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| spawning commences around 3pm friday |
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| ,,,,,,,spawning continues |
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| can we please get this right? |
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| EGGS! Do you see the eggs? |
Well here we are on page 2 and the news is good. This morning I had my doubts
that things were going to work out. I was planning on showing failures on these pages as well as successes, you know EVERYONE
has failures from time to time.
It is friday at around 3pm. Just over 24 hours since the bettas were actually put together.
Spawning has started and it is humurous. The female's size is a bit of a problem and they seem to be having a problem getting
into the traditional position.
Typically the female assumes a perpendicular position to the male at his side and he wraps
around her and they flip upside down and quiver for a moment while eggs and sperm are released. They stay in this position
for a moment or two, usually the male regains composure before the female and collects eggs and puts them into his nest.
In this case, the female would go to the male's side he would flip and she would kind of
back away from the male as he rolled upside down and quivered. She would look puzzled as he fertilized the water. Eventually
they got the hang of it and several hours later we had a nest full of eggs.
She's none the worse for wear,,a bit of torn fins which will of course heal in due time.
I will leave her in the tank with him,,she will stimulate him to take better care of the nest and eggs and because she
is a potential threat his defensive mechanisms will be enhanced by her presence.
If she were in worse shape I might be persuaded to remove her but under the present circumstances
I won't.
The eggs should hatch in 24 to 36 hours and we will take it up from there.
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| Proud papa with eggs |
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| He is chasing the little babies everywhere |
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| it never ends,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, |
If you've never seen a nest full of baby bettas you're missing quite
a site. It's not for the faint of heart. Imagine all of the eggs coming to life and bouncing down out of the nest. That's
exactly what happens.
The eggs develop tails as they hatch and they wiggle down out of the nest and start
zooming all over the place. The male's job of course, is to place each one back into the nest,,it is a non stop never ending
chore. Where does the patience come from?
It is saturday evening and the eggs have hatched and our male is busy doing his chore
just as he should. The female is still in the tank and has shown an interest. This could backfire and cause a catastrophe,,she
could start eating the babies,,,he could start eating the babies,,or she could actually start HELPING him,,I've seen that
happen.
I will no doubt pull the parents out tomorrow,,depending on how far alng the babies
are.
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| What motivates these fish? |
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| babies, babies, and more babies |
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| How many will I actually raise? |
It is sunday morning and the babies are EVERYWHERE. The male is still
herding them,,they are not quite ready to be left alone. I like them to be free swimming and eating before he is taken out.
He has been successfull at keeping the female at bay,,they will both no doubt come out tonite.
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