peacemaker92

Hey Guys,

I've been wanting to breed bettas for a long time but can't seem to do it. I think last year I bought one male and female betta and placed them in a 10 gallon tank. I did everything that I was supposed to do (read an article about breeding bettas) but I had no luck of any fry. The male betta was always building his bubble nest every week but there was no fry. I kept them there for a month or so until the female betta nearly died because the male was always tearing her fins apart. Eventually she died a few weeks later. Then, from that day, I didn't bother to breed bettas again.

But now I wanna have another go. So guys, any suggestions or tips?

Blub

Here's a tip: Save up $2000 spare cash, and LOTS of small containers!

By the way, about your 15gal, I would advise getting 3 more Glowlight tetras as they are strict schoolers.

sirdarksol

You need:
Two or three of the cheap metal shelves from the local hardware store.
Hundreds of jars, plastic containers, or anything else that can hold betta fry.
Bunches of divided tanks (for the bettas you aren't able to get sell/give away early on. As they grow, they'll need more space)
A room the jars/tanks can be kept in that can be heated to a stable 80 degrees.
A brine shrimp colony.
A turkey baster.
A ton of patience.
Enough time to make water changes a full-time job.

Aside from that, the betta articles you've read will have more info than I can give here. The key points are: Their diet, letting them get used to each other, keeping a close eye on them during the short time you leave them in the same tank, and knowing that things may not work out. Dino and CWC got a pair of black bettas last year that went through a breeding regimen without really figuring the whole breeding thing out.

COBettaCouple

http://www.flippersandfins.net/bettabreedingarticle.htm is a good article on conditioning and spawning.

As mentioned already, you'll want a room to put all the tanks (I'd get 2 55g, 5 10g and at least 300 jars or beanie baby vertical containers).. and about $2,000 in funds to buy those tanks, a space heater for the room, tons of conditioner, proper foods, meds, etc.

At least 6-12 hours a day will be needed for cleaning containers and doing daily 50% water changes on all the jars.

You'll also want a buyer for ALL of the surviving offspring before starting.

peacemaker92

Thanks Hatchet! Oh, another thing. Thanks so much for visiting my website too! lol

Thanks for the advice about my 15g. But I love Cherry Barbs and Glowlight Tetras that I wanna buy 3 more each. It's some kind of addiction or something. Well, I guess I'll follow your advice to be safe. Thanks again. You're a great help!

Thanks sirdarksol! But I don't have that kind of cash to buy all that stuff and a room for them. Is betta breeding THAT difficult?

That's a lot of jars and MONEY! I don't really have that much cash and space to place all of them. Is Betta breeding that hard? Thanks anyways!

sirdarksol

Because they get so violent with each other when they grow up, yes, bettas are one of the most expensive, difficult fish to breed (at least among those that can more-or-less be readily induced to breed in home aquaria)

Edit: By the way, if you want to quote multiple posts when making a post of your own, there's a little button that looks like a sheet of paper with a " sign and then a + sign, click on that and it should highlight red (I think it's red, anyway. Haven't used it in awhile). Click it on every post you want to quote, then go down to the "Reply" button and hit that. It will bring up every post you want to quote.

leafgirl115

I reconmend you read this article: http://www.squidoo.com/BettaBreeders...#module9481364

First of all you will need a tank to breed the pair in. I recomend a 5 or 10g divided and lovered to about 4" of water. This tank needs a heater set to 80F and a lighting system as once they spawn you have to keep the light on till the eggs hatch.

In preperations you need live clutures: Microworms, vineger eals, Baby brine shrimp and just a few examples.

You will need a grow out tank I sugest 2 tanks of about 20g (I like seperating my fry that way if something hits one tank the other should be ok...). I like seethru ruber tubs that you can buy for storage. Theas tanks need a heater, and a sponge filter.

You will need some type of jar for the males. There are a lot of things out there that are sutible. Even check out the $1 shop and see what they have.

AS for 500 bettas you can asure you dont get stuck with that many by pulling the female before she releases all her eggs. After a couple dozen eggs are in the nest is the right time to pull her.

You also must condition the pair with 3 daily meals, of blood worms pelits and shrimp.

I hope this helps.
If you have any questions just PM me

COBettaCouple

It's not so much hard as it is time consuming and while 500 fry would be an incredibly good spawning, 300 jars setup in racks is what I'd have ready before starting the conditioning process on the breeding pair.

That article from flippersandfins is the best step-by-step that I've found and the safest to both the male and female.. and also gives you an idea of how many eggs to expect.

The main thing to consider is the health of the male and female so conditioning them properly is a must. As the article points out, you can tell when they're done spawning and I highly recommend watching them as much as you can during spawning and not removing her until after they're done.

It's amazing how the male betta just keeps at tending the nest 24/7 until the fry are free-swimming and he needs to go into his recovery tank.

chickadee

I think the best idea is to stay here on the forum for the advice and hear what all our member have to say as there are several very knowledgable individuals that can advise you on the subject.

It does take a lot of equipment and the financial outlay is large sometimes running into several hundreds of dollars and the return on your money if this is what you are looking for is not likely to be large as I know of one gentleman who had many spawns and ended up with one fry who grew to maturity and she was not show quality. She would not in any way have made up for the outlay he had in money or time. Plus he lost at least one female to death during the process. It is not unusual for one or both of the pair to be injured by the other sometimes fatally or for one of them to die of exhaustion due to the spent energy of the spawn if they are not totally or fully conditioned ahead of time.

It is really something best left to the professionals and they are most likely to be able to make a living from it as they can keep enough breeding pairs to keep the number of fry they need to make it worthwhile. While you may start with 500 fry you may end up with 20 or less at maturity and of those you may not have any that are salable. It takes 3 mos. minimum to get them ready to sell and during this time each and every container has to be cleaned and water changed every day to prevent nitrites, ammonia, and nitrates from building up and deforming the babies bodies and fins. This is a job!

If you intend to do this please do not do it without ALL the information available to you. It is not something to be done by the faint of heart or by those who do not know what they are doing. Betta splendens are not like breeding livebearers like mollies or guppies. You do not just put the fish together and let them go at it. They can kill each other or tear the nest up or refuse to spawn or any of a dozen reasons why it won't happen but believe me it is unsucessful many more times than it is.

Rose

COBettaCouple

They're such wonderful fish, it tempts people to breed them. They just happen to be one of the more intensive fish to breed at home. Certain wild betta species can be bred more easily but still take multiple tanks and a fair amount of work.

peacemaker92

Alright, thanks guys! I'll update you guys when I'm starting... Gotta try saving money first!

chickadee

http://www.bettas-jimsonnier.com/stockshop.htm

Be sure to read this fellows information on his spawns and get the ideas he gives he is wonderful.

Rose

Butterfly

When I was young and inexperienced in the fish hobby I tried breeding my beautiful blue female called Miss sassy(she was huge) because she had such an attitude and was beautiful. I conditioned her and a beautiful blue male, ready to breed, bubble nest ready,put them together, one squeeze, she falls to the bottom( all things are going as they should) then she shoots from the bottom of the tank and tears him to shreds. He dies, no fry.
This happened three times with three different well conditioned Males and a well conditioned Miss sassy. She killed all three males. This happened in seconds. She lived on to a ripe old age as a widow Betta.
All this to say, it's not as easy as it sounds I love my fish and just wanted a couple more with the personality of Miss Sassy (I thought). Even being there with them I couldn't prevent the deaths of my three males. Most people expect the Male to damage the female but it's not always that way.
Do a lot of reading, prepare, prepare, prepare. Set aside more time than most people have for the care of the fry and lots of room for separating fry. They have to be separated at a very early age.
Just thought I would share my personal experience.
Carol

COBettaCouple

Yea, the females are generally more aggressive.

peacemaker92

Thanks Carol! I never knew female bettas could get THAT aggresive. Well, thanks again for sharing.

Martinismommy

Butterfly's story is the reason I don't want to take the chance and breed.....I could never forgive myself if one of my boys got killed......It just isn't worth it.....

Thank you for sharing your story....I bet that was hard to witness.....