betta livida juvenile: putting them in bottles.

These betta livida juvenile were once in small polystyrene box, then a month later into bigger grow out tank, and now into 4 inches diameter bottles. The juvenile just turn 2 and a half month old, but some males had shown aggressiveness. Therefore they have to be separated, or jarring, the term betta breeders worldwide love to use.

betta livida juvenile: jarring the first 19

Life would be very lonely in separate bottles I suppose. A bit of  ketapang leaf and floating plants is an attempt to create habitat close to nature, that make them feel safe.  But each juvenile will get equal share of food, even for for the timid ones, and they don't have to fight for it. For that, I hope they grow well.

Some of them had greenish tip pelvic fins already, a trademark for betta livida. Early maturity I guess. So they say juvenile reach maturity at 3 month, but mine is 2 weeks short. I am expecting the young males to display nest making skill soon and for the females, a glimpse of egg tube at the lower part of their bodies.

Going for sale, return to habitat, giveaways are choices I will soon have. Two pairs to be returned to the original habitat, 3 pairs as giveaways, 3 pairs for future breedings. That would make 8 pairs. At least 10 pairs is up for sale. That's so much about planning, but god knows what's the sex ratio of these juvenile. A wild betta livida breeding should end with some understanding of sex ratio of their offspring. I suppose it should tie with the fertility of the pairs, the weather, water parameters and food they take. As more breeding projects are done, a reasonable estimate of sex ratio of offspring can be obtained.

Betta Livida breeding project 17/10/2020
Pair 1      : LM1s.i. vs LF2t.m.  - 38 offspring
Pair 2      : LM3t.m. vs LF1s.i.  - 19 offspring

Age: 2 and a half months

bangchik
wild betta breeding, seri iskandar PERAK

 

Return Imbellis to its habitat.

The offspring of home bred betta imbellis is a gang of healthy looking 350 plus juveniles, 3 months old.  With Razib, we both headed to five secret sites around here releasing them to their natural habitat on 5th of December 2020. We took less than 20 a few months ago but we are returning back more than 350 to their habitat. Time to say goodbye.  I am just their foster Dad for over 3 months. 

Soon they will learn to live in their natural world. No more hand feeding, they have to search and hunt. Some will succumb to predators, the rest will soon pair up, and produce babies for the next generation.

All in all wild betta imbellis breeding experience really was an eye opener. Breeding can be very detailed if we wish to explore, about water parameters, about the timing of nesting, about hatching, about little fry falling straight down and Dad quickly intercept and put back to nest, and about the shift from vertical movement to horizontal swimming. Wild betta imbellis fries show intricacy within 7 to 8 days. Then their life take a different turn after 7-14 days feeding on infusoria  with intermittent doses of artemia and moina macrocopa. Once they are 2 weeks old, they feed on bigger live food.  Dry food in pellet form comes in a bit later, about a month old.  They have gone through life in 3 different tanks: breeding tank, first grow out tank, and a much bigger second grow out tank.

Return them to their habitat will be a weekly affair now. I still have close to a thousand imbellis juveniles to care. Another 3 weeks from now, adventure in wild betta imbellis will cease, since I am concentrating on betta livida, betta tussyae, betta brownorum and betta channoides. These will produce smaller number of offspring, thus space and amount of food will not be a constraint.

Betta Imbellis F1

Parents: wild caught in seri iskandar

Offspring: 350

Return to habitat: 5/12/2020

bangchik

releasing betta imbellis to their habitat, seri iskandar

Livida breeding project 11/11/2020 : stunted growth for a few

Pair: LM1si vs LF1si
Breeding date: 11/11/2020

Offspring: 20

Age at 5/12/2020: 3 weeks

Five fries were noticeably very small within the gang of 20 at the age of two weeks . A week later,  those five are still comparatively smaller than the rest. The other fifteen are putting on weight with big belly and move actively.  Same breeding tank, same water, same food, yet some refuse to grow to expectation.  

pic1: Five fries out of 20 exhibit similar stunted growth
at the age of three weeks

The healthy ones are eating well and growing well. Its sad to see the stunted five fries. I suppose they have to be separated, and with extra care and small sized food, they might just wake up. 

bangchik

betta livida breeding

seri iskandar, perak.

Livida project 17/10/2020 - accurate counting for 6 week old juveniles

 Finally I get the total number of offspring right and accurate.  While doing regular cleaning up, and 30% water change, I snap photo from the top. Most leaves and plants are taken out for the photo. There they are, the juveniles all over the place. 

pic1: juveniles of 17/10/2020 livida breeding project - Pair 1
Total: 37

pic2: juveniles of 17/10/2020 livida breeding project - Pair 2
Total: 19

Betta Livida breeding project 17/10/2020
Pair 1      : LM1s.i. vs LF2t.m.  - 37 offspring

Pair 2      : LM3t.m. vs LF1s.i.  - 19 offspring

Age at 1/12/2020 : 6 weeks

bangchik

betta livida breeding 

seri iskandar, perak.