Where you acquire them won't matter, unless you want to know genetic lineage beyond phenotype.
The most important is CONDITIONING!
Feed them up well, to ensure optimum health! Make sure the female is full of eggs so she can produce well. Make sure the male has enough stamina to maintain the nest and the fry since he shouldn't be fed while he is on active parent duty. Basically lots of live food or super rich food like Attisons. Get them good and healthy for a couple weeks.
It is also going to depend on the individual fish! Some may be sterile, or the pair may be incompatible (let's face it, all people don't get along very well, nether do all fish!)
Feeding the fry will be a big deal!
You CAN cull pretty hard if you don't want to raise HUNDREDS of fry. Some people think it's cruel, but that IS the way their reproductive system was designed. In nature they create hundreds of young in the hope that ONE or TWO will survive. Culling is similar, except it's YOU deciding who or how many you want to make it.
I breed selectively, so that means the ones who don't have the qualities I want are culled out, so that I can give the best ones the best chance! (if I was breeding solid white for example, and I got a few red fry, I could cull the reds early so I could focus my efforts on the ones I do want. Just an example) you need to be prepared for the reality of big numbers, and how to focus your efforts on what your goals are... It's a decision a lot of people aren't REALY prepared for.
The other really tough question to ask yourself BEFORE you breed, is WHY you want to in the first place!!!
There is NO SHORTAGE of Bettas out there, and you won't likely be competing with the Asian mass scale breeders for any market suply. So ask yourself WHAT is so special about your Bettas that makes them superior to the mass produced Asian fish?
If you have fish with rare, unusual, or marketable qualities... It would make sense. If your fish is a "dime a dozen" common variety what are you going to do with the offspring you produce? Because you will have a hard time finding homes for them (the price of the asian ones will beat anything you ask for them)
If you have something special, or extremely specific, then you will probably be able to find homes for the extra fish easily enough, but then you will be well informed about your market and had time to get to know better what to expect with the behaviors and processes of their courtship and raising.
I don't want to discourage you, but I find most people don't think it through... And get ultimately disappointed by the outcome. If you set yourself up to SUCCEED by answering the WHY first... Then it becomes an easier proposition to get a good outcome!
for the info!
