The 2 surviving fighters

[lucasjiang]

Hi guys, recently my mandor pair started breeding. The male swallowed the first two clutches, but im proud to say that he managed to hold the third clutch until the fry hatched. Although there are only two fry, (i guess the rest got eaten or something), the pair is quite inexperienced, so i guess i can hope for better results for the fourth clutch.

Anyway, here are 2 pictures of the 2 survivors. Currently they are feeding on infusoria and other stuff from the established tanks. Anyway their tummies are rounded, so im not worried that they are starving. Sorry for the blur pictures, they are really small.

[Emokidz]

Cool beans! Nice job breeding them. I'd put a ramshorn snail or two with the fry to get rid of uneaten food. Reduces the chances of foul water and fungus on the fry tremendously from my experiences.

[Shi Xuan]

That's a very good news. Betta mandor are known for their aggressive behavior, so it's rather uncommon for them to tolerate the presence of one another, let alone having them spawn and then again, the same old problem as with all mouthbrooders - the tendency to swallow the eggs in the first few days.

From the photos, they should be of a decent size to progress to BBS, I think. Anyway, continue to update this thread. I'm looking forward to hearing more success stories on this species.

[lucasjiang]

Cool beans! Nice job breeding them. I'd put a ramshorn snail or two with the fry to get rid of uneaten food. Reduces the chances of foul water and fungus on the fry tremendously from my experiences.

Thanks Yup i think i might put in a few malaysian trumpet snails. I really enjoyed reading the breeding journals of your persephone and sp. palangkaraya

That's a very good news. Betta mandor are known for their aggressive behavior, so it's rather uncommon for them to tolerate the presence of one another, let alone having them spawn and then again, the same old problem as with all mouthbrooders - the tendency to swallow the eggs in the first few days.

From the photos, they should be of a decent size to progress to BBS, I think. Anyway, continue to update this thread. I'm looking forward to hearing more success stories on this species.

Yea, i wanted to start them on BBS, but i was using very old brine shrimp eggs, about a year old, and hence it took 3 days for the BBS to hatch So i had to feed them infusoria first. I will post updates of them soon, maybe next week. Meanwhile, i will try to get pics of the parents.

[stormhawk]

I'd skip BBS if you can't start the hatching immediately. Jump straight to sieved daphnia. There should be sufficient range of sizes in any batch to fit the fry size. MTS way better choice for snail lol. I got one in my muck tub with daphnia and its still alive. Good job on the Mandor Lucas. It us probably my favorite from the foerschi group.

[lucasjiang]

I'd skip BBS if you can't start the hatching immediately. Jump straight to sieved daphnia. There should be sufficient range of sizes in any batch to fit the fry size. MTS way better choice for snail lol. I got one in my muck tub with daphnia and its still alive. Good job on the Mandor Lucas. It us probably my favorite from the foerschi group.

I hope to get daphnia too, as i feel it is a more natural and better food for the fry. The salt content in BBS might be higher since they are reared in saltwater, which might not be good for the fry i guess? Thats just my own idiosyncracy. Unfortunately i dont have any sources of daphnia near where i live, except c328, but the supply there is rather sporadic, hence i have to make do with BBS. Anyway if i pass by c328 and there is daphnia, i will get it.




Anyway, here are pics of the adults. Unfortunately the parents are very shy, and i didnt manage to get good pics of them. Luckily in my other pair, the male is rather bold, hence i managed to get decent pics of him.

Parent (female): (the male is in the background in the shadows)


Parent (male):


The other male:

[lucasjiang]

Oh my, ive just realised why the parent pair was so shy. I just checked on them, and they are hiding in the pipe doing a spawning embrace I hope its not for real though, i dont think the male has totally recovered from his previous ~14 day fast, it would be better to let him plump up a little first.

[stormhawk]

Someone once mentioned a small stall at the Redhill market was selling live daphnia. Not sure if its still there or not. I get my supply of daphnia fresh from Hong Yang at CCK Central. Nearest for me since my neighbourhood lfs doesnt order in daphnia. They do sell live BBS though.

[lucasjiang]

Someone once mentioned a small stall at the Redhill market was selling live daphnia. Not sure if its still there or not. I get my supply of daphnia fresh from Hong Yang at CCK Central. Nearest for me since my neighbourhood lfs doesnt order in daphnia. They do sell live BBS though.

Yup, i know about that stall, however it has been closed for about 2 years already. From what i heard from neighbouring stalls, the uncle migrated. Somehow all the stalls with live daphnia are all at the eastern, western or northern corners.

[lucasjiang]

The male is holding eggs again. Unfortunately i think he will eat the eggs within the next few days because from previous experience, males which are not well-fed wont hold the eggs to term.

[JerryT]

Force his mouth open like they do for arowanas and artificially hatch the babies!

[stormhawk]

Worth a try I guess, to strip the male, then hatch the eggs in an egg tumbler device.

[JerryT]

But u gotta be 100X more delicate !

[lucasjiang]

Force his mouth open like they do for arowanas and artificially hatch the babies!

Worth a try I guess, to strip the male, then hatch the eggs in an egg tumbler device.

Hmm, but the incubation time is rather long at 14 days. If artificial hatching is done too early, the eggs might not be able to survive. From what i know for pleco eggs, they normally strip about 3 days before hatching?

But u gotta be 100X more delicate !

Yeah, definitely, if i end up breaking the male's jaws then

[Emokidz]

I'd let him swallow and then remove the female - at least until he gets pumped up. Chances are they will spawn again anyway. Haha

[Shi Xuan]

I would let nature take its course and leave the male be. If the male holds to term, then that would be great but if it doesn't, then condition him, along with the female and try again in 2 weeks' time.

Bernard's advice would be good. As long as the breeding pair is alive, you can always try to spawn them again.

[lucasjiang]

I'd let him swallow and then remove the female - at least until he gets pumped up. Chances are they will spawn again anyway. Haha

I would let nature take its course and leave the male be. If the male holds to term, then that would be great but if it doesn't, then condition him, along with the female and try again in 2 weeks' time.

Bernard's advice would be good. As long as the breeding pair is alive, you can always try to spawn them again.

Yup, i think i will do that. Anyway the male indeed swallowed the eggs. Previously i separated the pair, but this time i really didnt expect anything to happen so i left them together.

[lucasjiang]

Here are pictures of the two fry, havent given them names yet
Fry no. 1


Fry no. 2


They've just gorged themselves on BBS, hence the round orange bellies.

[Shi Xuan]

Very nice, can't wait for them to mature. I hope they turn out to be a breeding pair though.

[stormhawk]

You got to give them cool names. At this size I figure they can take the smallest worm foods.