Breeding Questions!

[channing]

Do you really have to jar them up? I was thinking of getting 20 or 30 gallon longs and dividing them up instead with a heater and filter in each. Would that work? Or am i stuck with ugly jars? I would like to display all my growing babies. I could use a sponge filter or a underground one .

Also is there any way to have just a small batch of fry or no? Do you have to jar up the females as well or can you raise them together?

Sorry so many questions just want to do this right.

 

[bronzecat]

If you only get half a dozen males you would be ok, but what if you get 50?

We use these plastic critter keepers

 

[Netty]

Plus it's not always easy to sex them at 8 weeks old so we tend to jar them all up.

 

[channing]

Plus it's not always easy to sex them at 8 weeks old so we tend to jar them all up.

I like the critter keepers. Would plastic shoe boxes work?

 

[Netty]

What do they look like and how big.....I've never seen plastic shoe boxes before

Also you need to be sure they are food safe as some plastic can give off toxins when warmed up.

 

[love4aquatic]

If you only get half a dozen males you would be ok, but what if you get 50?

We use these plastic critter keepers

oooh i want the one in the top row 2nd from the right!!! lol

 

[Netty]

Lol....that's actually Kimono's sister Big Sis. This is her now.

 

[Syphoniera]

I have read that if a small batch of fry is desired, rather than culling later and killing live babies, some people remove excess numbers of eggs from the nest with great caution and a spoon.
Then you just hope the remaining eggs have a high hatch rate...
Edit: just 'walked into' Netty's pic when I came back - quick, where's my drool-proof betta-watching bib got to?
What a gorgeous fish!

 

[love4aquatic]

Lol....that's actually Kimono's sister Big Sis. This is her now.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOHHHhhhhh
pretty!!!

 

[Netty]

You do have to be really gentle if you remove any eggs but then you risk the chance that you may lose all of them. I had spawns with loads of eggs and only a handful hatch and survive which is why there are so many eggs. I remember a member here last year did his first spawn ever and ended up with 150 fry. We've had very big spawns but also some small ones inbetween with the smallest being 3!!! If we'd have removed half the eggs we may have ended up with none. Hope you see where I'm going with this....it's late and I may not be explaining clearly lol

Plus the thought of Sy drooling is slightly off putting

Thanks Taylor.....she is a big beauty

 

[love4aquatic]

she looks like a boy!! (hopefully in bettas saying girl looks like a boy is a compliment lol)

 

[Netty]

Defo not a boy. I spawned her with her brother Keaper But I know what you mean, she has very long fins.

 

[channing]

Wow lots of good info and pretty fish! My biggest concerns are one the cost of set up and where to put them.

Where could i get those critter keepers in bulk and how many should i get?

I don't really have a place to put them where they would be warm in the winter unless each tank can have a heater. That's why i was thinking of doing divided tanks.


Has anyone made money doing this or is it more of a hope to break even kinda hobby?

 

[bronzecat]

We get the critter keepers from Modaz, but we're in the UK.

If you have nowhere apart from a divided tank you may encounter problems if you have a spawn like mine (see below)

Make money..............not a chance Unless you do it big time or for a number of years you wont be making money.

I've known someone who only had a dozen fry that they divided up in a tank, but they had jars etc already.