J & J Bettas

The first week 

So you now have 100 or more baby bettas that are going to be hungry!  Their egg yolks sustained them for the first few days, but now they need food.  Hopefully you already started a culture of microworms and/or vinegar eels so you will have plenty to feed your little babies as they are too small at this stage to eat Baby Brine Shrimp (BBS).  I usually stick with vinegar eels for the first three days (they are a little smaller than microworms) and then start adding some microworms for the larger fry. I slowly increase the amount of microworms in each feeding and decrease the amount of vinegar eels.  Feed them 3-4 per day, but only small amounts as left over food will quickly break down and spoil your water.  A good rule of thumb is that if they finish all their food within 45 minutes or so, increase the amount a little bit, and if there is some left over at the next feeding decrease the portion size.  If at the next feeding they have a lot of food left over in the tank just skip that feeding and resume adding food at the next one, at a reduced amount.  For this first week the best thing you can do for your fry is not overfeed them, so that their water stays clean.  Try to avoid doing any water changes or adding any water for this first week as the fry are very sensitive to any changes in their water chemistry.  It is not uncommon to find dead fry at this age as it is usually just the weak or deformed fry that are dying off.

Week 2 

            At this point your fry should be eating mostly microworms, but I always add a few vinegar eels in at least a couple of the feeding to ensure the smaller fry have something to eat, and to keep a little variety in their diet.  You can also now start changing a little of their water (about 10%) every few days using aged water that has been treated to remove the chlorine and is EXACTLY the same temperature as their tank water.  Make a siphon out of airline tubing threaded through a straw at one end, to make it easier to handle, and use that to remove waste from the bottom of the tank (being careful not to suck up the fry).  This, by the way, is much easier said then done, so siphon into a clear or light-colored bucket and use a turkey-baster to recover and release back into their tank any of the fry that accidentally get sucked up (and trust me, no matter how careful you are you will always get one or two).  Replace the water you removed, slowly, so as to disturb the fry as little as possible.   I often find that I lose a few fry at every water change, so be diligent and do everything slowly and carefully.  It is important to keep your water quality good, as poor water quality and high levels of ammonia have been linked to missing ventrals.

Weeks 3-4 

            Your fry should now be big enough that they can eat BBS.  Make sure you get your eggs from a reputable source that has a good hatch-rate and follow the supplier's hatching instructions.  I keep one or two hatching setups going at any time, depending on how many spawns I have to feed.  Although I find that once I start feeding BBS the growth of my fry seems to explode, I still feed microworms every 2^nd or 3^rd feeding to ensure variety in their diet.  You will also begin to notice a size differential between some of the fry, but this is a normal occurrence, and in the end most of them will catch up.  You can also now start adding twice as much water as you remove during water changes so that you slowly begin to fill up the tank and increase the amount of growing room your fry have.  If you started with a 10g tank you should not have to move your fry to larger quarters until they are 6-7 weeks old, depending on the size of your spawn.

Weeks 5-6 

            The fry continue to grow and get stronger and they are now really beginning to look like bettas.  At this stage they should be strong enough that any dead fry are cause for concern, so keep an eye out for any signs of diseased or sick fry.  On the positive side, you may be able to catch glimpses of their developing color and patterns, and they are developing distinct personalities.  As they get bigger it is important to up your water changes to 20% every other day as young fish release a hormone into that water that inhibits their growth and the growth of their siblings.  Regular water changes to remove some of the hormone will help to counteract the effects of this and keep your fry growing rapidly.

Week 6-7 

            Depending on your spawn size you should now be considering moving your spawn to a larger tank to grow out.  I do not like netting young fish so instead I siphon out the fry with a large tube and transfer them and their water to a 25 or 30 gallon tank.  The fry are dazed a little at first from their trip down the tube, but I find that they return to normal swimming quite quickly.  I slowly and gently pour them, and their water, into their new tank and to fill it without shocking the fry too much I slowly add 2-3 gallons of water a day until it is full.  Most of them should now be big enough to start eating a variety of foods including white worms, cut up frozen blood worms and finely chopped frozen beef heart, as well as finely ground flake food.  Remember that the fry release a growth inhibiting hormone into the water and the higher the concentration the slower the development, so bi-weekly 50% water changes are necessary to maximize growth.  I have done up to 50% every other day when I really want to get the most out of a spawn.

Weeks 8-11 

            At this time your young bettas may begin to spar a little so you will have to keep your eyes open for any scrappy youngsters and jar them - remember nips in fins at this age may mean they never grow in properly.  It is usually the larger fry that are the ones that are scrapping and removing them will give some of the smaller ones a chance to catch up.  Generally the females can stay together in the larger tank together until they are ready to go to their new homes, but any that are over-aggressive should be treated like the males and jarred.  Remember to keep the jars the males are in very clean - the cleaner the water the better the growth - and keep up with 25% weekly or bi-weekly water changes in the female tank.  From here on out your bettas will continue to grow until they are ready for new homes, and congratulations are in order for successfully raising your spawn!