Black Orchid CTPK F1 - 2014

Tonight I jarred the last of the Black Orchid F1 CTPK - a big thing for me. First time I've cleared a grow out tank...first time I've raised a spawn from fry to maturity! Yay me! Only eleven from the spawn made it this far, but that's okay, what I do have is not a bad start for a black orchid CTPK line.

Judge for yourself...

A couple of the boys

 

 

A couple of the girls

 

 

The top boy and the top girl will be paired to progress the line :)

Pictures of all who will be looking for new homes will go up in a Facebook album hopefully before this coming weekend.....problem is two girls are already spoken for, and a breeding pair is waiting on a decision from another person I promised something too...after I take my breeding pair, that only leaves five girls...so if you're in the market for females for the cost of postage, stalk my Facebook page :)

There will also be some from my green line looking for new homes soon. Thirteen of these have been jarred and there is still six or so growing out. Haven't fully decided on what will be progressing the line forward, but there will be marble girls, royal blues, and some males looking for new homes (and quite possibly breeding pairs)...these will also be in an album on Facebook very soon :)

Almost Ready

Due to Easter and ANZAC day being so close together this year in Australia, I managed to take a few days off in between to join the long weekends together and ended up with a ten day break - sweet!

Over those ten days, I've done a bit of work in the fish room, including setting up my new holding tank.

Still lots of work required to finish this project, but it's now operational with a few fish already testing it out for me :)

I've also revamped my AquaOne Trio tank in prep for jarring out individuals from my growouts. They are starting to come thick and fast now. It will only be another two or three weeks and I'll be looking to pair some up for shipping to new homes, others will be available as singles, and, of course, some will be chosen to remain and carry on their lines in my own fish room.

Two current spawns are having a mixed bag of results. One has a single fry remaining, from what seems to have been a very small spawn in the first place (<10). He has been non-stop grazing on BBS and has now eaten himself into a case of Swim Bladder Disorder. His diet has been altered to try and fix this. He is growing exceptionally well though...

The other spawn is doing well with 20-30 very active fry buzzing about the tank. About to start bigger water changes and add grated blood worm to the diet.

So once these growouts have been sent out the door, things will begin to wind down a little in preparation for the winter layoff. I still have one growout moving very slowly, and these new spawns to tend to over the colder months, but I wont be doing any further spawns till August/September.

Come Spring - come the push for F2 spawns...looking forward to that :)

Betta Photos - Eye Candy

Finally got around do doing some photography last night and thought I'd share what is soon to be given away...well, some of them :)

The Black Orchid F1 CTPKs

 

This girl ^^ will be retained for the F2 spawns

 

Evil eye...but check the branching  and beginning of webbing reduction in the caudal

 

Some of the blacks are still growing out, but most should be quite nice for F1s

 

Male keeper to go with the female keeper above

 

This girl and about 8 or 9 of her siblings will be going out to new owners :)

 

 

The Green F1 CTPK's

 

 

There are around 20 or so of these guys who need new homes

 

Interesting two tone blue male with obvious variegated fin gene

He may be going to a new home - not yet decided 

 

My green line has a lot of blue to choose from. Most of these will be going :)

 

The marble gene has kicked in for some of the girls...

 

And then there's my favourite girl (a definite keeper) 

 

My favourite is also not one of the biggest - don't dismiss runts

I have one last spawn in the growouts, but they are far from ready, and I'm not sure if any will be of use to anybody else at this stage. I may simply keep a few of them and cull the rest. It will be from F2 that I expect to get the best results from that spawn...unfortunately, the give-aways will also end when the last of those from the black and green F1 lines have left the Fishroom - F2 spawns will mark my dipping of the toe into showing and hopefully, selling :)

Advice...And Give-aways

Learning about Betta has been an all-consuming passion over the last 11 months. I have loved the genetics side of the humble Betta, and then the tail-types - my shifting goals from breeding long fin half suns, to now concentrating on CTPK...but, the biggest enjoyment I've had from any of this, has been the sharing of that knowledge with others.

Facebook has become the place to be if you're involved with the Australian Betta community, although I still love and frequent the AusAqua forum and the people on there (I love them, not frequent them). But it is on Facebook that I have come to dispense the little bit of knowledge that I have gathered.

I know very little - compared to some of those who have been breeding for many more years than I have, I know less than very little! But I seem to know the basics, and that is what many of the newer breeders want to know - and so I freely dispense those bits I do know - and I feel good about educating others.

Now I have F1 spawns who need homes in the next month or so. I shall decide on the few fish I want to keep from each spawn, and give the majority of the rest away. Sorry, but only mainland Australians need express any interest.

I'll add photos when they're ready to be shipped - but, I have turquoise marble half dragons and I have black marbles, all F1 CTPK spawns. There will be 20+ of the turquoise and maybe 15 or so of the blacks that I will need to find a home for.

I'll not sell these to the LFS as I don't want F1 mutts going anywhere other than to people I know (for pets), or to breeders for their own breeding programs.

Look for me on Facebook to register your interest - it wont be binding, until I've uploaded photos with identifying designations for each fish - then if you say you want, you need only cover the postage (depending on the number of fish you want).

These are good F1 fish, as one of the girls I gave away last week has already been involved in a spawn for her new owner!

I look forward to hearing from you fellow CTPK enthusiasts.

First Departures

I've sent fish to others before, but today, I sent the very first fish that I have personally bred off to a new home.

Three little ladies from an F1 CTPK spawn, to help another breeder get her CTPK project off the ground.

 

BJT20130924F1

 

BJT20130924F2

 

BJT20130924F5

Personally, I really like the last girl, but I have my F2 spawns already underway and I don't have the room to keep everyone - so off she goes to help another :)

The other bonus is it frees up another three bays in my female barracks. My second green line of CTPK's is very close to needing some of the ladies separated out of the grow-out tank.

I shall pick out only the very best from the lines from now on - to the best of my ability - space is of a premium - which means there will be more to ship out in the near future. F1's shall continue to be give-aways - but hopefully, F2 and on should begin producing some good quality fish of a saleable nature :)

F2 Tails!

I know I've been incredibly slack on keeping this blog updated, but life outside the Fishroom is keeping me extremely busy.

But...the good news is I've managed to have some additional success in the spawn tank.

Lets go back a step or two...

It all began with a marble dragon HMPK male x with a turquoise CT female

 

 

The above pair produced these guys:

 

All my mid fin and long fin fellas end up tail biting - it's annoying :(

He was paired with the female below

 

So the above pair spawned on the weekend, and their fry (F2) began free swimming this morning.

 

And I also paired up...

 

 

 

She doesn't have any fungus or disease - it's just an effect of the light behind her.

She was tried with the other male ^^ earlier in the year, but as you can see by the fin regrowth

he was somewhat unkind towards her - she came out without so much as a scratch this time round.

 

They spawned on Sunday, and I expect the fry to be free swimming by tomorrow.

 

These guys are all part of my Hunt For Green lines. I'm trying to get some metallic green fish and to get some better CTPK. F2 should allow me to get plakat's back in the fry, and although neither dad has very good webbing reduction, the mum's are a good start - fingers crossed.

Plans A Foot

February has been pretty much a non-event in my Fishroom, and March was scheduled to be somewhat busier, but has been pretty much a no go so far. Only difference has been the introduction of grated blood worm and pellets into the growout tanks. Growth rate increases have been quite obvious.

Week 1 of March was supposed to be: Finish prep of third growout tank before moving White Marble HMPK x Yellow CT fry into their new quarters. I had moved these guys onto grated blood worm, but the largest fry was found dead, and looking somewhat over stuffed - so I assume he choked due to being a pig! Blood worm was removed from their diet but I have now recommenced it now they are a little bigger.

These guys have now been moved to bigger accommodation and I expect they will begin a growth spurt any tick of the clock...

Week 2 of March was supposed to be: Conditioning of F1 pairings - this has only begun in earnest two days ago.

I completed setting up two spawn tanks on the 18th - and added occupants late that night. Conditioning is underway, first uncarding sessions have been done, and both males have begun work on their nests. Hopefully and intro isn't too far away.

Parents were Marble Dragon Multi HMPK x Turquoise CT

I only got two surviving males from this spawn so not much choice left open to me in regards of which males to choose...

I had five females to choose from, and went solely on best form - although one has already commenced marbling and the other is likely to follow suit.

Hopefully, I'll get a better range of plakat combtails from these pairings so I can begin the line of CTPK in earnest.

April will be all about jarring fry and sorting out potentials for F2 pairings next breeding season come September :)