Update: Red Halfmoon Spawn Log - First Selected Male

Hi friends! Would like to start sharing some updates of the final spawn logging phase from my Red Halfmoon spawn... I have chosen a few individuals (males & females) that I consider decent quality. So, in this spawn log phase, I plan to share the selected pieces one by one with some commentary about their quality. The first one I am sharing is a male. Like all his other brothers, ray branching is heavy. 😔 Throughout the spawn, the undesirable iridescent and black pigmentation is clearly visible, and in this fish there is no exception. 🙁 Also, the red pigmentation on this male is less intense and relatively poor for the red class. However despite his shortcomings, I do consider him one of the best specimens produced from this spawn due to his form & finnage (nice shapes & volume on every fin, decent body shape, fin-to-fin balance & "skyhawk" dorsal). Hope you all enjoy following this spawn log so far, which is still in the early stage of Red Halfmoon line development..

More information about the spawn log: http://bettamas.blogspot.com/2021/10/red-halfmoon-cross-spawn-log.html

October 2021 update: http://bettamas.blogspot.com/2021/10/update-red-halfmoon-spawn-log.html

January 2022 update: http://bettamas.blogspot.com/2022/01/4-january-2022-update-red-hm-spawn-log.html

4 January 2022 UPDATE: Red HM Spawn Log

Hi all. Would like to update the spawn!

On 5th December 2021, I started jarring some males. I have not "carded" them to date, so they are not "flaring-on-demand" at the moment. Will be carding a few pretty soon.

On 4th January 2021, I started jarring some females.

Overall, the colours are pretty much what I expect, even though they will probably take another month or two to reach their full potential. The red is there, and pigmentation coverage is decent on the males. The red pigmentation on the body of the females is less pronounced (as expected for this type). Also as expected, they are not the super intense red of the established Super Red plakat lines of today (with extremely reduced irid & minimal black pigmentation), but it is good enough to work with and improve further colour wise. Looking at their finnage, I am quite happy with what I see so far - good branching, balanced finnage, nice fin volume. This is an indication that the parents came from very stable /established halfmoon lines. Body-wise, there will need more work further to improve on the topline curve & top-bottom symmetry (in coming generations). Will be interesting to see how they all look at full potential (I estimate maybe another 2 months plus minus from now).

Gold HMPK Male - Current Generation 2021

Allow me to share one of the best gold males from my current generation. The line still needs work especially in terms of colour, hopefully can improve the intensity, "cleanliness" and pigmentation spread further... As for the form, overall it is quite impressive, and IMO is good enough to pass off as show betta quality, although there are a few things form-wise that I would like to improve further in this line. Wish me luck guys...

click pic to view higher resolution

Kultur Microworm : Kaedah Malas

Izinkan saya kongsi cara mudah yg saya pakai untuk mengultur microworm. Boleh dikatakan cara ni cukup malas, tetapi berkesan bagi saya. Kalau ada breeder yang menggunakan microworm, mungkin info ini bermanfaat buat anda...

Terdapat pelbagai kaedeh mengultur microworm. Kaedah mudah ini telahpun digunapakai oleh saya untuk mengultur microworm bertahun-tahun tanpa pernah putus. Microworm adalah makanan bagus bagi anak betta, namun penggunaannya seharusnya tidak berlebihan. Penggunaan microworm bagi saya lebih sebagai makanan sampingan atau "backup", untuk fry usia lingkungan beberapa minggu pertama.

PS: Foto2 di sini sebenarnya dah sedekad dah - saya cilok daripada tutorial lama yang pernah saya kongsikan suatu masa dahulu...

Culturing Microworms : Lazy Method! (New Version)

Would like to share my method of culturing microworms. For those using microworms, I thought you may find my minimal effort method (ie. lazy way) interesting, or perhaps even useful.

click pic to view higher resolution

There are many methods of culturing microworm. This simple method is used by myself to successfully keep a hobbyist-scale culture going for years without ever losing the culture. Note that microworms are good first foods for betta fry, but should not be excessively used. I use microworms more as a secondary source of live food (backup food) for fry during their early life (first few weeks).

PS: I have actually shared this same tutorial about a decade ago. This is a "spruced up" version of the original tutorial, but the photos are the same ones from a decade ago.

Update: Red Halfmoon Spawn Log

Spawn Development

4/10/2021 - Fry are now 33 days old. Red pigmentation appearing on the larger ones, mainly on the fins. Not a very big spawn, estimated around plus minus 50 one-month old fry, with around 70/80% survival rate compared to free-swimming day. Within the first month, I noticed that all fry are lightbodied. This confirms that both the Sire and Dam are also genetically light-bodied (homozygous cambodian). Fry continue eating only moina since day one. I have left for outstation again today, and my budding breeders are taking over our fish room again! 😎

For info of the parents and log of thearly spawning stages, you can find them here:

http://bettamas.blogspot.com/2021/10/red-halfmoon-cross-spawn-log.html