Tell Me Everything..........

[comocrayfish5]

so it has been less than a year that i stopped breeding bettas. i thought that i would get no more after my old one dies (still alive), but i got another one because i do love them!!. anyways he is making a bubble nest in his 1.5 gal tank and it has inspired me . so i know the set up for the tank- sponge filter, Styrofoam cup for nets. smaller tank for female, 10 gallon, 4-5 inches of water. oh and that verticle stripes on female is good and horizontal= bad.

so i want you to tell me every thing else from there to get the bettas, procedure, the fry, feeding (the options), where you get the food, how to hatch the BBS, etc, etc,..... tell me EVERYTHING!! i am ask you to "hold my hand" through this

i do know some stuff but want to expand my brain

***please note: i need to get permission to get another tank (slim chances if that) because i do not have a spare one. so in the meantime i want to research! ***

long essays allowed!

 

[Fishy friend2]

Here is a little info


warning. Breeding Bettas is not for those without patience. It is very time consuming, and a very tedious process. It should also not be attempted by someone who is new to fish keeping, as it requires a lot of knowledge, research, and time.
Also be aware that I am writing this thread based on research. I have not personally bred Bettas yet, and everyone’s experience with it will differ. Some people will have issues, other will have a smooth breeding experience. Remember, patience is the key.

There are many steps you must take prior to breeding your Bettas. The first step is condition your pair. When breeders refer to conditioning, they are referring to the period of time, which is usually about two weeks, where they provide the best possible diet and housing conditions for their fish in hopes to prepare them for breeding. The diet is altered from the normal diet to enhance the health of the male, and to encourage the females to produce eggs. It is also for the pair to store energy so they can successfully mate, as well as so the male can sustain himself while taking care of the babies.

For the most successful breeding to occur, is is very important to condition the Bettas PRIOR to introducing them to the same tank. The spawning process can be very violent and it is very possible (although not uncommon) for one or both of them to acquire injuries. Conditioning your Bettas with clean water and high protein foods will help them gain the strength that will sustain them through the spawn, for the male rearing the youngins, and the female focusing on healing from any wounds suffered.

During the conditioning period, it is important to check your water parameters daily. Keep them temperature at a comfortable 78F (25.5). Increase your water changes to 2-3 times per week. Remove excess food. Monitor your pH and KH levels to ensure stability. Adding almonds leaves is advisable, but not required.

Focus on a nutritious diet. Increase the number of feedings to 2-3 times daily, but keep to small portions to avoid constipation or bloating. Be sure to introduce a variety of high protein foods. Variety insures a balanced diet. Live and frozen foods are the choice of most breeders during conditioning. Good choices of frozen or live foods include: (frozen) Brine shrimp, (frozen) daphnia, (frozen) glass worms, (frozen) mysis shrimp, (live)white worms, (live) grindal worms, (live)flightless or wingless fruit flies, and (live) black worms.

Near the end of the conditioning period, place the betas near each other so that they can see each other. This often stimulates the urge for reproduction. Signs that they are ready to spawn include: the female showing her breeding stripes, and may swell with eggs, the male will build a bubble nest. These are good signs that you are ready to begin the next step.

CREDITS

dieses

 

[Fishy friend2]

Here is a good link
http/www.bcbetta.com/fry.html

 

[comocrayfish5]

thanks for the link. and yes i do have patience and time for breeding. i just need info. i took a quick look at the link- looks helpful and i will read all of it many times! i am ready to do a lot of research and i am not new to fish (and i have tried breeding bettas- got to the 'hugging' part, but there was no eggs ). i just need a refresher for some things and knowledge for other things.


anyone else have info?

 

[Paradise3]

Hello there! Nice to see someone else wanting to breed these graceful fish

I myself have recently bred betta's and this is what I did.
I conditioned both the male and the female in separate tanks where they couldn't see each other on frozen and live bloodworm for 2-3 weeks. I then added the female in a breeding "Chimney" in the males tank so he would build a nest. A breeding chimney is either a large-ish jar sat in the males tank or, as I chose, a plastic breeding trap as it offer's her more room to swim than a jar.
Once he had a nice nest I released her but this can be difficult as you need to try not to disturb the nest to much when releasing her and he may turn nasty on her instead of breeding with her.

I myself went though a long process of releasing her and then having catch her again and put her back in the trap for the night again as he wouldn't accept her at first. Eventually I released her and he was showing off to her, she was going up to the nest and they started breeding.

Admittedly I did leave the female in until I saw fry as she started helping with the nest and the male was accepting her help until the fry were free swimming which is when I put the female back in her tank and left the male for another 2 days before removing him. I didn't think there were any eggs at first then I saw the fry and now I have some healthy betta fry.

My advise is to watch carefully as if he is chasing her away from the nest, put her back in the chimney for the night and re-release her the next morning. I had to do this about 4 times before he accepted her.

I hope this helps you out!

 

[Qwatch]

Not the highjack the thread but, how long do you roughly need to leave the female in the breeder trap/jar before you release her with the male?

 

[lilfishie]

depends when they show there ready, mine bred the day after seeing each other

 

[comocrayfish5]

so when there are eggs, what is the timeline of days from taking the male out and the eggs hatching and when the fry should be separated etc.

i think i will also use microworms because they are smaller and easier to start a culture. how many times a day are they fed? ( ihave mollie fry and i feed them 3 times a day. so is it the same with betta fry?)

and another thing, when conditioning can i have the male in the breeder tank and female in the ''chimney" -i use an empty breeder trap- or should i keep them in 2 tanks, lets say 1.5 gal? i have many different types of food. i have tetra betta flake food, omega one trop. food (lots of whole meat in the ingredients!), and sun dried baby shrimp. can i use any of those for conditioning?

i have more ?? but cant think of them now.

 

[lilfishie]

Male can be conditioned in the breeding tank, the female will have to be conditioned out of sight

Mirco worm is fine for newly borns, I fed mine between 3-4 times daily depending on what I was working at the time. Daily vac and refills too *with an airline so not to suck many up *

The eggs can take anywhere between 36-72 hours to hatch, you will see tiny 'hair' like things hanging from the nest these are fry tails Dad is removed as soon as the fry can swim horizontally unassisted this is usually around 3 days after hatching.

For conditioning you want live, or frozen foods ideally, Atisons Betta Pro is also good if you can get it

 

[comocrayfish5]

what about freeze- dried foods? if i cant feed them freeze dried food, then what about this:
http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11268251&lmdn=Product+Type

 

[lilfishie]

what about freeze- dried foods? if i cant feed them freeze dried food, then what about this:
http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11268251&lmdn=Product+Type

Freeze dried foods aren't ideal as they can cause bloat which leads to swim bladder problems, the link you posted would be perfect though

 

[Fishy friend2]

I sue those and my fish love them, so that would be perfect to use

 

[comocrayfish5]

then i will use those! so how many bettas should i get? ( i am getting veil tails from the pet store). and do ALL females get the breeding stripes? when can i start feeding the fry? when should i start the micro worm culture?-where do you get your M. worms? sorry for all the questions but you know i REALLY want this to work! oh and another question: when looking for my fish, what should i look for in them? and when you stated breeding did you fail before getting a good batch of fish? i hope i am allowed to get another tank . i have heard that you can use a 5 gal as long as it has 5 inches of water- is that true? i would use a 10 gal of course!

 

[lilfishie]

Personally i wouldn't breed Veils, there everywhere and you have less chance of homing/selling any off spring

 

[comocrayfish5]

can i mix crowns and veils? i guess you could say i am on a budget for the bettas. if i had no other animals then i probably would get HM's, deltas, etc but i need to buy EVERYTHING to breed bettas. the tank i used last time is now a livebearer tank plus i will have to get a few extra things than i did last time, like the frozen food, microworms, sponge filter, etc. i can afford all of this, it would just be inconvenient money wise to get really pricey bettas. depending on how many i give away they would go to a small family owned pet store that only sells veils.

and when/if i do start breeding, when do you start the m. worm culture? and if the female is in her little tank in the breeder tank, and she flares at the male, is that good? when i go to the pet store, what should i look for to find possibly good breeders?
my male betta- george- is building a bubble nest. first because he was happy then i put my old 'retired' female near his tank and he has made the nest bigger. it is now 2x3 in and getting thicker! i think he would be a good breeder.

thanks for saying with this thread and answering more of my questions. i still have more so don't go away!!