Trying my hand at breeding Bettas

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Cichlid fanatic

Cichlid fanatic

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 23, 2007
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Maine (so cold so very cold)
So I have two male bettas that I have had for 4 months and as of 3 days ago I picked up 2 female bettas because I want to try and breed them. I know nothing about breeding them so I have the girls in one vase and the boys in there own vases. does anyone know where I can get info on breeding them? I know its hard but I would like to give it a go.
here are some pics
Red
Red.jpg


Randolph
randolph2-2-08.jpg

randoph.jpg


the girls
Thegirls.jpg
 
www.bettafish.com
I breed them about ten years ago. A ten gallon tank filled about five inches high with aged water worked for me. Feed them live food for a couple weeks to condition them. Guppy fry and brine shrimp worked for me. Lot's of plants and a place for the male to build a bubble nest. You also need a tight fitting cover becasue the bubble nests are delicate and the fry need very warm humid air so their labyrinth organs can develope. You can find alot more info than I gave you on some of the betta websites.

Just be carefull because the males are true wife beaters, but are most of the time good fathers. Feed him very well before you introduce the female into the tank and use a sponge filter.

Side note- Please get them out of the vases! they need atleast a five gallon tank for each male and they are tropical fish. They do need heaters if you can not keep the wate in the mid seventies. The females can be kept together if you have a twenty gallon or larger. (I've tried the smaller tanks and they fin nip too much IMO)

Do you have a 40 breeder or bigger? Thats what you will need unless you cull off a large amount of the fry. You will also need lots of containers for all the males, which will start to fight when they get about half an inch long. You will also be able to sex them around then.

My LFS only gave me $1.50 for each male that I brought in, so thats not much for all the time and knowledge that it takes.
 
Cool. I was thinking of breeding some of mine. One is almost black it is so dark. I love these fishes. I buy them and take them home so they can have bigger tanks to live in. Those little jars are so cruel....
 
Because people that buy them just because they look pretty are too ignorant to know any better about how to properly care for them.

-DR
 
:iagree:

I have a male in a breeder box inside one of my 55 gal tanks right now. I have 2 female bettas in the same tank also, and I'm just waiting for him to bubble nest. lol I don't think it's going to happen tho. :headshake I'm just really happy with how nice those pretty females get along with the fish in the tank.

Something else I've found in my experience, is that you need to monitor when the female stops releasing eggs, and remove her asap afterwards. He'll end up squeezing her to death otherwise. :WHOA:

GOOD LUCK! And let us know how it turns out!:popcorn:
 
Cichlid fanatic;1486593; said:
ok so I've moved them in to a heated tank. girls in one side and boys each have there own space. Had an old 20 long kicking around. So why are they kept in betta bowls, vase and mason jars?
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Good deal. If you've already researched it a bit and have any questions feel free to post them here or shoot me a PM. Bettas can be a little tricky when it comes to breeding, but I am sure you can do it. It's been rumored that crowntails are more difficult to breed because they have more agression issues, but I truthfully don't know. Keep us posted on your progress.

I have never heard of a male sqeezing a female to death, but the females will go limp for about a minute after the male sqeezes her. This is normal and will be repeated until she doesn't have anymore eggs. Then the male will beat her severely if she is not taken out. Alot of times the female will need to be kept with the male for up to 36 hours becasue she will play hard to get. It's kind of like cichlids, both the male the female don't know exactly what to do the first time. Once the male and female have spawed, it is much easier the second time for both.
 
LextacySC;1487855; said:
Good deal. If you've already researched it a bit and have any questions feel free to post them here or shoot me a PM. Bettas can be a little tricky when it comes to breeding, but I am sure you can do it. It's been rumored that crowntails are more difficult to breed because they have more agression issues, but I truthfully don't know. Keep us posted on your progress.

I have never heard of a male sqeezing a female to death, but the females will go limp for about a minute after the male sqeezes her. This is normal and will be repeated until she doesn't have anymore eggs. Then the male will beat her severely if she is not taken out. Alot of times the female will need to be kept with the male for up to 36 hours becasue she will play hard to get. It's kind of like cichlids, both the male the female don't know exactly what to do the first time. Once the male and female have spawed, it is much easier the second time for both.
Click to expand...
Thanks I will. What type of bettas do I have?
 
Red is hard to tell because in the picture the tail is slightly torn, but looks like a crowntail. Randolf is a crowntail 100%. The female that is centered in the picture looks like a regular female, but could be a crown tail. The torn fins make it harder to tell, but i would say put my money on a regular.

Randolf has good body lines seen in the first picture of him.
 
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