Okay, how does one breed bettas?

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Rava

Betta Babe
Dec 26, 2002
223
0
16
CA
I'm interested in *possibly* breeding my bettas. I'm going to do lots of research first (this is where I'm starting), and be sure I know what I'm doing, but I'd really like to try it just once. So anyone that knows how to breed bettas, especially someone that has, please tell me how to do it and what it takes. :) I would be most appreciative! Thank you!

Some questions to give somewhere to start...

What's the minimum size tank I'd need?
You put the female in the male's tank, correct?
How exactly does the spawning (?) and bubble nest go?
What approx. age should the female be?

Thanks again!
 

PmAn2k3

Livin' Large
Jun 1, 2002
64
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35
Tennesse, Bubba.
Step 1

First off, Feed them a nutrious diet, Increase the tempature on your tank to about 79-80F. The female will soon then show Vertical stripes and become a lighter color than normal, right behind her head will swell up, this means she is Ready



Step 2



Get a Lamp globe from wal*mart or the Dollar store, Place it in the tank, But make SURE THE TOP OF THE GLOBE IS OUT OF THE WATER, Place the Female in the globe, they will flare at eachother for awhile, then the male will build his work of art (bubble nest) when he gets done (takes about 36 hours or less) release the Female, they will chase eachother for about 3 hours.



Step 3


You will see the male wrap his body around the females body, it will look like a act of violence but it's not, It's him frutilizing the egg's, He will let go and hundereds of eggs will drop from the female, the male will catch the eggs in his' mouth and spit them in the nest, then he will spit a few bubbles, the female will float to the top, dead like, she will soon come out of it, he will wrap her up again..... this goes on for about 3 hours, make sure you watch them the whole 3 hours, once she is out of egg's he will try to kill her, remove her from the tank ASAP. Most of the time the egg's do not hatch the first time they mate... so good luck.



As for your other questions


Most people say a big tank, but Mine has "went at it" many times in there 5.5 gallon, they get along well, It really depends on if your male has a attitude problem or not.


Yes the female and male have to be together in the same tank


I really dont know how old my female is, maybe 8 months.





Hope this helps!
 

Rava

Betta Babe
Dec 26, 2002
223
0
16
CA
Thank you all *sooooo* much!! That is incredibly helpful! Thank you for being so specific, that's exactly what I needed! I really appreciate it! :)
 

FishmasteR2002

Pescatore Napoletano
Dec 2, 2002
128
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After you take the female out leave the male because he will care for the fry until they are free swimming. After the fry are free swimming remove the male because he will eat them. You will need to keep an eye on the fry as often as possilbe because you need to seperate the males and females as soon as you can tell the difference and seperate the males because the older they get the more aggressive they get. If you do not seperate them then they will kill each other and all you work will be in vain and you will have to do it all over again. The one thing you need more than anything is patience. Good Luck and let us know if you are successful.


The way I did it was I used a 10 Gallon with no substrate and lots of floating plants. I put a piece of styrofoam in the tank for the male to build his nest. I used a floating mulit-purpose two way livebearer breeder to keep the female in. After about 4 hours he was building his nest. The next day I let the female out and let them do their thing. After about 4 more hours or so he coaxes her into coming under the nest and they do what they do. At this point you are going to want to check and see how they are doing about every 10 minutes. When he is done take her out because he will feel threated by any fish and kill anything that comes near his nest. Over the next day and half keep an eye on the nest and you will be able to see the fry grow inside the bubbles. If they fall out he will get them in his mouth(he is not eating them don't worry) and spit them back into the bubbles. After a while they will fall out and swim freely. This is where the floating plants come in. The new fry need cover because after a while the male becomes hungry because he has not eaten all this time and might mistake the fry as a new snack. After almost all the fry are out and swimming you can take the male out and the styrofoam and feed them infrosia(sp?). You can make infrosia by putting aquarium water in a glass and adding some flakes to it and let it sit for a couple of days next to a window so it can get sunlight. The water will change to a darker color, this is infrosia, just take an eye dropper and drop it in the tank. Once again Good Luck and let us know how it comes along. :)
 
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