Betta breeding!

[Alyxx]

So, in the next couple months I plan to start breeding Bettas. I set up a sorority of nice females in my 56 gallon and I have set up a nice 10 gallon to house a gorgeous male I found on aquabid. I plan on picking up another couple 10 gallons to use as a spawning tank and to hold the nice males I want to keep for breeding, and I will be setting my 20 gallon back up as a grow out tank. Essentially I'm planning on setting up a spare bedroom as a quasi-fishroom. I plan on hatching baby brine shrimp and culturing microworms to feed newly hatched fry, and on using sponge filters in all tanks. I have quite a few "betta cups" from buying Bettas and I plan on buying a case of mason jars as well for separating males as they grow and start fighting. I'm getting a hurricane lamp chimney to introduce the female to the spawning tank.

So, anything I'm forgetting here?

 

[Oohitsae]

The only thing I think you might be forgetting is the number of fry betta's can put out.

In general, if you condition well, you'll get 200+ fry.
200 fry in a 20g grow-out is going to be a LOT of waste and a LOT of growth stunting hormones... I have a 40g breeder for some spawns and then a rubbermaid (food safe) large tub for a back-up for my spawns just in case.

Might also want to pick up some deli containers (32oz +) for the rest in case you dont have enough existing betta cups.

Now a couple of questions::
1. How are you going to condition your pair?
2. Are you planning to cull fry for any reason other than deformities? I.e. too large of spawn, color, bad form, etc.
3. How do you plan to cull? -- Clove oil without the vodka seems to be the most humane option. But its something to research and look into.

 

[Alyxx]

The only thing I think you might be forgetting is the number of fry betta's can put out.

In general, if you condition well, you'll get 200+ fry.
200 fry in a 20g grow-out is going to be a LOT of waste and a LOT of growth stunting hormones... I have a 40g breeder for some spawns and then a rubbermaid (food safe) large tub for a back-up for my spawns just in case.

Might also want to pick up some deli containers (32oz +) for the rest in case you dont have enough existing betta cups.

Now a couple of questions::
1. How are you going to condition your pair?
2. Are you planning to cull fry for any reason other than deformities? I.e. too large of spawn, color, bad form, etc.
3. How do you plan to cull? -- Clove oil without the vodka seems to be the most humane option. But its something to research and look into.

True about the number of fry. I do plan on either a few extra 10s or maybe another 20, or very likely a big ol' Rubbermaid tub. And good idea on the deli containers! I was thinking mason jars, but deli containers are also stackable usually.
As for conditioning, I keep a wide variety of frozen foods on hand and I'm going to be raising brine shrimp for the fry anyway so I'm planning on hatching a batch for the conditioning period as well. I might see about starting a culture of small worms as well, maybe black worms. I'm also looking around for a good vitamin supplement to soak the frozen foods in prior to feeding. I plan on culling fish with extremely poor finnage or bad form, and of course deformities/poor health. Essentially I don't want to keep the fish that I won't be able to sell or place in good homes because they look terrible. In the case of a huge spawn I will probably cull more so as to be better able to care for the others. Clove oil is my preferred method as well, followed by 24 hours in the freezer just to be sure. And there are much better things to do with vodka than mix it with clove oil to cull fry. Besides, the burn of vodka going down a human throat is bad enough, so I've never been able to justify putting a fish in it.

 

[Oohitsae]

Well, sounds like you have everything figured out and researched pretty well!

 

[Alyxx]

Well, sounds like you have everything figured out and researched pretty well!

Thanks! It's something I've wanted to try for a few years now, but until recently I haven't had the money or space to get started. Technically I still don't have the space, but what I want to do is a good motivator for clearing out a "junk room" and making it a fish room.

 

[Andy Sager]

You might not want to cull for finnage so quickly. I've has some really beautiful late bloomers that had I not liked the color, I would have culled and later regretted.

Another option with the cups is I made a flow through system for my males in cups in rubbermaid trays that held about 7 gals of water ( I only kept 5 gals in there so the cup tops were not at water level) each draining into a sump. It made it easier to do water changes and the water flowed through the cups after I drilled holes in them. Just a suggestion because you could wind up with a lot of males.

Hope this helps

 

[Alyxx]

You might not want to cull for finnage so quickly. I've has some really beautiful late bloomers that had I not liked the color, I would have culled and later regretted.

Another option with the cups is I made a flow through system for my males in cups in rubbermaid trays that held about 7 gals of water ( I only kept 5 gals in there so the cup tops were not at water level) each draining into a sump. It made it easier to do water changes and the water flowed through the cups after I drilled holes in them. Just a suggestion because you could wind up with a lot of males.

Hope this helps

Good point about waiting to cull for finnage. And could you maybe post some sort of picture or diagram of this flow through system? Sounds like a really cool idea.

 

[Andy Sager]

Good point about waiting to cull for finnage. And could you maybe post some sort of picture or diagram of this flow through system? Sounds like a really cool idea.

If you go to my profile page and look at my album labeled "Bettas" some of my fish, you'll see a picture in there of my setup. You see 2 of the trays but there were 4 in total. The sump ( a regular old 15 gal tank I had on hand) is under the side that didn't get pictured. Nothing fancy, just using a submersible power head as the water pump.

 

[Lazerlui]

Well, sounds like you have everything figured out and researched pretty well!

Hey I have a blueish purple white betta and want to breed him with a female but I want to keep the purple in the spawns is there any way I can make sure they keep purple

 

[Lazerlui]

Anyone please I have a blueish purple white betta and want to breed him with a female but want to keep the purple what color female should I breed with

 

[maxwellag]

This sounds like a good idea, but with 200+ offspring, you will need to sell them quickly. As they get older, they will begin to take on the "grumpy betta" attitude that most adult bettas have, and they will fight with each other unless separated. As juvies they may not do this, but you will want to watch them very closely and separate any that are fighting.

 

[Alyxx]

This sounds like a good idea, but with 200+ offspring, you will need to sell them quickly. As they get older, they will begin to take on the "grumpy betta" attitude that most adult bettas have, and they will fight with each other unless separated. As juvies they may not do this, but you will want to watch them very closely and separate any that are fighting.

That is why we have been talking about what to use for jars. The males will be jarred separately as they start to show aggression. Female siblings can usually do fine staying together.

 

[Alyxx]

Anyone please I have a blueish purple white betta and want to breed him with a female but want to keep the purple what color female should I breed with

You need to do some research into the genetics of the purple coloring. I have been focusing my research on the genetics of black Bettas, so I'm not really sure. The blue colors come in from the iridescent layer of the fish's coloring. You will want to probably avoid breeding him with any red females or any with a green iridescence. Your best bet will be to find a similar looking female.