BEFORE you think about breeding i would make sure you have somewhere - a lfs - that will take any left over fry - that you cant sell
THERE IS NO MONEY in home breeding of bettas - i do it cos i love it
- the money just goes straight back into food , equiptment etc
what you need to get before you start spawning
a spawning tank = about 30 litres will do - filled to about 5" in depth , heated to 30 degrees -( 28-30 ish ok ) , you can use a bare bottomed or sand bottomed - i;ve ryed both and worked fine , i use silk and live plants for the femal to hide and a coconut cave aswell so she can go to that if getting pestered by the male - i also add IA leaves to the spawning tank
grow out tank - i use 60 litres as a min
heater
thermometer
lots of 2 litre+ tubs to seperate males from 8 weeks old
bubble wrap or half polystyrene cup - for male to nest undder
sponge filter or stingray 5 - work well with spawning
a chimney to put the female in so she can see the male but he cant get to her - i use a breeding trap lots of people use - 2 litre coke bottles with top and bottom cut off
either live food or dry food -i feed mine these dry foods - NO live food - 4x a day -
Dry food consists of a mix of these 1 choice per feed - ZM 000 and 00 moving on to 0 lol , hikari first bites , red crumb , super high pro + fry , DUSTED - spirulina , algae , seaweed , bloodworm , brineshrimp and daphnia - all available from ebay quite cheap
CONDITIONING
i add the male to the spawning tank - 2 weeks before i spawn them (put the bubble wrap square or poly cup in )- so he can get used to the tank and feel secure and safe enough to breed - male and female should be fed 3x a day for the 2 weeks prior to spawning
Putting the girly in
Turn the filter off
After the 2 weeks have passed you can then add the girls in the chimney (breeding trap or bottle) . I leave her in there for 48 hours .
If he hasnt already built a bubble nest he should do now
the boy will start flaring and showing off at the chimney - girly should be quite eggy after the 48 hours - if she's dark in colour you'll be able to see her breeding stripes . i let my girls go when they are swimming nose down when the male goes near the chimney
release the girly - he might chase her and be quite aggressive - dont worry its normal - some of my males never chase the females
If he's getting overly aggressive - put her back in the chimney and release her again the next day
Then they start to wrap and breed
they wrap and the girl releases the eggs into the nest - they can have over 100 + fry
here's 2 of mine wrapping
When wrapping is finished remove the female to a quiet tank (can take upto 6 hours of wrapping)
you leave the male in the tank and he will tend to the nest - picking up the eggs and placing any that fall out back in the nest - at temp opf 30 degrees usually hatch within 28 hours
the male continues to pick up the fry and place back in the nest - its a hard job for them - you must leave the tank lights on for 24 hours a day until the male is removed
you leave the male in the tank after spawning and do not feed hiim - when the fry are swimming ------ you can then remove him to a quiet tank and begin feeding him
he might sulk a few of my males do - i think thats it
you can now turn on the sponge filter
nest and eggs
hatched
www.youtube.com/v/qHM8aUuLz0U&hl
FROM 4 weeks old i move my fry out of spawning tank into the growout tank
then from 8 weeks they might need to start being seperated if there is real aggression from any young males
If you're using tubs - you need to make sure they have daily 50% water changes and are kept at at least 25 degrees
FROM 12+ weeks you can sell them depending how big they are - mine are already over 1 1/2 inches at 8 weeks old so should be ready for sale at 12 weeks old