Inglorious Bettas
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Blog
  • Spawning Bettas
    • Let's Talk Bettas!
    • Setting up the Fish Room
    • Indian Almond Leaf (IAL)
    • Fish Photography for Spawn Logs
    • Selective Breeding
    • Spawning Set-ups
    • How Bettas Spawn
    • Fry Foods
    • Grow-out Tanks
    • Jarring
    • Maintenance of Adults
    • Culling
  • Spawn Logs
    • Metallic Crowntail Plakats >
      • CTPK Spawn Journal >
        • CTPK color 031814
        • CTPK form 042014
        • CTPK form 020815
        • CTPK color 020815
        • CTPK color 072115
        • CTPK combo 030116
        • CTPK combo 011017
    • Red/Yellow Traditional Plakats >
      • Genealogical Chart
      • RY Trad PKs Spawn Journal >
        • RY Trad 112512 Thanksgiving
        • RY Trad 040613
        • RY Trad 072013
        • RY Trad/Show 020114
        • RY Trad 031814
        • RY Trad 072115
        • RY Trad 080715
    • Crowntail Doubletails >
      • Genealogical Chart
      • CTDT Spawn Journal >
        • CTDT 051812
        • CTDT 081412
        • CTDT 102012
        • CTDT 011213
        • CTDT 021413 Valentine's Day
        • CTDT 050313
        • CTDT 081313
        • CTDT 021414 - Valentine's Day - Repeat Spawn
    • Black Traditional Plakats >
      • Black Trad Plakat Spawn Journal >
        • Black Trad 042014
        • Black Trad 072414
  • Fish Shows
    • Show Reports
    • How to Send Bettas to a Show
    • What Does it Take to Become an IBC judge?
  • Wilds & Killifish
    • Betta rubra
    • Elassoma species affinis evergladei Elberta, Alabama
    • Heterandria formosa
    • Blue Gularis "Niger Delta" (Aphyosemion sjoestedti)
    • Betta burdigala
    • Blue Gularis "Loe" (Aphyosemion sjoestedti)
    • Betta smaragdina
    • Aphyosemion bitaeniatum Ijebu-Ode
  • Betta Science
    • Betta Education
    • Betta genetics: color and form
    • Sex determination in bettas
    • Betta behavior
    • Betta spawning
  • Links

Foster Dads

1/22/2014

1 Comment

 
A successful experiment to get a foster dad to take care of abandoned eggs!
Picture
Foster Dad (CTDT male) with some of his adopted children!
Picture
The idiot in question...
Picture
Big Mama!
I set up my first spawn in a long while last Thursday. A brother and sister spawn from Spawn 112512 in an effort to produce intense yellows out of two reds carrying yellow. Although the pair are a little older, they are robust and in very good health. I've always had pretty good luck spawning older fish, even if they are virgins, as long as they are healthy.

Everything went according to plan - female was interested and developed eggs while sequestered in the hurricane glass, and the male displayed ferociously while building a small bubblenest under an IAL. Next, when I released the female, the male gave chase. With minimal fin damage a couple days later, the two wrapped. I was a little worried that the female was a tad large for the male, but he was acrobatic and they had a small ton of fertilized eggs.

This is where the rot starts to set in. The male appeared to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of eggs, and started to panic. His nest dissolved, and he scattered the eggs all over the bottom of the 10 gallon tank while attempting to collect them. Sometimes he wouldn't even spit them in the nest - he seemed to panic and spit them in the middle of the tank!

I decided to take action. Using an eyedropper, I carefully transferred a few eggs into the jars of males I had successfully bred in the past, and that had bubblenests. The first male ate the eggs, but the second male...he seems a bit confused, and then carefully scooped up the eggs and placed them in his nest. Immediately he assumed the guarding posture of the nesting male!

The poor red male seemed to give up and start eating a lot of the eggs. I decided to switch the red male with the foster male, along with his substantial bubblenest, into the spawn tank. The look on his face when he saw all those eggs lying about! He immediately began collecting every single egg, and even checked every corner. He didn't place all of them in the nest, although it seemed like a majority of them were successfully fertilized - I guess that a lot of them had stopped developing and he culled many of them. 

This morning there were a few tails, and I hope that there are even more later on. The foster male is diligent in his father duties. I am planning to re-spawn the red pair this weekend and to switch the foster male in as soon as the egg laying and wrapping is done.
1 Comment
Sally-Jo
1/8/2018 08:55:28 pm

my foster dad ate all of my halfmoon eggs and now i could kill him. How do I prevent that from happening again with the same male? if its possible.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Betta Science!
    Fishroom Tours
    Fish Talks
    Local Fish Store Visits
    News
    Show Stuff
    Spawn Updates
    Special
    Tips And Tricks
    Wilds

    Archives

    October 2020
    August 2017
    July 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    RSS Feed

Copyright © 2017