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Once the yolk sacs are absorbed and the fry can now float themselves
horrizontally. This is called the "free swimming" stage, and it is important
to remove the male at this time. Since he's been keeping an eye on his nest
for a few days, he's quite hungry himself! He may mistaken the newly swimming
fry for food and gobble up his own offspring! Yikes! Very carefully use a
small soft net to lure the male away from the nest and avoid snatching up any
fry. Acclimate him to his freshly cleaned jar and treat him with BettaMax.
He too could be wounded or shredded from the spawn. Also, feed him lots of
yummy fresh live or frozen foods, as he's quite hungry! Let his wounds and
fins heal completely before respawning.
The fry, in the mean time are happily scooting around. Some may be at the
surface, some might be clinging to the bottom, some might be nestled deeply in
the plants or behind the corner filter and heater. If you look, you will see
little fry everywhere! Don't fuss with them too much! They are very delicate
and disturbing their environment now could be fatal. You should still have the
filter running very gently (one to two bubbles a second). Do not increase
the filter flow yet! Do not attempt to clean or add water at this stage
either! Just leave them alone and let them be.
The fry are however, getting pretty hungry since they've used up their yolk
sac, and it is up to you to make sure they have plenty to eat. Young fry must
be fed two to three times a day! Being careful not to scare or disturb your
tiny kiddos, you can gentle add food to the tank once you've removed the male.
Do not over feed. This is crucial. Over feeding will pollute the water,
raise the levels of ammonia in the water, and cause your delicate fry to
perish. Keep a close eye on the levels of ammonia in the water. Use a tiny
dropper to take samples of the water to test. Be careful not to suck up any
fry. If for some reason you over feed, you can do a small amount of cleaning.
Be extremely careful, avoid the fry as much as possible and remove as little
water as possible. Do not add any water.
For the next two weeks, you will be avoiding your fry as much as possible
except to feed. After two weeks, you can begin regular tank cleanings. Start
by slowly (and I mean slowly) syphoning out small amounts of water, removing
debree and waste from the bottom of the tank. Then slowly (and I mean, SLOWLY)
syphon water back in the tank. Be sure to add water that is conditioned, same
temp and ph levels as the water that they fry are currently swimming in.
Continue to raise the water level by an inch every week until it is full. Be
careful not to suck up any fry during the syphoning process. If you do, make
sure you are collecting the water in a clean bucket so you can "fish" that
little booger out and place him back into the tank!
So, what shall we feed those little guys?
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