|
|
|
Having been virtually impossible to obtain Betta rubra for many years, due to internal "war" troubles in Sumatra, these beautiful Bettas became available quite recently as peace has been agreed. I was fortunate enough to obtain two pairs in May, 2010. I put them into a well planted tank with a good scattering of Almond leaves and Oak leaves which gave a pH of approx 6.5. I made sure that the cover glass was tight fitting as a friend of mine paid for his error, as both adults jumped out! I had previously kept and bred two other much more easily obtained Betta mouthbrooders;- B. dimidiata and B. picta. My fish settled in quickly and fed happily enough on frozen Bloodworm and live food from my pond and certainly seemed to appreciate the cover of the leaf litter. Also, looking ahead, as the leaf litter decomposes, it will help to provide early food in the form of micro-organisms for the intended fry. With cover in mind, I also created a little mound of Ocean Rock and a plantpot.  The fish were approx. 2.5 cms in size and on introduction to the tank were quite dull in appearance. Also my early observations were very limited indeed, as all four fish made themselves very much at home in the security of the leaf litter.  Once they had settled into their new surroundings, the males began to show off their colours.  It wasn't many days later, that I noticed one of the females was promisingly plump and her white egg spot could be clearly seen.  An early result! A day or two after the egg spot was visible, I was fortunate enough to see the plump female inside the plantpot with a male. How long they had been there, I couldn't say, but within a minute, the pair were entwined in a spawning embrace.  As the spawning embraces continued, there was the remarkable sight after one particular embrace,(see following photo) of the female staying vertical with her head on the gravel for at least 5 to 10 seconds. Obviously this post spawning "trance" is a brief recovery time after the intensity of spawning.  There was then a brief break, before they circled slowly with bodies arched and mated again. This session in the plantpot continued for perhaps 30 minutes, with pauses, sometimes of a few minutes, between each mating. At this point, the female left the plantpot and went under the leaf litter, where she was joined by the male and the mating continued. They do seem to like the security of some cover over the top of them.  When the spawning session was over, the male simply went into hiding, so I had no idea if it was a success or if the male had indeed collected the eggs. Wait, observe and decide.... I now had to wait and see if the male was carrying eggs and then make a choice;- leave him in the tank with the other three adults or move him to a tank of his own? In my previous two Betta mouthbrooder experiences, I left the young with the adults but perhaps significantly, there was only one pair. Would the other pair react differently to youngsters which weren't theirs? In all species, I do enjoy seeing youngsters growing up with the adults, but was it a risk worth taking with a much rarer Betta?! As it happened, I had no decision to make as he never carried any of the eggs, so what went amiss, I would never know. Isolate the male Not too long afterwards, I noticed the other male with a slightly swollen buccal cavity. I hadn't been lucky enough to see the mating, so I didn't know how long he had been carrying the eggs. I decided immediately to remove the other three to a small breeding aquarium containing water from the main tank and keep the male in his original surroundings. While he was carrying the eggs, he certainly enjoyed the security of the Ocean Rock, as he seldom came out from hiding.  Fry released... On my early morning look into the tank, I could tell by his appearance that the male had released the fry. I didn't think his throat was particularly swollen, so I wasn't sure how many fry to expect. After quite a lengthy spell of observation, I eventually spotted just one fry keeping quite still near the leaf litter. It was quite dark, about 3 mms in size and blended in very well with the colour of the Oak leaves. I then put in some frozen Bloodworm for the three Corydoras and the rubra male, but surprisingly, it was the second day before he took any food. One week later, after giving him time to recuperate, I put him back with the trio in the other tank. I could now concentrate on finding out how many fry were in the tank and feed them up. Fry development With all the cover, it wasn't easy to spot any fry, never mind count them! However, during the first week I managed to spot 8 fry, all out together feeding on the Walterworm which I was giving four times daily.  As the days went by, they gradually came out into the open more often, so that by the end of the third week I had counted at least 15 fry. At this stage they had still only reached around 5 mms, were beige coloured and their fins were better developed, although no significant markings.  From this point onwards, growth is steady... but slow. By the time the fry are 4 months old they have reached around 2.5 cms in length, are fuller bodied but as yet no colour. At this stage, the only marking, which is on all the juveniles, is the much bolder lateral line. However, as they move around the tank, it is not a completely uneventful, peaceful situation. There is a lot of "eyeballing" each other, arching of bodies and darts forward at each other, as a basic show of dominance, probably in preparation for adulthood. Some of the larger fish are also significantly commandeering a niche in the rockwork and surveying the scene from there. These particular fish have also developed some bolder brown spots on top of the head.  Juveniles sexing out Just a few days short of being six months old, I was pleased to see the first vague hint of colour on a male. He was by this time, around 3.5 cms in size and had taken over a hollow under a piece of Ocean Rock. With all the posturing and eye-balling it was no surprise to see a large male be the first to show his colours.  Mating surprise at 7 months!...... Despite careful and lengthy observation spells, I never saw a female with her egg spot showing. However I was fortunate enough to see a mating underneath a small piece of Bogwood. (Once again showing preference for some "cover"). Whether this would prove to be an early and perhaps false spawning I couldn't be sure until later. It was now a question of waiting and seeing if eggs were indeed produced, carried and hatched... Even at this age the majority of the fish in my colony (see below) were still plain in appearance with a bold lateral line and very hard to sex when trying to pick out pairs. At least it did give me some indication about the approximate age at which I could expect maturing fish to spawn.  Summary This is a beautiful Betta, especially when the males show real intensity of colour. Now that it is back in circulation and is becoming more readily available to aquarists, I am sure it will be a very popular Betta to keep and breed. Copyright; Text and photos. Ivor Hilton. |
|
<<--- Back to articles list
|