The Siamese fighting fish, or betta fish, is one of the most popular fish available in pet stores today. They are brightly coloured and graceful, yet relatively easy to care for. If you buy a male and a female betta, you can breed them and raise the betta fry, to possibly sell. Raising betta fry, however, can be much trickier than caring for an adult betta.
- Baby bettas hatch from their eggs in 24 to 48 hours. They live on the food stored in their yolk sacs until they become free-swimming fry. You’ve had it pretty easy up to now. Your job starts in earnest – feeding them the right kinds of food to keep them alive. Hopefully, you started on this project a few weeks ago.
- Breeders who start their baby bettas on infusorians usually rear 90% of their spawns – some 400 to 600 babies. Get your cultures started at least two weeks before you set up your breeders. Use non-aerated quart jars half filled with aged water.
- Once you get one good infusorians culture started, seed you’re other cultures with your best one. Get your infusorians cultures well established before you breed your bettas.
- Betta breeders who start their betta fry on newly hatched brine shrimp will rear spawns about half the size (in numbers) of those who start theirs on infusorians. Frozen baby brine shrimp just don’t cut it. Really tiny betta fry operate on instinct only. If their food (prey) does not twitch, they usually ignore it.
- Add large snails to consume any uneaten food. Siphon out any crud starting to build up. Dirty water encourages the growth of velvet a nasty parasite you do not want to encounter. Betta fry that catch velvet rarely survive. Do frequent water changes. Unhook your sponge filter and siphon your water out thru an air stone
- Weekly water changes will make your bettas grows faster. So will larger containers. So will adding a piece of Java lance fern. So you will have to start frequent feedings. You can make betta keeping a way of life if you’re not careful.
Observe the above steps and enjoy the happiness of raising your betta fish. It is in your hand if the number of fishes in your tank shoots up or drops down.
