifers from brine shrimp direct but I have had good luck with infusoria cultures, microworms or bannanaworms for betta fry the first few weeks. They eat better if the food wiggles. Baby brine shrimp is the bulk food of choice after the first 10 days. For the fastest growth, feed them live food 2 or 3 times a day and syphon the gunk off the bottom of the tank. Try anything you have access to and use what works best for you.

[nacra99]

Very nice... keep us posted.
I personally would not use crushed egg yolk if you have a ready supply of vinegar eels & microworms. It fouls the water quite a bit. I find that the movement from the VE triggers the fry to eat more readily than a static suspension of yolk or other powdered fry foods.
I feed mine solely vinegar eels for the first week or so and then to microworms / BBS after that.

Good Luck!

[MerrittA]

Thanks for the advice guys!

So I have the 10 gallon tank ready with the male. I am feeding both male and female bloodworms, BBS and mysids. They are fat and happy. Haven't decided on the food for the fry. I am checking aquabid.com to find a deal on microworms and vinegar eels.

[MerrittA]

Okay, update. So I have released the female with the male. They spent the first hour looking for food with each other, then they completely ignored each other for two hours. Now, he seems to be trying to get her to follow him back to the bubble nest but she still wants to play around in the tank. I have read that this can take a few days, but how long do you guys usually wait until you pull the plug?

[MerrittA]

Oh, another update. Now he is chasing her around the tank.....

[PhishPhreek]

I have waited as long as 10 days if they are not tearing up each other. I use java moss for a hiding place and half a coffee cup to protect the nest.
but avoid feeding the adults in the spawn tank as the organic wastes wil ramp up the ammonia and could dammage the fry before the develope their lungs. I keep a few small sponge filters running in other tanks (preloaded with benificial bacteria) and after I remove the male I add one to the fry tank but I keep the flow rate as low as possible.

[MerrittA]

Nothing happening, the male has completely stopped fixing the bubble nest and the female ignores him. He has stopped trying to even display for her. They both look pretty depressed....

[Gapzero]

is the females white ovipositor showing? If not maybe she is too young or too old.

[MerrittA]

Here oviposter was showing and everything. I did figure out why they stopped caring, the stupid heater broke and was over heating the water. Their tank water was 90.6 degrees Fahrenheit, no wonder they stopped.... Will try again soon...