Spawning

[FBTgirl]

In a few months I am going to try to have my first spawn! But my female is small do you think she can eat baby brine shrimp or will they be big for her?

 

[zoekin8yg]

you feed baby brine shrimp to the babies, the shrimp that have first hatched after 24 hours.

 

[FBTgirl]

Oh I thought I fed it to her to have her slowely fill with eggs

 

[RandomWiktor]

Please do not spawn your bettas if the ones you are speaking of are the new ones you just posted. They are pet store VTs which means they are likely past their breeding prime, from uncertain and poorly bred lines, and are going to be very hard to place in good homes. There is NO demand for VTs from breeders because no one in their right mind would pay the shipping, and pet stores will not buy from breeders in most cases because they buy cheaply in bulk from a few mass breeders. You would be better off getting more experience with bettas, researching breeding very thoroughly, and eventually getting a well-bred pair of a desireable tail type from a reputable breeder; please do not contribute to the abuse and neglect of bettas by breeding a tail type that is allready dying in stores and private homes because they are not being owned by enthusiasts.

 

[FBTgirl]

ok I did not know that

 

[FBTgirl]

I was thinking I could try my first spawn with these two. And see what I need to improve in the tank before I go and get different tailed bettas!

 

[Jaded12]

Yes but remember a spawn can have 500+ babies, do you have ways of jarring all the males, and finding everyone homes. I used to be ok with the idea of spawning vts as long as it was done properly and all the babies had gaurenteed homes. But after the past few days, I agree that there are so many homeless vts out there that nobody wants, there's no point in flooding the market with more of them. I have gone through every lfs within 30 miles of my house this past week, and all put one were jam packed full of homeless veiltails, 1/2 of them were dead or dying, people seem to be looking them over more and more, and the stores keep getting them in before they even sell out of the last shipment. Would you really want to contribute to that? For $30 you can get a nice pair of super deltas from a repultable breeder off of aquabid, and breed them. But first do more research!

 

[FBTgirl]

Ya I know that BUT I most likely will get not much or not any out of my first spawn! I want to see what I can do next time to get more fry when I breed a different tailed betta

 

[cd_customs]

ill take the homeless veil tails lol. I dont no why but i love veiltails.

 

[RandomWiktor]

FTB, it is ok to practice spawning with a real breeding pair! Most first spawns in general are unsucessful, and it doesn't mean you can't just try again after another three weeks of conditioning.
Breeding petstore VTs would be like taking two extremely poorly bred dogs of different breeds, older dogs that you know nothing about the lineage of, and then trying to find homes for all of the puppies in a country like the USA where we're still euthanizing some 6-10 million pets every year due to a lack of homes.
Please remember that essentially all males in pet stores are at or past their breeding prime. This means you have a very high likelihood of deformed fry. Also remember that you know nothing about the lineage of these bettas, though you can assume it is poor since all of Petco and Petsmart's VTs come from one mass breeder - this again means a higher chance of weak or deformed fry. The two bettas you want to breed are completely different color types, which could and probably will throw unattractive, undesirable fry. And again - no one in their right mind is going to pay shipping for VTs when they are so cheap and allready overpopulated; even if you can find a store to take them, what makes you think they won't end up like the rest of the pet store VTs? Half will die in the store, the rest have a lousy chance of finding a home with someone that truly loves and respects the species.
On the other hand, if you just have a little patience and breed a quality breeding pair of PK, HM, SD, or another desired tail type, you know that the fish will be young and healthy because they are straight from a reputable breeder. You can select a pair that is likely to produce quality, nicely colored offspring by buying a pair selected by the breeder based on a good, matching phenotype. And people will GLADLY pay shipping to buy these bettas, so you will not struggle to find quality homes locally or worse still - have to dump them on a pet store. And did I mention you'll actually make some money? You'll probably have to give away VTs, but you can actually sell other tail types, which is a huge plus for you since buying all of the supplies for breeding is going to cost a LOT of money.
Which brings me to my last question... are you even prepared to spawn? As Jaded said, you need to have a ton of jars for the fry as they grow, which costs a pretty penny. You'll also need a spawn tank with plenty of plants and hides, a heater, etc., a grow-out tank, live food for the babies, foods for conditioning the parents, medications in case anything gets sick, etc. Ask any breeder on here; breeding bettas is a serious commitment and a great financial endeavor, not something to take lightly.

You are dealing with the lives of living things here... is it really such a good idea to breed your VTs "just for practice?"

 

[FBTgirl]

Ok!!!!!!!!! I am prepared to breed I have tons of jars and all the stuff I need. All I need to get next is my conditioning food and I will be set! I know I am dealing with living things! Ok I am not stupid when it comes to betta fish! I am pretty sure a lot of you think I am though! You are making me so made! sorry if I sound rude but I know what I am doing! If all you people don't want me to breed my pair of VTs than OK I wont!



I am sorry its just I am grumpy today...

 

[killiman]

I would tend to agree with the dont spawn VT. I sourced CTs and PKs and did not have any problems rehoming the youngsters via EBay UK - people are prepared to pay postage and packaging for quality fish.

 

[DarkEntity]

I wouldnt touch VT's common as muck. If it were PK's, or Imbellis/PK cross then ys, but veil tails are everywhere and tbh they all look very similar.

 

[na9la]

i have a feeling that fbtgirl is not happy with all these comments trust i always feel like that.

 

[FBTgirl]

I wouldnt touch VT's common as muck. If it were PK's, or Imbellis/PK cross then ys, but veil tails are everywhere and tbh they all look very similar.

Please dont say that because it is a little hurtful. VTs are the types of bettas I have had for years!