betta breeding and baby genders.

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dhjaksu

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online theres a lot of stuff suggesting that temperature and ph can affect the gender of the babies.

I want to try breeding my 2 bettas. male is a long finned pink and purple sort of colour and the female is mostly while with red on the edges of her fins. when I get home I will take photos of them to upload.

anyway, I am wanting to know if there is a way to affect the genders of the babies. It would be great if there is some way to enhance the likelihood of the babies being female. and I know most people would want more males but I like females a lot more and with females I wouldn't feel as pressured to sell them quickly because they don't necessarily need to be separated.

I have adjustable heaters and rain water with a ph of 6.6 and tap water with a ph of 8.4 and aged tank water with a ph of 8.0 and I can mix rain water and tank water to get anything in between.

also any other tips on breeding is appreciated.
 
A pH above 7.0 can increase the number of male offspring for some species including African killifish, Apistogramma dwarf cichlids, and Australian and New Guinea rainbowfish. The higher the pH, the more males. However, if the pH is too high, the fish won't breed.

Separate males and females for 5 days before breeding them.

Feed breeding stock 3-5 times a day for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks before breeding them. Use a variety of dry, frozen and live foods. This allows the fish to develop good quality gametes (eggs & sperm). Do more frequent water changes when feeding more to keep the tank clean.

Have floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) in the tank for the male to build his bubblenest in. The plants also reduce surface movement/ turbulence and reduce the chance of the bubblenest being broken up

With Betta splendens, have the water between 6-10 inches high.

Have an air operated sponge filter.
 
A pH above 7.0 can increase the number of male offspring for some species including African killifish, Apistogramma dwarf cichlids, and Australian and New Guinea rainbowfish. The higher the pH, the more males. However, if the pH is too high, the fish won't breed.

Separate males and females for 5 days before breeding them.

Feed breeding stock 3-5 times a day for at least 2 (preferably 4) weeks before breeding them. Use a variety of dry, frozen and live foods. This allows the fish to develop good quality gametes (eggs & sperm). Do more frequent water changes when feeding more to keep the tank clean.

Have floating plants like Water Sprite (Ceratopteris thalictroides/ cornuta) in the tank for the male to build his bubblenest in. The plants also reduce surface movement/ turbulence and reduce the chance of the bubblenest being broken up

With Betta splendens, have the water between 6-10 inches high.

Have an air operated sponge filter.
Ok thanks. So if wanting less males I should go for a lower ph? The rain water I’ve collected has a ph of 6.6

And the male and female have been in seperate tanks on oposite sides of the room for the month that I’ve had them. Have been feeding a few different frozen foods, live black worms, and insectivore pellets. Both are in tanks with other fish so although I feed heavily there’s never any excess food. The female has Cory’s and bristlenose in her tank and the male has Pygmy Cory’s and shrimp in his tank. Both are also in planted tanks.
 

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Rainwater should have a pH of 7.0 unless it's contaminated by air pollution. Then it goes down. Maybe let it rain for an hour before collecting rain water and then see if the pH is any better.

You don't want shrimp or snails in a tank when breeding fish because they eat the eggs and young.

Have the pH around 6.6-7.2 and you should get a similar number of male and female fry.
 
Rainwater should have a pH of 7.0 unless it's contaminated by air pollution. Then it goes down. Maybe let it rain for an hour before collecting rain water and then see if the pH is any better.

You don't want shrimp or snails in a tank when breeding fish because they eat the eggs and young.

Have the pH around 6.6-7.2 and you should get a similar number of male and female fry.
Ok thanks. And yeah I plan on setting up one of my 20 litre tanks for breeding with just the parents in it and after they spawn the female will go back in her tank and once the babies probably start eating the male will go back in his tank
 
You can normally leave the male with the fry until they start swimming off on their own and he no longer bothers trying to bring them back to the nest.
 

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