Mating Bettas...

[cliffydoggy]

1 .Hi, I have one female and one male betta fish. I do not have a 5 gallons fish tank yet but i'm planing to buy it with some plants and rocks. right now, i put them in two pretty big fish bowls next to year other. THe male ones always stares and the female one, and sometimes the female will stare back, but when the male moves closer to the end of the fishbowl, the female one backs away from her side of the fishbowl. Anyways, i know that the female has to been inflated (or whatever) before she can mate with the male, but my older brother (ARGH) put the female nad male one in the same bowl and the male kept chasing it but the female tried to hide. And i really want them to mate so i can have MORE bettas!!! Any advice? (and what do bettas like to eat?)


And, I also have a fishtank full of fish, and i have one that is orange and black striped which lost it's colour and it never moves. Is it sick?

I really want to know the first question though!

THANKS!


Cliff

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

Put the male Betta in the 5 gal tank. Put some plants, rocks, etc. and dried Ketapang leaves. Condition his body and feed him a lot. Be sure to keep the water clean. Let the mele get use tothe environement.

After a week you can see some bubbles made by your Male Betta (that means he's body is already conditioned)

Get a plastic cup or anything that it is transparent and put it in the 5gal tank then throw you female Betta, let them see eachother.

After few days or so you can see the male Betta doing Bubble nest and if you see the female Bettas with vertical stripes then she is ready for breeding let them be together.

You can see some chasing and small fights just don't worry it's normal.

Spawning will begin !

Goodluck and keep us posted.

 

[dixaisy930]

Breeding bettas is quite a costly and time consuming venture. You need a grow out tank, places for all of the fry, etc. There are some good pinned articles in the betta section. I suggest going there and reading up on this to see how much work is really involved.

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

Selection of Pairs
1. Know the parents of your pairs. It will help you determine the lineage and hence help you decide what to outcross it with in the future.
2. Imported male stocks don’t last very long when used for breeding. Most of my imported stocks were only able to have 2 viable spawns. Then, they get sickly and unable to spawn even after recuperation. So choose wisely in pairing it. You will have limited number of times to spawn it.
3. Males should be larger than the females.
4. Females should be at least 3 months of age and gravid. Four months or more is better.
5. Successive spawning is not recommended. It will surely mean early death particularly for your male broodstock. Let him rest for at least 2 weeks or more before pairing it with another female.
6. Spent females should be rested for at least a month to produce eggs again.

Spawning
1. Introduce male first in the aquarium. Give him time to adjust to his new territory at least two days. I use 5 gallon aquariums for my breeding tanks.
2. Place jar containing the female (or another aquarium) beside the aquarium with male. The intention is to allow the male to see the female.
3. Wait until the male will start to build a bubble nest. Do a water change of about 50% using a small hose. Concentrate on removing solid matter on the floor. This is to ensure removal of pathogenic organisms. Refill the aquarium with fresh water to its original height. Allow the male to rebuild his bubble nest again. Then, release the female.
4. Covering the aquarium completely with glass will ensure better retention of the bubble nest. A scooped up styropor will also be effective as well.
5. Expect fighting to erupt. Don’t worry about torn fins. Bettas do not kill each other contrary to popular belief. They will just run away if they lose the battle. This must be the female’s way of testing whether the male is stronger and deserves to be the father of her offsprings.
6. Separate the pair again should the female win the battle. They are not compatible. Pair them up with other partners.
7. The male normally wins and spawning will commence. Both partners will help collect the eggs and spit it out to the bubble nest. It will be the male who will tend to the maintenance of the bubble nest.
8. When the female sulks into a corner and does not want any longer to go to the nest of bubbles even after being chased or bitten by the male, it is time to separate the female. Put methylene blue or acriflavine for 3-4 days to protect the wounds of the female.
9. The father will tend to the bubble nest. Should he decide not to, remove the father and apply methylene blue or acriflavine to contain protozoans and fungal attack.
10. Avoid feeding the father with mosquito larvae. The mosquito larvae will eat the eggs and even the fry.
11. The eggs will hatch in 2-3 days depending on the temperature.


Raising the fry
1. As soon as majority of the fry becomes free swimming, remove the father using your bare hands or a course net. Put him in a separate jar and apply methylene blue or acriflavine for 3-4 days to contain potential diseases.
2. Apply acriflavine for the fry tank.
3. Feed with infusoria or green water for the first 3-5 days. 10ml per feeding. 2x a day feeding frequency. Introduce new water every day.
4. Start of the second week introduce gentle aeration and feed with microworms
5. Start of the third week, do 50% water change. 2x a week water change will bring down mortality rates. Maintain acriflavine or methylene blue concentration.
6. Start feeding fry with Moina or Daphnia. Alternated feeding btw Moina and microworms.
7. If fry are ½ inch. Feed with tubifex, bloodworms or mosquito larvae.



Jarring the Juveniles
1. Start jarring into individual containers when fry reach 3/4’inch in length.
2. Daily water changes and frequent feeding is highly recommended for fast growth.
3. Start culling when they reach 2-3 months of age. This is a necessary step to ensure good spawns and lineage that you want to maintain.
4. At 3 months, you will be able to select what to keep for further breeding.
5. Then the cycle repeats.

 

[rdd1952]

Hello Cliff and welcome to the forum.

 

[LucyHurst]

you realise they could have up to 500 babies?
if they did youd need about 3 2ft grow out tanks and about 300 jars.. do you have that much space and money?

 

[OhMyDog]

And i really want them to mate so i can have MORE bettas!!!

More bettas like a couple more? Or more like.. hundreds? If you spawn your bettas, be prepared for hundreds of little bettas (and A LOT of jars). I've easily spent $300 on proper supplies.. and that doesn't include the breeding quality pairs. Breeding takes a lot of time and money..

 

[england]

hi i have a male betta and 2weeks ago added a female into same tank....at first it was like a boxing match, now how ever they seem fine and he is always blowing bubbles into corner of tank....so im hoping..........my local fish shop has a range of bettas breed onsite and when i spoke with him he said just pair them of and leave them to it... ) he has a tank at present with around fifty babies<around a mnth old in tank with mum and dad......with NO PROBLEMS at all........ this is my exsperience.... not gospel B)

 

[catxx]

nelly, just because the guy in the shop did that, the guys on here who have been breeding bettas semi-professionally, and show bettas, would strongly disagree.

both mum and dad will eat babies.
and mum and dad will also try and kill each other.

breeding bettas is not like breeding guppies and the sooner people get that into their heads the better!!!!

 

[england]

that is why i said its my exsperience.....not gospel......which means im not recomending it....my friend has been breeding for 15 years so id say he knows a thing or 2......but please dont listen 2 me as i was only sharing my situation......iam the novice

 

[catxx]

i know nelly, i wasn't being vicious towards you.
but you know some kid with a pet shop VT is going to see that, ignore the rest
shove two in a 1gallon and hope the magic happens


it's ok, it's lunchtime now, i'm being angsty, time i go get food!!

 

[england]

ok i made a mistake...... kids dont listen to me please.........i dont recomend everyone to try i was just lucky......also ive got another two 1ft tanks on standby ..... iam also hungry oh soooo hungry...... lets start again helloooooo cat

 

[cliffydoggy]

yeah, i can afford everything, i sorta come from a rich family~

anyways, i don't understand some parts. I have put my male and female next to each other's fishbowl (I HAVEN"T BOUGHT A AQUARIUM YET, my brother's buying it for me on saturday). I see stripes on the female already but the male hasn't made any bubbles yet but he's always eager to go to the other fishbowl. ...Any suggestions?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Don't want to be discouraging, cliffydodgy, but I would start with an easier fish if I were you. Judging from your other post, you are still having problems breeding your guppies; might be an idea to try to perfect your livebearer breeding first. Bettas are not the easiest fish to breed and most people would not advicse you to start with them.

In any case, there is little point in trying to breed bettas until you have the full capacity to rear any fry (could be hundreds from one spawning) under suitable conditions = large grow-out tank+ lots of small tanks once the males start showing.

 

[fishykisses]

which direction are the stripes going? vertical? or horizontal?