Michigan Betta Show Results

Show Host Michigan Betta Club
Show Type International
Date October 30, 2010
Judges Peter Goettner, Mohan Balakrishnan, Kurt Bihlmayer
Apprentice Judges Al Haskell

Group A: Regular Classes Area 1 2010 – 2011 Total Entries In Class

Division A1: Halfmoon Non-iridescent Dark Solid Color ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
A1. Red STM John Leach John Leach #N/A 2
A2. Black STM #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
A3. Red or Black STF John Leach Sieg&Judy Illig #N/A 2

Division A2: Halfmoon Iridescent Dark Solid Color ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
A4. Blue STM John Leach John Leach John Leach 4
A5. Steel STM Al Haskell Leo Buss Leo Buss 6
A6. Green / Turquoise STM Sieg&Judy Illig Bill Astle Sieg&Judy Illig 5
A7. Blue STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 7
A8. Steel STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 4
A9. Green / Turquoise STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Sieg&Judy Illig 10

Division A3: Halfmoon Light Solid Color ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
A10. Clear / Yellow / Orange STM John Leach #N/A #N/A 1
A11. Clear / Yellow / Orange STF John Leach John Leach Sean Mahabir 4
A12. Opaque / Pastel STM Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 4
A13. Opaque / Pastel STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 3

Division A4: Halfmoon Metallic Dark or Light Solid Color ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
A14. Metallic Dark Solid STM John Leach John Leach #N/A 2
A15. Metallic Light Solid STM Kurt Bihlmayer John Leach #N/A 2
A16. Metallic Dark Solid STF Jay Keating John Leach #N/A 2
A17. Metallic Light Solid STF Al Haskell Jay Keating Jay Keating 6

Division A5: Halfmoon Patterned ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
A18. Multicolor STM Karen D. Mac Auley Karen D. Mac Auley Karen D. Mac Auley 5
A19. Multicolor STF Karen D. Mac Auley Jay Keating Jay Keating 4
A20. Dark Body Bicolor STM Braulio Estevez Braulio Estevez John Leach 5
A21. Light Body Bicolor STM #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
A22. Dark Body / Light Body Bicolor STF Sean Mahabir Sean Mahabir Braulio Estevez 7
A23. Butterfly STM Leo Buss Leo Buss Jay Keating 7
A24. Butterfly STF John Leach HERMANUS Leo Buss 7
A25. Marble / Grizzle STM Karen D. Mac Auley John Leach #N/A 2
A26. Marble / Grizzle STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 7

Division B: Halfmoon DT Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
B1. Dark Solid Color DTM Leo Buss Leo Buss Sieg&Judy Illig 7
B2. Light Solid Color DTM Leo Buss Al Haskell #N/A 2
B3. Dark or Light Solid Color DTF Leo Buss Sieg&Judy Illig Leo Buss 5
B4. Metallic Dark or Light DTM #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
B5. Metallic Dark or Light DTF #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
B6. Patterned DTM Leo Buss Kurt Bihlmayer Braulio Estevez 9
B7. Patterned DTF Karen D. Mac Auley Leo Buss Leo Buss 7

Division C: Crowntail ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
C1. Dark Solid Color STM Heisye Jeanine HERMANUS HERMANUS 6
C2. Light Solid Color STM #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
C3. Dark or Light Solid Color STF HERMANUS HERMANUS Jay Keating 9
C4. Patterned STM Heisye Jeanine HERMANUS HERMANUS 6
C5. Patterned STF HERMANUS HERMANUS Jay Keating 4

Division D: Shortfin ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
D1. Traditional Plakat Male Sieg&Judy Illig Pam Spracklen Sieg&Judy Illig 7
D2. Show Plakat Dark Solid Color Male HERMANUS Sieg&Judy Illig Sieg&Judy Illig 3
D3. Show Plakat Light Solid Color Male HERMANUS James Heilig James Heilig 9
D4. Show Plakat Patterned Male HERMANUS Sieg&Judy Illig James Heilig 11
D5. Halfmoon Shortfin Solid Color Male #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
D6. Halfmoon Shortfin Patterned Male Jay Keating Karen D. Mac Auley Karen D. Mac Auley 4
D7. Traditional Plakat Female (any color or pattern) #N/A Jay Keating Pam Spracklen 9
D8. Show Plakat Female (any color or pattern) HERMANUS Phil Dorr joseph d becerra 9

TRIAL CLASS Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
D9. Doubletail Plakat Male (any color or pattern) Sieg&Judy Illig Sieg&Judy Illig Kurt Bihlmayer 3

Division E: Breeders Division *Note: For pairs total the number of entries in each class, not the number of fish. Class winners in E Division are considerd for BOV appropriate to their respective gender and variety.
E1. Color or Form Variations Sieg&Judy Illig #N/A #N/A 1
E2. Form and Finnage John Leach Leo Buss Leo Buss 8
E3. Pairs* Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 3
Division F: Wild Type Betta Pairs Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

(Not Eligible for BOS)
F1 Small / Large Bubblenesters* HERMANUS HERMANUS HERMANUS 3
F2 Small / Large Mouthbrooders* HERMANUS HERMANUS HERMANUS 5

Best of Variety Name & Class Winner
Halfmoon ST Male Leo Buss A23
Halfmoon ST Female Leo Buss A26
Halfmoon DT Male Leo Buss B1
Halfmoon DT Female Leo Buss B3
Crowntail Male Heisye Jeanine C1
Crowntail Female HERMANUS C5
Shortfin Male HERMANUS D4
Shortfin Female Jay Keating D7

Best of Show Name & Class Winner
BOS Male Leo Buss A23
BOS Female Leo Buss B3

Division G: Optional Classes (Not counted as Regular Entries)
(Not Eligible for BOS.) Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
G1 Photography joseph d becerra joseph d becerra joseph d becerra 3
G2 Illustration #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
G3 Crafts #N/A #N/A #N/A 0

Group B: New Breeder Classes Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
NB-1 Singletail Male Bobbi Walter #N/A #N/A 1
NB-2 Doubletail Male #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
NB-3 Crowntail Male #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
NB-4 Plakat Male #N/A #N/A #N/A 0
NB-5 Singletail Female Bobbi Walter Bobbi Walter #N/A 2
NB-6 Doubletail Female #N/A #N/A #N/A 0

New Breeder Best of Show Name & Class of Winner
BOS Male Bobbi Walter
BOS Female Bobbi Walter

Show Information Number of Entrants Number of Entries Number of Fish
Regular Classes 238 249
Optional Classes 3 0
New Breeder Classes 3 3
Show Totals 244 252

Barrack Update

Betta Barracks

We have had 2 of our barracks up and running for 3 months now and I can say I really like them. Each one has 12 compartments and hold about 10 gallons of water. So, with half a 30 gallon used as a sump there is about 35 gallons of water in the system as it sits now. I am water testing a third one now and will finish the fourth one shortly. I am hoping to have them hooked up and running in a few weeks. Then the system will have about 55 gallons of water. The large water volume gives the fish a large water change that allows them to grow large and quickly.

Betta Barracks

Maintenance has been very easy. Every two or three days I siphon out the feces and any uneaten food. I siphon from the barracks untill the water in the sump is too low to pump. Then I just refill the sump with aged water. The constant water flow has kept any film from forming on the bottoms or sides. My sump does have some funk on the bottom right now due to the peat I have my water running through. It is what gives the water the amber color as well. You can see a bit of java moss in the back of the photo. I have put this in both the barracks to see if it will grow in the back channel that flows water out of the system. If so, I have an out-of-the-way place to grow this moss and it will aid in filtration.

From the end you can see the bettas have a lot of room to grow and swim. They do flare at their neighbors. Since I do not have these barracks set up to put in cards to block vision, I just move them around a bit to keep them flaring. It is an issue I will have to address to get them show ready. Keeping them out of sight of other bettas does make them really snap to when they do catch sight of another one.. great for showing. The top barrack does have the ability to slid a divider down the sides to block  their sight.. but with the pvc across the top to provide water into the cells it isn’t practical to take them out and put them in very easily. I’m still thinking about this…

So far the only issue I have had is the plexi bows. The pieces I have laid across the top to reduce evaporation have bowed as well as both back pieces. Don’t know how well it can be seen in the photo. So, for the next two barracks I am going to add a brace to see if it makes a difference. Otherwise, I will need to consider using a thicker piece of plexi for the back. It is a long-span and does not have all the bracing from the cells.

Another change I might make with future barracks is instead of water flowing under the back of the cells and over another divider into the gutter I might just make a slit along the back of the cells where I want to water to over flow. Since I am not interested in moving waste, just allowing water flow, it may save me the price of the plexi as well as the additional work the other set up cost me. I also have had young fish get under and into the neighbors cell. Since I don’t want them in the gutter and washing into the sump.. I need to think that out a bit as well. As always.. we will keep you updated.

GreatBetta

If you have been reading this blog, you will know I recently purchased a Pineapple Betta from a breeder in Thailand known on AquaBid as GreatBetta. I asked for a female as well and got a great quality fish to breed with the male. I had been watching this breeders fish for a while before deciding to buy from him.. and was impressed with the over all quality I was seeing in fish after fish.

I happened to stumble across pictures of some of his fish on the web and just want to share. To see more of his fish, please check out this link.. GREATBETTA .These pictures are from his photo album. There are 34 pages of beautiful bettas. And, if you want to get one of his bettas for yourself, please check out his actions on AquaBid HERE.

For those of you wondering how difficult it is to import a fish from Thailand.. let me tell you it isn’t. A breeder like GreatBettas  exports fish to the U.S. weekly. After you pay the cost of the fish, you pay an export fee of $5. That’s right.. $5. The fish is sent to the U.S. and are received by a Transhipper. There are several in this country who receive the fish. They then unpack the fish and change their water out for clean, fresh water. The fish will be re-bagged and boxed to send to you. Most fish are sent Express mail for about $35-$42. There is the cost of the shipping as well as insulating the box. If the weather is cool the package will also get a heat pack.

You will want to be there when the fish arrive. Having them sit on a porch in heat or cold is not good for the fish. Although you will be excited to see your new fish, remember the fish is in a stressful situation and coming out of darkness into sudden bright light will increase their stress. Open the box gradually and set the bag in the water the betta will be going into to allow their shipping water to reach the same temp. Open the shipping bag and gradually add their new water to their old to get them used to the new water conditions. Bettas coming from Thailand are used to soft water so really go slow if you have harder water conditions. Allow them to get settled then feed lightly. They have been fasted several days to make the trip to you.

 On occasion the fish will not make the trip and be dead on arrival [DOA]. Should that happen do not open the bag. Take a clear, close up photo of the fish and send a copy to the breeder. Most of them will offer a like replacement or a refund of the cost of the fish. Shipping charges are not refundable. If you are worried about how often that happens.. it is few and far between. These breeders and transhippers ship hundreds of fish a month.. so losses happen.. but not often.

So how much are one of these beauties gonna cost you? On average a male like these will run $30. So to get to the U.S. it will cost you $35. Add roughly another $35 for the Express shipping to you and you have $70 in a fish.. that is not guaranteed to breed. The most economical way to get these fish if you are a breeder is to get several. You can get 4 fish in that box to you for $35.. and only have to pay that once. U.S. breeders charge about the same for a fish and shipping to you.. all there is is that $5 export fee. When you can get fish as exceptional as these.. that $5 is more than worth it!

Spawn 17

Here is a feisty 10 week old male from Spawn 17. We are wanting to work Blacks so he will be a nice step towards that goal. He is carrying a lot of metallic.. but we will cross him with a black/metallic sister and work over the next generations to less of the metallic. I crossed his father with a female I bought from a fellow breeder that also carries black in her lines. Hoping to have closely related fish to criss-cross to get my blacks. That spawn is a week old and huge! Should have a lot of nice fish in another month or so.

New Spawns

The change in water has done wonders for our breeding.  Our coppers are doing well and we removed Storm from his spawn. It looks like a good-sized spawn from what I can see as the fry are free-swimming. He is mostly black with some iridescence crossed with a female from a friend that carries the black. She placed 2nd in a show earlier this season and her sibs have 3 BOS wins [Best of Show]. Probably gonna get some multi colors but hoping to work towards black/melano with this pairing.

We got a small spawn from a royal blue double tail crossed back to his aunt.. his father is a sib to the female. It looks like about 10 fry.. but since he is younger and smaller we are happy to have any. She placed 2nd in some very stiff competition last fall and is very nice. We will cross him to his sister as well as another very nice royal female from a different line. His sister has better form.. but both have great color so we will see what we get.

We also have another copper spawn that is almost free-swimming. Both parents have light red finnage that was very attractive. We are hoping for copper/reds out of this one.

Another spawn where the fry should be free-swimming tomorrow are my reds. My friend and fellow breeder in Dayton, Ohio sent me some of his reds to breed as he has been too busy. The male placed third at the convention this year against a large class of great fish. I am excited to see this cross. I paired him with a darker bodied red female. We also have a Cambodian with a  large based dorsal and a double tail red to cross him with as well. Since he is so nice.. if he gets through those spawns I will also cross him to my pineapple female imported from Thailand.

We are busy hatching baby brine shrimp and may have to go to 2 hatcheries to feed everybody when we are done spawning. I am not thrilled to have all my spawns at the same stage.. but we have lost ground with the water issues. Fish are easier to breed when younger.. so we are trying to keep the lines going right now. In time I hope to do only 2 spawns a month so we always have fish at each development stage. I like having all the stages as each one is fun to watch. The new ones are so little and  it is neat to watch them grow. Then at 8 weeks they are getting color.. and attitude. Then we have another 4-8 weeks of putting size on them and getting them ready to show or breed. Each stage brings new developments.. and excitement to the fish room.

Got picture from HERE.

PABS Show Results

Group A: Regular Classes Area 1 2010 – 2011 Total Entries In Class

Division A1: Halfmoon Non-iridescent Dark Solid Color ST
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

A1. Red STM Mohan Balakrishnan John Leach John Leach 7
A2. Black STM 0
A3. Red or Black STF Mohan Balakrishnan John Leach 2

Division A2: Halfmoon Iridescent Dark Solid Color ST
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

A4. Blue STM John Leach Rich Martucci Rich Martucci 6
A5. Steel STM Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 3
A6. Green / Turquoise STM Rich Martucci Mohan Balakrishnan Rich Martucci 4
A7. Blue STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 9
A8. Steel STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 8
A9. Green / Turquoise STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 5

Division A3: Halfmoon Light Solid Color ST Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

A10. Clear / Yellow / Orange STM Hasan Wijaya Hasan Wijaya John Leach 4
A11. Clear / Yellow / Orange STF Hasan Wijaya Hasan Wijaya 2
A12. Opaque / Pastel STM Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 6
A13. Opaque / Pastel STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 4

Division A4: Halfmoon Metallic Dark or Light Solid Color ST
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

A14. Metallic Dark Solid STM John Leach John Leach 2
A15. Metallic Light Solid STM John Leach 1
A16. Metallic Dark Solid STF L & L Colston Nelson Laquindanam L & L Colston 6
A17. Metallic Light Solid STF Jay Keating Jay Keating Jay Keating 6

Division A5: Halfmoon Patterned ST
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

A18. Multicolor STM Karen MacAuley Karen MacAuley Karen MacAuley 7
A19. Multicolor STF Karen MacAuley Nelson Laquindanam Jay Keating 5
A20. Dark Body Bicolor STM Rich Martucci Rich Martucci Rich Martucci 5
A21. Light Body Bicolor STM Rich Martucci Hasan Wijaya 2
A22. Dark Body / Light Body Bicolor STF Hasan Wijaya John Leach Nelson Laquindanam 5
A23. Butterfly STM Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 13
A24. Butterfly STF John Leach John Leach John Leach 5
A25. Marble / Grizzle STM Karen MacAuley Rich Martucci John Leach 4
A26. Marble / Grizzle STF Leo Buss Leo Buss Jay Keating 9

Division B: Halfmoon DT
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

B1. Dark Solid Color DTM Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 8
B2. Light Solid Color DTM Leo Buss 1
B3. Dark or Light Solid Color DTF Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 4
B4. Metallic Dark or Light DTM 0
B5. Metallic Dark or Light DTF 0
B6. Patterned DTM Rich Martucci Leo Buss Mohan Balakrishnan 16
B7. Patterned DTF Mohan Balakrishnan Leo Buss Rich Creighton 5

Division C: Crowntail ST
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

C1. Dark Solid Color STM Rich Martucci Jay Keating Jay Keating 5
C2. Light Solid Color STM 0
C3. Dark or Light Solid Color STF Rich Martucci Rich Martucci Jay Keating 6
C4. Patterned STM Jay Keating 1
C5. Patterned STF Rich Martucci Jay Keating Joe & Amy Becerra 4

Division D: Shortfin ST
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

D1. Traditional Plakat Male Nelson Laquindanam Rich Martucci Rich Martucci 6
D2. Show Plakat Dark Solid Color Male Mohan Balakrishnan Mohan Balakrishnan Mohan Balakrishnan 7
D3. Show Plakat Light Solid Color Male Kurt Bihlmayer 1
D4. Show Plakat Patterned Male Mohan Balakrishnan Mohan Balakrishnan Rich Martucci 8
D5. Halfmoon Shortfin Solid Color Male 0
D6. Halfmoon Shortfin Patterned Male Jay Keating Karen MacAuley Karen MacAuley 8
D7. Traditional Plakat Female (any color or pattern) Jay Keating Jay Keating Jay Keating 7
D8. Show Plakat Female (any color or pattern) Joe & Amy Becerra Joe & Amy Becerra Joe & Amy Becerra 5

TRIAL CLASS
Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

D9. Doubletail Plakat Male (any color or pattern) Rich Martucci Rich Martucci Rich Martucci 6

Division E: Breeders Division *Note: For pairs total the number of entries in each class, not the number of fish. Class winners in E Division are considerd for BOV appropriate to their respective gender and variety.

E1. Color or Form Variations 0
E2. Form and Finnage John Leach Leo Buss John Leach 4
E3. Pairs* Leo Buss Leo Buss Leo Buss 3

Division F: Wild Type Betta Pairs Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
(Not Eligible for BOS)
F1 Small / Large Bubblenesters* 0
F2 Small / Large Mouthbrooders* 0

Best of Variety Name & Class Winner
Halfmoon ST Male Leo Buss – A23
Halfmoon ST Female Leo Buss – A7
Halfmoon DT Male Leo Buss – B1
Halfmoon DT Female Leo Buss – B3
Crowntail Male Rich Martucci – C1
Crowntail Female Rich Martucci – C5
Shortfin Male Mohan Balakrishnan – D4
Shortfin Female Jay Keating – D7

Best of Show Name & Class Winner
BOS Male Leo Buss – A23
BOS Female Jay Keating – D7

Division G: Optional Classes (Not counted as Regular Entries)
(Not Eligible for BOS.) Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place
G1 Photography Joe & Amy Becerra Joe & Amy Becerra Joe & Amy Becerra 4
G2 Illustration 0
G3 Crafts 0

Group B: New Breeder Classes Name 1st Place Name 2nd Place Name 3rd Place

NB-1 Singletail Male Bobbi Walters Joanna Taylor Joanna Taylor 8
NB-2 Doubletail Male 0
NB-3 Crowntail Male 0
NB-4 Plakat Male 0
NB-5 Singletail Female Joanna Taylor Bobbi Walters Joanna Taylor 3
NB-6 Doubletail Female 0

New Breeder Best of Show Name & Class of Winner
BOS Male Bobbi Walters – NB1
BOS Female Joanna Taylor – NB5

Show Information Number of Entrants Number of Entries Number of Fish
Regular Classes 235 238
Optional Classes 4 0
New Breeder Classes 11 11
Show Totals 15 250 249

Photo by GreatBetta.. see link to his Aquabid auctions

Finally..

Our fry have made it to free-swimming! The water was the issue. We used pure r/o water that we got from Wal-Mart.. added some Indian Almond Leaves and a fake plant for hiding and within 2 days had a spawn. These spawns are also the largest we have had in some time. Water conditions play a huge factor in successfully raising these fish. From now on we will use only r/o for spawns.

We are still adding more of the r/o to our tap water we run through peat to get a greater part of pure for the adults as well. Again, I have to think about raising these fish to show and breeding condition. It really sucks to have  a nice young male coming along and see his fins curl or fray because of water. And to have breeding issues because of upbringing makes it difficult to breed the fish you want to improve the line. The youngsters will be kept in strait r/o untill they get into the larger growouts.. around 8 weeks. I’m not brave enough right now to go half and half.. maybe 2/3 of the r/o to 1/3 of the filtered tap. Will see how that does for this current generation. If fins stay nice and they are easy to breed we may try the half and half. I did not experience these issues in Ohio so I am really not sure what is in this water that has affected these fish so much. Although the adults are not dying, I’m not sure they are really in optimum health right now.

Photo from HERE.

Reverse Osmosis

The reverse osmosis and DI filter arrived yesterday from Filter Direct. I had ordered the sink attachment but I found I needed an adapter to attach it to my faucet. I picked that up tonight after work and got the unit hooked up, turned the water on and waited for pure water. It does NOT come running out the end. Trickle is more the word to describe the water coming through the unit. The waste water is a better stream.. but it is what it is.

So, I found it takes 15 to 20 minutes to get a gallon of pure water. I will be making pure water every minute I am home to get the amount needed around here. I filled up the 2 empty gallon jugs I had then put the hose into my 32 gallon trash can I use as a water holding tank. The waste water end is running through the peat setup I was previously using for my tap water into another 32 gallon trash can. I will be testing it to see what kind of values it returns as I am hoping I can use it in my Oscar tank. I will also try to use it to water the plants.. but I am going through more water than I have plants. Ever conscience of paying a water bill and also being responsible for water usage as we get droughts down here, I am looking for ways to use the waste water. I saved some that has not been through the peat and will check and see what kind of gh and kh values I get there as well. I am wondering how hard the water will be and if the concentration of minerals will make it useless for other things. Will report my findings as I go.

I do have 2 spawns going right now that I used r/o water I got at Wal-Mart. The fry hatched this morning so tomorrow is the day they need to make it through to see if we have solved our problem. The fry seem to be staying in the nest better and both dads are taking great care of the fry. It is just them or is the water more conducive to breeding behavior? I had males eating eggs that took very good care of the nest.. all the way to hatching the fry.. when I ran the water through the peat and softened it up. Now, with even better values I have males doing an even better job of raising fry. I’m beginning to wonder if some of the egg eating we get breeding bettas may be to less than ideal breeding/water conditions. The high ph I had seemed to have affected the fertility or viability of the eggs. They did not hatch and dad ate them. Lowering the ph, gh, and kh resulted in better interest in breeding as well as eggs hatching. Even the bubble nests have held together better. Something was still off with my water though as the fry were weak and never made it to the free-swimming stage. Chlorine, chloramine and the heavy metals are supposed to be neutralized with the Prime water conditioner I use. Something was still in the water in an amount that affected the fry to the point of killing them. If we get fry living past tomorrow.. not only will I be ecstatic.. but I can safely say that water conditions affect our fish breeding a lot more than expected. The other concern would be that what ever was killing fry was still in the water in levels that did not kill adults.. but would it affect their ability to reproduce in the future? Only time will tell me that one. To be safe we will be using the pure water in our fish room as much as possible.

The Verdict is in..

Water here SUCKS! All the spawns have failed. It is heartbreaking to get a spawn, watch them hatch then slowly die. The fry never got to the horizontal free-swimming stage. Some of the hardy ones went for days trying to swim right only to finally perish. So, we are done messing with it. I have a reverse osmosis unit coming from Filter Direct. I am also getting an attachment to hook it to the kitchen faucet as living in an apartment I do not want a permanent installation. Right now I have 2 spawn tanks set up with r/o water from Wal-Mart. Everything once again was torn down, cleaned and everything set back up with this water. I sure hope this does the trick. If so, we will use pure r/o for spawning and a combination for adults and grow outs.

I read an article the other day that said bettas raised in water softened by a water softeners had issues as adults breeding. Seems the male could not get a good wrap on the females. They assumed the salt used for the softener had some sort of effect on the fish as it grew. Since my fish lived in this type of water for about 8 weeks as juvies and some of my males are having the same issue.. I want to make sure my fish are in the best water possible as they grow to ensure little problems as adults. As a breeder one has to think of the long haul. Raising a spawn is only part of it.. we need to continue to breed a line to establish the traits we are looking for. Right now, having to jack with all the water  and breeding issues, we are not getting the fish we want to cross crossed. As a result, we are not getting the characteristics we are wanting in our offspring. Having your first pick male unable to wrap and having to use the 2nd or 3rd choices just to get a breeding does not move a breeding program forward to a goal. And for us, growing them up with all the food and water changes only to have average fish is just not worth the time or effort. But, we will eventually get this worked out and our breeding program back on track. Till then.. grrrrrrr.

Photo above from HERE.