Well, as some may know, I'm trying to get HM babies from my spawn. And everyone's told me it's all about the water qualliy. So, can I put a corner filter in there of some kind? They're 18 days old now.

i dont know anything about bettas but sounds logical :D

While water quality is a factor genetics are far more important. That being said, you should have a sponge filter in the tank from day one and then turned on at approximately the 14th day. Bacterial blooms can and will occur and without filtration will play havoc on your finnage.

You might also consider some snails or dwarf catfish to aid in the cleanup as well as using some sort of vitamin, mineral, and amino acid additive.

What filter do you recommend?

i use this filter also with a regulator on it to control the bubbles. about one bubble every 3-5 secs.

BBUSA- What amino acid would you recommend?

Semper- Where do you buy the regulator?

We alternate 2 different products in our water all the time:
Kordon Freshwater VitaTrace & Boyd Vita Chem Fresh Water. In addition in our spawn tanks we add Spawn Aid.


As for the regulator, you will need an air pump to run the sponge filter. If running more then one tank you can use a "gang valve" to control the flow. If your using it on a single tank then you can use the Hagen Elite which has a built in regulator to control air pressure flow to your filter.

you can also get them at any petsmart. they are cheap, like a couple bucks. you also need to make sure that the air pump will handle the load if you are using it for more than one tank also.

My fry tanks have no filtration at all on them. When they are small I have a ridid airline, but no filter. I do however change out 1/3 to 1/2 the water EVERY day. Must be why the water quality stays high. Our last batch has done spectacualrly.
All of this is of course only what I do, and only my own opinion. Not wanting to start a debate, just mentioning it, if someone wants to compare.
Wolfy

I wish I could do that !!!! But with 36 spawns going at a time and 18,000 gallons of bettas to care for and another 5,000 gallons of corydoras I just don't have them time !

Oh, buy YOU ROCK!! I have some of your fish. :woo:
Wolfy

bluebetta does have very nice fish! i am still kicking myself over not getting some of his ying and yang marbles.

i use the sponge filters on my spawn tanks. never have had a problem with them yet. it is good to hear others ways of doing things. i use the filtration since i don't have the time to do daily water changes on fry tanks. also, i am always afraid of sucking up some fry and not finding them before dumping the dirty water down the drain! guess old age is creeping up and the eyes are not what they used to be! :laugh:

Definately the sponge filters... there are several different kinds out there. You can get the filter seeded with good bacteria if you run it for a day in an already establish HEALTHY tank.

Genetics is a big factor too.... the female is just as important as the male.

BlueBettas is right about having a clean up crew. Definately helps with water quality. I usually have a couple hundred applesnails on hand... so I toss in about 3 pea sized juvie pomacea bridgesii (applesnail... come in many colors... bridgesii are scavengers... will eat missed foods and will leave plants alone unless they are rotting. Also they will eat already dead fry. ) Just make sure that whatever you put in that tank is healthy. My snails will eat microworms & such.... works out to be perfect timing... I tend to overfeed... so the fry get a few minutes to eat... by then the snails are picking up what they left behind.

Once the fry get to a big enough size... you can put tulle (mesh fabric) over the end of the siphon.. will keep you from sucking them up. Pantyhose also works... really hard to get it started... One of my friends made some sort of contraption using pantyhose and some sort of washer... attached it to where the water lets out.... then dumps the fry back in instead of doing the staring game with the bucket. I rather avoid siphoning them to begin with. :blink: