To Get A Female, Or Not?

[danni_69]

Hey y'all! Just got a quick Q for you.. I've had Fred (bad pic but meh ) for about a week or two now, and he's made a bubble nest thats covering at least half of the water surface, and about 1cm out the water in some places.. now, do I need to get him a female, or will he be ok as he is on his own without relief!

 

[LosC519]

You should never put in 1 female Betta with a male. Male Bettas need atleast 3-4 females in a 10g+ tank with plenty of hiding places for the females. MAles are solitary fish so don't worry about him getting lonely, he will be happy alone as he is now.

 

[danni_69]

mhmm. i know that bit, ive got a spare tank to keep her in if i did get one, but does he actually need relief? or will he be ok?

 

[LosC519]

edit^. How big is the tank you male is in now? Could you throw in a couple females for him? A couple females would be better. If you have a spare emergency tank than I say go for it.

 

[danni_69]

It's just over 3 UK gallons. Dont think it would be big enough for one female hehe let alone a few. Does he need relief or would he be ok without?

 

[marlie]

I dont understand how putting two females in will help? They will fight, and possibly kill each other!

He will be fine on his own. They make bubble nests for the funn of it, for no reason at all. it doesnt necessarily mean 'i want some loving '

 

[danni_69]

mhmm.. they wouldnt have anywhere to go anyway.. thing is, i duno what id do with all the fry and juvi's if i get him a "play" mate.. im not sure if my lfs would take them in.. ill have to ask, but id like to have a go at breedin them fred seems happy enough right now!

 

[catxx]

never ever put females in with males, no matter what the tank size, someone will end up shredded and/or dead.

male bettas do not need "relief". building nests is a hobby for them, like knitting. they do not need to get it on!

 

[marlie]

if you wanted to brred them you need 2 seperate tanks for the male and female, most likely a seperate breeding tank, and a fry tank, or net in a tank. they need to be conditioned before breeding too, its not a simple process, I definitly wouldnt try it just for the sake of ickle baby bettas.

Im not sure on breeding tank sizes but im not sure 3 gal would be big enough. I keep my males in 8 gallons to themselves each.

 

[danni_69]

hehe fair enough then.. what would i actually need to do to breed them tho? how would i go about pickin a female? would i have to urr.. *gulp* get rid of any fry once they hatch, it fred doesnt eat them

 

[marlie]

hehe fair enough then.. what would i actually need to do to breed them tho? how would i go about pickin a female? would i have to urr.. *gulp* get rid of any fry once they hatch, it fred doesnt eat them

You need to condition them, im sure there is information somewhere on the site, all i know is you feed them a lot of high protein food in the run up.

I dont think many fry survive... Ive heard stories of many experienced breeders losing most of them, and being left with 10-20. I'm not sure what you mean by get rid of, as in cull? if youre planning on culling some, errm, why breed them?

 

[danni_69]

thats the word.. cull and i wasnt goin to.. i just heard that when u breed, some come out deformed, or wrong or whatever.. so u have to cull them? tis why i was askin

 

[marlie]

thats the word.. cull and i wasnt goin to.. i just heard that when u breed, some come out deformed, or wrong or whatever.. so u have to cull them? tis why i was askin

.

Hmmm not something ive heard of before. I have seena few bettas which you may call 'deformed' but these were given away my breeders, rather than culled. This is only a few cases though, culls are usually by breeders who want to only keep the best of the best sorta thing... im not sure how accepted that is though.

 

[danni_69]

ohh thats ok then.. cuz if that was the case that u had to cull a lot, i wouldnt do it.. i might give it a go ill have to do my research first tho but if u have any advice its certainly welcome

 

[Netty]

Have a read of the link below. There is alot more to it than people realised. And Marlie is right you should never keep females in with a male......it's asking for trouble. Do lots of research too on the internet and if you're still interested in breeding then you'll get lots of help and advice here


Breeding & Rearing Betta Fry