Betta Breeders

[starrynightxxi]

there have been many topics concerning breeding bettas, and all of them warn about the monetary expense. I know that the prices for things differ in different areas, but I was wondering if any of you could post the approximate amount of money you spent. I would like to breed eventually, but I want to have some idea how much it will cost so that I know ballpark what I need to save.

the only prices i'm not worried about are the price of water, and a good breeding pair. i already know how much those will cost me

 

[froggy]

It will cost around 1,000 dollars for every thing thanks Froggy

 

[bUcky]

1000 dolars?

how do u figure?

breeding bettas on what scale? comercal? personal?

i havent spent over 300 and most of that was for the fishes. but im no one to listen to. i have over 10 pairs and cannot get any to spawn. lol soon, eventually.

well maybe 150 for fish 150 for supplys

so 200 total.

1 10 gal - 10 bucks
1 corner filter - 10
heater -10
food for fish - 25
betta bowls at 20@3 - 60
grow out tank 20 galon, already owned.
separate canning jars, free from freecycle.
and alot of stuff i already had.

plus fish. they add up quick for goood ones notfrom the pet store.

 

[Synirr]

10 gallon breeding tank - $10
light hood (not necessary, but prefered) - $25
filter - $10
heater - $6
40 plastic storage containers for jarring juvies - ~$2 each
20 gallon long and accessories - $80
various other odds and ends (BBS eggs etc) - $20

= $231

then add another $30 for startup cost of shipping supplies when they're ready to sell (bags and heat packs and such)

 

[vancouver]

Depends on what scale you're planning on doing it..

if you are just wanting to breed a pair or 2 at once, raise the fry, and sell the to the lfs, then it obviously wont be too much..

but if you're planning on starting your own business like some people on aquabid, you're going to need to do a large scale thing, which would obviously be more expensive..

So if you can be a bit more specific about if you want to do a large or small scale, I'm sure we can give you a good number.

 

[starrynightxxi]

well, i would probably look to sell them on aquabid or some other way before i went to a pet shop (the ones near me aren't very careful with their bettas), but it wouldn't be for a business. certainly not at first. I would have to make that decision when I came to it, but to start out it would be fully personal.

froggy, how did you end up spending a grand?

 

[OohFeeshy]

Although if you end up with 500+ fry (as sometimes happens), theres the fun cost of 500+ 1/2g or more containers, plus all the dechlor, food etc.

 

[bUcky]

this is a vary unspecific topic. you could spend anywhere from 100 to 10,000 dolars. maybe more depending on what scale you were planning on.

 

[starrynightxxi]

well, i'm planning small scale, i just wanted to see what sort of price ranges most people run. There are a lot of people on this board breeding or attempting to breed and i just wanted some vague idea of what others have ended up paying.

I understand it's unspecific, and i understand that regional differences will affect the outcome of the price. I was never expecting to get a single agreed upon amount of money, i only wanted an idea. I wouldn't want to go into this with $200 dollars, and then be surprised when it ran up to a grand. I'm in college, expensive for me is anything over 20 bucks, so when people said expensive, I wanted to know a little more specifically than twenty dollars (which of course I knew is not what they meant by expensive )

 

[Nevergone815]

ok when my gf started her breeding attempts it cost more for the fish than the setup. mostly the reason is that she wanted to have fish that came from accomplished well known breeders so she could get a better price when she sold.

*please note she is doing this small scale and using the profits to upgrade also note we are in NY, USA*

her set up:

breeding tank 5 gal- $10 (expensive) can find around $5 depending on where you go
dechlor- $3
heater- $10
thermometer- already owned but can buy for a couple bucks
styrofoam cup- free, just get a side dish from KFC or a styrofoam coffee cup will do
10 gal growout- $10
a bunch of jars- free w/ purchase of lfs "rescues" or saving baby food jars and what not (can buy in bulk)
bettas- $30+ per pair (in most cases)
decor (hiding place for female)- $7 (overpriced plant rock cave thingy)
shipping materials- depending on quality you can look at different prices... $2 heatpack, $4 otherstuff
baby food- $0.99 if you use hardboiled eggs at first. but $2 for cultures and like $4 for set up if that
parent food- you should have this, but $4 for frozen foods, plus can feed food culture growing for babies
filter for babies- $2 in tank filter

(i know i'm leaving a bunch out, i havn't seen her since summer break started and we went back to our homes across the state from each other. i think she has a 29 growout now but not sure, again price is for one pair, she has like 6 or so and still counting)
total: $90.99 per pair (about $91)

like i said, she doesn't have the best setup, but it has worked in the past. so to get you started this might be ok. she spent this and she got babies (though her roommate in college kinda sabotaged the babies and killed them).

you can try this, it might work for you. also see the pinned topics in this section for more info on breeding bettas.

i hope i helped

 

[bUcky]

dont forget to factor in time, alot of it

 

[BettaGardener]

This really depends on how much breeding you want to do...

I have around 45 males and 30 females right now (some of the boys are from pet stores and I don't intend to breed them). I have a divided 50 gallon & 20 gallon long, many jars, bowls and smaller tanks = or < 5 gallons and a 37 gallon sororiety tank. I have one 6 week old clutch of fry in a 20 gallon grow-out tank, 3 other 20 gallon tanks in the ready for grow-outs, and 9 pairs currently in the 5.5-10 gal spawning tanks as of last night...

For all of my equipment (tanks and bowls, live plants, gravel, heaters, filters, filter media, thermometers, hoods/lights, air pumps, airline tubing, brine shrimp hatcheries, nets, water conditioners)... I have spent probably... over than $5000. That doesn't include food and medications for the fish.

If you just want to breed one or two pairs, there's no need to spend that much, of course. However, if you decide to try breeding, get at least two or three nice young pairs to start with. That way, if one pair lets you down, you can always try another.