98kshooter
Aquarium Advice Freak
I am about 3 weeks from breeding my pair, right now I am working on the cultures for week 1,2 and 3. This is my list so far:
This is what I have lined up:
1-pre-conditioning: that's when you feed the male and female with special diet, raise the temperature and add almond leaves to prepare them to mate. I am considering the 2.5 gallon tank for this step;
2-conditioning: that's when you let male and female see each other, still with no contact. Male will reduce aggressiveness, start to make a bubble nest and female will start to get ready from a biological perspective. I know the water level must be 4 inches or so, to make the male task a little easier. When you look to the horizon, you see a HORIZONTAL line. Vertical line is what a rocket makes when it goes up. I hope this helps.
3-mating: if the male doesn't kill the female, they will mate and collectively place the eggs inside air bubbles from the male nest. For this part, it is nice to have objects to facilitate the female hiding or running away from aggressive male;
4-population control: as soon as the female is done with her initial role, she will turn aggressive and starts to eat some eggs. Female needs to be removed;
5-week 1: after hatched, fry has tiny small mouth, and during this time special, almost microscopic diet is required. Feeding must me often but controlled, otherwise the stomach distends, generating an atrophy of swim bladder. Father goes into population control mode and must be removed as well or will also eat fry;
6-week 2: swim bladder issues continue, feeding must be done every 3 or 4 hours. Infusoria and vinegar eels are too small for some, Artemia is recommended;
7-week 3 and 4: betta fry becomes normal fry. Regular carnivorous diet can be introduced, some culling starts to take place (the deformed, the ugly, the small and the slow are all removed);
8-week 5,6,7 and 8: females form seroroties, and males start to develop territorial behavior. Females are removed to 10g tanks (groups of 5), aggressive males are "jar'ed". Diet becomes important for maximum gene expression. Heart beef and live insect cultures are good options.
That is a good plan!!!!
+1 to You!