katrina.hughes Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Ive only got 15 of mine left too :-( but the ones that are left seem to be doing fine... still a little on the small side though. Frustrating feeling aye! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Ive only got 15 of mine left too :-( but the ones that are left seem to be doing fine... still a little on the small side though. Frustrating feeling aye! My fry were that size at 2 months I was really bad with them :-? They're all grown up now. Well 5 of them are. The rest are missing pelvic fins and some have bad spines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 My theories to losing lots of fighters at this age - bacteria ammonia build up in the tank lack of properly developed ventrals when they start to come up for air cold air (pneumonia) insufficient feeding Bad development of ventral fins (as in no ventral fins or only one) water quality not good enough during development nippy young fighters will often take off anothers ventrals genetic (you can use a fish without ventrals and still produce perfect fish) There are probably another thousand theories out there but these are the ones I have, in the past, observed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicool Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Thank you Adrienne - any tips on how to stop losing them? I'm religious with water changes and recently did a 95% change when I noticed they started dying. I don't think ammonia is a problem. I also make sure there's always little wriggling worms on the bottom should they get hungry. What about tips on getting them switched onto frozen food instead of live? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 What about tips on getting them switched onto frozen food instead of live? Try decapsulated brine shrimp like I linked before. I'm not sure if Adrienne uses it, but a lot of other people on betta websites have suggested it. I went from microworms to decapsulated brine shrimp to flakes. Just slowly change the feedings. Every 6 feedings was decap shrimp but then I thinned it down to every feeding then started using flakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicool Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Try decapsulated brine shrimp like I linked before. I'm not sure if Adrienne uses it, but a lot of other people on betta websites have suggested it. I went from microworms to decapsulated brine shrimp to flakes. Just slowly change the feedings. Every 6 feedings was decap shrimp but then I thinned it down to every feeding then started using flakes Already bought it as soon as you said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Already bought it as soon as you said Good good I found it was really easily accepted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Yes I do use it but I use hatched bbs for several months. I find that too much decap and they tend to become belly sliders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilobite Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Is there any hope for belly sliders or should I just cull them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Is there any hope for belly sliders or should I just cull them? Culling is best for most deformed fish. Belly sliders do not recover, make room for the healthy fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilobite Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 My angel fish will be very pleased to hear that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicool Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Culling is best for most deformed fish. Belly sliders do not recover, make room for the healthy fish. A lot of mine spent a lot of time on their bellies but I think it's because they are looking for food? They all swim properly though at times. Are belly sliders ALWAYS on their bellies? They haven't learnt to swim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicool Posted November 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Yes I do use it but I use hatched bbs for several months. I find that too much decap and they tend to become belly sliders. Adrienne would you mind pointing me in the right direction for hatched bbs? Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 Adrienne would you mind pointing me in the right direction for hatched bbs? Thank you! You have to hatch it yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted November 15, 2010 Report Share Posted November 15, 2010 A lot of mine spent a lot of time on their bellies but I think it's because they are looking for food? They all swim properly though at times. Are belly sliders ALWAYS on their bellies? They haven't learnt to swim? Belly sliders are quite obviously deformed. I had Betta fry that skimmed along the bottom looking for food, these were not belly sliders. If you're not sure then just leave them until they're older and you're quite sure whether or not they're deformed. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrina.hughes Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Yay!! Just got another batch of eggs out of my dragon - hopefully a few more survive than my last batch... is it true too much BBS gives your babies swim bladder problems? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicool Posted November 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Yay!! Just got another batch of eggs out of my dragon - hopefully a few more survive than my last batch... is it true too much BBS gives your babies swim bladder problems? Congratulations! Yeah I read that in quite a few places as well. Apparently they fry gorge themselves on it which causes the problems.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamH Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Yay!! Just got another batch of eggs out of my dragon - hopefully a few more survive than my last batch... is it true too much BBS gives your babies swim bladder problems? Congrats! Variety is key when feeding any fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrina.hughes Posted November 16, 2010 Report Share Posted November 16, 2010 Thanks guys - will keep that in mind :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popsicool Posted November 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 My poor little babies, I have to watch some of them dying and I don't know what to do. It breaks my heart. They lie on the bottom, kind of on an angle/side with their mouths wide open and look like they are trying to breathe really hard. But they're still swimming around. Does that have anything to do with ventrals? Do some fish just produce fry with bad genes? I.e. since this batch seems to be dying off, I shouldn't mate the two parents again? Down to 13 now and another couple are doing the open mouth thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 Do some fish just produce fry with bad genes? I.e. since this batch seems to be dying off, I shouldn't mate the two parents again? I personally would never spawn a vieltail. But its up to preference. The fry of a more popular tail type, like a halfmoon, would be easier to sell or give away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katrina.hughes Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 A lot of my first batch did that too... still holding on to 15 though. My second batch have just hatched and the boy is doing a good job of keeping all his children in line, I'd say there's a good 150 bubs at tho mo (I know it won't end up being that many though... oh well, we can only but try :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilobite Posted November 17, 2010 Report Share Posted November 17, 2010 aw no some parents can have a genetic mutation that is passed down to its offspring. but I've read water quality is the major cause in betta fry death. missing ventrals can either be from fry sitting on the bottom and the bacteria on the ground stunting the growth of ventrals (http://www.bcbetta.com/fry.html) or it could be genetic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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