Betta Breeders

[Harry Vysekal]

Has anyone breed bettas successfully in the past? And if so what have you did it as I managed to breed my bettas twice now one I get males that don't want to build a bubble nest tried to encourage them with mirror and other males but its useless, I have 5l containers with 4inches of water from my community tank (carbon filtered) heater 82F floating and other live plants and no filter on yet any ideas ? Ph is around 7

 

[Shugo]

id put a bright coloured female next to the male... my male paradise gourami tries making a bubble-nest for the female paradise gourami despite the 150 gallon having 2 Koralia 1050 powerheads (til i get the tunzee nano wavebox).
also i like to buy raw shrimp (uncooked and no seasonings) peel the exoskeleton off (cut out the mudvain out if you can... its the blue line on the underbelly) as well as feed him brine

 

[sheilak]

breeding bettas

there is a facebook page called basement bettas this lady breeds professionaly and shows around the country she also has a betta source web site that explaines alot of things but you can ask questions on her facebook page

 

[Harry Vysekal]

I tried asking her like 6 times I would say she's a bit cocky she never replied back, so I guess she wants to keep it to her self which is a bit selfish bad luck for me unfortunately

 

[Andy Sager]

Has anyone breed bettas successfully in the past? And if so what have you did it as I managed to breed my bettas twice now one I get males that don't want to build a bubble nest tried to encourage them with mirror and other males but its useless, I have 5l containers with 4inches of water from my community tank (carbon filtered) heater 82F floating and other live plants and no filter on yet any ideas ? Ph is around 7

The following is my procedure for breeding Bettas:
I breed Bettas this way:
Condition the potential pair by adding higher protein foods like Bloodworms or Black Worms to their normal diet for approx. 1 week. Female should be nice and round with the first egg showing at her ovipositor.

Tank with new water and 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.) Some tubes such as PVC fittings or piping or other hiding places for the female along the bottom. I usually have 3 to 4 of these in the tank.

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. You can substitute a floating live plant for the lettuce. ( As the lettuce starts to deteriorate, infusoria cultures begin to develope.)
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 female back in the jar at night for their protection.) Once spawning is completed, the female is removed. Male cares for the eggs and fry. The male comes out the day before the fry are free swimming.

Rearing fry:
I don't usually start my fry with infusoria other than what was in the tank from the lettuce. I start hatching setup for live brine shrimp the day the fry start free swimming so that they are newly hatched by day 2. (PM me for more instructions on hatching out brine if you need it.)
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

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A couple of things to keep in mind: 1) Not all males will build a nest prior to spawning. Some build the nest during the spawn while putting the eggs in the bubbles. If you follow all the conditioning methods and watch your female's reaction to the male and she shows that she is ready, make sure there are plenty of places for her to hide in case the male is not ready. If no spawning occurs within 7 days or the female is getting too beaten up, remove the female and recondition the male.
2) on my profile page, in my albums, there are pics of both female in breeding colors and some of my breeding set ups. Maybe these will help

Feel free to PM me if you need more help.

 

[Harry Vysekal]

Thanx mate roman lettuce sounds really good especially when it starts to break down and produces infusorians thanx for the reply