"Less Strains" Going On

I started to put my plans into action. Doing the transition is quite tricky but I know I'll get there. I can not really follow the list I have written down but I will get there when I am able to out/sell/give away my excess fish.

Here are the steps I have taken so far.
1. Combined spawns of different strains and different fish. Here's how I do it.
2. I separated the females of my choice to my 20gal tanks and those that I will no longer use are kept in my 100gal tanks.
3. As much as possible, I empty tanks that are adjacent. These
4. I started labeling tanks. I have labeled the tanks that I will use to raise my bettas and guppies because these are just the tanks that are segregated.
5. For some gut feeling, I segregated two pairs of Scalare breeders and placed a pair each with my female community tanks.

Next on the agenda: Fixing the leaks of the dividers.
I use tanks that have dividers and some of them have leaks. Both sides level out but the problem is, they are not flexible this way. So, I drained them. I dried them up and wiped clean. I will be sealing with silicon in 2-3 days.

The Pearlscale Betta

When we say Pearlscale, the round golf ball-like Goldfish with protruding scales comes into mind. You ask people to think some more, people then think of Angelfish, or Scalare. But, I now want bettas to come into mind when we say Pearlscale.

What is pearlscale? It is the characteristic protruding of the scales. the scales are not necessarily round as the Goldfish version. The betta pearlscale is more similar to the Scalare version. The scales appear to be more like diamonds (so maybe it should be Diamondscale). However, the Scalare pearlscale has a rather random pattern. The betta pearlscale is diamond-shaped and is arranged in parallel rows of scales. But, one problem of the line is the appearance of "wrinkles". Wrinkles are defects that makes the scales look like they were twisted. This has been almost eliminated by choosing my breeders without the wrinkling. The pearlscale pattern is not yet as prominent as I would like them to be and I will be breeding for more pearlscale expression.

I have been working on the line for a year now. I got my initial broodstock from a fellow breeder who had these fish popping out of his grow-outs. He didn't really care about them much but I talked to him about developing the line together. He agreed and stopped ignoring those fish. However, his pearlscale line has crashed and is still to be revived. Here are some pictures of the pearlscales I have bred.

EESDA Guppy Breeding

Guppies are live-bearing fish and are one of the easiest fish to breed. Because of their ease, their population can easily boom. Here are just the methods I use in breeding my guppies. Males and females are easily told apart. Males are more colorful. They also have smaller bodies and bigger fins. The females have bigger bodies, shorter fins and duller than the males. The females also have a more rounded body compared to the males.

1. Prepare a trio or a quad of guppy breeders. Male to female ratio is 1:2 or 1:3. Just place them in a tank with plants for fry's hiding places. Take care of them as you would as other fish and wait for them to give birth. Female guppies can give birth 6 times using the sperm from one mating.

2. When the fry are born, I do not remove them unless they are being eaten. If plant cover is sufficient, eating will not be a problem. I give the fry baby brine shrimp at first but they are also big enough to be given daphnia.

3. When I can discern the males from the females, I remove only a handful of females (6-10pcs). You can also choose to remove all of them but it is not necessary. This is important to keep them virgin so they will be flexible for future use because you know which male mated with them. You can identify females by the black spot at the back of their bellies. The pointed anal fin of the male (or the gonopodium) is not yet developed so anal fin shape will not be an effective tool.

4. Raise the main spawn group and selected females separately. When they reach about half an inch long, adult food can be given. No need to crush the food. The water will soften those up for the fry.

5. When you see your potential breeders, separate them and prepare for another generation.

The challenge with guppies is that they can easily boom. So be prepared with what to do with your excess fish. Well, you can sell them if you have enough space to raise a lot of fry to sell. If not, you can also opt to use them as feeders to carnivorous fish or turtles.

UPDATE (11/04/2013)
Here are some tips!

1. Choose a fry tank that is not too wide. Position it so you that you face the "short breadth" of the tank.
2. When your guppies give birth, catch all fry and move them to the fry tank. Grow them out together.
3. Every time you feed look for males. Catch them and transfer them to another tank. I put my juvenile males along with the adult males in the community tank.
4. You can now choose your potential breeders!

Good luck on your guppy breeding!

EESDA Betta Breeding

To start off, I think I should identify with sexing bettas. Some might think that plakat (short fin) males are females. To prevent you from putting two males together and end up with massacre, I am going to give some tips to identify if your "female" is really a she.
1. ovipositor: this is a small salt-looking organ behind her belly, before the anal fin. Be warned though because some chubby males have a similar looking thing on some occasions.
2. triangular belly: the belly of a female is more of a triangular swelling compared to a stuffed male's round belly. Looking from above, the female is wider and still has a triangular outline. If you look at a male from above, the belly is circular and round while the rest of the body is streamlined.
3. generally short fins: female bettas have short fins, even shorter than plakat males. However, I have seen long-finned females lately.


Now, here are simple steps I do to breed my bettas:

1. Prepare a barebottomed 2.5gal tank*. Place a few live plants and a piece of styrofoam for a bubblenest anchor.

*I have spawned in bigger tanks (10gal+) and with a fine substrate but not quite as fine as sand.

Here are more common set-ups.

2. Add the conditioned male and female. Some would use a chimney to separate the pair first but I have long stopped using those. Just let them be together.

3. Wait. Check the pair occasionally to make sure that none get too hurt. Although the wife-beating is part of betta love, there is a point where a female betta is too abused. The breeder must use his personal discretion.

4. After 2 days to a week, the bettas would have spawned already. The spawning process involves the female approaching the male's bubblenest in a bowing, submissive way. The male tries to flip the female and wrap his body around her. The female will release her eggs and the male will fertilize them.
At this point, you will have eggs. Betta eggs look like small pieces of salt hanging on the bubblenest. Remove the female. The male will kill her if you don't. Trust me. I tried.

5. Wait. After 24-48 hours, the eggs would have hatched and you will have fry hanging vertically. Just let them be. Wait again.

6. 2-3 days from hatching, the fry will be free swimming. You can remove the male at this point or opt to keep him with the fry as this method in these links:
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=809
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=839

7. If you opt to remove the male, use a coarse net to avoid taking any fry. When you catch the male, do not remove him immediately. Just dangle the net in the spawning tank for around 10 minutes. This will allow the male to spit out any fry in his mouth.


So there you have it. Betta breeding is easy. It might be tricky at the start but when you get the hang of it, it will be a breeze. Good luck on your spawns!

UPDATE (11/04/2013):
What I forgot to add in this post are tips!

1. Aggressive breeder = more volume, example: add water to a half-filled tank
2. "Too Battered" breeder = depends on you...if you think they will spawn, add more water; but if you think otherwise, scratch the pair
3. "Not Aggressive Enough" breeder = less volume, example: drain water to half level
4. Short-finned male = more volume
5. Long-finned male = less volume
6. Female is larger than male = more volume
7. Male is much larger than female = more volume
8. No bubblenest = normally, I let the pair be...this type of male builds a small one after he squeezes the female; but other times, I scratch the pair
9. Female is not moving anymore = separate the female, out of other fish's sight...if she swims fine/properly/upright, put her back in; but if she doesn't, scratch the pair
10. Judgement and gut feel and intuition = breeders develop some kind of instinct as they breed more fish; trust your self!

EESDA Angelfish Breeding

Before we start, we should identify a male and a female scalare.
Most would buy around 6 juveniles [or even more] and let them pair off at maturity. This is a viable strategy and you will surely end up with a pair. However, I have had an experience where two females paired. I found out eventually because both laid eggs. On the other hand, if you are like me, I choose adults and hope they are the sex I think they are. I also choose from sub-adults of my grow-outs to sort them. Most of the time, I am correct at my guesses but it is not a perfect science.
I use this webpage as my guide: http://fish-info000.blogspot.com/2011/05/difference-between-male-and-female.html The sketch is really helpful.

But here are the criteria I have for male and female scalare. I ranked it to from the most reliable to the least reliable but still usable.
Male:
1. a pointed and thin tube near the anal fin
2. round body
3. hump on the forehead
4. splits on the ventrals
Female:
1. broad tube near the anal fin
2. "diamond" or box-ish body
3. round belly especially obvious at the front view
4. smooth ventrals


Here are the steps in breeding my angelfish (scalare):

1. Clean a tank. I use a 18" x 18" x 12" tank without aeration or anything. It has a bare bottom too.

2. Place 2 clay slates inside. One on the left and one on the right.

3. Place breeders. I keep my males and females separate. I just put them together when breeding.

4. Wait for them to lay eggs.

5. [The pair has laid eggs] Wait for eggs to hatch

6. When the eggs hatch, remove the parents.

7. Slide the slate some more to make it less steep. Put something to prevent it from sliding all the way flat.

8. Wait for the fry to go free swimming (around 5 days from hatching).

9. When fry are free swimming, feed with baby brine shrimp twice or even thrice daily.

10. As the fry grow, increase water level until full. Once full, do 50% water change once/twice a week.


Perhaps, the challenge with scalare are first time parents. Because of their inexperience, they might not fan the eggs enough and some are stressed so much that they eat the eggs. But, there are still times where first time parents are fantastic and successful. There is not really much we can do with first time parents. That just what they are, first timers. All we can do is be patient and give them another chance until they get it right.

Pictures:

This is the reason for the two slates. The slate on the left is where the eggs were laid. The parents are transferring the newly hatched fry to the slate on the right.

This is a sample of the slate. I lower the water level too. This makes the fry more confident to explore the tank and also make it easier for them to find food. 

These are the fry attached to the slate.

And if you want to find out what your breeders will produce, you can try this genetic calculator. It gives you the possible results and also the percentage of those possible results will pop out. It is really helpful when you're aiming for some purebred line.

Less Strains, Less Strain

It's been a while since I last posted. I've been busy with the fishroom then not busy [got sick]. During my sick days, I started to think how complicated it is to maintain a lot of lines. My dreams of getting a really large farm for my fish has faded because it can only come later. I now just want to maximize the tanks I have so far.

Here's a breakdown of my tanks:
3pcs 100gal tanks
3pcs 20gal tanks
4pcs 35gal tanks
8pcs 18"x18"x12"
30pcs 12"x18"x12"
1pc 36"x18"x12"
1pc concrete pond (around 55-70gal)
16pcs 4"x6"x8"


Here's what I'll use them for:
16pcs 4"x6"x8" = Male Individual Tanks: These tanks will be used as they are.

4pcs 35gal = Female Betta Community Tanks: I will have one tank for the form betta lines I will maintain. Formwise, most of the fishes will be halfmoon plakats (HMPK) carrying doubletail (dt). The offspring will be a mix of singletail (st) and dt fish. I will have one specific form line, CTPK. At first, I really segregated and diversified my lines numbering to more than fifteen. I decided that I should integrate some lines together.
1. Copper-based Line = Copper + Platinum + Pastel + Grizzle + Marble
Since my Marbles have red, I might inject some red loss genes or maybe even yellow. I have a copper-based spawn that produced no red in the offspring. The lineage is:
Copper DTPK x Copper DTPK             Copper DTPK x Red HM
               Copper Marble DTPK      x     Multicolor SD                    (half-sibling cross, same father)
                         Green marbled, no red expressed
2. Bicolor/Butterfly Line = Copper Red + Copper Orange + Copper Yellow + Platinum Red + Platinum Orange + Platinum Yellow + Cambodian + Butterfly + Blue Black Lace
I will be producing red/black butterfly bettas. To further integrate my lines, instead of using the red gene to produce the red color in my lines, I will use a combination of nr1 (yellow) and nr2 (orange) genes. A fish with nr1 and nr2 does not produce yellow nor orange but it produces red. Crossing two of these nr1nr2 fish will produce 25% yellow, 25% orange and 50% red in the offspring. I have all three colors in one combination.

For Lines 3 and 4, I do not really care about the color but am focusing on form. I will be solidifying the Pearlscale body and CTPK form.
3. Pearlscale Line = I just combined the different pearlscale lines I have = Copper + Marble + Platinum Red
Actually, these lines are very related. I have actually one male that started as a Copper but Marble-d out and now he is a Platinum Red. It's like magic.
4. Crowntail Plakat (CTPK) Line = CTPK line, any color/pattern
For this line, I specified "any color/pattern" because I want to fix the form. Currently, the colors of my CTPK are iridescent and metallic. However, if I see a CTPK with a really good form in the future, I will try to get it and if I do, I will not hesitate to breed it no matter what color it may be.

However, I do not intend to rigidly and strictly implement these divisions. I would like to keep my options open. I recently noticed a broad-dorsal female from my F2 CTPK line and that would perfectly match the broad-dorsal (almost sailfin) HMPK I have. I will not hesitate to cross them. Development could be hastened this way.