Breeding betttas

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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!
 
Can I buy micro worms anywhere ? I could possibly pick some up after school tomorrow. The tank has blue sand substrate, I know it's not recommended but I couldn't do it any where else other than a Tupperware container and that's an eye sore lol.the water is probably 6-8 in deep. Why should it be so low?

I guess I could have just putten her in the jar lol. I didn't know the water level had to be low tho. btw the tank is cycled, it has been since January :)

I have lots a bowls are vases to house the males lol, I do plan on culling some if I have a ton tho! I have a LFS that will take the bettas in for store credit one the outgrow their tank also. I also will add a few of the females to the sorority :)


I have starter cultures on microworms you just pay shipping and I will send u one culture. PM me.
 
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.

The plan is ok but you forgot one important thing. For the first 3-5 weeks, the fry will not have a labrynth organ so they need to have oxygenated water. This needs to be done with either an airstone or sponge filter with a VERYYYYYY slow amount of bubbles and water movement as the fry are very sensitive to water movement. Next, at that 3 week point (until they have developed the labrynth) the tank needs to be covered and the humidity level in that air space needs to be high for a successful transition from a "water breather to air breather".

Good luck with your breeding (y)
 
The female will look a little fatter and you will definitely be able to see her ovipositor, more than you usually can.

I would pick up a 10 gallon at least for the fry by themselves. Preferably something bigger, even a Rubbermaid tub. They will make a lot of waste and put out tons of hormones which can inhibit their growth.

As for making infusoria, put some lettuce in a jar of tank water (or a couple rabbit food pellets, or some yard clippings if you don't spray the yard with anything) and let it sit for a few days til it clouds up. Then feed the fry with a dropper. You don't want to put too much in the tank at once, as it will foul your water.

I've decided to make the infusoria as it seems to be the easiest and quickest food source at the moment!

What I plan on doing is boiling the water and then put it in a mason jar with the lettuce for 2-3 days then its ready to be fed to the fry. Is this correct?
 
Ok so tell me if this will work. I'm going to use a rubber maid container to house the fry in once the get older.

I also have a few questions.

How do I go about covering the tank to keep the humidity in? What do I use and can I take it off for water changes??
 
Ok so tell me if this will work. I'm going to use a rubber maid container to house the fry in once the get older.

I also have a few questions.

How do I go about covering the tank to keep the humidity in? What do I use and can I take it off for water changes??

Seran wrap. And just pull off a little corner while doing the water change.
 
Ok so here's what I did. I lowered the water level down to 4-6 in and moved the female to a bigger jar. Unfortunately I destroyed the males bubble nest so he'll have to make another one. :banghead: I also placed a cup in there at the top of the water so he can build it under it. Lastly, I added some seran wrap to the top of the tank. I'm gonna give it another day before I release the female. I also have the infusoria making. So hopefully it all work!!
 
:banghead:
The plan is ok but you forgot one important thing. For the first 3-5 weeks, the fry will not have a labrynth organ so they need to have oxygenated water. This needs to be done with either an airstone or sponge filter with a VERYYYYYY slow amount of bubbles and water movement as the fry are very sensitive to water movement. Next, at that 3 week point (until they have developed the labrynth) the tank needs to be covered and the humidity level in that air space needs to be high for a successful transition from a "water breather to air breather".

Good luck with your breeding (y)

:banghead::banghead::banghead: Yep! You sir are correct we did forget to mention that! The fry do NOT have the labyrinth organs when born. And yes they will need slow water movement or difuser stone in a UG filter tube, to shield them from fast water movement, til they can breath...my gosh how did I forget to mention that!
 
:banghead:

:banghead::banghead::banghead: Yep! You sir are correct we did forget to mention that! The fry do NOT have the labyrinth organs when born. And yes they will need slow water movement or difuser stone in a UG filter tube, to shield them from fast water movement, til they can breath...my gosh how did I forget to mention that!
:lol: Sometimes we forget that these fish are very special when it comes to fish. They differ from almost , maybe 75% (or more) of all of the fish that are kept in a tank? That's what makes the success a real triumph but the failure a real common place. :facepalm: Everything goes along fine for about 3 weeks then BAM!!!!!!!! the fry all die and you go :confused: then :blink: then :facepalm: when you realize you forgot that ONE thing. lol

Good luck with your breeding. I'm here to help (y)
 
:lol: Sometimes we forget that these fish are very special when it comes to fish. They differ from almost , maybe 75% (or more) of all of the fish that are kept in a tank? That's what makes the success a real triumph but the failure a real common place. :facepalm: Everything goes along fine for about 3 weeks then BAM!!!!!!!! the fry all die and you go :confused: then :blink: then :facepalm: when you realize you forgot that ONE thing. lol

Good luck with your breeding. I'm here to help (y)

Whats even sadder, I have all that equipment sitting ready for the fry tank....so even more of a DOH!!!! moment!
I will keep that offer in mind as I hit the crucial fry stage here in a couple days. I have got the fry a few times before back in the 70's but with the microworms and more knowledge now...The 2 fry I raised to adult, back then, may be a broken record!:D
 
Just released the female of of her cup. The male is chasing her and nipping at her and on of her find are already ripped. He'll pester her for a few minutes then let her hide for a few minutes. Is this normal or do I need to separate them
 
Just released the female of of her cup. The male is chasing her and nipping at her and on of her find are already ripped. He'll pester her for a few minutes then let her hide for a few minutes. Is this normal or do I need to separate them

Keep a close watch...if it goes very violent (Like if the female turns and fights, you will need to get her out of there. Now does SHE have her breeding stripes??? If not get her out now! She is not ready and will fight. And if the male does not see stripes he may try to kill her.
They just may flat out not choose each other as well and if that happens they will fight. If they choose each other you will see him dispal and flare to her without attacks. He will show of how strong and how well finned he is to her. He may flare then dart around the tank real fast. He is letting her know he is strong and "manly". if she goes 'head down' she has accepted him....if she ignore him....remove her. There will be chasing and fin nipping. Do not let it go to far!!! Think you may have jumped the gun....have you conditioned the pair with foods?? Is she striped? Has the male previously but a bubble nest? Do you have a bare bottomed breeder tank? A set up for fry? A stockpile of Microworms or micro live foods for the fry???
 
Keep a close watch...if it goes very violent (Like if the female turns and fights, you will need to get her out of there. Now does SHE have her breeding stripes??? If not get her out now! She is not ready and will fight. And if the male does not see stripes he may try to kill her.
They just may flat out not choose each other as well and if that happens they will fight. If they choose each other you will see him dispal and flare to her without attacks. He will show of how strong and how well finned he is to her. He may flare then dart around the tank real fast. He is letting her know he is strong and "manly". if she goes 'head down' she has accepted him....if she ignore him....remove her. There will be chasing and fin nipping. Do not let it go to far!!! Think you may have jumped the gun....have you conditioned the pair with foods?? Is she striped? Has the male previously but a bubble nest? Do you have a bare bottomed breeder tank? A set up for fry? A stockpile of Microworms or micro live foods for the fry???

idk if she has stripes or if its just the way her design is. She is clearly swelling with eggs.

The male has a nest built and right now she's beat up a lil bit. He's been Chasing her and her fins are ripped but now the male has stopped. He keeps swimming up to her quickly, flaring, then swimming away.

She isn't fighting back at all and hasn't done the head down thing like your mentioned. I just really don't want him to kill her!
 
I decided to remove her as I just don't think I'm mentally prepared. At one point, the male grabbed her in his mouth and just started shaking his head. I decided to stop it there. What is gonna happen with the eggs in her now? Because she is definitely bigger?

Btw I'm gonna get a bigger spot for them to spawn before I try again.
 
give it some more time she should have a very distinctive stripe down her body. If she does not go heads down in a couple days, or the fighting gets more violent, get her out! The male will get somewhat annoyed and possibly attack her. They have had to be conditioned and your water must be around the high 70's or she will refuse him time and time again, as conditions are not right for her. For the last two weeks she, and the male, should have had a rich diet with blood worms, or any live foods. If not, you may end up with a ripped up girl and no eggs. Every breeder article I have come across all stress that, as it helps both fish to be ready. And if she does NOT have stripes you are wasting your time....post a pic and let us all see her. And trust me a bare bottomed breeding tank will aid your fry yield immensely as the male can find any eggs that drop out,( my male is having that problem right now as eggs are dropping out, he will have to learn to place them better...but he is a new dad so...he has his own learning curve) but at least with the bare bottom, he can see them to scoop them up and put them back in.

ALL of my females are swollen, but until I see those stripes, it don't mean a thing. One of my other females is so striped right now and I have no second breeder for her right now. But even my too young females are eggy, but no stripes cuz they are too young. Keep a watch, and need good pics so we can tell.
 
I decided to stop with the breeding for now until im more prepared. Btw my iphone won't let me post pics anymore for some reason -_-

I'm going to get a bigger breeding tank and condition them properly this time. I really want it to work.

I plan on going to Petco and getting 1 male and 1 female of similar color. I'm going to start a new thread soon if any of you want to join. It will be posted in the breeding section of the forum. If love for you all to follow along and help again because you probably saved a females life today with all the great info !!
 
I decided to stop with the breeding for now until im more prepared. Btw my iphone won't let me post pics anymore for some reason -_-

I'm going to get a bigger breeding tank and condition them properly this time. I really want it to work.

I plan on going to Petco and getting 1 male and 1 female of similar color. I'm going to start a new thread soon if any of you want to join. It will be posted in the breeding section of the forum. If love for you all to follow along and help again because you probably saved a females life today with all the great info !!

Don't do bettas that are blue and red, too common. Half moons or anything other than vile tails are good. If I can find a good male and female that are blue and white or anything purple ill probably breed.
 
I decided to stop with the breeding for now until im more prepared. Btw my iphone won't let me post pics anymore for some reason -_-

I'm going to get a bigger breeding tank and condition them properly this time. I really want it to work.

I plan on going to Petco and getting 1 male and 1 female of similar color. I'm going to start a new thread soon if any of you want to join. It will be posted in the breeding section of the forum. If love for you all to follow along and help again because you probably saved a females life today with all the great info !!

I think you made a good decision! You should also think about picking up at least a 10 gallon tank and a sponge filter for your next try. You can get a sponge filter on eBay for a couple bucks, and all you need to ruin is an air pump. And look into getting a larger grow out tank for the fry. Is the dollar per gallon sale still on? A 40 breeder would be perfect!
 
I decided to remove her as I just don't think I'm mentally prepared. At one point, the male grabbed her in his mouth and just started shaking his head. I decided to stop it there. What is gonna happen with the eggs in her now? Because she is definitely bigger?

Btw I'm gonna get a bigger spot for them to spawn before I try again.

Good choice....that has never been part of any of my pairs mating rituals! Don't worry about the eggs in her they will be took care of by her body. Yes get all the stuff you will need first, before another attempt. And be prepared to spend some time observing
 
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