Advice Please

[jacko9901]

hi

i have deciced that i am going to get beta's and start to breed them as my current fish are going to be moved to a tank downstairs. i am only going to do small scale breeding but i need some questions answered so here goes...

1- I currently have a 40 litre tank so if i were to divide it up how many males could go in it. also if i were to get another tank the same as my current one how many females could go in it.

2- could i put my 3 platy's in the female tank and what else could go with them if any?

3- how old can fry be kept together until they need to split up before fighting starts and will the female fry need to split up aswell or can the females all be kept together.

4- then you breed a male and female together does the colour of the fry come from the male or the female or a mixture of the 2?

5-how old do the fry have to be before they can be sold off.

look forward to replies

 

[ALW]

Females can be keep together, its the males that fight

 

[nataliabeds]

1. I would divide it in 2-3 sections.
2. I would put 4-6 females, but no platies or any other fish (would be to small)
3. Fry need to be separated at 2-3 months (when they start been agressive) you could have agressive female so you will need to separate her, otherwise they can be kept together
4. could be any, as mum as dad or mixture
5. 4-5 months

Do you have spawing tank and fry grow out tank?

 

[danyol12]

3. Fry need to be separated at 2-3 months (when they start been agressive) you could have agressive female so you will need to separate her, otherwise they can be kept together
Do you have spawing tank and fry grow out tank?

fry do not need to be separated at this stage. although if you have room it certainly helps but make sure everything is right for a few weeks before EG all the tanks have cycled and all the water is conditioned and to the right temperature excetera.

to breed betta (splenden) you need an average sised tank like you have
plenty of 'plantage' a mop made from wool tied around a win cork (it simulated reeds which the female will hide in aftr mating) and perhaps a very slow air powered filter (i mean 10 bubbles a minute) but i would just go for regular water changes. you also need a way of introducing the female into the tank (i would use a glass of a 'hurricane lamp')
put the male in the tank first then put some form of bottomless glass container into the water so there is no gaps into the rest of the tank. then introduce the female into this small section that you have made with the hurricane lamp glass.
the male should start to react and will build a bubble nest. the female , if ready , will start to 'band' meaning she will get stripes . only when these two things have occoured and the nest is completed should you let the female out .
the male will then chase her and then wrap around her and squeese out some eggs seh will float to the top and he will come and get the eggs from the bottom she will then come and try to help. they will spit the eggs into the bubbles once mating has finished you will probably find the female in the mop hiding you should now remove her . it is now super important that you put a lid on the tank to build up humidity because as the fry hatch they can only swim vertically and if they come up and brathe cold dry air they can die instantly. fry do notneed to be separated for a long time in the correct sized tank BUT BE WARENED IF YOU TAKE A FISH OUT FROM ITS SIBLINGS YOU CANNOT PUT IT BACK IN NO MATTER HOW SHORT OF A TIME THIS IS FOR. ps i wouldtake the farther out when the fry are all swimming horisontaly plus a couple extra days coz he can get nasty sometimes.

i have studied and lectured on the fish for many years and i hope you enjoy breeding as much as i did.

 

[danyol12]

* a mop made from wool tied around a wine cork (so that it looks like a mop), it has to be of reasonable size
i would cut approx 50 20 cm peices of wool and lay them across a single peice of wool at a right angle loop the single wool round ant tie then tie it to a wine cork so u hav 100 strands dangling down10 cm into the water but still floating around , have fun and look up how to make a fish mop on google if u cant understand my blabbing on.

 

[bronzecat]

fry do not need to be separated at this stage.
the male should start to react and will build a bubble nest. the female , if ready , will start to 'band' meaning she will get stripes . only when these two things have occoured and the nest is completed should you let the female out .

Hi
If aggression starts at 2-3 months then they will need removing. Otherwise, the dominant fish will inhibit the feeding and growth of its siblings, and/or cause damage to others. It may not happen at that stage but there are no definates.

"When the nest is complete"? It's virtually never the same from male to male. Sometimes the male's nest will be pitifully small, but will continue building once the female has been released. We have had a spawn with virtually no bubbles at all! The male moved all the eggs to one particular area of bubbles.

There are no absolutes when breeding, basics yes, but every spawn has to be worked to the individual fish being used.

 

[ibbledibble]

the male should start to react and will build a bubble nest. the female , if ready , will start to 'band' meaning she will get stripes . only when these two things have occoured and the nest is completed should you let the female out .

the stripes must be vertical not from head to tail, head to tail stripes are stress stripe. (just to clarify )also, when spawning a pale bodied female, breeding bars are not visible so don't always wait until this has occurred,

 

[jacko9901]

Do you have spawing tank and fry grow out tank?

thanks for all the advice

i have 2 smaller tanks for the fry to grow in but can the male and female spawn in the males section of the tank, then remove the female back to her tank, then let the male look after the eggs and fry until they get bigger and then put the fry in the grow out tank. i did a bit of research and it said that the malesguardthe eggs and fry but it might be wrong so can i do this or should i have a spawning tank aswell.

 

[Netty]

Have a look at the link below. It gives most of the info you need

Breeding & Rearing Fry

 

[jacko9901]

got another question to ask. how many eggs are there inthe nest on average or how many fry are born on average?

 

[Netty]

Both our spawns averaged 100+ but you could end up with alot more than that. That's why it's really important to have a good sized grow out tank and individual containers to separate the males into once they are about 2 - 3 months old.

 

[danyol12]

i am very new to this forum thing so you wil have to forgive me
i understand what you are saying about how you cant say ''when the bubble nest is finished''
but i was giving rough guide lines because it takes me an extremely long time to type
the things that you corrected me on / clarified my meanings are things that i agree with
but it has taken me 10 mins to type this post out so far.
so you can probaby understand why i did not go into much detail.
and gave rough guides

i hope to put up some photographs soon but i find things like that hard

thanks for clarifying my post as i am sure you type quicker than me

danyol12

(should be dannyol12 but my email messed up)

 

[jacko9901]

Have a look at the link below. It gives most of the info you need

Breeding & Rearing Fry

on this link it says you should eventually separate the fish and put them in jars. does this mean things like cleaned out jam jars. if it does does it matter if it doesnt have a heater or filter, should i change part of the water every 2 days or so to keep the water clean and keep the fish somewhere there it is a bit warmer or is room temperature fine.

 

[Netty]

This is what we use at the moment and will soon have them on the shelves above too. They are heated by a large reptile heat mat and we do 100% water changes twice a day.

 

[jacko9901]

This is what we use at the moment and will soon have them on the shelves above too. They are heated by a large reptile heat mat and we do 100% water changes twice a day.

are they just males in there.