Breeding Bettas

[squirt_12]

ok well will feeding my betta a small feeder guppy help enduce breeding? just wondering. lol. and do they llike feeder guppies??

 

[jourdy288]

Feeder guppies tend not to be well taken care of and often spread disease. Freeze dried tubifex are a better option, along with BS(Brine Shrimp) The abbreviation for baby Brine Shrimp is BBS. The websites in my sig may be of assistance. BBS and MWs(Micro Worms) are also good for feeding fry. If you are new to the forum, please pay attention to advice. I wish somebody told me that earlier. I am currently raising my first spawn. Unfortunately, my travel time wasw bad, so I only have a few fry. It is never good to spawn bettas in a tank to small. Another website I would suggest is Petfishtalk.com and that should be helpful. Also, if you have a male who eats or abandons his eggs or his fry before they go free-swimming, don't use him or his offspring for breeding purposes. On my first spawn, the male abandoned the eggs, because they were infertile. The second spawn he tended them. If he abandons the nest and the eggs, leave the eggs in the tank a few days. If they don't hatch, well, infertility. Darkly colored female bettas have a tendency to be infertile. What equipment do you have?

 

[squirt_12]

What do you mean by 'equipment'?

 

[starrynightxxi]

bettas are insectivores so live food means things like bloodworm, blackworm, brine shrimp, things of that nature, not guppies. That's not to say that a betta wouldn't eat guppy fry, but it would be much easier to buy live or frozen versions of the previously mentioned invertebrates. also the feeder fish in stores tend to be rife with disease and keeping your fish healthy and raising a spawn will be hard enough without introducing an illness through the use of feeder fish.

i haven't bred bettas, but from the threads i've read, you'll need:

- a bare-bottom breeding tank
- a grow-out tank if your breeding tank isn't big enough
- a heater
- live food cultures for the fry (make sure to start before the eggs hatch)
- plenty of cover for the female to escape the male after spawning
- something the male can build his nest under (such as half a styrofoam cup)
- rich food to condition the parents
- some sort of see-through divider/container to keep the female in until she is ready for the male
- containers for grown fry - females can stay in the growout tank unless one proves overly aggressive
- about five extra hands for water changes on individual jars ( )
- a sponge filter for filtering AFTER the fry have reached a suitable age
- although you don't NEED it, you might want to look into indian almond leaves (IAL) to darken the water and change the PH.

 

[squirt_12]

ok thanks so much for all of that. But yeah those leafs.....i can't find tham anywhere around where i live or else i would get some. But i have all of the other things that you mentioned. So i think that i am all set to start breding. I have been feeding my parents very good and i think that they are really conditioned so i am going to go ahead and try it. I will keep you posted along the way.
I really appriciate everything that all of you have done for me and i will let you know what happens.

 

[athao04]

Hey squirt_12! I wouldn't worry about getting the leaves. Just go to your LFS and get some blackwater extract or betta spa. It does the same thing if you cant get your hands on the leaves.

Goodluck on your breeding when you start it, I am about to start on my own =P

 

[I Love my fishies]

Good luck Squirt I am going to try my hand at breeding my Betta soon so please let us know how you went and please post pic's of your parents Thankyou

 

[jourdy288]

What do you mean by 'equipment'?

Tanks, filters, heaters, etc. Anyhow, in place of Indian almond leaves, try styrofoam NOT PLASTIC cups.

 

[nemosworld]

i would try to get some java moss too. i had better fry survival rates with it as it keeps the nitrate levels in check

 

[jourdy288]

I should get some.

 

[squirt_12]

ok well it has been a while since i have last been on here but.....i tried to breed my bettas and well it was unsuccesful....the female got ingured by the male so i took her out. I don't think that i will try this pair again but i thinking of getting about 2-4 females and 2-4 males so that i can see who likes each other and who doesn't. lol

Well i will post some pics soon but right now my camera is broken.

Thanks for all of the replys.

 

[starrynightxxi]

did you condition them properly? It doesn't seem to me that you had enough time to condition your fish, let the male build a suitable bubblenest, and introduce the male and female in a way that they couldn't reach and harm each other... Unless you had all that started before you came here and asked for help, but i rather assumed you hadn't since you weren't sure if you had everything you needed.

anyway, if you DID happen to just plunk the female in with the male, you can't do that. They need to be ready for each other

good luck with your second try