Babies!

I already have four tanks. LOL And not one spare inch in which to put another one. I suppose if they really get enthusiastic, the bettas might be able to handle a couple of roommates each but that's about it.

How big of a hatching is normal in aquarium fish?  What do you do when everyone grows up, and I assume, continues breeding?  I'm kind of hung up on these questions for my own possible future experiences. 

Im assuming we are talking about live bearers, right? If so, 5-30 is about average. Although, I had a pond raised female swordtail that had 175 fry out of one batch. She was a huge fish though. They won't stop breeding. You have to be careful with live bearers, they are like rabbits underwater. Good luck, if you are interested let me know and I will post the two big secret to growing the fry faster, and end up with the healthiest adults possible. I started with show guppies many moons ago, then moved on to show bettas. Will get back into show bettas eventually. In the meantime, i will live vicariously through you guys.... lol

And YES, what are your secrets???

Well, ok, there are really three things. It requires work though. First, and most important is nutrition. Live baby brine shrimp is in my experience the best fry food known. Feed them until they have nice round orange bellies as often as your schedule will allow. I fed the guppie fry up to 10 times a day. I had no life then..... anyway, any live food they can eat besides the shrimp is great. Feeding them spirulina algae is a must, otherwise they may become constipated from so much protein. Second, massive water changes to the fry tank. Daily is best, but at least every three days at a minimum. Not only are the fish going to produce alot of waste, but there is good evidence to suggest that fry produce growth inhibiting hormones. Lastly, space, you basically want as few fry in as much water as you can get. I raised my fry in 20 gallon tanks, I would put 30-50 fry in there in sort them week to week. I had a tank for fry that were going to the pet store and one tank for each sex that mighy be show quality. Doing it this way I would get them from fry to adult size in 2 to 3 months. I realize that for the average person this method wouldn't be worth the time, but I would ask you to consider just trying to feed them live foods and a few more water changes, you will get bigger, healthier, more colorful adults for your efforts. Oh, and the females will produce more babies so you can have no life like i did..... lol, jk

Good question, to be honest with the live bearers I just scooped them out of the bucket after I was done. I used white buckets, so you could see the black eyes of the fry easily. The betta fry were smaller so I would put panty hose at the end of the siphon. I would use bare bottom tanks to raise fry in. I would use a turkey baster first and suck up the big debris, then siphon the rest of the water I wanted to replace. You could also use airline tubing with a drinking straw at the end for better control. I only did that with really most important batches of fry. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any more questions. I miss fish keeping so as I said before i'm living vicariously through you guys on here. When I get back into breeding fish (most likely it will be bettas) if any of you guys want a show betta I'll send you some for free.