breeding bars?

[Kaida]

Hi guys,

I would like to try and breed my bettas but I'm not sure about a couple of things. First, they might be too old to breed. How old is too old?

Second, I've heard about "breeding bars" on a female who is ready, but I'm not sure what these look like. I tried to take a picture, but she's not being very co-operative so here's my best shot.



Kaida

 

[JoLtNbolt]

I think the bars show up when you keep the male and female near each other.... Most people use one of those glass candle holders or something and put the female in that inside of your main breeding tank... that way the male and female can see each other but don't have any contact.

 

[Lady]

I have read about that too....and though im FAR from knowing anything really about bettas I noticed that when i just recently moved my female (pickles) next to my male (Ohglie) hehe that her stripes darkend....unless that is totally my imagination...which is also a possibility?

 

[cation]

Those are stress bars. "Breeding" bars are vertical, not horizontal.

 

[Lady]

hmm so breeding bars...are they actually bars or just differences in colors that appear?

 

[coconutman39]

They are a darkening of the pigment in the scales. they are horizontal lines that show up when the female is excited. usually when i release my female, she is showing these bars at all times. Light colored fish will not show bars, but a pronounced oviposter(white thing underbelly).

and i dont think those are stress bars, but coloration.

 

[Lady]

thanks coconutman

 

[Synirr]

Here's an example of breeding bars, source BettaTalk

 

[cation]

They sure look like stress lines to me, Coconutman - the two horizontal lines running under the outer pigmentation scream it.


But be aware, Kaida - even if they are stress bars, it doesn't mean your betta is really all that stressed. I've seen fish that never get them, fish that get them only when sick, fish that get them because you do a WC, fish that do it when you walk in a room, feed them, whatever. Heck, I've even had female bettas that, despite the best care and wonderful, happy, long lives, ALWAYS have stress bars.

I only worry about them if they appear on a fish that rarely (or never) has them.


As for the best age to breed? Between 3-12 months, although fish from 6-9 months are really primed and ready to go.

If you are interested in breeding, I would recommend reading the pinned articles about betta breeding. They are full of great info. If you have questions that aren't addressed in that topic, or want clarification on anything, don't hesitate to ask!

 

[Kaida]

Thanks a lot everyone, that's been very helpful. Unfortunately I think my fish are too old to breed then, because we bought them way over 12months ago so they're quite a bit older than that.
Never mind. It can be a project put on hold for when we have bettas in the future. In the mean time I can research!

About the bars - she shows them the majority of the time even when she is swimming around and looking distinctly non-stressed, so I'm not worried.

Thanks again
Kaida