F2 Candy Dumbos

Even though I said I'd never do it again, I've started a second group spawn :,)

My original plan was to pair Celeste, a female dumbo from my f1 Candy Dumbo spawn with any marble halfmoon dumbo I could find. I was so excited when Prism Bettas started getting in Halfmoon Dumbos with color! I missed the first one that was listed, but as soon as Galaxy came up on their future listing post I KNEW I needed him! They restock their website every Monday around 6pm CST, so I literally sat there for 30 minutes refreshing like a maniac until it updated and I was able to snag him ^_^

Introducing him to Celeste went terribly. He literally had zero interest in her. I would remove the cards between their conditioning jars and he'd just ignore her. I was curious if he was like this with all females or just her, so I ended up putting a bright red female halfmoon with long fins next to him to see what he would do. He immediately started flaring and got to work building a nest. I'll admit, I died a bit inside that he didn't want my gal

So after realizing this pairing wasn't going to work out, I started looking for new pairs for both of them. I reached out to Khang Pham with Betta Squad USA who picked out a lovely Purple Grizzle Dumbo Halfmoon Female for me. I also got a gorgeous Blue Butterfly Dumbo Halfmoon Male who has some marbling.

I introduced Galaxy to Andromeda and they hit it off! They showed a lot of interest in each other and I gave them a go. They showed a lot of promise initially, and even got to the wrapping phase, but ultimately their first attempt failed. I reconditioned them for another week and gave them a second try but again it failed. She would attack him and rip his fins out so I ended their second attempt after one day. In retrospect, I am glad this spawn failed. His fins are exceptionally long, to the point that they weight him down in the tank. Andromeda's fins are also incredibly long - as long as a Halfmoon Male! Together they may have created fry that have trouble swimming and that's not something I am ok with. I added her to my sorority and she has fit right in so she has a home to stay with me :)

I did have 3 successful spawns with the other 4 bettas though! I've listed them below with pictures and how they went.

I am still hopeful to pair Galaxy and Celeste in the future. Currently I am up to my eyeballs in betta fry, so maybe when the youngest hit 2 months or so.

Goals of the Group Spawn

Marble Marble please everyone Marble for me! I am looking for long finned marble dumbo bettas. I am expecting a few different colors and a lot of butterflies, solid colors, and some shorter finned dumbos, but hopefully I'll get a few great fry I can use for the 3rd generation!

Nebula x Celeste Spawning

Hatched 5-21-22

These guys had such a fantastic and beautiful time spawning! I got some of the prettiest photos during their session. I only conditioned Nebula for a few days before deciding to spawn them. He was pretty novice and would stop wrapping her too early, causing her to release eggs that weren't getting fertilized. I was expecting a rather small spawn because of this, but I ended up with about 100 fry hatching! It's gone down naturally as the bigger fry eat the smaller ones, but I'm expecting 20-50 nice bettas from these two :)

Nebula x Star Spawning

Hatched 5-27-22

I removed Nebula from his first tank after the eggs hatched and he immediately started building more nests. Star was really eggy as well so I decided to give them a try! They immediately spawned and had a good sized spawn. Both worked together and were so amazing! Nebula did much better his second time around and Star was such a champ.

Galaxy x Star Spawning

Hatched 6-02-22

This spawn started out with Andromeda in the breeder box with Galaxy on their second try. Galaxy was shutting down from her aggression so I removed her. He still had a nest and was showing signs of wanting to breed, so I decided to swap Star in. Despite just breeding, Star was still eggy and ready to go.

She was a much better fit for Galaxy. Just as she was with Nebula, she hid when it was appropriate, and pushed back to get him to engage with her. Mostly she just hung out near the nest until he was ready to spawn. Their spawning process was not easy. His long fins got in the way, making it difficult for him to get into position. She would patiently wait until he tried again.

They managed to get a handful of eggs into the nest. He was a good dad and did his best, but ultimately only a few eggs hatched. Currently I can count about 15 one-week old fry in the tank.

8-21-22 Update - Unfortunate incident

These spawn have been doing really well. Lots of growth, good numbers, and promising forms. I had separated the fry out into two groups by size so they could grow without as much competition. Unfortunately I lost about 40% of the fry when a bunch of toads got into their pond and laid eggs. I have never had this happen before in my years of keeping ponds. The remaining fry who were in the pond have pulled through and are doing well.

Overall I am seeing lots of blues, purples, greys, whites, and a few who are thinking about marbling. I am still super excited to see them grow <3