# # fry per batch



## krause the kid (Oct 11, 2008)

what is the range of the number of fry per batch. What percentage will survive. thanks John Krause


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## lowej82 (Nov 14, 2008)

there is a guy in our local reef club that just setup a clownfish breeding system, He had 2 fry survive past the 20 day mark, I would say as the breeder's experince grows so will the number of little ones that survive.

good luck.

sorry I guess I should have read the topic a little better, I have no clue on bettas


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## justintrask (Nov 15, 2008)

My wild plakats just bred and there were about 75 of them, 40 of which have survived past the 1 month mark. I have read that with each breeding attempt, the yield usually gets higher and higher. I've heard of betta spawns over 300


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## krause the kid (Oct 11, 2008)

wow thats amazing


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

Bettas are particularly difficult to get to mature without deformation though so if you breed them be sure you are aware that the work involved is going to be a lot more than if you were to breed other fish. For one thing the male fry will need to be captured and maintained in seperate containers all of which will demand daily water changes for the duration of your keeping them. This means hours of work and is why I do usually recommend to those who ask for my advice that the breeding be left to those who are:

1. Professionals ... they are really the best equipped and usually have staff help to assist with the proper care and maintenance of the fish.

2. Wildly devoted and well equipped ... there are some who are able but be aware that the preparation costs can be upwards of $1000. or more and you can end up with very little to show for it. I have known of professionals who have had many spawns where there were no fry or few who made it or even lost their breeding pair to some unfortunate circumstance. 

3. Bored and Rich and totally devoted ... Not that there is anything wrong with being any of those things but this is going to be a 24 hour a day job for most of the people who are starting out and it is going to take someone who REALLY wants to do it, has a burning total desire to do something with themselves, and has the resources that will be able to supply anything they need (like even help when they need it to save their sanity) 

Breeding bettas is like getting a new puppy or kitten. They are so darling when you first get them and it sounds like fun so you do it. Then the work starts and they soon lose their "fun" aspect. When you are faced with at least 3 months of daily water changes in all those containers and having to devote one or maybe more rooms in your home to nothing but this effort (for simple space sake) by the time you have 100+ containers for the male fry, a growth tank for the female fry that ideally should be over 50 gallons, and tanks for the parents, plus a quarantine tank for any little problem children that may need special care (females as the males are already seperated), a brine shrimp hatchery as that is all your fry will eat and they need to be alive or at least fresh or they will not touch them and any other tools and supplies that you need. It is considerable as well as remember that you have had to buy special foods and get a special set up for the spawning itself. You may as well put in a supply of some broad spectrum antibiotics that handle body damage. Not that it is certain but if you should have body damage to either of the parent fish and it is not fatal, you will not want to wait to treat it and risk the loss of your fish. 

Do not get me wrong, I am NOT saying do not breed bettas but be aware of what you are going into before you start the process. Know that there are going to be many days when you do not feel like doing all that work. There is not any assurance that any of the fish you will get, if you do luck out and have a good spawning, are going to be show quality. Most are not. Betta breeding is not a real money maker. Remember that they are sold everywhere and while most people really like them they do not want to pay a lot for them. If you intend to go on one of the online sites to sell them, then you have to think about the costs of packaging materials to mail or ship them. Shipping costs are continually rising and I think the business of shipping fish is going to go through a rough patch. A lot of the customers you may have had are going to be busy feeding their families or themselves and buying gasoline and other non-essential items like that (LOL) and will not have a lot of money to spend on fish and especially fish from a newcomer to the market. So if you really want to do this, at least do it with your eyes wide open and knowing that you are probably not going to make money at it, you are probably going to have failures, you may even lose your breeding pair or part of it. It can be rewarding personally if you want to simply see them spawned and grown, but please do not do it thinking that you will get rich and have all kinds of money as that will just disappoint you.

Thanks for listening.
Rose


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

I would add one more thought to what Chickadee said. That is emotional attachment to the fry. After you have spent so much time and effort raising the little girls and boys you become very attached to them. Selling or giving them away only to find out that they are DOA (dead on arrival) is pretty hard to take. The only batch of fry that I raised was an in memorium breeding for a coworker who was loved by all, and died suddenly on her way to work. It was for emotional healing, and I had the burning desire to give new life and hope to my work family. But I dreaded the day when someone would come to me with the news that their little fish had died. There was one unfortunate accident concerning a broken aquarium early on. But my coworker then suffered another loss. As did I. I got only 23 out of that batch. One was disabled. But was so well attended during her life that she lived for nearly two years. The rest all lived 1.5 - 2.5 years.

Okay, I want to add another thing as well. And that is the tough job of euthanasia. I couldn't do it. The little disabled girl should have been put down instead of raising her. Its called 'culling' and it takes some guts to do that when you care.


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

actually, almost all the fry will survive if you got proper food. lets say there is about 300 eggs. 230-250 frys out of 300 will survive if you got the proper food...which is infusoria, feed them infusoria after the egg sack of theirs is gone, don't feed bbs or microworm, still too large for half of the frys. then you can switch to micro or bbs after week 2. and make sure to use IAL(indian almond leaf), blk water extract, or atison spa to reduce the stress of the frys and also makes them more comfy in their home, and it the most important part of IAL or the other stuff i just listed...it drops the pH lvl and reduce the chance of any disease...


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

also forgot, siphon out all the the gunk on top of the surface from your breeding tank, believe or not, those can drown your fry's and also don't let air circulation on your tank, a slight touch of heavy air can kill your fry also...there is many more factors why so many of your guys fry's went dead...


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

Thank you for the tips Big One. My problem was a very low egg count, of which I lost 1/4. It was the surface tension, some of the fry couldn't break through it. I didn't think of siphoning the surface, only the bottom after feeding. The bubbles were weak purposefully for the tiny fry. Should I ever try again, I'll remember to siphon the top. As I recall (this was many years ago BTW), there were many fry congregated at the top of the water around the floating plants. Any idea how to siphon the top without siphoning out the fry?


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

just use a cup and slowly dip out the gunk on the surface...other techniques takes too much time and are a lot more difficult.


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

Aha! 
The easiest solutions are always the best. I never would have thought of that. Thank you!


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

no problem


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