Betta Breeding!

[fishlover101]

so I had my first spawn about 2 months ago... I then continued with 3 more spawns after, I placed all of the betta fish in the same tank, since they were within the same size range... the bigger ones began to fight! which surprised me because of how small they are! I separated 32 of them! there are still about 10-15 more in the grow out tank, my question is... they are in cups right now, since of couse I don't have 32 tanks... I plan on selling them to a few LFS... if I continued feeding them often, and change the cups daily, as I read I should do, how long until they are big enough to sell? they are only about 3/4-1 cm big right now... i'm guessing around 2 more months?

 

[guppy2002]

That's pretty small. How old are they now? I think they flare supposed to be 14 weeks or something to sell
Tho I mIGHT BE WRONG AS I have never done it before

 

[fishlover101]

Well.... they are about 1- 2 months right now, since there are multiple spawns im not sure of the exact age.. but still TINY ... but they did start to fight... I separated about 35 into separate cups... (that's all that had lived) .... 2 out of the fish died... however the others seem to be doing great! its a lot of work doing water changes on all the cups... so im only doing it every other day for now, just because I don't want to stress them out and it is a lot of work ... I just had another spawn hatch! hopefully they will grow faster now that they are separated and are getting lots of food to themselves, and constant water changes.

 

[Wildbetta]

First -- how much water do the cups hold?  Cups/jars need daily water changes to keep the water clean. The smaller containers mean less room for error when dealing with stuff like ammoni  This is especially important since they are still so small.  Frequent feedings per day will dirty up the cups very quickly which is why they need daily water changes.  Unfortunately the frequent water changes on lots of cups is part of raising domestic bettas since they have to be separated from an early age.
 
Second -- what are you feeding them if they are still so small at 2+ months?  How often are you feeding?  What temperature are you keeping them at?  
 
Third -- I would not think of selling them or giving them away to new homes until they are the very least 1 1/2 inch in length and eating pellet food.

 

[fishlover101]

well... see... I was very stupid and did not do much research... so I WAS feeding them frozen baby brine shrimp, as well as crushed flakes.. out of 4 spawns only 33 are alive... BUT ive learned a lot.. and unfortunately it costed the lives of betta fish... I just had another spawn begin free-swimming today... I started feeding them egg... I researched how to do it etc... BUT I also realized that I should be feeding them infusoria... which I didn't even know existed... let alone make MYSELF at home... I started the cultures and they are jarred and sitting in the sunlight.. I did 3 cultures, so I should have enough for a little bit, since im planning on breeding my other bettas etc... Im setting my room up so that i'll have 3 breeding tanks... the cups are very small... im not sure how small, but quite small... but considering how small they are, it does give a lot of room.. I don't plan on selling them until they are a lot bigger... I WAS keeping them in my grow out tank at around 80 degrees... 82 ish... but now that they are in cups, they are just at room temp... which isn't too bad... my room gets very warm at points.. im feeding them about twice a day.. just flakes right now, but im buying some more frozen foods soon... they eat the flakes, and some can eat and pick at the full sized frozen brine shrimp. I have so many regrets with these spawns... there were SO many babies and I had such a difficult time keeping them alive... I did very little research on actually RAISING the fry.. and was only doing 20% water changes twice a week... I now feel like I have a WAY clearer understanding on how to raise and care for the fry properly...

 

[fishlover101]

is there anything that I can possibly find at home that would be much more suitable than flakes for the bigger fry? I wont be able to go to the store for the next few days and I have no idea what else to feed them!

 

[majerah1]

Not to sound mean but why are you breeding bettas? Is there an overall goal? The health of the male fish is very important as it deteriorates every spawn, which is why we condition them. If we dont feed them well they will become easily ill and perish. 
 
As for food, flakes are bad all around for bettas. Look into hatching live baby brine shrimp. Simple enough. Feed about three times a day, change water every day and your little ones will grow. 

 

[fishlover101]

I can not order cultures online.. and im pretty sure I wouldn't be allowed to keep them... I can do any frozen or freeze dried food that would be found at a petstore... is there a certain kind you recommend? I know the flakes aren't good for them... my goal is to learn more and more.. ive always been so interested in betta fish... of course ill be making a small profit.. but considering all the money and time that has gone into them, it really doesn't compare... i'm doing it because I love the fish.. they LOVE the brine shrimp... some just aren't big enough to eat it yet:$ could I do frozen blood worms? im doing the infusoria cultures for the young ones... but the large ones obviously cant feed or grow off of tiny cells... is their anything I can do at home in the mean time, until I go to the petstore?

 

[majerah1]

Really if you cannot do live then you should not be breeding them. The fry suffer with only prepared foods, as you have plainly seen. However, the ones you have now, if they are eating on frozen then chopping some bloodworms and maybe glassworms as well as looking for frozen baby brine shrimp, will help them grow. 

 

[fishlover101]

Thank you for the advice! can I change their water twice a day? as it gets pretty dirty quickly!

 

[fishlover101]

Another question... do live plants help with the babies a lot?

 

[Wildbetta]

Live plants are always a good thing for betta fry (and other types of fry).  They help keep the water clean, provide places for the fry to hide, and also are a good way for the fry to nibble on some micro critters between feedings.

 

[fishlover101]

thanks for the advice! I was thinking about amazon swords? any other suggestions?

 

[Wildbetta]

Honestly unless you have a really large tank, amazon swords are not the best plant for you.  I would stick with easy stuff like anubias, java fern, and java moss.

 

[fishlover101]

Okay thankyou! the growout tank is 29 gals.. should I add plants?!