I have had so much trouble getting my betta macs to hold full term.For those of you who do not know,betta macrostoma is a mouthbrooding species.These guys breed pretty well,and and usually on a regular basis.Pair one,a related pair,the female is usually holding a few eggs,as for some reason the male decides he doesnt want the last batch after wrapping.Well,two days after spawn the male swallowed which is strange as he usually holds for at least four days.The female still had a mouthfull.

I netted her and gently held her in my hand over a strainer.Using a pipette,I squirted water behind her gills which caused her to open her mouth.I was successful in getting ten eggs from her this way.I then gently released her back to the main tank.

I made a haphazard egg tumbler out of a spice bottle,a net who graciously sacrificed itself to the cause,airline tubing,air pump,and a control valve.( I will share a DIY on this in a bit.)

Sadly two eggs were busted as I wasnt exactly gentle when doing the fine tuning.And six of them fungussed over.yesterday I was about to pull the very last two as I didnt think they would hatch.Thats when I noticed eyes!A few hours later I saw little tails!

So now I have two tiny bouncy baby betta macs!As I promised several people,I get a video of the tumbler with the babies bouncing about.

MVI_0003-1.mp4 video by majerah1 - Photobucket

__________________
http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Oh how cool bev that is sooo neat! Thanks for sharing this with us! I know how long you've waited to have bebeh macs and I'm THRILLED for you! Cant wait to watch the lil ones grow!!!

__________________
"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin