Betta group Help!

[Jackiee]

I posted this in the breeding forum but got no replies. Can anyone help?


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I recently bought 3 beautiful betta girls for my betta male.

A couple questions!

I was told at the petstore that the male needs 3 females. Is this true? And why is this?

If breeding occurs, will he mate with just one or all of them?

Also, I've already introduced them, keeping them separated at first (the females from the male). When the male approaches he flares up, but the females swim away really quickly. Why is this? Will they eventually warm up?

When will the courting and mating start? I've heard that the male will make a bubble nest...is there any particular size tank they prefer having?

Thanks for everyone's help!! I greatly appreciate everyone's replies!

 

[Guest]

you should only put male with female when attempting to breed them. They shouldn't be left alone because the male will kill the females if they don't breed.

WHat size tank is this in?

 

[DepotFish]

The females need their own tank. They will also be the ones who start eating the eggs and fry if left in the breeding tank.

 

[Jackiee]

They are in a 29 gallon tank. This is a community tank and they seem to be doing okay.

Should I put a female and male in another tank?

I'm thinking about getting a 5 gallon tank for this purpose.

 

[Guest]

if you want to breed you need to look up articles on breeding betta's. Although they are ok in a community tank together for now the male might eventually get very agressive towards the females.


If you want to breed them you are going to need a 10 gallon tank and keep it bare bottom wiht a sponge filter, heater, and thermometer.

you have to introduce the female inside something like a breeder net or something so that he can see her and start building a bubble nest. When she starts showing verticle stripes she is ready to breed. HORIZONTAL stripes mean stress.

when you think its ready you can release the female and hopefully in about 24-48 hours they will spawn... but the female may die if they don't spawn and the male wants to. Either way she's going to look really beat up and may die even if they do spawn.

The tank needs to be bare so that the male can swim to the bottom and retrieve the fertilized eggs to place in the bubble nest. After they spawn the female needs to be removed promptly or she will try and eat the eggs and the male will try to fight her off and most likely kill her.

Floating plants or a floating upside down piece of styrofam will help the male build a good bubble nest.

 

[nikipike]

Also, they need to be conditioned for breeding through diet.

The female will need the extra nutrition to make eggs & help her survive breeding as she may become very beat up. The male doesn't need food while his waiting for eggs to hatch, so he needs to build up some fat.

Best stuff is frozen food thats high in protein, like blood worms & brine shrimp.

To add onto what the others have said...

Bettas really need a fairly still surface to keep the nest in shape & to help keeps the eggs in the nest. With a bare bottom tank, the male can find eggs easier to be able to put them back in the tank.

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You really need to sit down & think this through.

Come up with a plan. What items do you need? How much room do you have? What are you breeding for?

You'll need a 10gal for spawning, tanks for grow out (most the people I know have a 30gal for grow out), & 10gal's divided or LOTS of jars/cups to seperate young male fry. Plus you need to have the guts to cull any deformed fry or less then ideal.

Then there's the matter of what to DO with the fry. If your breeding just regular pet store veiltails, most likely your market will be very very very tiny as most pet stores have deal's with big time breeders to get their less then ideal bettas.

Here's a site with several articles on breeding:
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/catview.asp?catid=855

Check out betta pictures on the rest of the site. Most the pictures on there are of really nice bettas. That'll give you some idea of "what sells".

Niki

 

[Guest]

dats what im talkin about!

 

[Musket]

I have also read on betta breeding sites that the female will show a small white spot on the underside that shows she is ready to breed. You do not want to introduce the pair until she is ready and the nest is built.
Here is an article http://www.cbsbettas.org/doc/articles/Tips_on_Spawning_Bettas.htm
Here is a site that tells you a lot of stuff: http://www.bettatalk.com/
good luck

 

[nikipike]

Musket, the "white spot" on the underside is the egg tube & not necessarily an indictor of being ready to breed. It is a very indicator of a betta being female though!

Best indictor are the stripes.

Vertical = ready

Horizontal = scared or young, but either way she's not ready

 

[Guest]

all this talk is making me want to clean out my old 10 gallon QT and try again!!! LOL.

 

[Guest]

well i got me a male and female betta today and set up a 10 gallon half full with a heater for the spawning tank... wish me luck! sorry, your post made me wan't to try it again... lol. Didn't want to hijack, ill post another thread weatehr im successfull or not.

 

[europas_ice]

For betta breeding, see also:

http://www.bettatalk.com/