BettaGirl92

I recently had to move one of my male bettas (stitch) out of the 5.5 divided so i could treat my boy with fungus.
Stitch is now in a somewhat-large breeding net in my 15gal, but only for the next three days.

So, here's the question.
I have a female betta in that tank, and she is taunting him but swimming along the sides of his net. He gets all excited and flares and does his little betta dance for her. After a while, she'll leave him alone and he'll go back to swimming normally.
He doesn't flare at any of the other fish, just when she comes around.

Today I woke up and seen that Mr. Stitch had made a HUGE bubble nest in his net, and he was still flaring for her.

Do you think they want to breed?
and
What do I need to do to make a good enviornment for them to breed in?

Shawnie

there have been tons of threads with this same question...heres a link to help decide

http://www.flippersandfins.net/bettabreedingarticle.htm

lots n lots of money and room is needed

COBettaCouple

It's best not to take on a Splendens breeding unless you have the money, space and time for it. It's an expensive undertaking and you could find yourself with up to 500 Bettas.

http://www.flippersandfins.net/bettabreedingarticle.htm - This details the process of just introducing them after conditioning them for a while. You want to introduce them properly so that they don't end up dead or injured badly.

The real hard part is after the spawning when you have all those fry to care for.

EDIT: LOL, we posted the same link at the same time.

chickadee

It is a long process that involves a few WEEKS of special foods and conditioning to prepare betta splendens to have the stamina for breeding and then you need to have the equipment a partial list I will put below. The cost will run you into the hundreds if not thousands of dollars for the set up and you will need to set aside a special room for the equipment and all the stuff as you will need to have it temperature controlled to the bettas specifications to keep all the jars at the temperature you need for the male fry as the jars cannot be heated. (100s of them). Then you need to be sure you will be available and present during the whole spawning so that when they are finished that they do not injure or kill each other or tear the nest apart with their fighting. Then you will need to put them in seperate tanks (the male stays with the fry until they can go freeswimming) to recuperate (many of the males die from exhaustion from caring for the eggs). The female will need to recuperate from her ordeal in a tank alone also. She cannot be put back into a community tank to recuperate. Then after you have the parents out of the breeding tank you have to start to watch the fry and every day they will need a 50% water change (carefully so as not to throw out the babies with the bath water). When they start to show which are males you have to seperate each male into his own container (jar) and then the real fun begins. Every day each and every jar and tank has to have a 50% water change to allow them to form their bodies and fins without becoming deformed from nitrite or nitrate or ammonia buildup in their water. Remember that none of these containers is filtered and cycled. You do this for about 3 months on a daily basis or until they are big enough to go to other people and believe me this is not a money making deal. The market is overloaded with people selling bettas and the chance of you having any bettas that you would be able to sell for a profit is nearly nil. Remember the professionals are out there competing with you and they are willing to sell cheap and they already have their initial investment costs back. They also have a staff of people who assist with the work.
Here is a PARTIAL list of what you will need:

Breeding tank of at least 10 gallons in size

Recuperation tanks for parents of at least 5 gallons in size

Growth tank for fry will eventually hold female fry to 3 months at least 55 gallons in size

about 150 to 200 jars about 1/2 gallon in size for the male fry to grow in

Dechlorinator for water changes (better plan on buying by the gallon)

Some way to grow and hatch Baby Brine Shrimp for feeding fry as this is what they will eat

Special area that can be kept at 80 degrees to maintain temperature in jars.

Frozen foods (high protein for parents to condition them prior to spawning)

All the equipment to go along with the above tanks and if possible it would be lovely to have an aeration system of some type for the jars. This would amount to a LOT of airline tubing, airstones, and airpumps. Several jars could go on the same airpump but it would still amount to a lot of work to make it work.

This is only a very short description and a very abbreviated list of things so while I know there are people who do it, believe me, it is really my opinion that this is something best left to the professionals. If you are really wanting to do it then go into it with your eyes wide open. It is going to be expensive, time consuming and a lot of very hard work and you do run the real risk of losing one or both of your fish.

Rose

Shawnie

i had a great teacher!!!

COBettaCouple

LOL.. Thanks, I had a great teacher in Rose. Her post is a better explanation of why we haven't tried to breed our Splendens, especially my little Angel. I'd want to have about $2,000 set aside for it, an entire room and about 6-8 hours daily.

Shawnie

well...IMO...you both have saved alot of betta's in this forum...as well as carol...without you guys, ALOT of us would have lost our beloved fishies or done really stupid things that we shouldnt have...I just hope that all the hard work and advice you three give us, is taken !! I know I for one listen to you guys and do exactly as you advise your very much appreciated!

sirdarksol

I thought about trying to breed little Sun Ce. He's really beautifully colored, and I think that if I put turquoise into the mix, I could end up with a few really beautiful fish. I then looked at what this would entail, and realized that I don't have the time or money (though I do have the space) to do this.

BettaGirl92

Yeap, sirdarksol, i agree with you.

Thanks for answering my post you guys!