Breeding Bettas

[Liz05]

I've always kept male bettas, and currently I have a beautiful blue one with a bit of red in his fins. I think it would be nice to breed them. Is it difficult? Also, I was told that a male betta will kill a female.. but coming from the crazy fish lady at Wal Mart... who knows.
Any information would be great, considering I am completely clueless on this concept

 

[golfboy444]

the male will only kill the female if it is unwilling to mate with him

 

[Liz05]

How do I tell if he is willing? I don't want to kill anybody

 

[golfboy444]

well i have never really bred them i can check my book though BRB

 

[golfboy444]

ok i researched my book says that the male will chase and nip at the female if she is unwilling to mate

 

[Liz05]

So what do I do, just put them together and watch closely? And, when do I know it's time to take her out?

 

[golfboy444]

thats what i would do just watch them oh i dont really know about that if they look like they are getting along i would just leave them together getting together=just swimming around and not fighting this is fighting behavior (circleing around lots of nipping i think) hth

 

[juliethegr8t]

So here's the deal (or at least the deal w/ what I know hehe) -

You'll need 3 places to keep your bettas if you plan to breed them. One for the male, one for the female, and one for them to be together in - breed in, and then eventually remove them but leave the fry.

The male will build a bubble nest when he's ready to spawn (in the roots of a floating plant at the surface of the water), this is where the female lays her eggs. The male will display very bright colors when he is ready to breed, and the female will often get dark stripes. After the nest is built, introduce the female and if she's ready, the male will "flirt" by flaring up, and sometimes some nipping. Eventually he'll curl around the female and squeeze her eggs out, which float to the nest.

After spawning is complete, the female should be removed but the male left to guard the nest for 3-4 days. After the fry hatch and are free swimming, the male should be removed.

There are certain things you can do to condition a breeding pair, such as feeding live foods (ie: brine shrimp) and keeping the water temp around 80. Check other posts and places on the web to find out more. Hope this helps!

Also - spawning can take anywhere from 1 - 24 hours, but if it hasn't happened by then or the male is harrassing the female, seperate them and try again another time. If you're careful and know your fish, you shouldn't have any problems, and the male will not kill the female. If this happened, how would we ever have betta babies!!

 

[golfboy444]

yes listen to her lol

 

[Liz05]

Hehe, thanks guys... I think I might give this a go, hope it isn't too disasterous!

 

[LiquidLife]

Just to add to this--sometimes the pair just won't breed. We've had males who completely ignored the females and just wanted to flare at other males. Sometimes the female just doesn't want the male, or is too scared and won't cooperate. And it often takes them awhile to get used to the idea that they are in there together to breed--it'll take the female awhile to ripen her eggs and get them to the point of being ready to release adn only when she feels her eggs are ready will she approach the male and signal she's ready. If he terrorizes her too badly, she may stress out and never produce eggs--and may never be breedable again. And you do have to watch--sometimes a pair will look like they are being civil to each other and then one will tear into the other. Someone recently left his pair together overnight to finish spawning and found the female torn up in the morning, dead. So make sure you clear your calendar and prepare yourself for maybe an all-nighter to chaperone. You can leave the female in with the male as long as you cordone her off (use the glass lantern for a hurricane lamp--or a 3-4" diameter acrylic tube) when you aren't going to be around to protect her. And it's not always the male who'll get nasty. Females have been known to tear the fins (and lips) off a male too.

Other than getting them to breed and doing the "raising babies" thing (do you have baby foods--you'll need them BEFORE you begin breeding), have you thought about what you will do with all those babies once they are grown? The males when they reach adolscence (usually at 6-8 weeks) will begin to nip each other so they will each need a container/tank of their own. Do you have a tank or tanks big enough to allow the babies to grow in without overcrowding? If your pair has 500 babies, do you have a plan as to what to do with all those fish--you probably won't be able to keep them all so what else will you do with them. These are things you need to have figured out BEFORE you do a breeding.

 

[Mollymomma]

Please, please, please heed Liquidlife's advice... Don't try to breed until you have done mega hours of research..are prepared to raise 300-500 fry, seperate males & females(fry) into their own homes.

From your posts It is clear that you really are not ready to take on such a monumental task. I don't write this to be mean or sarcastic I just want you to really think about what you want to accomplish. I have been keeping betta's for over a year and there is no way I have done enough research to think about raising betta fry.