Coniditioning Bettas

[haleystropicalfish]

As some of you know, I just got 3 female bettas and 2 males last wednesday. They are all settled in now and the females are getting along great. I figured for now I'll just give them all top of the line food untill they start looking more healthy. Well, now they look healthy! I've decided to breed Saphire and Fluffy. How long do you think I should conidtion each? When I got Fluffy he already looked healthy and plump (thank you awsome LFS owners!) and now he looks even better. His fins are bright and he's very active. Saphire is quite fat, lol. She isn't aggresive like King, but she's not shy like Coral. She pretty much perfect! She can get a little anxious around mealtime, but that's all. Her fins are still a little ripped from the trip to the fishstore, then to my house, but they are looking allot better now.
So my question is, how much longer should I condition them? Oh, and also, not only do I give them top-of-the-line food, I clean out their tank everyday. I'll also get some pictures so you can see what they look like for yourself.

Before and after my care; Saphire.

Before and After Fluffy (not much of a difference)

The pics of fluffy are a little distorted because his container is plastic. Sorry

 

[nemosworld]

i'd condition them for about a week. if the male starts building his nest and the female gets vertical bars when she's in a glass chimney looking at the male, they're about ready

 

[haleystropicalfish]

He's already got a HUGE nest and he can't even see the females. I'll put her in a large jar next to his home and see if she get striped. Please check back later when I've posted the results.

 

[haleystropicalfish]

She got dark striped IMIDATLY and he started flaring. That's good right? LOL!

Edit: Now Saphires stripes have faded and she is puffing out her scales slightly. I put a barier between them just in case they were geting to exited.

 

[nemosworld]

yeah that is good. if you're ready, i think you can spawn them now. they'll chase each other around for a while. fin tearing is normal, bodily damage isn't. eventually they'll embrace and eggs will drop out of the female. just take her out when she's done

 

[haleystropicalfish]

Thanks Nemo! (is it okay if I call you that?) Well, I have guppies in my spawning tank right now (it was already cycled for all you fishless-cycling-fanatics; I was just making sure there were all those ammonia eating things and what not, lol) but once I get them out and get my sponge filter, I'll spawn them. I can't wait! This is my first time with bettas!!

 

[nemosworld]

no problem, it's my fish's name and he's a mustard gas ct i luckily found at my lfs. good luck and keep a watchful eye

 

[mommyof2bettas]

They look good. Nice ct and vt
But, before you spawn, make sure you have:
-mw, or bbs cultures to feed the babies. Make sure you already have cultures that are producing food and you can feed the babies with right away when they hatch.
-condition them for 1 week, the more the better.
-Do lots of research before you spawn, bettatalk.com is an awesome site
-Make sure your pet shop can take possibly up to 50 (since it's your first spawn you'll probably have less fry) bettas, which will be Vt's, Combtails (same or less value as Vt's) and some ct's.
-About 30-50 jars for your bettas, when they start getting agressive.
If you did all that, good luck on your betta spawn