Want To Learn More About Breeding Bettas...

[Sly13Cat]

So I've been doing research on breeding Bettas and now I know a lot more than I used to. For example I used to think that you needed a 20 or 30 gallon minimum to breed Bettas but now I know that they can be bred in a 10 gal. I also know:
- How to feed the fry
- How to condition the Bettas
- Culling
- And The Basics...

I wanted to see if anyone here had any more information. I wondered what I could feed the fry instead of live food. Would frozen brine shrimp do? Also, where would you find a good pair of Halfmoon Bettas locally bred in Canada. Would Halfmoons from the LFS (Big Al's) do? Also, how long or how much work would it take to breed a fish like this?

Could I breed a fish like that starting from pet store fish?

One final question, if I wanted to could I cull some newborn Betta fry to Meat Eating fish because I only want about 10 or so from a batch. I plan on breeding not in the near future but maybe in a few years or so but I wanted to know what I need to buy and basic information.

 

[lilfishie]

Not commenting on the culling as i dont agree with it so it wouldnt be nice or helpful.

You need a 10gal to breed but atleast a 20gal grow out tank.

Fry NEED live food as it stimulates them to eat. Brine shrimp would be way too big anyway.

If you want quality fish start with quality fish simple.

 

[Sly13Cat]

Well I was reading about feeding the fry hard-boiled egg yolk and infusoria. Would a combination of those two foods be good for the fry until they can eat adult food?

Is there a good schedule for feeding the fry? Would something like 8AM, 12PM, 4PM and 8 PM be a good feeding schedule?

When they turn adults what and how much should I feed them?

I've read that leaving the male turns them out better because he culls the weak fry and causes less fighting among the males by acting as the alpha. I also read that the fry raised with their father turn out less aggressive etc. What do you think?

 

[sausagewinkle]

I certainly dont agree with culling fry because you only want 10 or so from a batch, I find this very cruel.
You breed bettas to breed them, not to raise the few you want and to kill the rest.

 

[Sly13Cat]

By saying that the male will cull the fry I didn't mean I wanted him to kill them I meant that he would eat the weak and the strong would become better Bettas then if the dad wasn't around. If I end up with 50 Bettas, I end up with 50 If I end up with 100, I have 100. But I do agree with your opinions on culling. One question though, is it okay to cull the deformed and very weak so that they don't have to live a painful life?

And my previous questions:
[font="Verdana][color="#222222"]
Well I was reading about feeding the fry hard-boiled egg yolk and infusoria. Would a combination of those two foods be good for the fry until they can eat adult food?

Is there a good schedule for feeding the fry? Would something like 8AM, 12PM, 4PM and 8 PM be a good feeding schedule?

When they turn adults what and how much should I feed them?

I've read that leaving the male turns them out better because he culls the weak fry and causes less fighting among the males by acting as the alpha. I also read that the fry raised with their father turn out less aggressive etc. What do you think?[/color][/font]

 

[Sly13Cat]

I still wanted to know about leaving the dad with the spawn as long as the tank's big enough because I heard that he eats the weak and malformed so that you don't have to cull them and although you'll have less fish as a result, what's left will be stronger fish and will pass that onto their fry. I also heard that it makes the males fight less etc. What do you think?

Also, I heard about removing the female before she releases all of her eggs as a method of having less fry and basically "culling before their born" which is good in a way becasue they're not born yet so in my opinion it's A LOT better to remove the female before she lays all her eggs as opposed to killing the fry after their born. What do you think?

Please leave your opinion as they're greatly appreciated

.

 

[Neptune54]

I've never had a betta, so I'm no real authority on the subject, but I don't think the taking the female out early to have less fry really makes sense. If you're aiming for less fry in general, it's a good idea, but if you're aiming for less weak and deformed fry, I don't think it will really work. I mean, you're probably still going to have a good number of weak fry. That's just my opinion, though, and I hope it helps a little!

 

[Sly13Cat]

Yes I would remove the female for less fry in general. The male would be kept with the fry to eat the weak and deformed. Like I said, less fry that are strong are better than more fry that are weak. What do you think about leaving the male and removing the female from your personal experience with breeding bettas?

 

[lilfishie]

the female is always removed immediately after other wise she will be killed by the male, if you leave them male you have more chance of him eating the lot rather than the 'weaker' ones. plus how are you going to feed him and the fry at the same time when there need separate foods?

 

[Sly13Cat]

I meant to remove the female BEFORE she releases all of her eggs to have less fry. Also, I've heard that leaving the male is better. Here's the link:

http/bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=809 (Part 1)

http/bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=839 (Part 2)

 

[comocrayfish5]

Well I was reading about feeding the fry hard-boiled egg yolk and infusoria. Would a combination of those two foods be good for the fry until they can eat adult food?

Is there a good schedule for feeding the fry? Would something like 8AM, 12PM, 4PM and 8 PM be a good feeding schedule?

When they turn adults what and how much should I feed them?

i will be breeding bettas in april and so i know many things that i need to know (correct me if i am wrong about anything). i will be using microworms- egg and infusoria is debatable, i personally wouldnt ever use it because the fry eat moving things and the infusoria could just be cloudy water rather than the little organisms. and i think the egg yolk pollutes the water and the fry might not go after it b/c it is not moving.

i am 98% sure you just feed the fry 2-3 times a day just at morning/ afternoon/ night- no specific times.

the will look like adults at 7-11 weeks. i feed my future breeders frozen blood worms and rarely use the betta food after reading the ingredients.... but i do use it for my old betta.

here i a chart i found online- it should help!

 

[Sly13Cat]

Thanks comocrayfish5 for your results based on your research and thanks for that chart. The chart gives me a good idea or the speed of the fry growth and when certain parts start to develop. I will do more research into egg yolk and infusoira to find our more about feeding the fry with these foods as they are the cheapest and easiest to acquire. Hope your betta breeding operation works out well and your research as payed off.

So does anyone else have any input?

 

[comocrayfish5]

hope your breeding works out too! i got a micro worm culture off ebay for 3$- free shipping. they are easy to take care of (so i have been told) and they are smaller and do not move to fast for the fry like baby brine shrimp. i should be getting my culture soon so i will see how easy they are *fingers crossed*.
its mind blowing how much info is needed to breed these simple looking fish

 

[Sly13Cat]

Can you tell me the user on eBay? Sounds like a good deal. I know someone who has a old dirty 10 gallon in a corner with some paper on it. I'm hoping she'll let me have it but we don't know each other well. I hope it can be used as a Grow Out/Breeding Tank. Hope I get it!

I don't plan on breeding for a couple years but it's always good to have a extra 10gal and save $20.

 

[LeviathanGirl]

You can always find live food cultures of all kinds on Aquabid.com, as well as many other food cultures, fish species, aquatic plants and equipment. Its like Ebay for fish lovers. Frozen baby brine is often too large for newly hatched fry. Newly hatched brine shrimp, microworms and infusoria are common foods for newly hatched fry. Some people have had success with boiled egg yolk, but if your not careful you can dirty the tank water very easily. A good trick its using an airline hose to carefully siphon uneaten food from the bottom of the tank into a clean container. If you accidently suck up a baby you can fish it out with a measuring spoon or something similar and put it back into the tank.

One way of insuring that there are infusoria present in a tank is to set the tank up a couple weeks before you plan on breeding your fish and adding live plants, java moss is cheep and low maintenance. Infusoria are always present with live plants and leaving them in the tank for a while ensures that a decent culture builds up in the tank. However, infusoria are not sufficient food beyond the first week and a half as the fry grow and will need larger amounts of food as they do so. Using newly hatched bbs (baby brine shrimp) beyond that point is a good idea. After the fry are a couple weeks old they may accept frozen baby brine shrimp and powdered dry foods, but not always. Sometimes they can be picky little buggers!

Leaving the male in can be a risky thing, especially if your breeding inexperienced fish. It all depends on the individual male's personality and his level of experience with raising fry. Male bettas dont always get it right the first time, or even the second time they're bred. I had one male who failed 5 times before he successfully hatched and raised the fry. Patience and perseverance are needed when breeding bettas and similar species. However, like Betty's site says it can be done. I feel weird calling her Betty. LOL I've known her for at least 10 years and used to purchase fish from her before she moved to Sweden. Her site is really good and she has alot of experience.

I remember that chart from somewhere... I probably had it bookmarked at one point in time.

I've never tried removing the female before she's done breeding, but I imagine it can be done. I was always worried about the female becoming too egg heavy, which can make breeding difficult as the male cant wrap her properly if she's too big for him. So I tend to let them go at it till their done. I've had females burst apart from being too full of eggs, not a pretty site. I know people who have manually squeezed eggs from their fish to relieve them, but I've always been too afraid I'd hurt the fish to try it.