“Mr. Gomez Addams,” my approximately 1 year old betta rubra male. He is the father of the spawn born February 2021.

It seems appropriate to start my aquarist blogging journey with the bittersweet conclusion of my first big project: this week I will deliver the last of my first spawn of b. rubra–my first fish spawn ever, really–to a local fish store here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

Trying to get an accurate count of these guys has been quite difficult as they are quite zippy, but this spawn contains approximately 24 individuals. There were originally closer to ~30 but, as I will definitely address in a later blog post, I lost six fry near the end of March and onwards into April when I accidentally cross-contaminated some sort of virus or bacteria while feeding. Managing that crisis was extremely stressful, and I was heartsick to watch them struggle. But as you can see, the 24 who pulled through have reached young adulthood and are very healthy now.

There is one male in this spawn who I am struggling to photograph who is just stunning, and I am trying to decide whether or not I will keep him with the intention of breeding him with another female. The issue is that for every fish from a given spawn I choose to keep, I must make a commitment to that fish’s care as a member of my personal collection. That will mean setting up a permanent home for him, which has overhead costs I will need to account for–not to mention figuring out where to put his tank!

Categories: B. Rubra, Fishkeeping, Genus: Betta

Tags: betta rubra, featured