I want to breed bettas... help?

[ILOVEBETTAS]

Hi. I have one male betta who is a cull from a crowntail breeder (I don't care what he is, I just want to breed him). I really want to breed him.... can you answer my questions? I'm a first time breeder... I have no experience and need your help.

1. How much will this project cost AT A MINIMUM?
2. Can you regularly find female bettas at... Petco or whatever? I don't want one off the internet...
3. What supplies do I need? Like, how big of a breeding tank?
4. Can you buy betta fry food at Petco? And what is their food called?
5. How many babies do they have?
6. What do I do with the betta fry when they're old enough to get new homes? Will pet stores take them?
7. When the males get fiesty, what am I going to put them in? I'll need separate containers for every one of them!
8. Breeding tanks shouldn't have filters, right? Won't it ruin the bubble nest?
9. How often should I breed the female? How often for the male? How many bettas do I need?
10. Anything else I need to know?

Thank you very much!

 

[SftWrmRain]

Hi. I have one male betta who is a cull from a crowntail breeder (I don't care what he is, I just want to breed him). I really want to breed him.... can you answer my questions? I'm a first time breeder... I have no experience and need your help.

1. How much will this project cost AT A MINIMUM?
2. Can you regularly find female bettas at... Petco or whatever? I don't want one off the internet...
3. What supplies do I need? Like, how big of a breeding tank?
4. Can you buy betta fry food at Petco? And what is their food called?
5. How many babies do they have?
6. What do I do with the betta fry when they're old enough to get new homes? Will pet stores take them?
7. When the males get fiesty, what am I going to put them in? I'll need separate containers for every one of them!
8. Breeding tanks shouldn't have filters, right? Won't it ruin the bubble nest?
9. How often should I breed the female? How often for the male? How many bettas do I need?
10. Anything else I need to know?

Thank you very much!

You may not care that your male betta is a cull, but there is a reason he's a cull, and you may want to make sure it's not a genetic malformation, because if it is you will potentially pass on a negative trait to hundreds of babies that may end up unsaleable or even unfit to give away.

1. The project will cost A LOT. It depends on what things cost in your area. You'll need to buy a culture of live microworms as starter food, a tank to breed in, a sponge filter because fry get caught up in regular power heads, a heater for breeder tank, cover or lid (and a light is nice), thermometer, siphon tube, LOTS of jars or bowls, or homes for 2 month old male babies, and a room that is warm enough to keep them happy until they have new homes. You'll also need to read up on hatching baby brine shrimp for fry food, which also requires yet another tank, air pump, sea salt, etc.

2. Yes, you can regularly find female bettas at PetCo. Try to find a female that is a little bit smaller than your male, and the same color.

3. See above. A ten gallon is a good size for breeding.

4. No - they require live food when they first hatch, and are always better to eat live food their whole lives, at least in part. The babies won't start a pellet diet for 6 weeks or more. The type of food you need to buy a culter of, and learn how to keep going at home is MICROWORMS, and BABY BRINE SHRIMP, as well as INFUSORIA.

5. 50-500

6. You have to find them homes or keep them. If you plan to keep boys, I'm sure you already know they need to be each in their own container. Pet stores that are locally owned will probably take them. I have an issue with mine - I don't like the way they're cared for, so I will not be giving ANY of my babies to any pet stores. Chains like PetCo will not take your babies. Females can be kept in a large tank together, as long as you meet the stocking requirements for your tank size.

7. Yes, you will! This is both expensive and frustrating if your home isn't kept at 78-80 degrees!! Your babies shouldn't be kept in less than a gallon, so imagine cleaning and caring for 200 gallon containers, after you've spent $2000 to get them and put your boys in them!

8. Yes, that's why you need a SPONGE filter. Take a look at www.aquabid.com for one. Learn how and why it's used and make sure you don't use a powerhead when breeding!

9. Most of the time, bettas will willingly breed with each other, but a lot of breeders will keep 2 pairs handy in case one or the other doesn't like each other. Bettas can breed every two weeks, but this is NOT recommended! I have read that after breeding approximately 5 times, they become succeptible to illness and disease, so less breeding is recommended. Besides, how many babies do you WANT?? LOL

10. Breeding bettas is a HUGE undertaking and requires diligent care. Babies need to be fed 3-4x a day, and their tank cleaned every other day. You will have more babies than you know what to do with, trust me! Don't think about breeding indefinitely until you have done it once and understand what you're getting into. I have become VERY attached to my babies, and expect them to go to owners who know what their doing - not Johnny and his mom who walks into PetCo wanting a disposable pet for Johnny to "learn on." With an attitude like mine, you have to also consider what it costs to ship bettas, and the risks associated with that.

Let me know if you want to chat - I'm happy to share what I know, but my best advice is to DO A LOT OF RESEARCH. Know what you're getting into before you jump in head first!

 

[NinjaPirate]

Hi. I have one male betta who is a cull from a crowntail breeder (I don't care what he is, I just want to breed him). I really want to breed him.... can you answer my questions? I'm a first time breeder... I have no experience and need your help.

1. How much will this project cost AT A MINIMUM?
2. Can you regularly find female bettas at... Petco or whatever? I don't want one off the internet...
3. What supplies do I need? Like, how big of a breeding tank?
4. Can you buy betta fry food at Petco? And what is their food called?
5. How many babies do they have?
6. What do I do with the betta fry when they're old enough to get new homes? Will pet stores take them?
7. When the males get fiesty, what am I going to put them in? I'll need separate containers for every one of them!
8. Breeding tanks shouldn't have filters, right? Won't it ruin the bubble nest?
9. How often should I breed the female? How often for the male? How many bettas do I need?
10. Anything else I need to know?

Thank you very much!

1) I spent nearly $700 getting set up for my first spawn. $200 on the fish, $500 on the tanks, equipment, cultures, etc.

2)Yes, but make sure the fish are in very good condition. Bettas spawn better when they're younger and healthy, and most pet shop bettas are neither.

3)10G breeding tank half full with hood, established sponge filter with air pump, a large clump of plants (real or fake), jars for individual fish once htey get older, atleast one additional grow-out tank (size-dependant on spawn)

4)I think you can get bbs (baby brine shrimp) eggs and start a bbs hatchery, but it's alot of work compared to the other cultures like MW's and VE's, which you would have to order.

5)1-500 eggs in a spawn, give or take. I usually average a good 50 fry, but numbers vary significantly.

6)Pet stores generally won't take them. Chain stores only work through select accredited breeders, which requires a business liscense and a lot of paper work. Some smaller pet stores will work with individual breeders, but usually only if the stock is something they have problems getting, and never for money on a level that would make it a profitable venture (they don't pay much for fish because they make their money on supplies).

7)Gallon+ jars for each individual male. Alternatively you could use some sort of plastic container. Breeders often spend hundreds of dollars on custom barrack setups just to deal with this aspect.

8)Any kind of heavy-flow filter is bad during breeding. Hence the need for a sponge filter with adjustable airflow.

9)They get pretty beat up during spawning. Usually takes a good 2 weeks to recover, and another week to properly prep them for another spawn, minimum. I never spawn a single pair more than 3 times, and only rarely that often. Best to get 4 from a single strain if you can (2m, 2f), because that gives you 4 possible breeding setups if any one pair just doesn't work out.

10)Oh, lots. But there are many good websites you can read up on. Particularily look for the IBC logo, because IBC breeders generally know what they're talking about

Other random tidbits....The sale age of bettas is usually at around 3 months old, so you have to be ready and willing to care for them for that period of time. Jars need to have water changes on the order of every 3rd day, which is also alot of work.

Is it worth it? absolutely, but it's deffinantly not for the money. There is only 1 person that I know of in the US that is able to make enough money breeding bettas to have it be her only job, and she does it mostly through affiliated breeders. So don't expect to get rich doing it, because it's not going to happen that way.

 

[Xavier3520]

i would agree with all of what you have stated, but correct me if im wrong here do u actually need a sponge filter i mean what does it do besides break the water and create super loads of bacteria cause the food gets stuck in the and creats a deadly recipe for disaster

 

[SftWrmRain]

i would agree with all of what you have stated, but correct me if im wrong here do u actually need a sponge filter i mean what does it do besides break the water and create super loads of bacteria cause the food gets stuck in the and creats a deadly recipe for disaster

I believe you need a sponge filter for exactly the reasons you stated. Fry need the water broken to prevent a filmy build up as their labrynth organ is developing. Also, it is a place to house many thousands of microorganisms that the fry eat when they are young. Mine would all be "stuck" to the filter a lot early on, finding tiny things to eat.

I have not found any issues with food being stuck in the filter OR any recipes for disaster, but that's probably because I maintain the tank every day and watch them for quite some time each day looking for any problems or issues, both of which I would correct immediately before it became a disaster. JME/JMO.

 

[NinjaPirate]

^ Nail on the head. The spong filter firstly is a filter, so it (by way of established bacteria) reduces ammonia in the tank, which will rise significantly if unchecked, and in the end lead to the death of your spawn. You use a sponge filter because other filters are too strong and dangerous to the fry.

It's possible to do it without a sponge filter, but requires much more work on your part.

 

[Xavier3520]

well hahahah those were my questions but didnt wanna admit them hahahha well thanks for the feedback errr i mean corrections anyways yeah your right those bacterias are beneficial for the fry but yeah left uncheck will result in all the spawn dying....those are pretty obvious answers thanks and oh i have boughten 3 copper pairs PK and HM then i also bought a pair of CT blue/red and another pair of CT green/red :-D im on my way to breeding bettas :-D and they so how do the thais do it they dont use any covers for that labyrtith organ thing so whats the deal there just wondering :-D

 

[fishisme]

Know your stuff... Dont cheep out, and dont be lazy..

 

[NinjaPirate]

well hahahah those were my questions but didnt wanna admit them hahahha well thanks for the feedback errr i mean corrections anyways yeah your right those bacterias are beneficial for the fry but yeah left uncheck will result in all the spawn dying....those are pretty obvious answers thanks and oh i have boughten 3 copper pairs PK and HM then i also bought a pair of CT blue/red and another pair of CT green/red :-D im on my way to breeding bettas :-D and they so how do the thais do it they dont use any covers for that labyrtith organ thing so whats the deal there just wondering :-D

Thailand, being the bettas natural habitat, maintains rather natural conditions in the air insofar as temp and humidity.

We, being far less tropical a place, need to replicate those conditions as best we can.

In short, they don't need them because of their weather conditions. We need them because we need to replicate their weather conditions.

 

[Xavier3520]

oh so.....if i live in South Texas then its like semi tropic here so i can use the thai method then it only gets cold here in december but the coldest its gotten is in the 50's
meaning i dont have to breed anything at that time hahah so i guess im in a good climate and fishisime ummm ok whats your point i apologized for what i said and wasnt really cheeping out it was more of a question than an answer if u read right...but ok whatever u say ill listen :-D hahahha yeah right