Post by starlight on Apr 28, 2004 23:44:18 GMT -5
he became a BOY!
Backgound info:
When I ask experienced breeders about sexing bettas, they seem to agree on one thing. At some point in the past they either sold a young male or female and it turned out to be the other sex. Or they bought what they thought was a male or female and it turned out to be the opposite. I've never had any problem sexing my small, compared to pro-breeders' large spawns.
========================================
I've mentioned my 1/26/04 spawn before. They're 13 1/2 weeks old and they are soo cute. When they were about one month old I put three into a 2 gallon tank. It was filtered/ Jr. heater with a huge clump of Java Moss from the fry tank. The transition to the 2 G was smooth as glass. I removed nearly 2 gallons of water from the fry tank and put it in the new 2 gallon. I used the fry tank filter as well. After the tank ran for a few weeks, I put in a new second filter which quickly was cycled.
For a few days the little presumed males got a long fairly well. The most aggressive immediately showed himself. He was the bottom bully, any food there was his, no matter how much he had to overeat to prove it. He showed the slightest color first (steel blue) and only his henchman (who looked like the bully but had a slimmer body) could eat safely or show color. These two chased the more timid female? away. I observed her carefully to make sure she was eating and noticed that she was smart and always got her share to eat. When she got a little bigger, I noticed that she'd chase and give it back to the bully from time to time.
The 3 fry grew nicely and they seemed to develop an understanding. One day I fed them and they were all over each other waiting for the food to drop. The were almost like little kittens. I thought this is wonderful, no fin rips, no damage, I have to tell the guys on HB about this. I thought that I had achieved a perfect equilibrium. For two days it looked like Betta Heaven. Unfortunately the next day I noticed tiny fin splits on the docile fish, then the henchman. I looked at them a few hours later and the bully had tiny nip marks. They usually heal within hours on fry! I put two dividers in the tank and divided the Java. Each compartment was at least 1/3 Java.
The fry fought through the dividers. The docile female went into a compartment with the filter. I noticed when she was little and the other two chased her away from food, she ate stuff from the filter. Even if she had her belly frull of grindals, she patroled the filter, snacking on things.
The only problem was the bully didn't look like a male anymore. The henchman didn't either and for a few weeks they were all striped up. I was speaking to an experienced friend and told her that he has stripes. She didn't offer me any encouragement and said "that's a bad sign"
I took a close look at the three females?, Two were wearing stripes most of the time. The other a herringbone patterned docile female. They were all healthy and good sized. Their fins were small, well developed and showing halfmoon promise. Their color was non existent. The breeding was sibling to sibling, halfmoon parents both were steel blue. Their parents were steel blue and you'd expect the fry to be steel as well. I felt I needed to separate them to each to develop properly. I set up three tanks. If you've been following this story this far, you probably know I used the water they were in to get the tanks started. I cut up some mature filter and threw it in as well. Their Java filled 1/3 of their new containers. That was exactly one week ago.
At first the little bettas seemed blue. They loved playing with their sibs but could no longer swim with them and attack them. Within a day or two they realized they could still carry on with each other through their containers. They soon learned the wiggle dance and that doing silly betta things could get my attention.
Two days ago I noticed something that grabbed by attention. The "bully" was now colored up steel blue, he carried himself as a male and his finage looked like a male. I thought about posting this but realized that I wasn't 100% sure that he was a male. I thought if thats a female, the fins were outrageous. A friend was over yesterday and I started to tell him about the bully. We went over to see him...and then I saw it. He had built the cutest bubblenest. The tiniest bubbles I've ever seen. He built it along the side of the tank where the female is. He's this -------- long, extremely promising halfmoon tail with really nice ribbing in his caudal fin, just like his father. He has perfect coloration and maintains it all the time.
He's such a handsome little boy, filled with attitude!
Backgound info:
When I ask experienced breeders about sexing bettas, they seem to agree on one thing. At some point in the past they either sold a young male or female and it turned out to be the other sex. Or they bought what they thought was a male or female and it turned out to be the opposite. I've never had any problem sexing my small, compared to pro-breeders' large spawns.
========================================
I've mentioned my 1/26/04 spawn before. They're 13 1/2 weeks old and they are soo cute. When they were about one month old I put three into a 2 gallon tank. It was filtered/ Jr. heater with a huge clump of Java Moss from the fry tank. The transition to the 2 G was smooth as glass. I removed nearly 2 gallons of water from the fry tank and put it in the new 2 gallon. I used the fry tank filter as well. After the tank ran for a few weeks, I put in a new second filter which quickly was cycled.
For a few days the little presumed males got a long fairly well. The most aggressive immediately showed himself. He was the bottom bully, any food there was his, no matter how much he had to overeat to prove it. He showed the slightest color first (steel blue) and only his henchman (who looked like the bully but had a slimmer body) could eat safely or show color. These two chased the more timid female? away. I observed her carefully to make sure she was eating and noticed that she was smart and always got her share to eat. When she got a little bigger, I noticed that she'd chase and give it back to the bully from time to time.
The 3 fry grew nicely and they seemed to develop an understanding. One day I fed them and they were all over each other waiting for the food to drop. The were almost like little kittens. I thought this is wonderful, no fin rips, no damage, I have to tell the guys on HB about this. I thought that I had achieved a perfect equilibrium. For two days it looked like Betta Heaven. Unfortunately the next day I noticed tiny fin splits on the docile fish, then the henchman. I looked at them a few hours later and the bully had tiny nip marks. They usually heal within hours on fry! I put two dividers in the tank and divided the Java. Each compartment was at least 1/3 Java.
The fry fought through the dividers. The docile female went into a compartment with the filter. I noticed when she was little and the other two chased her away from food, she ate stuff from the filter. Even if she had her belly frull of grindals, she patroled the filter, snacking on things.
The only problem was the bully didn't look like a male anymore. The henchman didn't either and for a few weeks they were all striped up. I was speaking to an experienced friend and told her that he has stripes. She didn't offer me any encouragement and said "that's a bad sign"
I took a close look at the three females?, Two were wearing stripes most of the time. The other a herringbone patterned docile female. They were all healthy and good sized. Their fins were small, well developed and showing halfmoon promise. Their color was non existent. The breeding was sibling to sibling, halfmoon parents both were steel blue. Their parents were steel blue and you'd expect the fry to be steel as well. I felt I needed to separate them to each to develop properly. I set up three tanks. If you've been following this story this far, you probably know I used the water they were in to get the tanks started. I cut up some mature filter and threw it in as well. Their Java filled 1/3 of their new containers. That was exactly one week ago.
At first the little bettas seemed blue. They loved playing with their sibs but could no longer swim with them and attack them. Within a day or two they realized they could still carry on with each other through their containers. They soon learned the wiggle dance and that doing silly betta things could get my attention.
Two days ago I noticed something that grabbed by attention. The "bully" was now colored up steel blue, he carried himself as a male and his finage looked like a male. I thought about posting this but realized that I wasn't 100% sure that he was a male. I thought if thats a female, the fins were outrageous. A friend was over yesterday and I started to tell him about the bully. We went over to see him...and then I saw it. He had built the cutest bubblenest. The tiniest bubbles I've ever seen. He built it along the side of the tank where the female is. He's this -------- long, extremely promising halfmoon tail with really nice ribbing in his caudal fin, just like his father. He has perfect coloration and maintains it all the time.
He's such a handsome little boy, filled with attitude!
Glad to hear you figured it out though.