baby bettas... where did they go????

[blue_neon]

ok so yesterday 9/8/03 my betta eggs hatched and i counted at least 40 of the little guys .....but now today when i got hom from school i could only see 6 did daddy eat them ... i still see him picking them up and putting them back whan they fall or could they be free swimming already???

 

[bettacove]

Sounds like daddy got hungry...

sorry about your babies.
ashley

 

[blue_neon]

its not like i let him starve ... i put food as far away from the nest as possible... bad daddy huh????

 

[tkos]

First time daddy? Maybe he just didn't understand that he was a father.

 

[blue_neon]

well the 4 or 5 that r still there when they fall he puts them back so i just dont get it maybe he is not as smart as i thought

 

[bettacove]

Its not really that he was hungry, its just his daddy instinct didn't kick right away. He probably saw something wiggling and decided to have a snack, then realized that maybe the were the babies I wouldn't bother feeding him while hes in the tank, just makes more of a mess.

ashley

 

[blue_neon]

it is just the light has been on for 4 days and i know that he is not sleeping at all so i thought that should give him some food and some energy

 

[bettacove]

Theres always arguments about feeding in the spawning tank. Some people say that feeding him brings on his hunger causeing him to eat the eggs/babies, others say that not feeding him cuaseing him not to eat the babies/eggs and not feeding also helps keep the tank cleaner.
I never feed my males in the spawning tank, and i've never had any eggs/babies eaten. But then again i have tryed feeeding them and also never had any eggs eaten, but the tank was messy. Most males are to busy to eat anyway, so they just don't.

Maybe there are more babies hidding somewere and you just can't see them?
ashley

 

[blue_neon]

i hope so ... my best friend has been having a really hard time lately and she gets pick of the litter so to speak and i would really like there to BE a litter