i dont have friends to ask and the lfs staff dont know much but he offered me artemia. is it brine shrimp? can i use it? the instuction is not written in english but the staff told me to just put it in water with aeration.
the fries are floating on top, no more sac. i gave them boiled eggyolk as big as 2 heads of match, dissolved it in a little water and pour it on tank. i feed the eggwhite to my biggest, wrytchwrock.
btw, how often should i feed the fries? and how often should i siphon the bottom of tank?
sorry for lots of qustions. i hope you not getting annoyed and if so, im very sorry. you guys gave me the courage to continue this. without your helps, i have already given up.
again, THANKS A LOT!!!!!

Yes, artemia are brine shrimp. You can make your own hatchery as I did when I had fry. There are instructions for a simple DIY hatcheries from 2 liter plastic bottles on the web if you search for brine shrimp hatchery.

Chickadee has posted a list of pages written by a very knowledgeable breeder of bettas. The post with the links is called A betta diary from a master IMHO, and is located in the betta forum as the first post you will find. I hope this helps. The link to the post is:

A Betta Diary from a Master IMHO

Please keep us informed about your progress. We've enjoyed your posts. Keep them coming!

is artemia and baby brine shrimp the same? can i feed them with artemia? when? they are4 days old. i removed the dead eggs. i put 1 fry in a jar. i just want to see if it can survive. i also add a glass of water in the tank. the 10gal tank is ready since yesterday. im giving them boiled eggyolk now.
sorry, i didnt notice im in the first page so i typed the same question thinking its not yet asked. i feel like my wife was the one who gave birth (shes about to give birth next week).

As fishfinder has said the artemia are what you are looking for to feed them with. I have kind of stayed out of the picture here as I find that she is offering you excellent advice and doing a fine job and I really do think that too many people giving you advice can confuse you. I would like also for you to try to take the time to read those posts that are at the start of the Betta Forum as I do think that if you do it will help you to see what another betta expert who has done this several times has to say.

I wish you well and think you have a great start. Please do not think that any questions or comments you are making are out of line or not needed. This is what we do here, help each other. If you need help that cannot be found from one of us that is what the big forum is about. There are a lot of us because our collective knowledge is here to help. That is the idea and we want you to ask any questions you may have.

The welfare of the fish and the ability to help those who care for them is our concern and our purpose. So please do not think you are bothering anyone.

Rose

i guess the fries are around 50pcs. i always clean the bottom with a syringe attached to a air tube with a baloon stick at the end. its really tiring but im enjoying it. i think i will not transfer the fry in the 10g. they are fine in there. this week, i will put an airstone in the fry tank. i think the spawning project of mine is successful. thanks to AQUARIUMFORUM.COM... and to all the guys here especially sir Jim, fishfinder, and CHICKADEE.

Yes it is tiring and I am aware the work will go on for about 3 months. For now you can leave them where they are but eventually they will have to be moved and the males seperated out into the jars or they will start to attack each other and the females. But for a bit yet you can get by with the 2.5 gallon tank being their home. It sounds like it is working so far and 50 fry is a very respectable first spawning especially when you had to remove both parents. Congratulations and also congratulations on the impending birth of your own child.

Try not to stress yourself over much on the work with the fish fry as you will soon have other things to be doing too. It is wonderful that you have all the new ones there at one time and it will be a busy house with a new baby and baby bettas at the same time.

Best of luck and we will be here for you.

Rose

the fries are still too small. i feed them boiled eggyolk only but im not sure if they are eating. im afraid they dont eat at all, thats why they are so tiny. i read that betta fries eat moving target like microwworm and bbs. can i start giving them artemia? im afraid they are too small to eat bbs. i hate to see their growth hinders by lack of nutrition. i can see them now swimming very fast and im having a hard time catching them when i siphon the bottom of the tank into a jar.
i just noticed you used SHE on fishfinder. you mean....

I am definitely a 'she'. And very happy to hear of your success. 50 is a good number of fry, you may lose some as time goes on. I hope you have lots of neighborhood children who will love their bettas.

Its very ingenious for you to use a syringe on airline tubing as a siphon. I always just sucked on the end to get the water flowing.

You should be able to start feeding newly hatched artemia for feedings. To begin with you have been feeding mostly the infusoria in your tank. That gives the fry something to eat. Artemia are very tiny, its easy to overfeed. Those who are not eaten will fall to the bottom of the tank after a few minutes. So siphon the bottom of the tank after each feeding so the water doesn't become fowled. Just remember, in the beginning the fry can eat only newly hatched artemia, which is why you want to keep two hatcheries going. Some advise starting the hatching one day apart and just keep alternating the hatching in your hatcheries.

Please continue to keep us posted about your progress, and about your new baby when he/she arrives.

before going to to lps to buy bbs, i search on the web about DIY hatcheries and i found out its a little complicated. if i will buy a pack of bbs, how long can i use it? how can i know if im harvesting the baby and not the shell? shell can be eaten and cause disease to the fry. dont want to risk the fry. i found a shop on the web where i can buy hikari first bites or liquifry, though the shop is far and not sure if they have stocks. which is better, hikari first bite or liquifry?

When you hatch the BBS, the shells float to the surface with the airstone which bubbles inside. So when you harvest them, you harvest them from the bottom of the water. There is a very simple DIY hatchery made from 2 liter pop bottles. The instructions are easy to follow, and it allows for you to harvest safely from the bottom. The packet of BBS should say how much to add per batch. There should be multiple batches in the packet. To begin with, you only feed freshly hatched shrimp. That means one hatching per day. Which is why you want 2 hatcheries going.

The liquifry and first bites are both excellent. The next food should be the BBS, they take a day or two to hatch, so you would want to start right away. After that the liquifry or the First Bites. Hopefully you have the BBS close by so you can get started. And don't worry, making the hatchery is not as complicated as it looks.

Perhaps Chickadee can give you an opinion of how long you can keep the fry on egg yolk. Usually, you would start the BBS or other food at day 5.

I think you could keep them on the egg yolk for up to a week but probably not much longer. Then they really need more than what they will be getting from the fat in the yolk. The extra nutrients found in the liquifry and the First Bites will help them develop and mature and are really needed so unless you are severely hampered from getting them I think the fry really need one or the other after day 7 but I am in total agreement that the preferable day would be day 5 to actually start the changeover to other foods they really need to be weaned off that egg yolk sooner than later.

Rose

at last! after a lot of searching and phonecalls, i finally got a pouch of hikari first bites and fbw. the petshop where i bought those feeds are quite far. but im really happy now that my fries will be getting enough nutrients. but can i give them fbw now? seems they are too small to eat fbw. thanks a lot for the advices.....


CHICKADEE and FISHFINDER are really GREAT!!!!!!

Frozen blood worms are too large at this point. Just keep them in the freezer for now. Just feed the First Bites, a very tiny amount goes a long way. If you have a plastic tooth pick, use the spatula shaped end to get a very fine coating of the First Bites and dip it in a cup of water. You can see how it spreads across the top of the water. If you put the toothpick into the water and very gently swish it around, you will see a little cloud of food, that will be best for now. That's just practice before you feed the fry. You can then throw out the water in the cup and try your first feeding of the fry. Try for a small cloud of food. A very tiny amount goes a very long way and the packet will last a very long time. Remember to seal up the packet after each use so the food doesn't spoil. Put in less than you think they need to begin with. It may take the fry a day or two to get used to the food. Feed the same amount of times that you have been feeding already.

hello! goodnews! i took the 2.5tank out to see it in daylight and found out that theres a lot of fries in there. i told my wife that they are around 70-80 but my wife objected saying that they were more than a hundred. we tried counting them but we thought it was impossible. but really a lot of fries in there. i feed them 6-7 times a day but in small quantity, taking care not to overfeed them. i clean the tank bottom twice a day. add some aged water after cleaning. i wake up in the middle of the night to give them some midnight snacks or to cover their tank with a piece of thick cloth when its raining or cold (tank already has a glass cover) to keep them warm. im just waiting for them to grow some more to be able to feed them fbw.
btw, when can i give them fbw? are mosquito wrigglers good for them? i would like to give the fbw to my new zen zou if it will take a long time for my betta fry to eat fbw.
also, the female is in good condition and eats a lot. when my wife put her jar besides the male, vertical marks are showing again and the male made a big bubble nest. i told my wife not to put the female beside the male when shes cleaning. im the one who is not yet ready for another spawning. lol...

Bloodworms are mosquito larvae frozen or freeze dried. They are the same but do not use the ones from nature as they are not processed and could spread disease to your fry. I realize the temptation is to save some money but please do not do it this way. They will not be able to eat the bloodworms for quite some time yet. I would say for a couple of months. You are going to have to wait patiently and I would not move the tank anymore with the water in it if at all possible. The chance of something happening and also the sloshing of the water when you move it is not good with the fry being so small. It could injure them at this stage. They are very fragile at this stage.

Rose

Is fbs frozen blood worms? If so, I'll bet Chickadee has the answer. I've actually never used frozen blood worms so my answer wouldn't be much help.

Congratulations on the size of your batch of fry!

thanks for the reply ladies. from now on i wont move the tank again. i will just give the frozen blood worms to my little zen zou. is hikari good enough until their 2nd-3rd month. are all the nutrients they need present in hikari especially protein. i want to give them something else that will boost their growth (no bbs).

Hikari is the best and most reliable brand that I know of for betta foods. They really know what they are doing and when you buy something with the Hikari brand on it I think you can be sure of its quality and ability to be good for your fish. They take special care in their processing to protect the quality of the foods and I trust them a lot. I think the fry will be okay through their first 8 weeks with the Hikari First foods for them After this you will need to see what their size is and if they are at least big enough to tell what their sex is and you have them seperated to the male and female jars and tanks then they need to be started on something more nutritious for them ... there are other things they can have then but if you feed them bloodworms at that time I am not sure they will be ready I think it should actually be the baby brine shrimp. I know you said none of that but that is unfortunately the thing that bettas are raised on and they need live foods to eat or I am afraid they will not eat. It is something about the action of the food that draws their attention to it. Let me do some more investigation to see if there is a substitute but most breeders that I know of have never tried anything else so I do not know that there is anything that is on record for it.

thanks chickadee, thanks fishfinder!
since i used hikari, the water is always clean. not like when i was using eggyolk. now i think i dont need to clean the bottom of tank twice a day. i clean it once a day but not much dirt. i just want to remove some water and put some fresh aged water. i think hikari first bite is really great.
i read from a member of a local website that mortality in their breeding is high. im worried this might happen to my fry. but as of now, i found only 2 dead fry. when i siphon the water, i let it pour in a wide but short transparent jar until it becomes half inch high. then, i would look closely into the water to see if i siphoned some fry(dead or alive). i would put the live one in a jar (i prepared 2). just incase anything happen to my tank...
i hope chickadee finds an alternative with bbs. how about culturing wrigglers away from home (to avoid mosquito)? is there hikari product that i can use after first bite?

There is a product that is excellent but I do not know if you have it there. It is not Hikari but I do use it on my bettas and it is specially made for young bettas but I do not know if they would eat it at that age but maybe by 2.5 months. It is made for bettas under the age of 6 months and it is pellet form and they should be big enough by then to eat it and I know my bettas love it but the problem is for you finding it.

Floating Pellet Betta Food: Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta PRO

This is the only substitute for the live foods that I know is made for fry and baby bettas. It is a complete food for them and the only thing you need to watch is not overfeeding with it. It has to be soaked before you feed it in some treated water (with your conditioner that removes the chlorine) and after about 5 minutes of soaking (no more than about 7 minutes) you feed the fish and after a couple minutes you remove what they have not eaten from the tank. It floats on the top of the water so it is not hard to remove and you only put in a small pinch and if they eat it all then add a bit more until they have all been fed. The pellets are VERY small and comes with a small spoon in the container to help you handle them.

The link I gave you above was just to show the product to you as I realize you cannot order it from there but it will help you find it. There are two types of this one is the PRO {pink lid) and the other is Betta FORMULA (blue lid). Be sure you are not getting FORMULA as it is a food for adult bettas and will NOT work until after they reach 6 months or older.

Rose