Reply With QuoteExcellent pictures! Your females are literally bursting! What did you condition them on to get them looking like this? With fries this big,you'll have no worries...They'll do just fine as of this size.
It is so difficult to take pictures of the fry the way they bred the first time (in the heavily planted tank). Everytime I get close with the camera to take the picture, daddy fish chases off the fry and sits (swims?) between the fry and the camera! Here is what happens: First is one of the fry by the sponge filter:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/S6300041.jpg
Then male comes in to 'protect' fry from my mean camera! :
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...05-23-2009.jpg
More fry:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/S6300096.jpg
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/S6300090.jpg
And now the new females:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/S6300109.jpg
Daddy Badis badis cruising his tank:
http://i638.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/S6300097.jpg
Excellent pictures! Your females are literally bursting! What did you condition them on to get them looking like this? With fries this big,you'll have no worries...They'll do just fine as of this size.
Morphophilia : The smaller the fish, the lovelier...i'm kinky like that
I initially had them in a tank with some microrasbora. They came to me skinny and no color at all. I offered them frozen bloodworms first (I must shave off very thin strips of the block to feed the microrasbora). They loved it, so I gave them larger pieces, that way, they could get more food and they ignored the tiny pieces for the other fish. A side note: they learned to eat some flake food I think because the other fish did, and they were hungry so tried it.Originally Posted by aquanatix
Then I got what we call Black Worms, have seen them called Mud Worms (Lumbriculus variegatus). I like them a LOT because they live their entire lives underwater. That way, if I give too many or they get full (that happens, they are FAT now with eggs), they can eat it later when hungry again. They are in a tank with no gravel, but the worms will burrow under the gravel if they can, so you must be careful with that. They will not die and foul the water, but may breed. I do not think this is a bad thing.
The male Badis LOVES to hunt the worms. The worms will stick out their 'head' and he then grabs it and tugs and pulls it out of the gravel. He gets so animated and excited, showing all of his colors when he is hunting.
With the size they are now, I am hoping they are safe from being eaten. As I do water changes, I try to find some and siphon them out of the tank. Then I add them to the microrasbora tank (about the same size!).
Last edited by CrazyPlantLady; 4th Jun 2009 at 06:49.
Hello again friend Aquanatix!
I have some questions about how you bred your Badis fish. You say that you have 3 females and one male.
Did all of the females lay their eggs with the male and he guarded a nest with all 3 sets of eggs? Or did you remove the females once you observed that he had a set of eggs to guard?
I don't wish any harm to come to my females this time and will do two at a time as you suggested, to keep two on reserve just in case of any violence on his behalf.
Mine are placed together mostly due to convenience sake.i have little space to house these fishes hence I'm a little tight up at the "property" front.
Anyway,I've witnessed their mating ritual and it seems like the males are very prolific fish with multi partners.All females when gravid usually appear skinny upon confirmed egg sightings after several days of mating.In this case i would assume that all 3 females took their turns with the egg laying?
In your case,my initial advice makes more sense as you would not want to risk female deaths like i have initially.Do try it out and observe their behavior,update us whenever you can.Good luck!
Morphophilia : The smaller the fish, the lovelier...i'm kinky like that
I think that I will put him in with two of the females and observe closely. They are clearly gravid, can see the eggs through the skin when they are in the bright light. If I see one get skinny, I will remove her but leave the other until I see her skinny as well, or until I see that he is too aggressive to her.
Once the fry are free-swimming, I will put him back in his original tank and raise the new fry alone.
I have two worm cultures (Walter worms and Banana worms, both smaller than Micro worms) and infusoria growing also. Once I see them trying to eat the BBS, I will offer that.
Sorry to add so much to your posting. Is best to start my own? I do not wish to be rude.
Thank you so much for posting your initial information. Was very very helpful to me to get the first fry.
First batch of Badis badis fry:
I am trying to breed my male again, having acquired 4 more females. I've been conditioning them on live foods and they are fat with eggs now.
I placed a clay flower pot in the males tank to see if he would like it. Within hours, he had claimed it as his and chased off the Otocinclus that he shares his tank with.
He started courting the females immediately after they were added to his tank. There is lots of chasing and he is showing off his beautiful colors.
The females checking out the cave:
Hope for eggs soon!
Last edited by CrazyPlantLady; 14th Jun 2009 at 17:43.
Check out the male. It is very pretty. This is what happen to male fish when 'heat'. Nice specimen, nice..
colin | The Wilderness and Forest | FTS
I have had to take many many photos to get those. He is in a heavily planted tank to afford the females cover, and it is hard to catch his image as he swims by because he is so quick!
When I received him originally, he had shredded fins. All healed except part of his tail. As its been 6 months now, I do not think it will heal. The tear went all the way back to the flesh of the body
He is still trying to convince the females to lay their eggs. The females are still fat, so no one has been convinced yet.
Ok, all the girls are now skinny and the male is hiding out UNDER the pot I provided for him to use as his cave. I had hoped to move the pot with the eggs to a seperate tank to try to hatch the fry, but the male had other plans!
The male still comes out when I feed the females their worms to get his share, but darts back to the nest between worms.
I think I may try to siphon out the fry before they become free swimming. The last time, they took almost two weeks before they all were swimming. I have microworms and Walter worms (even smaller than microworms!) in cultures ready to feed them. I think I could get more of them to adult size if I raised them outside the planted tank, since it's so hard to feed them in the big tank.
Not sure how to do this, but I think I will try. Wish I could have convinced the male to use the pot for his nest!
Friend Aquanatix!
I chanced putting all four females in with the male (also due to space available in tanks!) and they are all now skinny. It did spread out the aggression by having more than the one I had before. I removed them to house them back in the 'girls only' tank for now.
I did a good gravel vacuum and found at least 50 free-swimming fry! I stopped counting at 30, so could be more. I have kept the water I've syphoned out of the male's tank and still am finding fry among some of the gravel. I am taking the airline tubing and taking only small amounts of water at a time to search for the fry. They are so tiny, but so very very quick! They do not seem to like light, which makes it harder for me at first to find them, but now that I know that, I can 'herd' them to an area I want to retrieve them.
As always..i'm very amazed with the way you fatten up your females.They look literally swollen!I could never get my females to grow this big! Looks like another spawning session is in order
Morphophilia : The smaller the fish, the lovelier...i'm kinky like that
I think the females get fatter being away from the males. I know it is so with the microrasbora.
Here are the fry I have now. There are over 100! I find more every day. No idea how many will make it, but I will surely try my best. I just added a lot of floating plants from the male's tank so there should be a lot of infusoria, plus a piece of driftwood. I do not see them trying to eat the Banana worms yet, but I will try to offer them daily after doing a water change.
I am keeping a photo journal of the fry growth. They hid so well the first time in the male's tank due to the plants, I only saw them if they happened to be near the glass in the front or side of the tank. I think I will do daily pictures at first, then maybe 1 or 2 times a week.
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