please can any one tell me how to go aboult breeding bettas and is it thery hard??

regards alastair

i have heard that if you have the right equiptment and are ready to lose some of the fry then it is not easy per say, just easier then breeding alot of other fish
after a couple tries it is supposed to then become "easy," but still alot of work

as for actual breeding info
check the internet.

i can't remember where i found my info
someone else can probably help you!

Well....My Bettas spawned today. Its the first time i've tried to breed bettas and i found it so very easy. I think the hardest part will be raising the fry. As long as you have the right equipment you should find it a doddle!

I didnt even use a tank as such, its a large clear plastic container with lid, a heater a small plastic lid floated in the container (attached to the side with tape) and a plastic plant. It took two days from start to finish.

It was amazing watching the male wrap himself around the female to release her eggs. I'd heard about it but you have to see it for yourself to appreciate it.

Good luck with your breeding

Visit this site...It helped me quite a lot!
http://bettatalk.com/

we were sucessful our first time at it but we also did a lot of reasearch beforehand. setting up your breeding tank properly is the most important thing, bare bottom (no gravel), sponge filter (not necessary but you can use one), no more than 4 to 5 inches of water kept at a higher temperature than normal, plenty of hiding places (ie. plants etc., java moss is good), some sort of egg shelter (we use half a styrofoam cup floating on the surface), covered walls for privacy, covered top of tank, put the male in first for a few days, then introduce the female in a jar into the tank (so the male can swim around her but not get at her). make sure they are conditioned with live food (preferably but frozen works too), don't let the female loose until she is nice and fat and shows vertical striping, her ovipositer should be prominant as well. be prepared to wait a few days for them to mate too, it has taken as long as 5 days for us in the past. if you have shelter for the female she won't get beat up too bad. know that the male will try to beat her up and bully her if she is unwilling at first, it's part of the mating ritual. if all goes well, they will mate and you can then take the female out. she should be given a quiet place to rehabilitate with clean water and maybe bettamax or indian almond leaf if you have it. the male will stay in the breeding tank until the eggs hatch and the fry are free swimming. you should pay attention to him though as some males become egg or even fry eaters if they feel threatened. as with the female the male should get the same treatment after taking him out. so now the fry are free swimming and you are wondering what comes next. remember to keep the top of the tank covered as it keeps the surface temperature somewhat humid (which is good for the fries labyrinth development). don't be afraid to let the tank breath though, you don't want algae either. you should have already sourced out what food you will feed them. for the first two days of their life they will feed off their egg sacs but after that they will be hungry. usually, we will use some "wardley's liquid fry" food on or just after second day. we will use it for a day or two but then switch to live vinegar eels (micro worm culture works well too). they are great for new borns as they are small enough for the fry to eat readily. we do the vinegar eels for about 5 to 7 days and by then have our BBS farms up and running. live baby brine shrimp is great for fry but you can't just depend on that, if you feed them soley on that diet you run the risk of fry developing swim bladder disease. instead, we switch it up with live grindel worms. alternately, you can use daphnia etc. it's very important to do small water changes every day as well, we use a turkey baster to clean up debris and switch old water for new. no drastic changes in water temperature though, don't stress them too much because they are fragile.
ok, after about a month you can think about moving them to a grow out tank (bigger the better, 50 gallon works well but 20 gallon is not bad either depending on size of spawn of course). they love floating plants, snails are useful (get small ones not large ones) to keep the tank bottom clean, keeping the water clean is very important so doing frequent water changes is important.
i feel i have been rushing through this "crash course" and i'm sure there is much more others here can contribute as well, i'm sure i've neglected to mention some things. so, best of luck.

This post has been edited by bkk_group: May 26 2004, 06:26 AM

I am going to have to go against what everone said. I have been in the process of actually tried to breed for like at least 2 weeks. No luck nothing but shattered dreams and long nights wondering what i can do to make it work. Literally stayed up till 5 in the morning thinking and reading what to do. I am so frustrated but i dont want to give up yet. I bought another tank with what i need to have a "breeding tank" so we will see how that goes.

The one thing you need when breeding Bettas, is PATIENCE! 2 weeks isn't really a long time. What you need to do is learn from each attempt. I had a pair I tried spawning 3 times before giving up on them and trying some new fish I had gotten. I then had 2 successful spawns, but the eggs were infertile, but each time I was learning and getting used to what to do. Finally on the next attempt everything went perfect and I had fry (who are now 2 months old and starting to be sexable). I've since had yet another successful spawn with fry (these guys are almost 4 weeks old). It was a couple months from when I first tried breeding them to when I finally had fry. But all the while I was reading everything I could and getting myself ready for the eventual fry. Betta breeding isn't like guppy breeding, it takes time and patience. There are so many things that could cause them to not spawn, (some you can fish, some you can't) just keep trying (possibly new fish if the ones you're trying just don't seem to get it), learn from each attempt and try to enjoy the experience

Linda
http://www.pet-emporium.com
http://www.cooking-fanatics.com

wuv just made a pinned article on betta breeding. You might want to check it out to get the basics down.

it simple to breed bettas all you need is a seprate tank 4 da male n female have fine leave plants and give them plenty off life food and oxygen they will breed once they laid their eggs take the male out and leave the female in to look after the fry and then purcase likifry no1 and luk after them untill they grow adults

I'd like to clarify what the above poster said...do NOT leave the female in to tend the nest...you leave the MALE in, hehe. You need to take the female out as soon as they are done spawning. It's not real difficult to breed Bettas (shoot, I'm doing it, Lol) but it's not as simple as say guppies

Read the site posted above and check around the internet (do a search on Betta Breeding), there are alot of good sites with different views on breeding bettas, everyone has their own little quirks as to what works and what doesn't. Also you can read the sticky post at the top of this forum, some excellent info there.

Linda
http://www.pet-emporium.com
http://www.cooking-fanatics.com

if you are attempting to breed bettas-you need to do lots of research!!!! as mentioned above, bettatalk is a great place to start. do everything faith says! (except i dont agree with her saying that you can put bettas in 1/4 gal containers. i think that is too small). get info from as many sources as possible and do not start untill you feel you know everything there is to know about it. i see so many people jump right into it getting alll excited-and then their bettas dont spawn, kill each other, or improper care of the "breeder" kills the fry.
please do research until your head falls off! i personally printed out everything i thought somewhat pertinent to the subject and i have a "book" that is 2.5 inches high! i sorted it into sections and made tabs for the sections so i can refer back to it when i need to.