Quest for plakat fry

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Demeter32

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If anyone has been following my betta progress, you will know that I've tried breeding bettas before. The most recent would be with my CT pair and trying to pair my double tailed plakat with a compatible female.

I think I've finally gotten somewhere now. On Saturday (9-23-17) my male plakat finally spawned with a female plakat. She wasn't the one I wanted to breed to him but the other female wasn't very interested. Because I've tried breeding this male before and I know he is quite aggressive, I had the two females in together. This seemed to work as both females only had a couple tears each.

Male (Otabek)
IMG_1597[1].JPG


Female (mom) who is a more natural colored plakat. This is when she was younger so she looks much better than this.
IMG_1380[1].JPG


Female who I wanted to get eggs from. A supposed koi plakat, but not really koi.
IMG_1681[1].JPG



Otabek neglected the nest while doing the deed and I only saw maybe 20-30 eggs clumped up in a few bubbles. I thought for sure he was going to eat them. He got back to work and make a small nest the next day. I checked last night and saw nothing in the nest so I figured he had eaten them.

I checked this morning and found a few wigglers here and there, doesn't look like many but who knows how many there really are. He seems to be taking care of them well enough.
IMG_1725.JPG

IMG_1727.JPG



The tank isn't perfect, it is a full 10gal with pool sand, a few plants and a handful of oak leaves. I wasn't really planning to breed them but the timing was right and the bettas were ready. I will be moving a seasoned sponge filter in when the fry are free swimming. There's plenty of micro worms and a little culture of infasoria on standby. Otabek might still decide to eat them but he's being good so far.
 
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buy the way how do you know if they are ready to breed

I had been "conditioning" Otabek with all sorts of frozen foods (for the loaches in his tank). The female was also getting fed quality foods and she was fat with eggs. I let her see the male for a bit and she started getting the vertical bars as well as flaring back at the male, a sure sign of willingness to breed.
 
I haven't counted more than a dozen at one time, but so far so good. I think the fry will be free swimming in another day, some of them are already sitting horizontal rather than nose up. I've turned off the filter that was on the opposite end, past the divider. Once they are free swimming and Otabek is back in his own tank I'll add the sponge filter and start feeding.
 
Baby photos?
 
Tomorrow maybe, I'm already in bed and too lazy to go upstairs to snap a few pics :p
 
Looks for down vote button LOL.
 
If you look really hard right in front of the roundest larger bubble middle right, you can see one of the fry, then 2 others just below it. I got as far as 14 this time and all are sitting horizontally, one was even swimming around a bit. I think it's time for Otabek to be moved and the filter to be gently put in. The plan is lots of plants and oak leaves + infusoria. Then micro worms. There should be enough micro organisms for the few little fish to grow large enough for micro worms, which I have no shortage of.

Betta fry.JPG
 
More fry pictures. They're eating and swimming around more often. I've counted up to 9 at one time which is good considering there's less than 20 in a 10gal tank. I've done 2 water changes so far and accidentally sucked up 2 last time. They were fine, probably. I used a straw to gently place them back in the tank.

They actually look like fish now, they've got really tiny pectoral fins.
betta fry 10-4-17 A.JPG

betta fry 10-4-17 B.JPG
IMG_1805.JPG
 
:sad:i miss breeding fish. it is always so cool to watch the whole process happen and be part of there little lives
 
I agree, raising the little guys makes you appreciate them all the more. I'm working on getting my BN plecos to breed but so far I've got nothing. Part of the problem lies in having only one female...
 

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