breeding

[1152 Flying Fish]

My teacher has a male beta and was wanting to know how to and when to mate them. Is it hard task to compleat? It is in a 1g tank and have never tried to breed them before. If you all could help please do.

 

[wuvmybetta]

a 1 gallon is much too small, a ten gallon with a divider would work better

your supposed to show them to each other (in seperate containers) for a little while each day for about two weeks (the male should be in the ten) and you should fed them on quality meaty foods to prepare them, the female is ready to breed when she has stripes going down her sides & the male is ready when he builds a bubble nest, the tricky part is getting them both to be ready at the same time, if they're not there will only be fighting
You can put the female into a lava vase or a breeder net into his tank and when they begin to "dance" and seem ready... you release her, they'll wrap around each other and the female will drop eggs which the male will catch and put into his nest and after the female is done you must remove her or he'll kill her. The male will tend to the eggs, they'll hatch in 3-4 days, the male will also tend to the babes for about 5 days then you must remove him also or he'll kill them. Then you raise your baby fry.

It's a lot of work (seems as though your teacher would research it themselves) and afterwards there will be lots of babies that need homes in about 5-6 months....what happens to them? Does each student get one or something?

 

[infant340]

once i tried to breed but it was just to much of a hassle for me. and i didnt have the budget to afford all the food for the fry.

 

[littlamy]

Ahhhh, here we are back on the topic of breeding. So many people say, "Hey-I have a pair of Bettas--I am going to spawn them and have baby Bettas." Too many people don't think this through. There are SO many things to think about with spawning! Do you have the appropriate tank for spawing and raising fry with a sponge filter and plantlife to provide the fry with food for the first day? Are the parents properly conditioned? Do you have microworms and baby brine shrimp to hatch out twice a day or more for them? Are you ready to do daily water changes (of water at the same 84 degrees) to keep the ammonia down as they grow so you don't have burned off ventrals and deformities? Do you have a larger (my min. is 20G long) tank to grow out the fry? It gets VERY crowded with 100-300 (sometimes up 500 even!)fry in that little spawning tank! Are you ready to have to change water daily in all those jars as the fry get bigger and aggressive? Will you have live cultures of grindal worms, white worms, and rich forzen foods like beef heart and blood worms ready to help those jeuvies grow strong? Assuming you get to that point and have kept up with your water changes enough to have healthy and non-deformed young Bettas at this point--what are you going to do with them?? Pet stores aren't allowed (by law) to buy the fish from you unless you have a liscense. Most stores will offer you credit--usually about 50 cents per fish. Yes, that's right. The common Veiltail betta brings in between 50 cents and 1$. Even for Super Deltas, Double Tails and Crowntails you will be lucky to get between $2.50-3.50 in store credit. If you start with top quality stock you might be able to get better prices by selling on Aquabids or the like, but not much better unless you have top quality show fish. Also know that certain "fad" colors bring in more money--if the form and finnage is good. In most cases, you are going to sink a lot more money into caring for a spawn then you will ever get back. It is a great hobby, but not a great business unless you have a LOT of money and even more time to devote to them.

So--go enjoy your Bettas!

Amy

 

[Alien Anna]

Amy - you don't need a licence to sell animals to pet stores in UK.

Breeding bettas is not something to be entered into lightly, I agree (I've breed various animals over the years, but not bettas as yet). However, as we say in Britain, there's more than one way to skin a cat. A betta breeder I know doesn't do half the stuff you listed - instead, he has a matured tank (so no daily water changes to keep down the ammonia - I'm actually quite shocked about that ) and he uses opaque dividers. I'm not sure how many, but presumably he divides a 40 gal tank into a series of "rooms". He did mention something about having to have under-gravel filters because you need to drop the water level to 4 inches when the fry are 3 weeks old and need to take their first gulp of air, and also the need to have the air at the same temperature as the water, so he used insulated lids.

But, since I haven't researched this issue I wouldn't presume to try to figure it out in detail.

 

[1152 Flying Fish]

Thanks for your help and I'll tell my teacher that this may not be a good idea until I try it first. I will look more into this first. Thanks again.

 

[littlamy]

Here in the US (the poster is is TX) you have to have a liscense.

 

[Kossy]

Check out the betta breeding (pinned). Its got everything you need. If you need more just pm me/.

 

[littlamy]

Here is the real information from some of the best breeders out there. These are the people that have done this for many years and have developed the lines that are shown today.
http/www.bcbetta.com/spawning.html
http/www.bettas-jimsonnier.com/spawning.htm (also great genetic stuff on here)
http/www.classicbettas.com/index2.php?page=breeding
http/www.thebettabubble.com/pgs/care/cares.php?id=3


Here are a couple of great forums/ message boards where many of the pros hang out.
http/groups.msn.com/AdvancedBettas
http/groups.yahoo.com/group/bettaevent/

And if you are really interested in Bettas, here is the IBC (International Betta Congress) website.
http/www.ibcbettas.com/

 

[1152 Flying Fish]

Thanks for the help guys...and gals