Once
Betta fry are free swimming, swimming horizontally, you
are going to have to feed them several times a day. The
food you choose will have to be something that will be
appropriate for their mouth size as well as something that
they will accept. There are several first food choices
which include Infusoria/GreenWater, boiled egg yolk, microworms,
vinegar eels and freshly hatched baby brine shrimp.
I nfusoria
or GreenWater
is
an old fashioned name for aquatic microorganisms such as
Protozoa and unicellular algae. I have my own Greenwater
that I make from RO water with live phytoplankton and
minerals. I have it set up into 2 liter bottles with
an air pump and plant light. I keep containers of
greenwater in the fridge for later use. You can get
Live Phyto starters from Aquabid or eBay.
Boiled
Egg Yolk
is
another first food choice that is excellent for fry because
it is an excellent source of all the nutrients that they
will need to grow. It is also very easy to prepare and
administer to the fry. Mash up prepared egg yolk with a fork
mixed with some of the aquarium water and take a small
syringe or pipette and squeeze a small amount of the yolk mixture into
the fry tank. You will however have to be sure to siphon up
all excess egg yolk from the bottom of the tank later on as
it will quickly breed bacteria.
Microworms
are
my personal choice for very first fry foods. But you must
have a culture started weeks prior to putting your breeding
pair together. Microworms are cheap, convenient and easy to
culture. For more microworm info check out this site
Micro
worms.
Also check out the terrific article on Microworms by
Echosaisis Clark
here.
Vinegar
Eels
like
microworms are excellent fry foods but are a little more
difficult to harvest, but very easy to culture. Where
microworms sink to the bottom of the tank for fry to peck at
as they wish, Vinegar Eels will glide around through the
water and make the fry “work” for their meal. Here
are some resources you can check out for vinegar eels:
The
Bug Farm , Wayne
Schmidt , The
California Betta Society , LFS
Cultures , Aquarticles
Baby
Brine Shrimp
is what is used most often here for fry first food. Let me
clarify that I used freshly hatched Baby Brine Shrimp and
not frozen Baby Brine Shrimp.
I also use Instant Baby Brine Shrimp (but it is more
expensive and goes bad after a few weeks).
You must consider the time it will take to hatch the
Baby Brine Shrimp, usually 24 hours, into consideration so
that you don’t have starving fry. Since I work with small
spawns I use
San
Francisco
Bay’s
Shrimpery.
All
I do is fill the little cup in the kit with water from the
fry tank and when it fills with the shrimp, pour it into the
tank, simple.
I also acquired a neat new gizmo that I really like from
Brine
Shrimp Direct.
By
the time the fry reach 2 weeks you can begin to introduce
some dry foods. Do not stop feeding the first foods however
you will want to alternate and see how they accept the dry
food. As the
fry continue to get bigger you can add more variety to their
diet and begin offering the same foods that you feed your
adults such as frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp,
frozen daphnia, etc.
Maintaining a
consistent temperature in your fry tank is very important
for healthy fry and their survival. Fluctuations in
water temperature can put them into shock and/or kill them.
Try to make sure they get some type of light at least a few
hours daily. You also want a nice fitting lid on your
container to maintain humidity inside of the tank/container.
Something that is important for the development of their
labyrinth organ. Keep the water clean by removing any
uneaten food from the tank. If you need to perform
water changes, an easy way to do it is by using a container
(to catch the water being removed), some airline tubing,
suction cups to hold the airline in place (if you don't want
to stand and hold it yourself) and an airstone or sponge
filter. I use the sponge filter for my larger tanks
and start siphoning in reverse into the container. For
my smaller containers which have smaller fry in them I use a
glass dish to catch the siphoned water (that way it's easier
to see fry). And I use the airline tubing with an
airstone on the end (airstone end in the container with fry)
that keeps fry from getting sucked out of the tank.
Then to replace the water, make sure it's the same
temperature and siphon it in very slowly the same way
(through the sponge filter or airstone). Frequent
water changes, frequent feedings and a consistent
temperature will result in healthier fry that grow quickly.
After a while
when my fry begin to put some size on and I have fry that
vary in size (some noticeably bigger fry than others).
I will separate the larger fry into a separate container
from the smaller ones. I have witnessed larger fry
chowing on smaller fry too many times to leave them in
together, despite frequent feedings. You'll notice
your smaller babies will catch up in size quicker if you
separate as well.
Please keep in
mind that you will eventually find out what works best for
you when breeding bettas. And that no one particular
individual has all the right advice, despite how long
they've been breeding fish. Don't be afraid to try
something else if advice you've been given does not work for
you. And don't be discouraged if the advice you've
been given doesn't work for you. Every breeder has
their own way of doing things and it takes time to find out
what will work best for you. Don't be intimidated by
seasoned breeders who brag about how quickly their fish grow
to a showable size or how successful they are at breeding,
or that they have HUGE spawns every time they breed.
Trust me, as I stated in the breeding section, once you've
been doing this for a while you'll realize that some people
exaggerate (probably for personal reasons). You will
see just how much time is involved in the day to day to
maintain just one spawn, much less several and you'll be
able to spot exaggerated tales easily. Either way,
hang in there and don't sweat it. Try new things and
don't be afraid to ask for new advice. In the end the
reward is magnificent!!
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