Betta breeding help!

[Erica27]

Hello, sadly my first round of Betta breeding didn’t go as plan... I had the babies and they were free swimming for a couple of day, maybe a week and then all died. So I’m going to give a list of everything I did. Please give any advice because I would love to try again.
1i would feed then 2 times a day sometimes 3. I would also change up there food with viager eles and micro worms.
2 I was to scared to use the sponge filter because I turned it on and I saw one get sucksed onto the sponge.
3i would keep a light on them at night till about 10 o’clock.
4i took the father out once I saw most were free swimming and he would chance after the ones at the other side of the tank.
5i was scared to do a water change because I thought I would suck up the babies, so I put snails in the tank. ( unsure of the type one came with the hanging plant I got for another tank and they spawned eveyerywhere)
6 I had a fake plant And a bubbler going one bubble per second.
That is pretty much it, if you have any questions ask me and if you know anything please please tell me. Thank you!

 

[Colin_T]

If they all died suddenly it was poor water quality caused by lack of filtration. You need an air operated sponge filter in their tank and have it bubbling slowly so you can almost count the bubbles.

The food was wrong too. Labyrinth fry are some of the smallest freshwater fish fry and need green water or infusoria for the first 2 weeks. Boiled egg yolk can also be used.

You need to feed them at least 3 times per day and 5 or 6 times is fine too (depending on what plants are in the tank and what you are feeding).

You should reduce the water level down so it is about 4-6 inches deep and that gets the food and fry closer together. After a few weeks and when the fry have moved onto newly hatched brineshrimp, you can slowly increase the water level.

You have to do water changes each day if you don't have a filter. The only exception to this is if you are using green water. If you have the fry in a tub of green water you don't need a filter (but you do need aeration) and you don't have to do water changes because the algae will use any nutrients.

You can have the light on 24 hours a day for fish fry but there is no improvement in their growth if you do that. I had lights on for 16 hours a day and they were fine with that.

Snails won't help keep the water clean and simply add to the bioload. Breeding tanks for fish should be snail free.

Artificial plants don't help with water quality or providing food for fish. If you want plants use live plants and have lots of them.

--------------------
If you want to try again, read the following link and start making up the live food cultures now. In about 4 weeks they should be ready and you should have better success.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/back-to-basics-when-breeding-fish.448304/

 

[NickAu]

You can have the light on 24 hours a day for fish

While you can its not advisable fish like humans needs a light and dark period

 

[Erica27]

What age do you think I could start using a sponge filter?

 

[Colin_T]

You need an established sponge filter in the rearing tank as soon as they hatch. The only time you don't need a sponge filter is if the water is green soup, then the algae uses the nutrients.

 

[Demeter32]

When I breed bettas I have the sponge filter going on low the entire process, I just make sure it's on the opposite end of the tank from the bubble nest.

I've only had 3 successful spawn, but they were all in a row so I must be doing something right. I've learned that doing daily water changes (mainly to remove the waste on the bottom) is a must. Doing it with air line tubing works best when they are tiny, you want to remove all uneaten food and poo so it doesn't foul the water. Doing just a little ~10-25% is fine till they're bigger. Perhaps wait a few days after free swimming to do the first water change.

I suggest you have live plants and leaf litter in the spawning/rearing tank at all times. If you've got a decent amount of infusoria already in the tank when the fry are free swimming you have a much better survival rate. I used a bunch of dried oak leafs with my last spawn and raised up around 50 fry before I started culling deformed ones. I also fed micro worms for a while and then hatched baby brine shrimp. They eventually started accepting frozen daphnia and brine shrimp, then micro pellets. Fed 3-5 times a day depending on what food they're getting that day.

I hope you've got enough jars, tank dividers, and breeder baskets for the males. I quickly found out that I should of culled more strictly. I've got 20+ males, only 2/3 of them are actually looking good. The females are much easier to care for as they can all be in the same tank, a 20gal is just fine for them until I sell them off.