Breeding For Bio Department!

[athao04]

Hey guys!!! I might get to breed bettas for the bio department of my school. The head of the biology department is interested in studying bettas. I mentioned to him I would love to breed, so I am going to talk to him about it tomorrow afternoon. Right now I kind of feel like I am going to take a test and my mind just blanked out!

Please correct my list:

10-20 G Tank
Submerisble heater
Sponge Filter
Betta Fry Food
Java Moss/Plants

I will be keeping the temperature at 80 Degrees Fahrenheit and keeping a lid/hood on it to keep the humidity high.

Now a couple of questions to make sure I know what I am doing.

First off, I first add the male, then the female in a separate smaller tank. How long do I wait until it is safe for the female to be released? Is it just until the bubblenest seems ready or will there be some sign from the male that he is ready to mate?

Second, hatching can take anywhere from one to several days for hatching right?

I heard infusoria(spelling?) is a better starter food for fry than bbs. I also heard I can grow it by simply putting water on a romaine lettuce head and just letting it sit in sunlight. Is this true?

If I have any other questions that pop up, I will post it up again. Other than that I will be sifting through my "favorited" websites for breeding. Thanks again!!!

 

[lisie]

First off, I first add the male, then the female in a separate smaller tank. How long do I wait until it is safe for the female to be released? Is it just until the bubblenest seems ready or will there be some sign from the male that he is ready to mate?

When the female is barred up (unless she's light-bodied, then you kind of just have to guess at it) and when he's got a nice head start on the bubblenest. What I did for my three successful spawnings (although the third's the only one that had fry that survived) is release the female and male at the same time into the spawn tank, let the male get all worked up and chase her a bit, and then put the female in the vase. I think it gives him a bit of a kick in the butt to get his bubblenest going. But that's just me.

Second, hatching can take anywhere from one to several days for hatching right?

About 24 hours, the exact time depends on how warm the tank is and stuff.

I heard infusoria(spelling?) is a better starter food for fry than bbs. I also heard I can grow it by simply putting water on a romaine lettuce head and just letting it sit in sunlight. Is this true?

I'm not sure that infusoria is better necessarily, but it is smaller. It grows on live plants, and you can also do the romaine lettuce thing. Just make sure it doesn't rot and foul the water. You can use microworms or vinegar eels too, if you don't want to feed BBS right away.

 

[Kittles_yang]

yeah...like what lisie said...

 

[lisie]

Oh, I forgot to say that on your list, you should add jars for male fry when they're old enough.