Bettas won’t breed and questions about fry

Hi, I’m currently attempting to breed Bettas. I have bred them before and have 4 8 week old fry. However, I think the male I was successful in breeding before is too old to breed now, we aren’t sure of his age. And the female he originally bred with died of dropsy (we think). So we bought a new male betta to breed with our other female betta. I’m very new to breeding Bettas but I can give a quick run down of the fry tank. They are kept in about a 10 gallon plastic storage container, it is cleaned daily (20% water change), are being fed Hikari micro pellets and bloodworms. They have an aquarium plant, a moss ball, air stone, sponge filter, heating set to 26 C and a light that is on for approximately 15 hours a day. Ph is about 7 but sometimes a little more acidic, water is obviously conditioned first. I wanted to check this is okay for betta fry before breeding more. Anyways I’ve currently been trying to breed the Bettas in a 5 gallon tank, is this too small? This is not the males permanent tank and he won’t make a bubble nest nor is the female interested at all. We have Indian almond leaves arriving tomorrow, would this be helpful? Also, is it safe to move the betta fry at this age, or could they be to fragile and die? I know a lot of people have moved them to a grow out tank when they are young but I really don’t want to risk them dying. I would ask my LFS but when I asked about betta breeding they said to put a male in a sorority tank and they should breed quickly. I understand this is really long and confusing to read but I’m not sure on what to do. Sorry to bother anyone!

I pick a male and female which I think are suitable for breeding separate them for 2 or 3 weeks feeding them well on live foods to get them in good breading condition. then move them to a bare bottom tank of about 4 inches of water i set the fish tank heater to 80 degrees.
So yesterday I prepared there tank in the far corner of the tank a piece of flower pot/cave it only has one purpose it's there for the female to take cover or hide from the male males can get very aggressive when spawning) i float a piece of polystyrene on the surface the male will build it's nest underneath and it will help hold the bubble nest together i put female in jar and placed into fish tank i then release the male, both male and female can see each other the male will take interest and soon start to build a nest then release female.

fish48 said:

I pick a male and female which I think are suitable for breeding separate them for 2 or 3 weeks feeding them well on live foods to get them in good breading condition. then move them to a bare bottom tank of about 4 inches of water i set the fish tank heater to 80 degrees.
So yesterday I prepared there tank in the far corner of the tank a piece of flower pot/cave it only has one purpose it's there for the female to take cover or hide from the male males can get very aggressive when spawning) i float a piece of polystyrene on the surface the male will build it's nest underneath and it will help hold the bubble nest together i put female in jar and placed into fish tank i then release the male, both male and female can see each other the male will take interest and soon start to build a nest then release female.

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Thank you so much for replying I will definitely try this

fish48 said:

I pick a male and female which I think are suitable for breeding separate them for 2 or 3 weeks feeding them well on live foods to get them in good breading condition. then move them to a bare bottom tank of about 4 inches of water i set the fish tank heater to 80 degrees.
So yesterday I prepared there tank in the far corner of the tank a piece of flower pot/cave it only has one purpose it's there for the female to take cover or hide from the male males can get very aggressive when spawning) i float a piece of polystyrene on the surface the male will build it's nest underneath and it will help hold the bubble nest together i put female in jar and placed into fish tank i then release the male, both male and female can see each other the male will take interest and soon start to build a nest then release female.

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I'd agree with this method also @ChloChlox it has proven results. Allow your female plenty of time in the jar when inside the males tank in the introduction stage, even 24 hours. Low lighting and a quiet place is recommended all the way through the courting and spawning period, this can take a while, aslong as your male isn't relentlessly chasing an obviously uninterested female and there's no signs of fighting then allow them time. If there are those signs, remove female and try again 24 hours later.

For your question of moving the fry, at 8 weeks shouldn't be a problem, I've previously moved betta fry to grow out tanks at 6 weeks, as you can gender select them, and allowed males to grow out their fins in "jars". If you've been feeding them well on live foods they should be lovely and strong by now. I'd recommend perhaps a larger water change on the fry container in future and to make sure the airstone and filter combo isn't creating too much water movement for them.

Indian almond leaves are brilliant for a number of things, your betta's will appreciate them.
Sounds like you're doing a great job, hope this helps
Best of luck, enjoy!

EllRog said:

I'd agree with this method also @ChloChlox it has proven results. Allow your female plenty of time in the jar when inside the males tank in the introduction stage, even 24 hours. Low lighting and a quiet place is recommended all the way through the courting and spawning period, this can take a while, aslong as your male isn't relentlessly chasing an obviously uninterested female and there's no signs of fighting then allow them time. If there are those signs, remove female and try again 24 hours later.

For your question of moving the fry, at 8 weeks shouldn't be a problem, I've previously moved betta fry to grow out tanks at 6 weeks, as you can gender select them, and allowed males to grow out their fins in "jars". If you've been feeding them well on live foods they should be lovely and strong by now. I'd recommend perhaps a larger water change on the fry container in future and to make sure the airstone and filter combo isn't creating too much water movement for them.

Indian almond leaves are brilliant for a number of things, your betta's will appreciate them.
Sounds like you're doing a great job, hope this helps
Best of luck, enjoy!

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Thank you so much! I will continue to try this method and hopefully they’ll breed at some point. From the first try the female does have a bit of a rip in her fin and is quite scared. At this point she had been in the jar for a few days as he wasn’t building a bubble nest and she wasn’t showing any vertical bars so I didn’t know what to do. Is it best to let her recover a bit first before trying again? I do want fry but I know that females can die from breeding sometimes and I don’t want to cause her too much injury. Thank you again though!

ChloChlox said:

Thank you so much! I will continue to try this method and hopefully they’ll breed at some point. From the first try the female does have a bit of a rip in her fin and is quite scared. At this point she had been in the jar for a few days as he wasn’t building a bubble nest and she wasn’t showing any vertical bars so I didn’t know what to do. Is it best to let her recover a bit first before trying again? I do want fry but I know that females can die from breeding sometimes and I don’t want to cause her too much injury. Thank you again though!

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Yeah, if neither are displaying signs of breeding then wait a while and try again, you might find that these two just aren't compatible or are of an age where they're passed it! Thinking about it, this might be a factor, do you know how old they are? I'm wondering if perhaps they're juniors.

There's other things you can do to condition the male, I've put other males in view of one another, shown pictures of other males and females to a male betta through my phone (sounds absolutely insane, I know) but what I noticed is how it prompted the male in question to build nests. It's like a kick up the backside to be the alpha!

EllRog said:

Yeah, if neither are displaying signs of breeding then wait a while and try again, you might find that these two just aren't compatible or are of an age where they're passed it! Thinking about it, this might be a factor, do you know how old they are? I'm wondering if perhaps they're juniors.

There's other things you can do to condition the male, I've put other males in view of one another, shown pictures of other males and females to a male betta through my phone (sounds absolutely insane, I know) but what I noticed is how it prompted the male in question to build nests. It's like a kick up the backside to be the alpha!

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The female has never shown any interest in my males, not exactly sure how old she is, but I’ve had her for a few months. The male was building nests when I got him and I’ve had him for a while now. Your suggestion about the males sounds like something good to try so I’ll definitely do that. We are currently looking at female Bettas at the moment as while we will still try breeding her but, as you said, they may not be compatible for each other. Thank you so much for all your help!

ChloChlox said:

The female has never shown any interest in my males, not exactly sure how old she is, but I’ve had her for a few months. The male was building nests when I got him and I’ve had him for a while now. Your suggestion about the males sounds like something good to try so I’ll definitely do that. We are currently looking at female Bettas at the moment as while we will still try breeding her but, as you said, they may not be compatible for each other. Thank you so much for all your help!

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Maybe a different female is in order, no problem atall. Wish you the best of luck. Keep us updated on your breeding adventures!

Thanks to everyone who’s helped! Male has finally started building bubble nest

ChloChlox said:

Thanks to everyone who’s helped! Male has finally started building bubble nest

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Excellent news and what a beautiful male! Glad they got there in the end, maybe they just needed some candles and rose petals!

I think this might be the last update but he is a proud daddy now.

ChloChlox said:

I think this might be the last update but he is a proud daddy now.View attachment 106936

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Brilliant news!

we expect updates including pictures to see how the babies are growing.

Heyy, I know it’s been a little while. The betta fry are doing well and have begun to grow their dorsal fins. I’m going away for a couple days, I have someone feeding them, but I was wondering if they would be okay without cleaning out the tank for the 2 days I’m gone. I will make sure to change their water as soon as I get back. Would this be a problem? Or would they be fine?

ChloChlox said:

Heyy, I know it’s been a little while. The betta fry are doing well and have begun to grow their dorsal fins. I’m going away for a couple days, I have someone feeding them, but I was wondering if they would be okay without cleaning out the tank for the 2 days I’m gone. I will make sure to change their water as soon as I get back. Would this be a problem? Or would they be fine?

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With fry, you're 'supposed to' waterchange their tank daily, I've only ever allowed a day in between water changes with fry at the most. I wouldn't want to say yes and you run into a problem so I'd rather let someone who's done it answer your question lol. Glad to hear they're doing well. Hope the person in charge of feeding has listened to what you've told them too! I've never been brave enough to let someone else feed my fish