A Breeding Question From A N00B

[Cerbius]

Hi everyone, just a quick question regarding my betta's

Have had 3 female bettas for about a month now and found a nice male 6 days ago, i bought a like coloured female too. I introduced the male to my tank, having been told that with 4 females that it should be fine but to keep an eye on them. From the start the male was picking on 1 of my older females so I removed them all from the tank.

The problem is that the male started constructing a bubble nest last night in my main 80L tank and he has built it in the corner next to the filter which is drawing it in little by little. My secondary 60L tank is side by side to it and I think that because he can see the females that he is getting ready.

The question is... Do I move the male into a smaller breeding tank and let him start the bubble nest again, do i let him finish this one and hope that it is strong enough to not be pulled into the filter or do i turn off the filter and move the Cardinals that already call this tank home?. Have started feeding a high protein diet to them all, but I think that the 1 he was very interested in is the likely mate, wasn't even contemplating breeding yet as I wanted to make sure that I could keep them successfully first, but feel sorry for the male as he is really up for some!
Many Thanks in advance

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

but feel sorry for the male as he is really up for some!

That made me LOL

 

[comocrayfish5]

so he is sharing a tank with cardinals? i would move the male to another 'breeding tank' and put the female in a small tank in there to tease him so he will want to make the nest.

*do you know about feeding the fry? can you send me a message about it because i want to try breeding.

 

[Cerbius]

*do you know about feeding the fry? can you send me a message about it because i want to try breeding.

Was thinking about a liquid fry food, was caught out a bit as wasn't planning on breeding yet, so am furiously searching the net....so much conflicting info though. Have a few books heading my way so am going to do some research over the next few days. Will let you know

 

[iBetta]

I do not recommend breeding bettas unless you have done loads of research.
First off, having them breeding in a tank with other fish will NOT work, the babies will get eaten.
Secondly, betta fry need live food (baby brine shrimp, microworms etc) and fed at least 3 times a day, daily water changes and then seperate heated tanks for the males when they get older.
Betta breeding is a lot of work, so before even attemping to breed you need to do a ton of research.

Good luck

 

[lilfishie]

best advice! don't even think about breeding they, if you think you can keep both sexes together then your not ready for breeding. you NEED to do loads of research BEFORE even thinking about it.

for breeding you need a complete separate tank, bare bottomed NO other fish.
condition the pair for 2 weeks


if they are Veiltails then I wouldn't even think about breeding them as you will be stuck with majority as there everywhere.

you want to breed invest in a quality pair

 

[comocrayfish5]

*do you know about feeding the fry? can you send me a message about it because i want to try breeding.

Was thinking about a liquid fry food, was caught out a bit as wasn't planning on breeding yet, so am furiously searching the net....so much conflicting info though. Have a few books heading my way so am going to do some research over the next few days. Will let you know

same here! there is soooo much to learn. my problem is feeding the fry and finding the males that make nests and the females that want to breed. i have tried before-got to the hugging part but there was no eggs. i guess it was a blessing in disguise because i was no as prepared for the fry.

 

[lilfishie]

*do you know about feeding the fry? can you send me a message about it because i want to try breeding.

Was thinking about a liquid fry food, was caught out a bit as wasn't planning on breeding yet, so am furiously searching the net....so much conflicting info though. Have a few books heading my way so am going to do some research over the next few days. Will let you know

Fry will not take liquid fry food they need live! the movement of the live food stimulates them to eat without it they starve.

to be honest neither of you seem to know about breeding so don't try it.

you could end up with 100+ fry that all need separating at a few weeks old daily water changes and several LIVE feedings a day. Parents have to be kept separate afterwards too

 

[Cerbius]

I am the first to admit that I am a novice when it comes to betta's but I have successfully breed other species, with regard to housing them together I was advised by a self confessed 'betta breeding expert' that this was the case obviously I know that he is full of it now.

The problem I am finding is that there is so much conflicting information in circulation that it is very confusing, hence why I joined this forum to gather information from people who have years worth of experience, Am thinking that it is probably best to leave it for a while as I feel that I am out of my league at the moment. And I never set out to breed them in the first place just wanted to provide a happy home to a stunning fish.
Thank you for all your input.

 

[comocrayfish5]

*do you know about feeding the fry? can you send me a message about it because i want to try breeding.

Was thinking about a liquid fry food, was caught out a bit as wasn't planning on breeding yet, so am furiously searching the net....so much conflicting info though. Have a few books heading my way so am going to do some research over the next few days. Will let you know

Fry will not take liquid fry food they need live! the movement of the live food stimulates them to eat without it they starve.

to be honest neither of you seem to know about breeding so don't try it.

you could end up with 100+ fry that all need separating at a few weeks old daily water changes and several LIVE feedings a day. Parents have to be kept separate afterwards too

ok i am going to defend myself here: I AM NOT BREEDING BETTAS!!!!!!!! yes i have tried before and now i want to try again AFTER I DO COUNTLESS HOURS OF RESEARCH. just because i don't know everything now doesn't mean i do not have the right to breed when i am ready. no offense but you have already yelled at me for breeding bettas. you might not be acting smarter than me but thats the way i take it because there is no feeling in text, so people interpret things differently. i have made my own thread asking people to give me all the info they know about breeding bettas. maybe you should help me out so one day i can breed bettas...........

 

[lilfishie]

I never said it did, and when have I yelled at you? I am not yelling at anyone, my words in caps are for emphasis as they are the most important things when it comes to breeding. I've bred many fish in my years Bettas being the hardest and most work. I never meant to offend you *either of you!* its just you see so many posts these days I brought a new betta now I want to breed them! 2 days later buy a female and toss them together not that simple.

Best advice I can give is get a decent quality pair other than Veils or you will be stuck with them

 

[comocrayfish5]

ok so how/what do you feed the fry?

 

[Cazgar]

See your other thread comocrayfish, some useful info & links on there

 

[comocrayfish5]

ok thanks!

 

[lilfishie]

ok so how/what do you feed the fry?

mine get live Daphnia or Inforsia for the 1st 2 weeks then they move onto BBS *baby brine shrimp* until there old/big enough to take solid non live foods