Betta breeding concern?
- Thread starter Rollerhok
- Start date
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
male bettas will make bubble nests their whole lives. they will make nests even if they never see a female betta in their whole lives.
you do understand that all the males from the spawn will have to be individually housed, right? that means a lot of 1 to 2 gallon jars! the female babies may or may not be able to live together in one tank, depending on personality. do you have the room, the equipment, the funds, the time, and the patience to raise them all up for at least 4 to 6 months before selling or giving them away? (nobody will want the males until they have some length to their fins). and being as they are the offspring from a pet store male and female, the demand for your baby bettas will be very very small, if at all, so even giving them away could be difficult.
you do understand that all the males from the spawn will have to be individually housed, right? that means a lot of 1 to 2 gallon jars! the female babies may or may not be able to live together in one tank, depending on personality. do you have the room, the equipment, the funds, the time, and the patience to raise them all up for at least 4 to 6 months before selling or giving them away? (nobody will want the males until they have some length to their fins). and being as they are the offspring from a pet store male and female, the demand for your baby bettas will be very very small, if at all, so even giving them away could be difficult.
I would have to agree with everything BFM has said thus far. I have seen so many people try to breed pet store bettas only to find out that they either couldn't care for the offspring, didn't know how to care for the offspring, or coudn't rehome the babies due to there being no demand for pet store betta fish babies. If you really want to breed bettas badly then it would be a great idea IMHO to do a lot of research and get some really nice bettas that you know for a fact are of good genes and a good breeding age. That way you know you are equipped and have put everything into the project that needs to be done. I think that will make it more worthwhile for you, and also make it much easier to rehome all the fry that you are not going to keep. Just my opinion. :huh:
Breeding fish is never as simple as it seems. If it is easy to breed, there is seldom a large demand for it (most livebearers, convicts, etc.) and if its worth it from a financial standpoint, its usually a lot of headache logistically with housing, water, and feed to all consider.
If you have your heart set on something fairly low maintenance to breed that will have a fair ammount of outside interest in it, look into some of the color pattern specific livebearers (mollies, platies, swords, endlers, guppies). IF you do it in a targeted fashion and not willy nilly, you can get some quality fry that an LFS might interested in.
Other things that could interest you might be some of the more basic freshwater shrimps. There always seems to be an interest in good quality yellows, blue pearls, and snowball shrimp. Also breeding CRS and CBS can be fairly easy as long as you have quality water, a good maintenance plan, and patience.
Wait, that is key to all of it. Patience. No quality aquatic stock will be quick and easy.
If you have your heart set on something fairly low maintenance to breed that will have a fair ammount of outside interest in it, look into some of the color pattern specific livebearers (mollies, platies, swords, endlers, guppies). IF you do it in a targeted fashion and not willy nilly, you can get some quality fry that an LFS might interested in.
Other things that could interest you might be some of the more basic freshwater shrimps. There always seems to be an interest in good quality yellows, blue pearls, and snowball shrimp. Also breeding CRS and CBS can be fairly easy as long as you have quality water, a good maintenance plan, and patience.
Wait, that is key to all of it. Patience. No quality aquatic stock will be quick and easy.
Thanks for the replies.
Ashes - I have people who will take the fry/bettas off my hands. I have grow out tanks and everything. I do agree with you though on the genes part. Once I get into it I will pick a good pair to breed with. Thanks again.
tolawdjk - As a matter of fact, I am breeding guppies in my 55 gallon tank. It's going well.
My LFS doesn't accept fry due to possible unknown genetics. I appreciate your advice. Thank you.
Ashes - I have people who will take the fry/bettas off my hands. I have grow out tanks and everything. I do agree with you though on the genes part. Once I get into it I will pick a good pair to breed with. Thanks again.
tolawdjk - As a matter of fact, I am breeding guppies in my 55 gallon tank. It's going well.
My LFS doesn't accept fry due to possible unknown genetics. I appreciate your advice. Thank you.
BettaFishMommy
finkids make me happy :-)
you could potentially end up with a hundred baby bettas. i hope you have enough people to take them!
as for grow out tanks, you will need one tank per male baby betta. quite often breeders will use jars in the 1 to 2 gallon range as it is more economical space-wise. daily water changes will need to be done on all those jars.
I don't know whether or not this will help but there is an article here that you might want to read by TheMightyQueenPixie about breeding bettas.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58582
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58582
