Questions About Mating Bettas!

[DreyOfAud]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to these forums and I'd just like to ask some questions and acquire as much information as I can!

I've had my Betta fish Ichi for about a month now (he is in my avatar pic) and I'm thinking it would be pretty cool to mate him! I go to college and am in a marine biology program. If my Ichthyology professor is interested, I might make this a school project. I want to do it right and make sure I don't hurt the fish. If I have everything ready and follow the right steps, this could be pretty cool!

Here are some questions for you all! I've read that you have to "condition" both the male and female Bettas. What does this mean and how do you do it? Should I start feeding them anything special to get them ready? (I feed Ichi blood worms, and no, I don't have a female yet. I'm not looking to rush this!) Do I need a special kind of container for the actual mating? If so, what does it look like? How long can the male remain with the fry? Will he eat them? What do you feed the fry? How long does it take them to become juveniles? To become adults? How many offspring are usually produced? If there are too many, how do you handle this? Will fish stores buy Bettas from someone who happens to breed them?

Any answers are greatly appreciated!!

 

[Netty]

Hi and

Check out our website.....there is a section on breeding that you might find useful

 

[DreyOfAud]

Where is that? I'd like to read up on it.

 

[Netty]

Just click on my siggie and it will take you straight there

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Welcome to the mad house..........I mean betta forum

Glad to see you are getting the research done first There are a number of experienced breeders on here that will be of great help to you. I wont say much now, cus most of its on our website

 

[DreyOfAud]

HOLY COW! Thank you ever so much! What a wonderful site!

 

[Netty]

No probs....glad you like it and we hope you find the information you're looking for. Feel free to ask any questions if you're unsure about anything.

 

[DreyOfAud]

He's already blowing bubbles and he just seems really happy. I'd love to see him have something to put in his nest!

 

[Netty]

Looks like a gorgeous boy

The one thing we always advise strongly is to research and take your time, making sure that you have everything that you need. Things don't always go to plan but people have different tips that can help.

There are a few people on here that breed and are always willing to help out

 

[squiremaster]

Hello. to the forum and for joining the forum

 

[squiremaster]

Hi
Welcome to the mad house..........I mean betta forum

Glad to see you are getting the research done first There are a number of experienced breeders on here that will be of great help to you. I wont say much now, cus most of its on our website

Why did you call it the mad house?

 

[Devorax]

Errr, probably because it is one!! lol Everyone regularly on here has something medically wrong with them related to bettas..lol Not that it is a bad thing mind, I too have this symptom and am quite happy about it...

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Welcome to the mad house..........I mean betta forum

Glad to see you are getting the research done first There are a number of experienced breeders on here that will be of great help to you. I wont say much now, cus most of its on our website

Why did you call it the mad house?

Cus on that day there just seemed to be lots of crazy questions and posts going on.

 

[Netty]

And we're all abit doolally

 

[LauraFrog]

Geez, I would absolutely LOVE to have an entire LAB to breed bettas in... I'm operating out of my bedroom here! And it ain't that big! (Say goodbye to the desk, an entire shelf of the wardrobe, corner table and all three bedside tables).

The first part is selecting quality fish. Your crowntail boy is beautiful, so problems there. What you need is a GOOD female. I would recommend using a red or blue (preferably) CT female.

Before you even consider it make sure you can clean and heat potentially 100 small cups, plus a 3 foot tank. Because if you end up with 200-250 fry - which isnt' uncommon - you will need to do that. The fry start showing their sex about six weeks although some aren't fully sexable until twelve or fourteen weeks. You need to remove the males as soon as they are obviously male, before they start killing each other and their sisters. The females can remain in the growout tank.

Pet stores will take QUALITY fish. If you start with large pet store veiltails, they are poor quality genetically and too old to breed properly. This means you'll end up with a large number of fry nobody wants and have to face either euthanising them or trying to care for them all for the rest of their lives. So if you start with your crowntail and a good female, you should produce a pretty impressive crop, but you need to be prepared to cull. Any fry that just don't grow, or are obviously deformed, should be culled.

If you get some really nice fry, you may also get private buyers interested. There's a big trade in bettas on ebay, you should see some of the fish daz and bronze have picked up. (They call it fleabay by the way.)