So You Thought You Was Done. :blink: No Keep Reading.

Your Work Starts. 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. Now the hard work begins.

Remove the Male. Their old man kept them from drowning. His job is done. Get him out. Some males will start eating their fry. (We’re assuming you already took the female out earlier -- after she spawned.)

Feed the Right Food. Since you took away dear old Dad, 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.

Feed them Infusoria. Breeders who start their baby bettas on infusoria 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.

Good Infusoria Foods. Feed your cultures one drop of:

· Infusoria starter powder, or

· Powdered eggs, or

· Powdered fish food, or

· Liquid fry food, or

· Pureed plant material, or

· Milk.

“Clone” the Best Culture. Once you get one good infusoria culture started, seed your other cultures with your best one. Get your infusoria cultures well established before you breed your bettas.

Pour into Tank. When feeding your fry, pour 80% of your best culture into their tank. (This is one reason why betta breeders spawn their breeders in half-filled tanks.) Re-feed your culture and refill it with aged water.

Feed Newly Hatched Shrimp. 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 infusoria. 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.

Test Your Eggs. Once again, start your hatching methods early so you know they work and you know your “eggs” (really cysts) will hatch for you.

Best Second Food. For best results, feed infusoria their first week and start them on brine shrimp their second week. They will also accept microworms at this stage.

Second Week. Your fry will form their air-breathing organs soon. Start your aeration (sponge filter) to prevent scum from covering the surface. This tough layer of scum could drown your fry.

Cleaning Tips. 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 airstone. You will not lose any fry this way.

Rearing Foods. Past the baby brine shrimp phase, you want to feed them something larger. Frozen brine shrimp and frozen blood worms work fine, as does frozen beef heart. Forget flake foods or pellets until they get quite a bit older. Many bettas refuse to convert to flakes and pellets. They are easy to convert when you have them in your rearing tank. When they see the other guys eating, they want their share also. Competition makes them hungrier.

Separating Sexes. Around two to four months, males start developing brighter colors and slightly longer fin extensions. If you keep lots of them together, they fight a little bit, but not much. Once you separate your males into individual containers, they start wanting to fight. Many females also get very aggressive when you separate them. And some females fight when kept with other females. These are guidelines, not rules.

Change Your Water. Weekly water changes will make your bettas grow faster. So will larger containers. So will adding a piece of Java lance fern. So will frequent SMALL feedings. You can make betta keeping a way of life if you’re not careful. We’ve seen it happen.