Tips On Becomeing A Betta Breeder

[Ilya]

I think I might breed bettas. What do you guys think? Who should I sell the fish to? Auction, LFS? Any tips? Do they do good with either A) Mystery Snails B)Pleco or eel. Those are the only two non-betta tank mates I might have . And I also have a wet/dry filter that creates a small current. Would bettas do fine in a current?

 

[helterskelter]

Firstly you need to think can u rear the fry?

You need to have baby brine shrimp on tap and something like micro worms for the first couple of days.
If you have that you may be in with a chance, the male needs to build a bubble nest and any current or aeration can destroy that. I use sponge filters and turn them off while spawning then when the fry become free swimming turn it back on again.

 

[Ilya]

I've reared fry before in my old tank. They were guppies.

 

[Amerce]

Don't want to upset you but -

Guppys are livebearers fry are born fully operational and not egg layers, betta's need a calm water table to be able to create a bubble nest to put their eggs into it, the water needs to be reasonably shallow and the temp will need to be upped to create a humid atmosphere for the fry to develop their lungs. Any water movement no matter how small will effect the nest and disturb the eggs which will keep falling. Betta fry rely on their father for the first couple of days and are totally helpless unlike guppy fry.

I think you need to read up on the subject of betta breeding before you go any further if you are comparing livebearers with betta's.

 

[helterskelter]

I've breed 10,000's of livebearers over the years and only reared 3-500 Betta's their easy to breed but difficualt ro rear, if you wanna do it try, but like we said already make sure u know what to expect.

 

[chibi]

I wouldn't say to, only because there isn't a big market for them. You may get lucky selling through the internet if they're beautiful enough. LFS won't usually take bettas for free, let alone buy them.

 

[kingmed]

I've never breed bettas before but I always thought that if I did I'd put an add in the paper or advertise at your local grocery store or other stores and sell them from home. I figure even if you sold them for 2.00 each you'd probably make some profit and it's alot cheaper than what walmart or petco / petsmart sells them for. And if you were lucky enough to rear 200 or more at a time you could make some decent spending cash, just my thoughts---I'm not a buisness man just a dreamer at times.

 

[Ilya]

Yeah. Bad Idea maybe?

 

[xweeqtx]

I'm planning on breeding HM betta's, but I don't expect to make money off it - I just want to do it because I enjoy both the betta's and a challenge

 

[kingmed]

I agree with xweegtx, if you want to do it for fun go for it. And if you don't want to necessarily want to make a profit you maybe might be able to give some away at Church or other places where kids might be as long as the parents are willing to take care of them for their kids, personally I'd take care of a betta for my kids if someone gave them one---but I guess you run into the point that alot of people don't know how to properly take care of bettas.

 

[devon_charm]

I have just turned my hand at breeding bettas and believe me there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the little eggs in the nest then seeing them hatch. But at the same time i lost my first brood at a week old and it was heart breaking, after all the hard work daddy had put in and then for me to "kill" them. I would say read up on it first, make sure you have the correct foods like infusoria (spelling?), microworms, vinegar eels, bbs etc. Its worth it but hard work.

Good luck with what you decide

 

[starrynightxxi]

by the by, eels are a most definate no for keeping with bettas as the betta will be eaten.

 

[Straydum]

wanting to breed is one thing, actually breeding it is another.