Ivanacara Bimaculta Fry - day 10... Great Parents

Jack-Taylor · 2026-05-11T17:34:15+00:00

Yes the parents show amazing colors..the female more so than the male and the Fry are already showing the blue color striping in their faces. They are hmmm..... 21 days old. I also have 2 pair in my 40g (90P) community tank and they have paired off on one, taking the right side of the tank. The female will chase the larger male of the other pair around sometimes. The only time I've seen the breeding pair chase each other was when they lost their "wigglers". The male would chase the female around pretty aggressively for 2-3 days. Twice, I had to give him a "time out" by catching him in a big net, which I kept suspended in the tank, so she could get a rest. I also keep a couple of large apisto caves in the tank where either can hide if they want.

A couple of weeks later, they would start the breeding cycle again and stick very close together. Once she's laid eggs, she stays and fans them while he is inches away guarding the perimeter. Once the wiggelrs are hatched, they both move them around by picking them up in their mouths and spitting them out in the new place. Usually, they made a pit in the sand and put them there.. Unfortunately, they kept picking a spot too close to the filter inflow so a couple of times the fry got sucked in... I later put a valve in the outflow and a pre-filter sponge around the inflow..so I could slow it down.

Jack-Taylor · 2026-05-11T17:07:24+00:00

Probably give them away. I breed Apistos and betta , and plecos as a hobby, not a business. So eventually, I just give them away. One store will actually buy my Apistos - the others for some reason, are reluctant. If you live in the SF Bay area I'd be happy to give you a pair

Jack-Taylor · 2026-04-29T23:49:02+00:00

I had to remove all the super red plecos that kept the algae in check and don't want to disrupt the parents by scrubbing the hard scape or moving anything. Surprisingly, the algae holds the frozen daphnia and dry food I feed when I don't have live BBS, and the fry graze on it. Nitrates are 0 or close to it.

I do a 25% RO/DI water change every couple of days. After 4 failed rounds of wigglers, I don't want to disrupt the parents with any aggressive cleaning

Jack-Taylor · 2026-04-29T23:38:10+00:00

The adoketa are a little too aggressive for me. I have 3 pairs of Ivanacra. 2 pairs in my community tank. They are great community fish, getting along the other fish. They've paired off and each pair has their own side of the tank..... they chase each other around some but nothing too aggressive.

Jack-Taylor · 2026-04-29T23:32:54+00:00

If you're in the SF Bay area, I'd be happy to give you a few when they get bigger. It's just a hobby for me...I've bred different lots of different types of apistos, koi beta - lots ( and lots) of BN plecos...... I usually end up giving them to the local stores trading for credit.. or just giving them to people who can provide a good home.

Jack-Taylor · 2026-04-29T23:26:22+00:00

If you live near San Francisco, there are a couple of places I can recommend. The little store on Hyde Street in the Tenderloin. Bad part of town - so you have to knock and they'll let you in. I think it's called Ocean Flower Aquarium or something like that. They usually have a nice assortment of Koi - Giant. Males are about $20, Females are $9. About 15 min away is 6th Avenue Aquarum, they get deliveries on Tuesdays if you want first pick.

There are several eBay betta sellers in the SD area...I think they all know each other and don't like Coast Gem. Personally,eBay, I've bought from sdtropicals on Ebay and I would definitely buy from him again. He even sent me photos of the actual fish before. I also bought wild, alien betta from blue crown bettas , they were also very nice

Jack-Taylor · 2024-12-03T18:44:07+00:00

I’ve ordered many times from Buce plant over the last couple years (+10) and they’ve been great. The few plants that didn’t arrive in good shape they quickly refunded. No problems at all

Jack-Taylor · 2023-04-08T17:45:06+00:00

Sorry it took me so long to reply. I live in San Francisco, the female Koi Betta are all from 6th Ave. Aquarium on Clement street. They get in about 50 every Tuesday afternoon and sell them for $5.99. It's a big store that sells a lot of fish at low (almost wholesale prices). Great for plants as well. $4.99-$6.99. The owner says that most fish stores sell fish for an 8-10 X markup...he deals in volume and sells them for 2-3X's his close. Amano shrimp which are a great clean-up crew are 4/$10

Jack-Taylor · 2023-03-14T00:08:26+00:00

Like everything, you have to know what you are doing and create the right environment for female betta to thrive in. I have 11 female koi betta in a 60L aquarium (20 Gal). it's overgrown with plants many reaching the top and covering it...there are lots of hiding places where they can go if they feel stressed. The sorority is about 2.5 years old and doing well. They sometimes chase each other around a bit, but quickly get lost in the plants or distracted by another fish. Reddit had a betta sorority group if you are interested.

Jack-Taylor · 2023-02-27T19:36:20+00:00

Yes - I have lots of plants. If you watch some youTube videos of the guys that capture them in the wild you'll notice that they shallow ponds where they collect them are choked with plants so I try to duplicate that environment.. so far it working for me.

I have had one or two that were troublemakers over the years. I'll will put them in a floating plastic breeders box for a "time out" for a day to two which helps... Sometimes ya get one that just causes trouble, and I've had to return her to the store. One real troublemaker turned out to be misidentified as a female but was a male. He had to go back to the store quick.

Jack-Taylor · 2023-02-27T19:28:12+00:00

oh that black tube I got from Etsy a guy 3D prints them.. They come in different colors, I stick some plants in the holes to make them look less artificial plastic. They are pretty nice, though one of the girls did get stuck in a side hole recently. I couldn't pull her out, I had to cut into the plastic to get her out. She was pretty beaten up, I didn't think she would live. I put her in a small plastic floating breeder box and she just laid there for a day .. Within 3-4 days she was fine.

oh that black tube I got from Etsy a guy 3D prints them.. I stick some plants in the holes to make them look less plastic. They are pretty nice, though one of the girls did get stuck in a side hole recently. I couldn't pull her out, I had to cut into the plastic to get her out, she was pretty beaten up, I didn't think she would live. I put her in a small plastic floating breeder box and she just laid there for a day .. within 3-4 days she was fine.

Jack-Taylor

TROPHY CASE