Yea, thanks, I have the almond leaf for the male to build his bubble nest under, but yea I was going to aquaint them after having the male in the tank for a day, but I will keep them together seperately for a week, thanks for the advice Bob.
I was watching some videos of Bettas being bred in Thailand and they don't use the almond leaf for spawning. They used it for conditioning the water they would spawn the fish in. (For what that's worth
) You can Google " Betta Breeding in Thailand" to watch the Utube videos.
I breed Bettas this way:
Tank with no filter-Covered to keep humidity in, water 80-82 degrees, Water height- no more than 6 inches. (I use anything from clear shoe box trays to bowls to glass tanks for spawning tanks. The water height is what's more important.)
Male loose in tank- Female in glass jar, I use a piece of Romain lettuce leaf roughly 2" square for the male to build his nest. ( As the lettuce starts to deteriorate, infusoria cultures begin to happen.)
Assuming your fish have been conditioned, Males build nest within 24-36 hours, Females show breeding colors almost immediately, If female does not "challenge" the male when he flairs at her, she is most likely not ready for breeding. (My females flair their gill plates right back at the males.)
If all signs point to a compatible pair, I release the female in the morning.
I've had spawns happen as quickly as 45 minutes after introduction to 7 days later. (Note that if the male is highly aggressive, I will put the females back in the jar at night for their protection.)
Rearing fry:
At about 7-10 days old, I start a sponge filter with very little air (Fry are very sensitive to water movement.) I seed the sponge prior to using it to have a "cycled" filter instantly.
From this point on, it's feeding and careful water changes to get them to grow.
Feel free to PM me if you need more help with these fish
