Something killed my baby bettas

Well earlier tonight i was cleaning my baby betta tank,of course just the very small water change.Well i only found 2 baby bettas after i removed the plants that were in there for them to hide in.So while i am looking at the tank trying to figure out where the babies were i noticed 2 weird creatures.They kinda looked like a beetle and a swimming centipede :O.So one of them i guess is a baby fish killer and of course i killed them :taz:.So i am just about ready to shut down the whole ideas of trying to breed bettas :weirdface.My god its easier breeding snakes :P

aww im sorry about your babies.
i tell yah its a betta serial killer.
a friend from work's little guy kicked the bucket yesterday and last week mine passed. now your children?! :tears: oh the humanity!

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Originally Posted by reixox

aww im sorry about your babies.
i tell yah its a betta serial killer.
a friend from work's little guy kicked the bucket yesterday and last week mine passed. now your children?! :tears: oh the humanity!

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LMAO! :8: Well after talking to a few people i think these stupid creatures come in on the plants :mad:.I REALLY hate plants because of all the STUPID snails that ride on them but i thought i washed away the extras :mad:. So any creatures i see get the electric chair AKA squished :P

LOL well squish'em one for me!

I used plants in my first attempt to breed gouramis, it just made the water scummier. The next time around i just used plastiv plants.

Yes breeding snakes is way easier. Betta's aren't hard to breed, it's keeping the fry alive into baby hood and then moresome. Best of luck the next time around!!!!

It seems like it would be easier to breed snakes....After all of the hoops I have had to jump through to get fish to breed.
Just wait until you try to breed cichlids.....some days the pairs are fine together, the next day the male may off the female just because....
With fish, it is mostly trial and error learning. One day, it will all make sense ;-)

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Yes breeding snakes is way easier. Betta's aren't hard to breed, it's keeping the fry alive into baby hood and then moresome. Best of luck the next time around!!!!

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Well now that i have the correct food sizes i thought everything would be fine.Then some creature sneaks in and more then likely ate the babies :mad:.Well the plants have been setting in salt water overnight to kill any other unwanted creatures.Then i am cleaning out the whole tank and destroying all unwanted creatures on sight :taz:.So we will see how things go if i ever try again.

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Originally Posted by accidental777

It seems like it would be easier to breed snakes....After all of the hoops I have had to jump through to get fish to breed.
Just wait until you try to breed cichlids.....some days the pairs are fine together, the next day the male may off the female just because....
With fish, it is mostly trial and error learning. One day, it will all make sense ;-)

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Oh it is WAYYYY easier breeding snakes ;).My trial and error notebook is almost to a closing end :P

aww Joe.. sorry about the fry. now that you've cleaned everything out just give it another try. fingers crossed that the next time around it will go better for ya. :hug:

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

aww Joe.. sorry about the fry. now that you've cleaned everything out just give it another try. fingers crossed that the next time around it will go better for ya. :hug:

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Thanks :gj:.Well i found out the plants come from someones outside pond and thats where the creatures come from :mad:.I will think about trying again but not sure if i want to to be honest.So many babies lost :(

if you do try again... purchase some live plants, like java moss or java fern, camboba or hornwort from ebay. I've purchased my plants from there and the only hitchhiker that appeared was a snail. And I also do wash and qt the live plants first. I hope you do try again but I can understand if ya don't :D

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

if you do try again... purchase some live plants, like java moss or java fern, camboba or hornwort from ebay. I've purchased my plants from there and the only hitchhiker that appeared was a snail. And I also do wash and qt the live plants first. I hope you do try again but I can understand if ya don't :D

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The plants i have are the ones that look like a fern tree.I cant remember the name :oops:.It comes in a bunch normaly.

xmas fern?

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

xmas fern?

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Nope.I will take a pic of it here in a bit :P

okay... you know, this is a weird way to have a conversation :rofl:

If you want, you could ditch the plants too. There are a lot of breeders that do it without plants. Matter of fact the breeders in florida do exactly that. My someday brother in law used to work for one of the fish farms down there, he was a great help when I started breeding fish that are non-cichlids.
Just strip everything down to the bare minimum, a small rubbermade tub, half of a styrofoam cup, a small heater, and maybe a sponge filter (not necessary either). Worst thing that will happen is that they won't go for you.

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Originally Posted by accidental777

If you want, you could ditch the plants too. There are a lot of breeders that do it without plants. Matter of fact the breeders in florida do exactly that. My someday brother in law used to work for one of the fish farms down there, he was a great help when I started breeding fish that are non-cichlids.
Just strip everything down to the bare minimum, a small rubbermade tub, half of a styrofoam cup, a small heater, and maybe a sponge filter (not necessary either). Worst thing that will happen is that they won't go for you.

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many breeders do successfully breed bettas that way and its understandable when you have a substantial amount of breeding pairs which will result in thousands of fry. makes cleaning the breeding and grow out tanks easier. However, having a plant or two doesn't hurt and rather is beneficial when either betta is not quite ready for spawing and needs to hide from the more aggressive one. It can be as simple as having a clump of java moss floating in the tank. Males do kill females, but females are just as aggressive and do kill potential mates for being too slow. ;)

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Originally Posted by Ladydragon

xmas fern?

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I remember the name its anacharis plant.

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Originally Posted by accidental777

If you want, you could ditch the plants too. There are a lot of breeders that do it without plants. Matter of fact the breeders in florida do exactly that. My someday brother in law used to work for one of the fish farms down there, he was a great help when I started breeding fish that are non-cichlids.
Just strip everything down to the bare minimum, a small rubbermade tub, half of a styrofoam cup, a small heater, and maybe a sponge filter (not necessary either). Worst thing that will happen is that they won't go for you.

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I have a small tank that i only put 4 inches of water in as suggested and used the half of a styrofoam cup.The babies were 2 weeks old today and they died in the last 2 days.

I am not saying that plants are all bad, I just would not use live ones. There aren't a whole lot of places where you can pick up plants and not end up with snails or other pests. It certainly does not hurt anything to use fake ones.
Also, your tank will be fine but tubs make things a bit easier. You can still use a divider, most people make their own out of some platic craft sheet stuff. Plus, when you are dealing with only 4" of water, keeping the lid on helps you keep up humidity and helps to keep your temps from fluctuating. The humidity does need to be kept up a bit, since bettas are still labyrinth fish and need the humidity to help them grow their labyrinth organs.
P.S. I have bred bettas and gouramis in the past using these methods, I also know what works for me and what has worked for many others. Maybe it would be best for both of us not to assume that we know it all and meet somewhere in the middle. After all the point here is to try and help the OP.

I never assumed to know it all and wasn't disputing your suggestions. just rather pointing out the benefits of live plants. I've purchased quite a few plants from ebay and only one time did I get a unintentional hitchhiker. If plants are qt in a smaller seperate tank you can usually discover any unwanted occupants and ensure you only have plants going into your betta tank. you can keep the humidity high in a tank by using plastic wrap over the top of a tank.. I've had that work well. either way.. Joe can use which ever suggestions he thinks might work for him.

Agreed. Live plants do have great benefits. And, most hitchhiking pests can be taken care of by quarantine or a soak in chlorinated (untreated water). They are great for reducing amounts of CO2 in the water and are great for the nitrogen cycle. They can even be used for a partial food source in some cases (anacharis) or just to level the playing field to lower cannibalism and give all of the fry a fair chance. Floating plants are great for fish that need to hide out for a bit too, not just bettas.
For me, it is easier just to go with fake ones. I just don't have the time or space to quarantine plants or soak them, and the fish seem happy enough. They are also less maintenance and do not require pruning. I noticed that it would be impossible to siphon off dead plant matter while growing out tiny fry. I don't exactly have a green thumb when it comes to aquatic plants either..... I can breed fish all day long without trying but god forbid I try to keep one measly little bunch of anacharis alive for more than a few weeks. My java ball does ok though. Sorry Ladydragon.....I think I am just prejudice against aquatic plants.