An interesting question...

[tank212]

Hey everyone it's been awhile since I've been on and I have a question for anyone who can answer it. I am looking to breed a couple of my favorite bettas and see if I get some nice fry. No problem there but the male I have does not eat bloodworms...yes you heard me right, he does not eat them! He doesn't even go near them. I was wondering if there were any alternative foods to prepare him for breeding. The only food I have gotten him to eat was hbh bites which he loves. Hopefully someone can help me with this. Anyways it's good to see you all again!

 

[Alix]

small live and dry foods, live food is the best, and may be necessary to get your bettas to breed. Brine Shrimp, Daphnia, Microworms, Fruit Flies, and Tubifex Worms are excellent choices.

 

[red-devil0602]

Please if you haven't already, read the pinned topic on breeding.
I am conditioning a pair of mine at the minute using frozen daphnia, brineshrimp, whiteworms and live brineshrimp

 

[tank212]

Maybe I should've said only eats pellets. And yes I have read the pinned topic numerous times in the past and present.

 

[red-devil0602]

if your like me you will read it all the time as i'm so paranoid about my first attempt
What have you tried him on already

 

[tank212]

I've tried bloodworms and micros. I haven't tried daphnia I would have to check to see if my petstore has it. I also haven't tried live brine shrimp but I can't get any of those but I can get tiny freshwater shrimp if that would work? Similar to the ghost shrimp.

 

[Synirr]

Some of my bettas like to make snacks out of ghost shrimp, so I guess you could give it a try.
I also have a betta who won't eat anything but his beloved pellets

 

[Dorkhedeos]

ive given my female hikari bio gold and shes full of eggs. not sure if it will work for you though, cause it doesnt work for my other females.

 

[Alix]

i didnt know a betta would eat ghost shrimp. ill remember that next time i go to get something "fishy" ill get some shrimp

 

[Synirr]

i didnt know a betta would eat ghost shrimp. ill remember that next time i go to get something "fishy" ill get some shrimp

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Some do and some don't... Mini will share her tank with ghost shrimp for months, then when one sheds its exoskeleton she goes in for the kill!

 

[tank212]

I also have a betta who won't eat anything but his beloved pellets

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Yeah I've tried everything lol and he still goes back to hbh and -bettagold-. I was just wondering if this would affect breeding him.

I was also curious I have attempted two spawns with 2 different sets of fish and each time I condition them and have the tank set up perfect and I always come up with the same problem. The female doesn't cooperate, which is strange cause they have bellies full of eggs and have vertical stripes. I have also attempted the second procedure with one pair and failed. I have been constantly looking up any information I can come up with and fail to notice what I'm missing it is really frustrating but I haven't given up yet. Sorry to change the subject a little.

 

[red99cat]

The parents of my current spawn were conditioned on hbh betta bites. I was using frozen shrimp for a while, but I went back to the ease of using pellets. The female was a small crowntail, first spawn for her too. She laid a small clutch of about 110 eggs. I might have gotten more eggs if I conditioned her with live food, but bettas can be conditioned with pellets.

Also spawning bettas can be frustrating. Had a few uninterested males, one female murdered by aggressive male, one male attacked by aggressive female, one male who ate all the eggs, one male who ate half of the fry, and one male who ate all of the fry. I was getting a little down with all the failures. Sometimes you are not doing anything wrong. Keep trying and you will get a pair to spawn.

 

[Synirr]

How long are you leaving your pairs together, tank212, and what size tank are you using? Do you provide the female with places to hide? It's completely normal for females not to cooperate at first (we ladies have to play hard to get you know ), but as long as she has places to hide and isn't getting too beat up by the male it's ok to leave the pair together for several days. Sometimes it just takes time and patience

 

[tank212]

I am leaving them in there for atleast 4 hours and this recent one I tried the female would try to get away from the male anytime he would get close. I stopped it because I think the male got fed up and nipped her a bit and I scooped the female out. I think this next attempt will probably be the best because I have everything set up in there nicely and the male is already busy starting the bubble nest. I am trying the second procedure where you let the male build the nest then you place the female in the cup and then release after a bit. So while he is in there I have the female in her tank right next to the breeding tank he is in to sort of get him to not slack off I geuss you could say. I will leave them in there longer the only thing is I don't want to miss the embrace and not know if they're finished or not. Do you have any tips I could find useful? Anything would help as I've mentioned I've been searching the net for all the info I can get. As far as if they do spawn and they do have fry which I'm not too worried about, I am fully prepared for that.

 

[Synirr]

Yeah, 4 hours isn't nearly long enough for most pairs to embrace. It's normal for some nipping and ripped fins to occur, but as long as there are no severe body wounds and the fish don't appear to be in any immediate danger it's fine. You've got to be brave!
They embrace more than once, and usually continue doing so for at least an hour. If you miss it, you'll know they're done if you see eggs in the nest and the female is no longer showing interest.