A Bunch Of Betta Questions.

So I've been looking into bettas recently, and I have a couple questions about them. Ok, #1: If I were to start breeding bettas, would I be able to breed something like a Halfmoon and a Dumbo? #2: What's the minimum tank size for a female betta sorority. #3: What do betta fry eat? #4: What's the best kind of filter for a betta? #5: Would I be able to take a female out of a sorority, breed her with a male, and then put her back? #6: Can I split a 10 gallon to house 2 males? #7: How would I know when the bettas were ready to breed? There might be more questions later, but these are all of the questions I can think of at the moment.

 

1. Yes, just buy two Dumbo half-moons
2. 20 gallons, a minimum of 6 females
3. Bloodworms, brine shrimp, tetramin flakes, tubifex, mosquito larvae etc.
4. Sponge, especially for babies
5. Yes, this is the standard method that people use. Just don't remove the male from the eggs
6. Yes, as long as you use a Non transparent divider!
7. I don't really know. Maybe CanadianFishFan will know?

 

Thank you for asking questions before getting your Betta(s).
1. Yes, you can breed different tail types and colors. You will however end up with a mix which may be less desirable if you are trying to sell the fry.
2 For a betta sorority, 20 gallons is the bare minimum. 30 would be better.
3. Betta fry eat lots. I think your best option would be hatching baby brine shrimp for a few weeks then transitioning to commercial Pellets. (I promise, brine shrimp aren’t as hard as some people may say.)
4. For a betta, either a sponge filter or a HOB filter like an aqueon quietflow.
5. Yes, with caution. You may want to make sure to shift everything around, out everyone back into their store containers and add them like the first time.
6. Yes
7. The male will flare and the female will show an egg spot. Look at YouTube if you want to see exactly what I mean.
Would you breed the bettas in a separate tank? Do you know how you are going to breed? Could you give your detailed breeding plan? If of course, this is what you’d like to do?

 

Thank you for asking questions before getting your Betta(s).
1. Yes, you can breed different tail types and colors. You will however end up with a mix which may be less desirable if you are trying to sell the fry.
2 For a betta sorority, 20 gallons is the bare minimum. 30 would be better.
3. Betta fry eat lots. I think your best option would be hatching baby brine shrimp for a few weeks then transitioning to commercial Pellets. (I promise, brine shrimp aren’t as hard as some people may say.)
4. For a betta, either a sponge filter or a HOB filter like an aqueon quietflow.
5. Yes, with caution. You may want to make sure to shift everything around, out everyone back into their store containers and add them like the first time.
6. Yes
7. The male will flare and the female will show an egg spot. Look at YouTube if you want to see exactly what I mean.
Would you breed the bettas in a separate tank? Do you know how you are going to breed? Could you give your detailed breeding plan? If of course, this is what you’d like to do?

I hatched brine shrimp for my Angelfish fry lol. And then if I do breed them, the breeding tank most likely will be a 20-29 gallon tank, with lots of java moss, bare bottom, and I was watching video where she used a piece of bubble wrap as a place for the male to build the bubble nest, I’ll probably do that, and to get the male and female acquainted with eachother I’ll use one of those clear plastic breeding boxes, and with the 2 males in a ten gallon is because I’ll most likely just have 2 males to breed to the however many females I’ll have in the sorority. And I was thinking a 40 gallon for that.

I’ll probably do this when I have my other projects finished. And those are, finish my 135, and build my African fat tail gecko tank.

And how many female bettas could I keep in a 40 gallon breeder? I know people recommend an odd number with sororities, right?

In a 30-40 gallon tank, would 13-15 female bettas work? And then 2 males in 2 divided 10 gallon tanks. So I’ll have 4 males, and 11-13-15 females. I’ll start with 2 males and 3 females though, and then breed up to get the rest of females possibly.

 

Will you have a breeding tank? I think 13 females should do fine.

 

Will you have a breeding tank? I think 13 females should do fine.

Ya I’ll have a separate 30 gallon for breeding, or would a 20 work better?

 

I think either will work. Please post pics once you breed!

 

I think either will work. Please post pics once you breed!

That might be a while lol, as I said I still have to finish my 135 and build my gecko tank. Although I might not do the gecko tank, but then I’d still have to buy the tanks the filters and the plants. So maybe like, late October or November, or next year even..

 

I figured I’d ask in advance

 

I figured I’d ask in advance

Ya I definitely will lol

1 thing I know for sure is, my first 2 males are going to be a paradise and a dragon scale.

 

Your clearly not ready to breed so wait and research some more. Ive never breed my bettas yet but know a fair amount on it. Ive been tagged to help with question #7. Female bettas are ready to breed when they are showing their breeding stripes to the male. Try to keep track of when your females have their monthly eggs. When they look like their full of eggs they are ready to go. Sometimes breeding dosent go well. Bettas are one of the hardest to breed. The female could get stressed and the male could kill her or the other way around. Sometimes one betta is too small and can't wrap the female.

 

Your clearly not ready to breed so wait and research some more. Ive never breed my bettas yet but know a fair amount on it. Ive been tagged to help with question #7. Female bettas are ready to breed when they are showing their breeding stripes to the male. Try to keep track of when your females have their monthly eggs. When they look like their full of eggs they are ready to go. Sometimes breeding dosent go well. Bettas are one of the hardest to breed. The female could get stressed and the male could kill her or the other way around. Sometimes one betta is too small and can't wrap the female.

Oh ya, I wasn’t planning on breeding right away, I was gonna do a lot more research before doing so as you said above

Wait, so in each of the halves of the 10 gallons, am I going to have to have a filter. A filter in each side I mean. Or is there someway to put a divider that allows flow through it? And in the 30 gallon sorority, can I add some kind of schooler? Like cories or something of the sort? Maybe some kind of loach?

 

No, your divided tank should be two separate halves for the bettas. You'll need an opaque divider so they can't see each other.

 

No, your divided tank should be two separate halves for the bettas. You'll need an opaque divider so they can't see each other.

Ok, I think I'm going to go with sponge filters if that's the case. And real quick, while I'm online, I'm wondering if someone can help me with a stocking on another tank? My 135 I'm hoping to stock 5 Angelfish, 5 Red hump earth eaters, 10 Congo tetras, 10 SterbaI cories, 1 Electric blue acara, and either a Threadfin acara, snakeskin gourami, or a Gold nugget pleco. Would any of those stockings work?

 

I think that would be overstocked

 

Really? On the thread I have on it, though the thread kind of died lol, I got that stocking with the gold nugget pleco approved by a couple people. But I can drop that too if it really is overstocked.

Anyway, with the dividers in the ten gallons would I be able to cut a hole in the divider to put the heater in, so the heater heats both sides? Just big enough to fit the heater, but not big enough for the bettas to see eachother. And then, I was thinking black acrylic to use as the divider siliconed in place. And then would I be able to do 13 females and 8 kuhliI loaches in the 30 gallon? Or should I upgrade to a 40 to attempt that?

 

Anyway, with the dividers in the ten gallons would I be able to cut a hole in the divider to put the heater in, so the heater heats both sides? Just big enough to fit the heater, but not big enough for the bettas to see eachother. And then, I was thinking black acrylic to use as the divider siliconed in place. And then would I be able to do 13 females and 8 kuhliI loaches in the 30 gallon? Or should I upgrade to a 40 to attempt that?

That could work. Only potential problem I see is the heater scorching the acrylic (if it's touching)

 

That could work. Only potential problem I see is the heater scorching the acrylic (if it's touching)

I'd try not to let it touch, make the hole just a little bigger than the heater, so the bettas can't see eachother, but the heater can still heat the tank.

 

I'd try not to let it touch, make the hole just a little bigger than the heater, so the bettas can't see eachother, but the heater can still heat the tank.

lace the sponge filters in those tank corners so that the heat is distributed across the column.

 

I'm looking at heaters and filters right now. Whats a good sponge filter for a 5 gallon tank?

lace the sponge filters in those tank corners so that the heat is distributed across the column.

Lace?

 

I'm looking at heaters and filters right now. Whats a good sponge filter for a 5 gallon tank?

I actually use a power filter for my 7g, so I can't recommend.

Lace?

Place*

 

Place*

Ohhhh, that makes more sense lol, do you think a power filter would work??? Probably not, but. For one of them I have a little nano spray filter I'm using on my angelfish growout tank. By the time I get this project going to the angelfish will be in a bigger tank, so I could use that filter.

 

Ohhhh, that makes more sense lol, do you think a power filter would work??? Probably not, but. For one of them I have a little nano spray filter I'm using on my angelfish growout tank. By the time I get this project going to the angelfish will be in a bigger tank, so I could use that filter.

Power would work, but cover the intake with a sponge.

 

Power would work, but cover the intake with a sponge.

I've found some sponge filters online for 4 bucks lol. They're meant for 10 gallon tanks too, so that's even better.

 

I've found some sponge filters online for 4 bucks lol. They're meant for 10 gallon tanks too, so that's even better.

Keep in mind that you also need an air pump for a sponge filter.

 

Keep in mind that you also need an air pump for a sponge filter.

I have a bunch of air pumps from when my friends dad gave me his tank. He had way to many because he thought they kept breaking, so he kept buying them, and in reality all that was wrong, was he was using the wrong kind of tubing lol.

 

I have a bunch of air pumps from when my friends dad gave me his tank. He had way to many because he thought they kept breaking, so he kept buying them, and in reality all that was wrong, was he was using the wrong kind of tubing lol.

[go for the $4 sponges!

You're lucky, here I wouldn't get one for less than $20!

 

Do you know a good planted tank substrate for the 30 gallon for the females? I'm planning on planting that pretty heavily. I was thinking a mix of caribsea floramax, and seachem flourite with a sand cap on top so it doesn't hurt the kuhliI loaches barbels.

 

I'm not sure, I don't have experience with those substrates

 

I'm not sure, I don't have experience with those substrates

Ima try it. Both have really good reviews, so I’ll try mixing them and see what results I get. I’m really excited now, I’m watching a *BUNCH* of videos about betta and betta breeding and betta diet and everything about bettas lol

Now the thing is, where am I going to get my bettas. I know this sounds not good, but I wanna get a couple from petco, you know like save some I guess. I've also seen some really pretty ones when I go to get prime and crickets from there. But I definitely want to order some too, mainly a metallic grey male, or a dumbo halfmoon male/female pair.

I just checked on aquabid and they didn't have any that really stood out to me. Are there any other places to order them? Just for future reference of course.

I found a place that has a ton of bettas for sale, but they only ship around Canada, but you can get a quote to ship to the us, but it's probably expensive lol

 

I found a place that has a ton of bettas for sale, but they only ship around Canada, but you can get a quote to ship to the us, but it's probably expensive lol

I’d be worried about shipping across countries, where does it come from (what part of canada).

Also, where did you see these? I’m always looking for other betta breeders in Canada

I’d be worried about shipping across countries, where does it come from (what part of canada).

Also, where did you see these? I’m always looking for new betta breeders in Canada

 

They come from Ontario, and the website is called Rena's Fish Store. And do you happen to know how much a shipping quote would be for 8 bettas to Southern Utah? Or how to calculate something like that?

 

They come from Ontario, and the website is called Rena's Fish Store. And do you happen to know how much a shipping quote would be for 8 bettas to Southern Utah? Or how to calculate something like that?

Sorry, I don’t know about shipping, but usually I just put all the info in but just not pay, but you could always email them or something.

I’ve gotten fish from them! Their shipping place is right near me.

 

Sorry, I don’t know about shipping, but usually I just put all the info in but just not pay, but you could always email them or something.

I’ve gotten fish from them! Their shipping place is right near me.

Are the fish good quality? I'm looking to eventually breed them, have you bred fish that you've received from them successfully? Sorry for asking so many questions I'm just really curious lol.

I emailed them, just waiting for a response.

 

Are the fish good quality? I'm looking to eventually breed them, have you bred fish that you've received from them successfully? Sorry for asking so many questions I'm just really curious lol.

I’ve never bred them, but I got a silver plakat from them, he was beautiful.

I got him in late December and he died probably sometime in early October/late September from dropsy. I don’t know if it was a bad liver or what cause he had always perfect water quality, but I’ve had a friend that got fish from there like 4 years ago and it’s still alive.

But they all have a good body shape and such.

 

I’ve never bred them, but I got a silver plakat from them, he was beautiful.

I got him in late December and he died probably sometime in early October/late September from dropsy. I don’t know if it was a bad liver or what cause he had always perfect water quality, but I’ve had a friend that got fish from there like 4 years ago and it’s still alive.

But they all have a good body shape and such.

Oh that's good to hear lol. About them being good quality, and sorry for your loss. I have to buy a 5 gallon, 2 10 gallons, and 2 30 gallons. A 10 and the 5 for male bettas, another 10 for breeding, a 30 for the females, and a 30 for my angelfish grow out tank. I really need petco to go on dollar per gallon sale.

Just got an email back from Rena's fish store, and they only ship live fish in Canada. Know any other good places to buy bettas from?

 

Oh that's good to hear lol. About them being good quality, and sorry for your loss. I have to buy a 5 gallon, 2 10 gallons, and 2 30 gallons. A 10 and the 5 for male bettas, another 10 for breeding, a 30 for the females, and a 30 for my angelfish grow out tank. I really need petco to go on dollar per gallon sale.

Oh wow, you definitely need the dollar per gallon sale lol. Have you ever checked craigslist (that's the American equivalent of kijijI right?), they sometimes have cheap tanks.

Just out of curiosity, have any idea when the sale is? Sometimes I come down to the us to go to petco and such as I’m pretty close to the border

Just got an email back from Rena's fish store, and they only ship live fish in Canada. Know any other good places to buy bettas from?

Aw, that sucks. I don’t really know any other betta breeders. Just search up ‘betta breeders in [area]’ and look through them.

 

Just got an email back from Rena's fish store, and they only ship live fish in Canada. Know any other good places to buy bettas from?

Liveaquaria

Try not to get distracted

 

i've found a lot of betta sellers on instagram. follow one and 10 more pop up, lol. here are a few:

(based out of houston)
(philadelphia)
(kansas city)
aquariums_lovers on instagram

 

Oh wow, you definitely need the dollar per gallon sale lol. Have you ever checked craigslist (that's the American equivalent of kijijI right?), they sometimes have cheap tanks.

Just out of curiosity, have any idea when the sale is? Sometimes I come down to the us to go to petco and such as I’m pretty close to the border



Aw, that sucks. I don’t really know any other betta breeders. Just search up ‘betta breeders in [area]’ and look through them.

I checked Craigslist about 2 weeks but not recently, I called my local petco and they had no idea either so idk.

i've found a lot of betta sellers on instagram. follow one and 10 more pop up, lol. here are a few:

(based out of houston)
(philadelphia)
(kansas city)
aquariums_lovers on instagram

I know I followed a couple and within an hour, I had a bunch of other betta sellers popping up everywhere lol

Liveaquaria

Try not to get distracted

I'll try not to lol