Do fry betta breath oxygen from the water ?

Question

Do betta fry breath oxygen from the water for first couple weeks

Answer 1

bettas only breath from the air when the water is low on oxygen..
I doubt the labyrinth organ on baby fries are developed so yeah, they would breath oxygen from the water for a few weeks at least.

Answer 2

The prior posters are wrong, wrong, wrong. Adult betta like many labyrinth fish have non function gills. They can drown if they can't reach the surface. I believe the fry use gills, but I've not read any supporting authority from that confirms this.

http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/modules/zmagazine/article.php?articleid=46

"Bettas must have access to the surface of the water to breathe. They can actually drown without this access. Studies have shown that a Betta with its Labyrinth organ removed, even in oxygen saturated water, will die."

It really doesn't matter as a tank for fry needs a sponge filter, or the like to provide biological filtration. Aeration is a side effect.

Answer 3

Bettas breathe oxygen from the water all their lives, they breathe from the atmosphere when O2 is low in the water.

The babies don't develop the anabantoid chamber (labyrinthe) in their heads for about 4-6 days. During that first week, you need to aerate the water for them to breathe and while the chamber is forming you need to aerate to break up any surface film that may contaminate their developing breathing apparatus (labyrinthe).

Betta fry (babies) are very delicate and need to be kept at about 78-82 degrees to ensure them a good chance at survival. Bettas are from southeast Asia and need warm (74-80 degree) water anyway. Keeping them in unheated bowls or tanks is a sure way to shorten their lives.

In the wild, they live 5-6 years, in our "care", they are lucky to make it to 3 years.