Should I Breed Them?

[Tolak]

The first step in breeding anything is knowing the market. It doesn't matter if it's fish, dogs, or frogs. You really have to start from the end result & work your way back to have a successful, enjoyable experience. Do some research first, your location & local shops differ from most anyone else's. Plenty of people sell variatus platys, which would probably be similar to "mutt" bettas.

Once you think you have the market figured out, have enough tank space to house them for 6 months. The market varies, sometimes it's swamped & you can't sell anything. A couple years of experience will hone your market senses, much of it seems to be seasonal.

 

[mesapod]

Yes that would be a good idea but he is 13 and probably isnt going to get that into his work because he has better things to do.
I don't get why he even asked peoples opinion when he didnt even use their advice.
I'll say this one more time dont breed your bettas

 

[OohFeeshy]

Plenty of people sell variatus platys, which would probably be similar to "mutt" bettas.

Not at all. You can shove as many platies in a tank as you can fit in and they're pretty fine, bettas, no. Out of, say, a 100 fry spawn, with 50% of each sex, you could probably sell the females like platies, although not as much because mutt females aren't very colourful ergo not very desirable, and as already said, most shops only shift 5 or so males a week, if that.

 

[Griz]

If you want to breed the fish for educational purposes - fine. But please deal with the resulting fry humanely. (Got a cichlid?) You may sell a few but if you think you are going to turn a profit, you're fooling yourself.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Plenty of people sell variatus platys, which would probably be similar to "mutt" bettas.

As Ooh Feeshy pointed out, there is a big difference. Most lfs would be able to take the 20-odd platy fry resulting from one pregnancy and shove them in one tank. How many lfs do you know that would be able to provide 50-100 separate tanks to house the male fry from a single betta spawning? I know very few lfs that have more than 5-10 male bettas in stock at the same time, or that would have the accommodation to do so. From the shop's point of view, another difference is that they may easily sell 5-6 fish at once to the same customer, whereas most people who come in to buy a betta probably only want a single one.

Another big difference is that there is no difficulty in housing the platies at home in the same tank until the day when the lfs is able to take them- the work involved in looking after 20-50 platies is very moderate as long as you have a tank big enough. Male bettas have to be housed individually, fed individually, water changed individually.

 

[tetraman]

It's probably even easier for them to keep bettas, because they can just throw them in a cup and leave them, other then a life-sustaining feeding once in a while.

 

[OohFeeshy]

It's probably even easier for them to keep bettas, because they can just throw them in a cup and leave them, other then a life-sustaining feeding once in a while.

Ah, but this is in England. Shops only rarely carry females, sometimes carry males and if they do, it's only 5-10 at the very most. They are sold here as 'community' fish, although that's really not a good plan, and they are housed in tanks with other fish (generally anything that isn't guppies), usually getting bullied, stressed etc. in the process.

 

[jollysue]

I am continually amazed that this thread keeps popping up But I always read it and sometimes respond, although not often to the original poster anymore.

Good place to vent?

 

[mesapod]

I still think he shouldnt breed them or he will have a house full of rotting fish because i dont think he will take care of them.

 

[wuvmybetta]

It obviously is over, that male pictured is clearly bloated from eating eggs. There's no money to make breeding bettas, unless they're absolutely stunning. I hear that as of lately some of the best fish go unpurchased on Aquabid. Most people get in to breeding for show- not profit. End of discussion.