Beta Breeding

[GuppyBabe]

How do I breed Betas?

I got 2 male beta fish and 2 female Beta fish. One male is a nice red color and so is the female that I picked out for him to be with, while the other male is blue with a little red on him and his female is white with blue colors.
My red male is really aggressive while the other male is very calm and doesn't even try to confront the other male throught the glass, but my real question is how do I know when the male Beta is ready to breed with the female and when the female is ready to breed with the male beta?

 

[sumthin fishy]

Take a looksee here. I understand it is very difficult to breed these guys, and the time annd cost of raising the fry is throught the roof.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58582&highlight=betta+log

 

[Marala]

Here is some stuff that I wrote up ages ago on spawning Bettas. There is a lot of It, but it is good info!

I strongly recommend that you look over all the things required to properly spawn (a term that basically means breeding fish) a male and female Betta before deciding to go ahead and breed them. Here are some things that you need to consider.

1. Males and females should only be in the same tank together when they are spawning which means that you have to have two 3+ gallon tanks with filter and heater for each which can get pricey, and that isn't very much considering all of the other stuff you will need on top of that.

2. Bettas are not like live bearers, they don't usually get along very well, males have to be separated or they will fight to the death. Females are ok together, but there are those few females who can get very aggressive and cause lots of damage. That means that you need to have at least 50 (usually more)individual jars to put each Betta in.

3. During the spawning process there is usually fin nipping between the male and female and they need to be watched so that it doesn't get out of hand. This can mean that you have to spend a lot of time watching the fish, and unless you have the time to check the tank once every hour or so during the spawning which can last up to a day or more you should not attempt to breed your fish.

4. Spawning pet store Bettas is usually not a good idea because not only are they usually old and in bad shape, but there is a reason that they are cheap. Most pet store Bettas are your typical veil tail Bettas. There isn't anything wrong with that, but if you want to make any money at all off of your stock, then you need to start with another kind of Betta. Pet stores don't give you very much money at all for all of your troubles.

5. Quality Bettas aren't cheap! To get a quality pair from a reputable breeder like Faith at http://www.bettatalk.com is very expensive! Her Bettas range from $40 to $150 each!

6. Spawning equipment is also very expensive! Here is a page from Betta Talk that will give you an estimate of how much breeding Bettas is going to cost you.

http://www.bettatalk.com/spawning_setup.htm

Now, I have spawned Bettas successfully and let me tell you that it is worth the work! I love it! I am not trying to say that you should give up the idea entirely, but you do need to consider the time and money requirements that are involved and then decide whether or not to breed. If you do this and think that you want to go ahead and breed Bettas than by all means say so and I will give you more info on that topic. You should also check out this web page:

http://www.bettatalk.com/breeding_bettas.htm

It tells you a bunch about spawning Bettas. I would also check out the rest of that site because it can really help you learn more about this wonderful fish! Hope all this has helped you!

 

[hamsterman]

Beofre spawning, you should condition the pari with a diversity of foods including live. This way, both can get enough energey and whatnot to spawn. The females should look fat and full of eggs. They also have vertical stripes when ready to spawn and see a male. The males should build bubble nests when ready.

 

[GuppyBabe]

Well I thought I would just try it and see if I have any luck at all with it. I breed guppies and their some of the easiest fish in the world to breed, but it's just hard gettng the colors that you want just right and I have some really nice colors. Any way thanks for the info and will a 10 gallon tank do o.k or does it have to be a three gallon.

 

[Emg]

a 10 gallon will work fine if you want to try and breed them. Use a hurricane lamp/chimney and put the female in the tank in that.........so the male cannot get her, but they can see each other.

have some rocks/caves/plants in the tank for the female to hide in and around when you do let her out.

Wait until the female's colors darken up and you can see verticle stripes on her....if she's a lighter colored betta, it may be more difficult to see the stripes, but the darker colored girls should show them very prominently. Horizontal stripes are a sign of stress.....verticle (up and down) a sign of spawning interest.

When the female follows the male around the glass and no longer runs from him....when she goes into a head down position when he comes near, and when you can see a prominant ovipositor at her vent....SHE is ready.

The male is ready when he has a good sized bubblenest and when he keeps going from the female to the bubblenest. When both seem good and ready let the female out and observe.

Some males don't show aggression right away, but some go right to beating up on her. Don't worry too much as this is normal..but you will have to keep an eye on them. When/if they do spawn, remove the female as soon as it appears she has finished laying eggs. The male can stay with the eggs usually until they hatch and the fry begin free swimming. He helps to keep them in the bubblenest where they can get air. He should be removed when you start seeing free swimmers..or he may eat them all up.

After the experience both of them need to be fed up and pampered for awhile as it is quite taxing.

Hope it works out for you .......good luck.........and start stocking up on cups/bowls to seperate your fry into when they begin showing aggression to each other. My first spawn I had over 200 fry...and MOST of them survived...that was ALOT of cups/bowls to clean and take care of for about 6 months!

You sure you want to do this ???

 

[GuppyBabe]

Yes I'm sure I want to breed them , but it freaks me out. And know I have to take all of my male guppies out of the 10 gallon and into the other tans. do I have to change the diet of the betas so they can have the energy to breed or just feed them their little beta pellets? Because I have some baby fry that they can eat it wont hurt my guppie breeding stock at all.