my baby bettas are sooo small....?

Question

my baby bettas are so small... i wonder if thehre is any thing wrong with them..... they are 2 months and a few weeks old but they are not even a centimeter yet.... i think they are that small because when they were first born i wasn't sure what to feed them (i was anewbie to breeding) and just crushed up my "TRETRAMIN tropical granule" to fine poweder then fed them.... i fed them that for 4 weeks. then i knew what to feed them(bbs).... and now i have started their diet of dry food. they are doing good. i only got 4 betta fry left.

and my new spawn of bettas fry are a week and holf and i have been feeding them brine shrimp their whole life....

so give me some opinoins and things you might know of....

Answer 1

A few ideas come to mind....

1. When raising baby fish, most species, you need to do very frequent (daily is good) water changes for a few reasons. With babies you often get lots of uneaten food which will pollute the tank very quickly which will kill them or can stunt growth. Another reason is that most fish babies release hormones into the water that stunts the growth of babies of there own species. I know that sounds wierd, but it's built in population control in the wild.

2. Better food will certainly help too. the baby brine is a good first food for the freeswimming babies as is the egg yolk mentioned above. I wouldn't do the egg yolk but for a few days then swap to bbs.

3. More food. As the fry grow they do need lots of food. Far more than you would think. Be sure when you feed to put in way more than you think you need to as they will eat more than you think and also because they do have a hard time chasing down food when they are vey small. You will need to remove uneaten food about 10 minutes after feeding to prevent polluting the tank.

As soon as the babies are 1/4" or so long add a low flow sponge filter to the tank, but turn it off just before and during feeding time. The currents it creates will make catching food even harder for the fish.

There is some good help here:
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/catview.imp?catid=856

If you are serious about Bettas, I would suggest you join the International Betta Congress. You can get all the help you would even need as well as betts you have probably never dreamed of before . :)

Hope this helps and good luck with the fry.

Answer 2

I have 6 bettas 2 veil tail males, 1 is deep blue and 1 has a dark greenish purple body with purple and white fins. 2 crown tail males, 1 is dark blue with red fins, 1 has a medium blue body and yellow fins with blue tips. 1 veil tail female, she is light purple with darker purple fins. My betta that just died was a male crown tail and had a light redish yellow body and light blue fins (guess I have a thing for blue in bettas). I have been keeping them for almost 2 years now. I would definitely say I am addicted to them, and working at a pet store doesn't help. Lol. Lets just say that before I started working at Petco, I had 1 betta. In the 6 months that I have been working there, I have bought 5 bettas and am planning to get another female soon (I don't know which type I will get yet). I love bettas because they are easy to care for compared to other fish (I also have different tetras, harlequin rasboras, tiger barbs, cory catfish, and a comet goldfish. About 25 fish in all, including bettas) and I love how colorful and diverse they are! :) It is also fun to watch them.

Answer 3

This sounds pretty normal for fry that aren't properly cared for. The size is completely normal at this age they resemble tadpoles more then fish. Make sure the water is WARM, the tank is covered well to trap heat and moisture at the surface so they can breathe, keep the water shallow so they don't drown, make LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of hiding spaces Riccia (floating Crystal Wort is the best). The bigger ones will eat the littler ones, especially with lack of good food. As soon as you start to see on MUCH bigger then the others separate it, not only will it eat smaller ones, but will excrete a hormone to suppress their growth. Feed them crush hard boiled egg yokes, liqui-fry and powder fry food as well as the brine shrimp. Do up an infusoria culture as well. Remember to take mom out before they hatch and take dad out when they are free swimming and not sinking to the bottom at all.

Good luck, it usually takes a couple of spawns to get your system right.

Oh yes, use a sponge filter air pump on LOW and the best thing for water changes is an air tube, just suck on it to get the water started out. To separate them, use a pipette to pick them up, its easier. I use the pipette out of my Master Test Kit.

Answer 4

Do you have them in an aquarium/container by themselves? If not other fish will eat them but I assume you know this.

Also if you have a filter it can suck them up.

BBS is the best to feed to young fry.

As they get a little older try microworms. (aquabid.com or ebay.com) But you need to learn how to culture them...most people will send a care sheet.

Boil an egg and take out the yolk. Break a tiny peace of the yolk and add a drip of water. Mash it to a thick paste and put it in the water. This is a healthy choice and will not harm them. Feed lightly cause it will cloud the water. They will love it!

Answer 5

i have read in several places that daily water changes make bettas grow. the theory is fish secrete a hormone that keeps them small so if you clean the water regularly the hormone doesn't build up and they grow.