A long time ago far far away (in the early 90s, back in Germany) I bred a few batches of Marine Bettas (aside from a few thousand ocellaris, percula, and clarkii anemonefish).
One of my later Marine Betta pairs. The male (front) is actually one of the babies I raised on my first attempt. The female is wild-caught.
Male with eggs:
12 weeks old juvenile
Fosser & Nielsen came by to take a few pictures for their book series:
General
Species: Calloplesiops altivelis Steindachner, 1903
Social Structure: pair (harem in the wild)
Size of Individuals: about 16 cm TL
Age of Individuals: unknown, where adults when I got them
Date added to Tank: 1991 (no record of precise date)
Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank: 750 L
Substrate Details: live rock - bare bottom
Filtration Details: Skimmer
Water Changes: about 100 L every 10 to 20 days
Water Temperature: 26 °C
Lighting: 6 fluorescent bulbs (2 blue, 4 daylight)
Lighting Cycle: 12 h
Other Tank Inhabitants: a pair of Amphiprion ocellaris, a pair of Pygoplites diacanthus diacanthus
Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: Rock shrimp, squid, Mysis
Feeding Schedule: random, at least 3 times a day
Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 19. JUL 1992
Spawn Time of Day: morning
Egg Size: not measured
Egg Color: initially light gray, black and silver before hatch
Egg Count: 600 - 1000 (guess)
Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 26.7.1992
Hatch Time of Day: night
# Days after Spawn: 7
Larvae Description: well developed, roughly 4 mm long, nearly no yolk sack (lasts about half a day), black
Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 26 °C
Size of Larval Tank: 100 L octagon
Substrate Details: none
Other Tank Decor: none
Filtration Details: none
Lighting: 50W halogen
Lighting Cycle: 12 h
Water Changes: constant (hooked up to parent tank via drip line and overflow)
Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: Brachionus (I suppose it was L-type), Artemia salina nauplii from day 6
Feeding Schedule: as needed to maintain a sufficient food density
Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 07. AUG 1992
Days after Hatch: 13
Date of Settlement End: 08. AUG 1992
Description of Fry: completely black before settlement, post-settlement body white, head and fins black. Shape nearly like the adults, most notable difference is that the tail fin has a straight end. Behavior of settled fry: pivoting around the eye like adults. Very slow eaters.
Extremely high losses due to sudden fright syndrome during and after metamorphosis.
Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature: 26 °C
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 60 L
Substrate Details: coral gravel
Other Tank Decor: live rock
Filtration Details: hooked up to parent system
Lighting: 2 fluorescent bulbs
Lighting Cycle: 12 h
Water Changes: hooked up to parent system
Size at Transfer: 7 to 8 mm
Age at Transfer: 35 days
Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: live brine shrimp and whatever there was on pods. Frozen food after 20 weeks.
Feeding Schedule: at least 3 times a day
Developmental details:
The larva has at the beginning a round body cross-section and is mostly dark-colored.
During the second week, the body shape becomes higher and laterally compressed and the coloration becomes darker.
After settlement, the appearance changes dramatically: the body sides turn completely white, while the head and fins are black. This change happens quite literally overnight. From this point on hiding places are required.
After 40 days (~8 mm TL) white dots become visible in the black areas.
After 12 weeks (~20 mm TL) the eyespot on the dorsal fin starts to develop. The white area on the body sides starts to shrink.
After 27 weeks the first fish lost its white area completely.
One of my later Marine Betta pairs. The male (front) is actually one of the babies I raised on my first attempt. The female is wild-caught.
Male with eggs:
12 weeks old juvenile
Fosser & Nielsen came by to take a few pictures for their book series:
General
Species: Calloplesiops altivelis Steindachner, 1903
Social Structure: pair (harem in the wild)
Size of Individuals: about 16 cm TL
Age of Individuals: unknown, where adults when I got them
Date added to Tank: 1991 (no record of precise date)
Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank: 750 L
Substrate Details: live rock - bare bottom
Filtration Details: Skimmer
Water Changes: about 100 L every 10 to 20 days
Water Temperature: 26 °C
Lighting: 6 fluorescent bulbs (2 blue, 4 daylight)
Lighting Cycle: 12 h
Other Tank Inhabitants: a pair of Amphiprion ocellaris, a pair of Pygoplites diacanthus diacanthus
Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types: Rock shrimp, squid, Mysis
Feeding Schedule: random, at least 3 times a day
Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn: 19. JUL 1992
Spawn Time of Day: morning
Egg Size: not measured
Egg Color: initially light gray, black and silver before hatch
Egg Count: 600 - 1000 (guess)
Hatch Details
Hatch Date: 26.7.1992
Hatch Time of Day: night
# Days after Spawn: 7
Larvae Description: well developed, roughly 4 mm long, nearly no yolk sack (lasts about half a day), black
Larval Tank Details
Temperature: 26 °C
Size of Larval Tank: 100 L octagon
Substrate Details: none
Other Tank Decor: none
Filtration Details: none
Lighting: 50W halogen
Lighting Cycle: 12 h
Water Changes: constant (hooked up to parent tank via drip line and overflow)
Larval Feeding Details
Food Types: Brachionus (I suppose it was L-type), Artemia salina nauplii from day 6
Feeding Schedule: as needed to maintain a sufficient food density
Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start: 07. AUG 1992
Days after Hatch: 13
Date of Settlement End: 08. AUG 1992
Description of Fry: completely black before settlement, post-settlement body white, head and fins black. Shape nearly like the adults, most notable difference is that the tail fin has a straight end. Behavior of settled fry: pivoting around the eye like adults. Very slow eaters.
Extremely high losses due to sudden fright syndrome during and after metamorphosis.
Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature: 26 °C
Size of Grow-Out Tank: 60 L
Substrate Details: coral gravel
Other Tank Decor: live rock
Filtration Details: hooked up to parent system
Lighting: 2 fluorescent bulbs
Lighting Cycle: 12 h
Water Changes: hooked up to parent system
Size at Transfer: 7 to 8 mm
Age at Transfer: 35 days
Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types: live brine shrimp and whatever there was on pods. Frozen food after 20 weeks.
Feeding Schedule: at least 3 times a day
Developmental details:
The larva has at the beginning a round body cross-section and is mostly dark-colored.
During the second week, the body shape becomes higher and laterally compressed and the coloration becomes darker.
After settlement, the appearance changes dramatically: the body sides turn completely white, while the head and fins are black. This change happens quite literally overnight. From this point on hiding places are required.
After 40 days (~8 mm TL) white dots become visible in the black areas.
After 12 weeks (~20 mm TL) the eyespot on the dorsal fin starts to develop. The white area on the body sides starts to shrink.
After 27 weeks the first fish lost its white area completely.