Accidental Crossbreeding

[RustedKnight]

My missus has a 60litre tank set up for her Betta's, and we are both very happy with the fish.

We bought the fish from the lfs and was told that both male and females were Veil Tail.

Through my trawling of the internet I started doing more research on our Betta's type.
But when it came to researching the females, it appears that we don't have veil tail females. Infact the females we bought from the same lfs appear to be Plakat females.

Male and Females are showing signs that they are ready to breed I think, male flaring up, building bubble nests (badly, we tried to help him with bubble wrap, seems to have worked), females reciprocating flaring..

So, basically, whats going to happen if they succesfully breed, will we have some sort of Plakat/Veil tail crossbreed? If so, what will they look like?

Also, we weren't expecting our Betta's to breed at all, as it's a community tank, and there are 3 females with 1 male, but they don't seem bothered.
If they succesfully breed, is there a high demand for crossbreeds? or Betta's in general? And whats the best way to go about setting up fry tanks (i'm guessing a lot of dividers)

 

[KittyKat]

Most females look almost identical, and that includes plakat females and veil tail females.

If what you say is correct, you will get veil tails with shorter tails.

The young won't fight till they grow quite large, but you will need to separate the males out eventually. Professional breeders tend to use jars, but it is much nicer to just use divided tanks.

 

[RustedKnight]

Most females look almost identical, and that includes plakat females and veil tail females.

If what you say is correct, you will get veil tails with shorter tails.

The young won't fight till they grow quite large, but you will need to separate the males out eventually. Professional breeders tend to use jars, but it is much nicer to just use divided tanks.

Our 3 females look identical to this;

Though two of them are red instead of blue. If we are forced to use jars, any idea where we could purchase some in bulk?

Thanks for the help n_n

 

[KittyKat]

That could easily be VT or PK, can't help there.

As for jars, you can get some stuff on eBay and from £1 shops, but you're probably better off getting really cheap long tanks as the best way to keep jars warm is to sit them in a tank with a heater. Also it is better for the fish if the males do not constantly see each other (hence why solid dividers are good).

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Also sorry to be the party pooper but males and females shouln't be kept togehter.

 

[RustedKnight]

Also sorry to be the party pooper but males and females shouln't be kept togehter.

We introduced them carefully and watched their behaviour, the females are asserting dominance, but there is no real violence, and we're constantly monitering them, if the male starts acting up he'll be banished to our spare 20 litre.

Looked at solid dividers, could get them for £9 each (seemed a bit steep to me) and these dividers had small perferations to allow heater and filter to flow through the whole tank.

Could possibly pick up another 36"/12"/15" and seperate it into 5-7 compartments, but would need much mroe than that really.

 

[ArnieStinger]

you would need heaters and filters for a long divided tank, there will be a lot of fry if they mate.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

you would need heaters and filters for a long divided tank, there will be a lot of fry if they mate.

That is true, up to 200 fry.

 

[lilfishie]

if they are mating then you either need to remove the females and let dad take care of the eggs or remove the nest to stop dad getting very protective of it and trust me he would happily kill for his babies.

keep us updated

 

[RustedKnight]

if they are mating then you either need to remove the females and let dad take care of the eggs or remove the nest to stop dad getting very protective of it and trust me he would happily kill for his babies.

keep us updated

At the moment potential dad is very crap at making bubblenests.. So I don't think he's impressed anyone enough yet, which is likely a good thing.