Fry Food... Is This A Good Plan??

As I condition my very new HMPK Koi Bettas I’ve been thinking more and more about the future Fry... and what to feed them.
I feel like what I have fed previous fry needs a little enhancement.
I would like to grow these bettas out in under 4 months (preferable 3 months), but I am short on funds and unable to purchase too many cultures.
My brine shrimp hatchery crashed recently— but I’m getting a new one set up.
I still do not like to only feed one type of food, so here’s what I’m thinking.

Birth to 2 weeks: Banana Worms, Paramecium, Egg Yolk

2 weeks - 2 months: BBS, Banana Worms, Egg Yolk

2 months - 3 months: BBS, spirulina/egg gel food, pellets, freeze dried tubifex worms.

What do you all think? Would this be a sufficient diet for the growth rate I want to achieve with 50% water changes?

My Banana worm culture has been running for awhile now, and I will be starting a new Paramecium culture soon...

 

I've recently been doing some research on Betta fry foods, as I am also in the beginning stages of attempting to breed some of my Bettas. I was reading that a combo of Walter Worms, Banana Worms, Vinegar Eels, and Infusoria are great for the first week, then adding Brine Shrimp and Micro worms the second week. But I'm personally going to skip out on the egg yolk as I've heard too many people complain about it fouling the water too quickly. And when trying to minnimize water changes with the establishing fry I don't want to deal with that.

Everything you have planned though sounds good. I'm also skipping out on Tubifex worms as well because I don't hear very much beneficial info on them. Let me know how it goes!

I'm going to be getting a culture of Walter Worms and starting some Brine Shrimp soon. The first few days I think I'll do Infusoria and Walter Worms. Or do you think they need a better variety when they are first introduced to food? I would love your advice, as this will be my first time and I want to do it correctly. One can only do so much reading on something, lol. I much prefer speaking to someone with personal experience.

 

From breeding gourami fry, having some micro-organisms just growing in the tank can make a huge difference on early growth and survival rates. I plan on putting in some dried leaves ahead of the hatching of the eggs (it's in now with my male being introduced to his mate) so stuff can start to grow on it and will be ready for the fry to eat when they hatch. I originally got this idea from someone else who noticed a remarkable improvement on fry survival rates when they started adding wood and leaves to the tank.
My breeding tank has some live plants in it as well. Kind of unconventional it seems from what I've seen online but it makes perfect sense to me. I don't see a reason why bettas would be any different. Wouldn't add new leaves/driftwood/plants though, only stuff that has been in long stable tanks that are guaranteed to be disease and problem free.
Edit: besides that pretty much the same list as you, microworms, vinegar eels, egg yolk, infusoria.

 

I've recently been doing some research on Betta fry foods, as I am also in the beginning stages of attempting to breed some of my Bettas. I was reading that a combo of Walter Worms, Banana Worms, Vinegar Eels, and Infusoria are great for the first week, then adding Brine Shrimp and Micro worms the second week. But I'm personally going to skip out on the egg yolk as I've heard too many people complain about it fouling the water too quickly. And when trying to minnimize water changes with the establishing fry I don't want to deal with that.

Everything you have planned though sounds good. I'm also skipping out on Tubifex worms as well because I don't hear very much beneficial info on them. Let me know how it goes!

I'm going to be getting a culture of Walter Worms and starting some Brine Shrimp soon. The first few days I think I'll do Infusoria and Walter Worms. Or do you think they need a better variety when they are first introduced to food? I would love your advice, as this will be my first time and I want to do it correctly. One can only do so much reading on something, lol. I much prefer speaking to someone with personal experience.

My mistake with my first ever spawn was feeding mostly nematodes... which is why I’m throwing in the egg and tubifex this time.

Your feeding plan sounds great to me! I’ve seen someone who fed only banana worms the first week and their fry transferred into other food beautifully.

I was planning to wait a few weeks until I spawn mine, even though my female is very active and stuffed with eggs, I still need to get some baby brine shrimp eggs.

I would love to hear more about your breeding as it comes along, I love talking to other breeders!!

From breeding gourami fry, having some micro-organisms just growing in the tank can make a huge difference on early growth and survival rates. I plan on putting in some dried leaves ahead of the hatching of the eggs (it's in now with my male being introduced to his mate) so stuff can start to grow on it and will be ready for the fry to eat when they hatch. I originally got this idea from someone else who noticed a remarkable improvement on fry survival rates when they started adding wood and leaves to the tank.
My breeding tank has some live plants in it as well. Kind of unconventional it seems from what I've seen online but it makes perfect sense to me. I don't see a reason why bettas would be any different. Wouldn't add new leaves/driftwood/plants though, only stuff that has been in long stable tanks that are guaranteed to be disease and problem free.
Edit: besides that pretty much the same list as you, microworms, vinegar eels, egg yolk, infusoria.

That’s almost like what I have set up! I have Indian almond leaves, spiderwood, and live plants to help enhance their breeding, and it does work well.

 

Alright, then I will stick with that for now. I also plan on incorporating a few live plants from my other tanks and of course an Almond Leaf. My Indian Almond leaves should be arriving tomorrow. I'm so excited! Lol. AquaCaitlin, I will keep you updated. I'm hoping to start this project officially this coming week. Tank is established, but it has substrate, so I still need to remove all of the sand so it's bare bottom. Are there any live plants in particular that are good for a breeding setup? I know the female needs a couple spots to hide if need be, so I'm thinking some Java Moss and maybe some Water Sprite or Foxtail. But I also don't want to take up too much space so that the eggs don't get lost in the mayhem. Any thoughts? I'm going to be doing everything in a 5 gallon with a sponge filter, though that seems kind of small to me. What size do you guys breed in? I have a spare 15 that is not set up, but I'd rather not if I can make the 5 gallon work, since it is already good to go for the most part. Also, how long do your females typically hold their eggs for? I've read that they can carry them for a few weeks, but I am terrified that she is going to absorb the eggs before I get everything ready. Lol.

 

I'm a big believer in mulm.

 

I have heard about that being successful for many people. I know it works well with my Albino Cory Fry, never thought about mulm with Betta Fry though. Have you had personal experience using Mulm with Betta fry?

 

Alright, then I will stick with that for now. I also plan on incorporating a few live plants from my other tanks and of course an Almond Leaf. My Indian Almond leaves should be arriving tomorrow. I'm so excited! Lol. AquaCaitlin, I will keep you updated. I'm hoping to start this project officially this coming week. Tank is established, but it has substrate, so I still need to remove all of the sand so it's bare bottom. Are there any live plants in particular that are good for a breeding setup? I know the female needs a couple spots to hide if need be, so I'm thinking some Java Moss and maybe some Water Sprite or Foxtail. But I also don't want to take up too much space so that the eggs don't get lost in the mayhem. Any thoughts? I'm going to be doing everything in a 5 gallon with a sponge filter, though that seems kind of small to me. What size do you guys breed in? I have a spare 15 that is not set up, but I'd rather not if I can make the 5 gallon work, since it is already good to go for the most part. Also, how long do your females typically hold their eggs for? I've read that they can carry them for a few weeks, but I am terrified that she is going to absorb the eggs before I get everything ready. Lol.

Java moss I would say is actually a poor choice, it isn't great for a betta to hide behind (she can't really get under it, or behind it unless you fill the whole tank with the stuff, and eggs can definitely get lost in there). It is a great choice in fry tanks once the fry have grown a little I would say, as I've recently met a betta breeder who puts large messy balls of acrylic fiber (or something similar) in her tank so the young bettas have a way to escape and hide from each other if they get snappy. Foxtail is definitely a good choice, though take care not to plant it as it will rot (sorry for stating what may be obvious, just wouldn't want you to spoil your water so unnecessarily for not having thought of it). You can weigh it down to sit on the substrate though.
I prefer tall stem plants with large or long leaves (the betta tank has rather haphazardly growing pogostemon for instance) and/or floating plants. There are small amounts of salvinia in the betta tank. The tank size is what was recommended to me by another very successful breeder, a 7 gallon square tank emptied to about 5-7" of water. So that amounts to about 3 gallons I guess? Pretty small. (They used this set-up despite having a tank rack with 20 gallons some of which were empty, I didn't think to ask why they preferred the smaller tank. Smaller temperature fluctuations with a single heater? Better overview? Easier to clean?)
I think most I've seen online either breed in a 5 or a 10 gallon, so I'd say you would be fine (judging from other people's experience). Just don't fill it to the rI'm and make sure you have a tight-fitting lid to maintain air temperature.
If it helps - or not and just makes you nervous, in which case sorry - my one failed previous attempt at breeding bettas was in a heavily planted 20 gallon and the male still ended up killing the female, so more space doesn't necessarily make the process safer unless you can breed in a 90 gallon...

Curious to hear what you've used AquaCaitlin

I have heard about that being successful for many people. I know it works well with my Albino Cory Fry, never thought about mulm with Betta Fry though. Have you had personal experience using Mulm with Betta fry?

Mr. Kgnao
I second that, I'd also like to hear about your experiences (just in general, too) with that. How exactly did you go about it? Have you tried without and seen a marked difference?

 

I use guppy grass, java fern, amazon sword, in a half filled 10 gallon— but 5 gallon works beautifully, and your 15 gal will work great as a grow out tank.

I agree that moss can sometimes make it harder, those tiny eggs are so easy to lose! Somehow a few pieces of sand (who somehow managed to escape the vacuum) ended up in the bubble nest The Female even built her own bubble nest and carried food pellets into it after I removed her from the tank— it took her a few days to return to normal. She was just such a devoted mother.

The reason the tank is kept halfway full is because it makes it easier for the male betta to care for the eggs and the fry, for they are constantly falling and it’s easier for him to not have to swim so far to the bottom and pick them up.

 

Mr. Kgnao
I second that, I'd also like to hear about your experiences (just in general, too) with that. How exactly did you go about it? Have you tried without and seen a marked difference?

As it is, most anything I spawn I colony breed (partially because I'm lazy, partially because it's less of a blow to my fishkeeping ego if no fry show up), so my evidence isn't very scientific or rigorous, but anecdotally, where there is mulm, fry often follow. I actually just cleaned out a tank that was covered in the stuff, I now have a grow-out tank full of guppy and gardnerI killI fry. Obviously, correlation isn't causation, but it doesn't seem to be disastrous, and seeing as it actually requires a negative amount of work (so long gravel vac), I always just let it happen.

Honestly, I've never bred bettas (300 cups, each with it's own little brofish, no thanks) so I have no idea how they would take to it, but it's worth a try.

 

Alright, I'll skip out on the Java Moss, I saw someone using it online so thought it was a viable idea. I plan on filling the tank a few inches, and yes, anchoring the other plants down, as it won't have substrate anyhow. If I get babies after all is said and done the 15 would be a good idea for a grow out area, thanks for the suggestion. I am not sure if this is going to work the first time around, so hadn't gotten that far. I do have several options though so not concerned about that part so much. First attempt is going to be about keeping parents alive and getting eggs. Then fingers crossed I don't kill the babies
: ) , I completely take my live bearers for granted. They make things so easy for me. That's so awesome to hear that your female was that into everything. You usually don't hear that. That must have been a very interesting experience. Lol.

PascalKrypt, thank you for the words of encouragement and advice. I'm hoping for good results, but trying not to get my hopes too far up, just wanting to be prepared. And I will be monitoring the parents very closely to try and avoid any accidents. AquaCaitlin, do you have any tips or advice for the actual procedure? I am going to have her in the center, separated in a mesh box with the male on the outside. I have read different opinions on whether or not the female or male goes into the tank first, and if the female stays in the tank separated while he builds the bubble nest, or gets removed after they are exposed to each other for 24 hours. Everyone seems to say different things. What do you personally do, or have had the most success with?

 

I use guppy grass, java fern, amazon sword, in a half filled 10 gallon— but 5 gallon works beautifully, and your 15 gal will work great as a grow out tank.

I agree that moss can sometimes make it harder, those tiny eggs are so easy to lose! Somehow a few pieces of sand (who somehow managed to escape the vacuum) ended up in the bubble nest The Female even built her own bubble nest and carried food pellets into it after I removed her from the tank— it took her a few days to return to normal. She was just such a devoted mother.

The reason the tank is kept halfway full is because it makes it easier for the male betta to care for the eggs and the fry, for they are constantly falling and it’s easier for him to not have to swim so far to the bottom and pick them up.

Haha, nice mom! I've actually had quite a number of females build bubble nests especially after seeing a male do it. I guess it's not as rare as I initially thought.

I get the part about the low water level (also with honeys for instance, females seem unwilling to breed if the bubble nest is too high up, even when the male seems eager. guessing the biological reason is the same as our pragmatic one ). What I am curious about is why people seem to prefer the use of tanks with a small footprint. Why not a 30 gallon with 4 inches of water? Is it because of temperature maintenance and evaporation problems? Or because there is more chance of aggression or it will simply take too long if the female can swim really really far from the nest when the male is trying to entice her?
Or you know, maybe just regular old convenience, if it works equally well then might as well use a smaller tank to save space...

As it is, most anything I spawn I colony breed (partially because I'm lazy, partially because it's less of a blow to my fishkeeping ego if no fry show up), so my evidence isn't very scientific or rigorous, but anecdotally, where there is mulm, fry often follow. I actually just cleaned out a tank that was covered in the stuff, I now have a grow-out tank full of guppy and gardnerI killI fry. Obviously, correlation isn't causation, but it doesn't seem to be disastrous, and seeing as it actually requires a negative amount of work (so long gravel vac), I always just let it happen.

Honestly, I've never bred bettas (300 cups, each with it's own little brofish, no thanks) so I have no idea how they would take to it, but it's worth a try.

Thank you for sharing your experience! I guess I have some reading up to do on this.

Alright, I'll skip out on the Java Moss, I saw someone using it online so thought it was a viable idea. I plan on filling the tank a few inches, and yes, anchoring the other plants down, as it won't have substrate anyhow. If I get babies after all is said and done the 15 would be a good idea for a grow out area, thanks for the suggestion. I am not sure if this is going to work the first time around, so hadn't gotten that far. I do have several options though so not concerned about that part so much. First attempt is going to be about keeping parents alive and getting eggs. Then fingers crossed I don't kill the babies
: ) , I completely take my live bearers for granted. They make things so easy for me. That's so awesome to hear that your female was that into everything. You usually don't hear that. That must have been a very interesting experience. Lol.

PascalKrypt, thank you for the words of encouragement and advice. I'm hoping for good results, but trying not to get my hopes too far up, just wanting to be prepared. And I will be monitoring the parents very closely to try and avoid any accidents. AquaCaitlin, do you have any tips or advice for the actual procedure? I am going to have her in the center, separated in a mesh box with the male on the outside. I have read different opinions on whether or not the female or male goes into the tank first, and if the female stays in the tank separated while he builds the bubble nest, or gets removed after they are exposed to each other for 24 hours. Everyone seems to say different things. What do you personally do, or have had the most success with?

Haha, same here. I will be pleased as pie if I have eggs hatching without serious damage to the parents, the rest is a worry for when we actually get to that point Good luck to each of us.

You guys want to share some photos of your parents to be? We might as well use this as a progress thread for our breeding attempts at this point.

And yes, livebearers are cheaters. I have redtail splitfins, livebearers related to guppies and killis that prefer coldwater and are known for having some of the largest fry upon birth... I don't have to worry about food, about temperature. It is rare to lose more than a handful of them growing up as long as keep up on feeding (they take powdered flakes from the start) and water quality. The current 3 batches in the growout tank have a fry death count of 1. Pst.
But I guess we would have been swimming in bettas if they were livebearers and that would make it less attractive maybe? The challenge is interesting...

 

I think it’s best to use a smaller tank so the female can’t run away from the male, in my ten gallon they always manage to stay away for a few days before he finally catches her. They’re pretty crafty.

And I agree, the challenge is half the fun.





Here’s my parents to be: Halfmoon Plakat Nemos. female is top photo, male is bottom photo.

He wouldn’t flare for me, or pose whatsoever, but hey. His colors are muted by the tannins in the water but he is absolutely vibrant!

Id love to see everyone else’s breeding pairs!!

Alright, I'll skip out on the Java Moss, I saw someone using it online so thought it was a viable idea. I plan on filling the tank a few inches, and yes, anchoring the other plants down, as it won't have substrate anyhow. If I get babies after all is said and done the 15 would be a good idea for a grow out area, thanks for the suggestion. I am not sure if this is going to work the first time around, so hadn't gotten that far. I do have several options though so not concerned about that part so much. First attempt is going to be about keeping parents alive and getting eggs. Then fingers crossed I don't kill the babies
: ) , I completely take my live bearers for granted. They make things so easy for me. That's so awesome to hear that your female was that into everything. You usually don't hear that. That must have been a very interesting experience. Lol.

PascalKrypt, thank you for the words of encouragement and advice. I'm hoping for good results, but trying not to get my hopes too far up, just wanting to be prepared. And I will be monitoring the parents very closely to try and avoid any accidents. AquaCaitlin, do you have any tips or advice for the actual procedure? I am going to have her in the center, separated in a mesh box with the male on the outside. I have read different opinions on whether or not the female or male goes into the tank first, and if the female stays in the tank separated while he builds the bubble nest, or gets removed after they are exposed to each other for 24 hours. Everyone seems to say different things. What do you personally do, or have had the most success with?

I find the mesh net doesn’t always work, for the male and the female can’t see each other as easily, so I ended up putting her in a mesh breeder net for a day or so, than moving her to a glass jar in the tank for another day, and that was when he really started building the nest.

I find it’s best to have the male in the tank first: through the whole procedure he will be in charge.

Once I let my female in the tank they chase and occasionally fight (I have gotten a sufficient amount of nipping). Eventually the female will hide while the male continues to make his nest bigger. Once the female thinks the nest looks big enough she will breed.

My first spawn was very nerve-racking. The male wasn’t bringing the eggs to the nest!! After about 100 eggs had already dropped the female ended up sinking to the bottom while in one of her trances and spotting the eggs. She began to carry them up, and after she carried about 60 eggs all on her own (while the male expanded the bubble nest) the male finally started to catch on and help.

As soon as he started to chase and nip again I removed her, as her stomach had returned to a normal size.
I then left him in there until all the fry were free swimming.

I have had to take the female out, condition a bit more, then put her back in once or twice, but usually it goes pretty smoothly.

 

I have glass jars as well, I can do either. Also, how long do you leave the male in the tank before introducing the female in her container? Do you remove her from the tank once he sees her for a bit, or leave her in there, in her container? This whole thing is nerve wracking, and so much of it seems out of our control. Lol. Can't stand that.

Also, I have a very busy house, I'm trying to figure out the best place to put the tank. I don't really have any spare place except possibly my desk in the living room, but I have read they need to be someplace quiet, away from sounds, being able to see other fish, etc. Do you think my desk in living room (I homeschool my kids and work from my desk) would be too busy for them?

My Indian Almond leaves just came in last night. I went ahead and put one in each of my betta tanks(4) just for the heck of it, but plan on brewing some tannins here in the next couple days for the breeding tank as well. I'll try to get some pics up today of my bettas.

 

I have glass jars as well, I can do either. Also, how long do you leave the male in the tank before introducing the female in her container? Do you remove her from the tank once he sees her for a bit, or leave her in there, in her container? This whole thing is nerve wracking, and so much of it seems out of our control. Lol. Can't stand that.

Also, I have a very busy house, I'm trying to figure out the best place to put the tank. I don't really have any spare place except possibly my desk in the living room, but I have read they need to be someplace quiet, away from sounds, being able to see other fish, etc. Do you think my desk in living room (I homeschool my kids and work from my desk) would be too busy for them?

My Indian Almond leaves just came in last night. I went ahead and put one in each of my betta tanks(4) just for the heck of it, but plan on brewing some tannins here in the next couple days for the breeding tank as well. I'll try to get some pics up today of my bettas.

I usually have the male in the tank for about a week, but some people do 2-3 days and it works great. She will stay in her container where he can see her until it’s time to put her in the tank
*tip* when putting her in the tank dump her into a planted area where he can’t see her so she has some time to settle in before he sees her
And it is quite nerve racking but you feel so accomplished when it’s all over!

You want somewhere where there is not a lot of activity. I have one on a desk in my room and the other is on my bathroom counter: both places where I go often but not many others walk by. It might be too stressful (and distracting) for them to be on the desk.

So great that the leafs finally arrived! Right after I order my BBS eggs and Spirulina I will be brewing some tannins to add to my breeding tank. My female seems ready to breed already but I’m forcing her to have a few more days of conditioning

 

Whoop so excited for you!


.... so >.< I got impatient.
I first introduced male and female to each other last friday (8 days ago), male in a 1.5 gallon container, female in a 1/4 gallon cup, and let them sit for an hour, just to see if they were interested in each other, to try and push her to get extra eggy and to check if she didn't show aggression rather than interest. I had about 6 females available of the same litter/colour, the first female was rejected (showed zero interest, just trying to get away from him). The one I settled on was the second - also the second best preferable to breed with. She was interested immediately.
Put the male in the breeder (as stated, 7.2G) that night, female went back to her own tank. Proceeded conditioning, I picked up the pace a little with an extra round late at night. I've also been conditioning a second male and female just in case I don't want this to fail and have to wait another month.
So anyways. Three days ago I put the female in a container inside the breeder tank. I left her in there for maybe 5 hours. He wasn't building a nest, just busy enticing her. She was bulging and showing very clear breeding stripes. Didn't seem to try to follow him yet though, after about an hour or two she grew sick of him and started to ignore him. Put her back in her tank.
Next morning I found a very thick bubble nest had been built (it is near an inch o.o) though not super wide yet. Put the female back inside in her container. Left her in there all day (and fed both of them like that, took the male a while to notice I dropped anything in, haha, far too busy). She now seemed permanently interested. Nest got expanded significantly.
Was at work today, when I got home the nest was huge and thick. The girl had such pronounced breeding striped she looked like a zebra and a was swimming back and forth pushing into the side of the container where the male was every time she swam away. She looked so eager to follow.
I originally set early next week as the time to release her. But I decided everything looked as it should... so I released her.
Went well in the beginning. She inspected the nest, he came to entice her. Her swam across the tank in laps with pauses several times, she followed. Every time they got to the nest she stopped to inspect. One time he came back and she waited, they wafted their wiggly dance side by side and I thought they would go at it supremely fast for a minute. Then came the scary part. The male pounced on her. Repeatedly. She shot away and they zoomed across the tank. She hid in a corner between the plants with her fins pinned and he hovered, swam away and back again, attacked her again. It looked so vicious. I know this is a part of it but because my previous female got killed I just don't know what is too much >.<
I chased him away and put her back in her container. Let them cool off. Fed them both some mosquito larvae. He went to his nest again (stupidly enough in my haste to interrupt I touched the nest which was damaged a little... I think that may affect my odds, ugh.) and worked on it a little. After some 20 minutes she looked happy and perky again, still had the breeding stripes, only a few fin tears and seemed ready to follow him again though not as eager as at first. Released her again.
Basically a repeat of the first time, expect now everything happened faster. He got too vicious for my taste again and I put her back in her container. Where she is now.

I think I'll give him a day to rebuild his nest but will probably leave her floating in her container overnight instead of putting her back in her tank. I'll feed them some hefty amounts tomorrow and then give it another shot tomorrow night.

It's just so nerve wracking >.< I mean, I hear "take her out if you feel the male is too aggressive" but then also everywhere "don't be scared of the aggression, the male will seem quite vicious." .... so where is the proper time for me to step in then?

 

I was quite afraid to because the male would sneak up on my female and pounce and she would shoot away. I was so scared I took her out, reassured myself that this was al normal behavior, then put her back in.

I left them in the breeding tank together overnight (even though I knew this was risky) it could only end two ways: the male killing the female (this doesn’t happen often) or them getting along beautifully in the morning.

Thankfully, when I checked on them the next morning she was laying eggs!
I have only heard of things ending badly with this technique a few times.

My female was much smaller than the male in that spawn, but his fins were much longer which made him slower. She was also a great hider and he spent most of the time she was hiding expanding his bubble nest,

A funny story to add: After all the eggs were laid and in the bubble nest he got bored guarding them and built a whole new bubble nest somewhere else and brought the eggs over to it. They are sure creative with passing the time

 

Thank you for that! But I am still a nervous wreck, hahaha. I don't think I've ever bred anything as stressful as bettas, pst.

Yes, I've heard that they do that sometimes. During my previous attempt the male actually started building a completely new nest when the female was showing interest in the original nest he'd built. Which may have also had something to do with the bad ending...
I'll post some pictures of them, btw.

 

Quite bad picture quality here but: this is one of my females directly after removed from the breeding tank. She isn’t flaring so you can’t see the fin damage much but he really picked on her, yet she healed up in only 3 days.

 

I have ... bizarre news... THEY SPAWNED. I'm ecstatic!!!

After I finished posting I went back to check on them. She was wiggling against, wanting to follow him. I decided I needed to be less nervous and give it one last shot before going to bed (it is 1:45am here). I released her... she went to inspect the nest.. he snapped at her, they shot around the tank again. I hurried to her tank and pulled out the floating plants she had and popped them in to give her a little more cover. Then just as I put them in, she clamped her fins and swam to the nest and nudged him. They embraced. Eggs started dropping... OMG. I'll put up pics and a vid later (bad quality because poor light, but eh).

Same situation as you, ahahah. Male too busy with his nest to notice the dropping eggs, but she is picking them up and putting them in diligently in between spawns. OMG. omg. omg. So satisfying indeed ahaha.

Bizarrely fast though O.O I think in total they have spent maybe 30 minutes in the tank together before starting to spawn. Maybe even less. I guess I conditioned them well...? Or they just really like each other.
Now to watch for them to finish...

 

Ooh! I’m heading to work but keep me updated!

 

I wonder how long this takes since I need to take the female out right away (really honeys are so way more relaxed. Can just chill and keep them in there, check the nest every now and then to see if they've spawned yet. No biggy if I missed it and the female spends another night in there).
They must have dropped well over a hundred eggs by now but she is still fat and wants to keep going. I believe 300-400 eggs is considered a very sizable batch right? How many newly hatched fry have you had in your previous breedings?

Edit: Whelp. Am I happy I went straight for colour matched and fin-selected quality breeder bettas o.o They are still at it (about an hour now) and she is dropping more eggs per spawn than before. First 2-3 embraces she was dropping about 4-5 eggs, then after about 15 minutes they were 6-10 eggs per embrace. Just now I checked up real close and counted upwards of 15 when they released. They must have embraced some 20 times by now, if not more x.x I really hope I manage to keep a decent number of them alive.

Edit#2: Now dropping some 30 eggs per embrace. 1h30m in. I've done some googling and seen that it varies a lot from pair to pair, but some people have reported it taking up to 5 hours for theirs to finish... I really hope not, I was actually planning on getting some sleep tonight.
Male and female picking up eggs together now, it is actually kind of cute. Not looking so murderous (at the moment).

 

Pictures of one of the early embraces attached below.

Male (Hue) is a black lace x blue metallic cross. I have pictures of his parents from the breeder, I also bought two of his sisters though they have very little of the metallic in them.





Female (Nameless but I guess she'll get one now ) is a black lace, matt unlike many of her sisters that have a steel or turquoise blue sheen or stripes on their fins. I've got 6 of them from the same batch (though one is inexplicably washed with red - she also looks more reddish than blue if I had to pick one).


(I really should take a better picture of her too)

So I'm guessing babies will likely be matt black with a blue metallic wash or blue metallic fins or just straight blue metallis, and then the great portion of oddball colourations that you are bound to get. Both parents are 180 degrees plakat halfmoons.
Both of them were bought rather cheaply because the breeders I got them from were desperate for space and wanted them gone soon so they could pot up their next batches, haha.


---- so I wrote this but then got distracted. The spawning is done! It took just under two hours. Mom was hiding craftily behind a floating plant. She still look pretty healthy, not noticably emaciated so I'm happy. She had a few scales stripped off on one side but nothing serious or deep. Very few fin tears actually.
Dad and mom piled the eggs underneath one another so I could picture them quite clearly.

So glad I had a positive experience. I will be way more confident now in future breedings because I finally have a sense of what is 'normal' mating behaviour for bettas. Whoop.
I was looking around earlier for estimates of normal brood sizes and saw a website that encouraged "beginning aquarists to breed bettas because it is an easy process, with clear-cut and easy to perform steps. A good first try at breeding fish".
Not sure what those writers were smoking

 

Wow! Congrats PascalKrypt! I am so excited for you. Beautiful job. I feel a little bit better about attempting this in the next few days now! That sounds like it was quite the adventure. So happy it worked out. Now onto the next step, prepping for the fry. Lol. A whole other kind of stress.

Here are pictures of my Bettas. I actually have a male and 2 females in a community tank and my original plan was to breed them together, but because the male lives with these two girls he doesn't pay any attention to them. He's been friend zoned. Lol. So, I'm having to change my original plans and breed my female with eggs in the community tank with a different Betta that is in my son's room. They don't have anything in common, but this is going to be my first time, and I'd rather have the experience now that I will need later when I breed my other Bettas that are actually a matched set. So, I'm going to get unique babies with this batch if it works.


This is my community tank. Male is the pink one, and girls are the purple/red ones. I was originally going to breed these guys together. One of the female is carrying eggs now, but male is not interested. So, I'm taking the female on the left side and I'm going to attempt to breed her with this male below.


For my next breeding project I'm going to breed this female below(purchased from a breeder that bred her once successfully already)


with this male below:


And then hopefully I can find a way to breed that beautiful pink male with one of the girls in his tank after. Here is a close up of him.

and my two girls living with him.


Female on the right is the one ready to burst with eggs. Lol.

 

Wow! Congrats PascalKrypt! I am so excited for you. Beautiful job. I feel a little bit better about attempting this in the next few days now! That sounds like it was quite the adventure. So happy it worked out. Now onto the next step, prepping for the fry. Lol. A whole other kind of stress.

Here are pictures of my Bettas. I actually have a male and 2 females in a community tank and my original plan was to breed them together, but because the male lives with these two girls he doesn't pay any attention to them. He's been friend zoned. Lol. So, I'm having to change my original plans and breed my female with eggs in the community tank with a different Betta that is in my son's room. They don't have anything in common, but this is going to be my first time, and I'd rather have the experience now that I will need later when I breed my other Bettas that are actually a matched set. So, I'm going to get unique babies with this batch if it works.

View attachment 625229This is my community tank. Male is the pink one, and girls are the purple/red ones. I was originally going to breed these guys together. One of the female is carrying eggs now, but male is not interested. So, I'm taking the female on the left side and I'm going to attempt to breed her with this male below.
View attachment 625230
For my next breeding project I'm going to breed this female below(purchased from a breeder that bred her once successfully already)
View attachment 625231
with this male below:
View attachment 625235
And then hopefully I can find a way to breed that beautiful pink male with one of the girls in his tank after. Here is a close up of him.
View attachment 625236 and my two girls living with him.
View attachment 625238
Female on the right is the one ready to burst with eggs. Lol.

They’re all so pretty, and yup she’s got a big “baby belly” as I call it— how cute!

Pictures of one of the early embraces attached below.

Male (Hue) is a black lace x blue metallic cross. I have pictures of his parents from the breeder, I also bought two of his sisters though they have very little of the metallic in them.
View attachment 625182
View attachment 625184

Female (Nameless but I guess she'll get one now ) is a black lace, matt unlike many of her sisters that have a steel or turquoise blue sheen or stripes on their fins. I've got 6 of them from the same batch (though one is inexplicably washed with red - she also looks more reddish than blue if I had to pick one).
View attachment 625185
(I really should take a better picture of her too)

So I'm guessing babies will likely be matt black with a blue metallic wash or blue metallic fins or just straight blue metallis, and then the great portion of oddball colourations that you are bound to get. Both parents are 180 degrees plakat halfmoons.
Both of them were bought rather cheaply because the breeders I got them from were desperate for space and wanted them gone soon so they could pot up their next batches, haha.


---- so I wrote this but then got distracted. The spawning is done! It took just under two hours. Mom was hiding craftily behind a floating plant. She still look pretty healthy, not noticably emaciated so I'm happy. She had a few scales stripped off on one side but nothing serious or deep. Very few fin tears actually.
Dad and mom piled the eggs underneath one another so I could picture them quite clearly.

So glad I had a positive experience. I will be way more confident now in future breedings because I finally have a sense of what is 'normal' mating behaviour for bettas. Whoop.
I was looking around earlier for estimates of normal brood sizes and saw a website that encouraged "beginning aquarists to breed bettas because it is an easy process, with clear-cut and easy to perform steps. A good first try at breeding fish".
Not sure what those writers were smoking

Yay! Now to wait the 24-72 hours for baby fry to hatch! I’m so glad everything went well, and they are such pretty fish.
The fry will probably carry a good amount of metallic sheen to them, I’m not an expert with this particular color type but I’ve seen someone breed a solid black to a metallic and their fry were somewhere in between. Then they bred the fry together and got super metallics! So excited to see how yours turn out, keep me posted!

 

Yay! Now to wait the 24-72 hours for baby fry to hatch! I’m so glad everything went well, and they are such pretty fish.
The fry will probably carry a good amount of metallic sheen to them, I’m not an expert with this particular color type but I’ve seen someone breed a solid black to a metallic and their fry were somewhere in between. Then they bred the fry together and got super metallics! So excited to see how yours turn out, keep me posted!

As for the fry stress, I'm not half as concerned about that tbh. I don't imagine it will be seriously different aside from the eventual aggression when they get older but I will worry about it when I get to that point, hahaha.

The male seems to have spread out the clump of eggs during the night. The nest is quite big with floating plants incorporated and I can see a few here and there where there definitely weren't any less night. I would also say there are less overall (maybe he's eating the unfertilised ones?) but it might just be hard to see because of the plants. I don't want to stress him out by pressing my face against the glass We'll see. I hope he's not eating them all but again, for me the spawning is about 90% of the stress of the whole process, the rest I am not as concerned about. It'll work or it won't. I think I will still breed my back-up pair in a week's time, I have plenty of space and in about four months I'll be away for a week several times so I can't really breed anymore soon (I was counting on the fry not being able to comfortably survive a week-long gap until about 3.5-4 months). It will give me some odds to end up with adult fish if I do something wrong with this batch.

Sheena-Phx
Very colourful fish! Couldn't be more different than mine. Things don't always go the way you expect eh? ^^
Watch out with that 2F-1M community when you start spawning the female. They have some dynamic going on obviously, when the female gets excited from breeding (or exhausted afterwards) that may upset the hierarchy they have going on. Maybe once you start introducing them keep her apart, and give her a few days solo to recover afterwards? Just a thought. It would be a shame for the spawning to go well and then for her to get killed by the other girl when you put her back in her shared tank.
As for the blue body yellow fin girl, maybe I'm nuts but whatever way I look at her I see a male. Ventrals, anal and dorsal all seem way too long and I don't see an egg spot. I don't know though, the body shape looks a bit weird so maybe it's me? Have you tried putting her in a cup next to another male to see if he/she flares and has an extended beard? owo

And that is one fat female! Hoping for a good spawn for you

 

PascalKrypt, I was thinking the same thing when it's time to put her back. All those raging hormones and everything can't be good for the community aspect of things, lol. And as far as the mustard girl goes, she truly is a girl. I know, crazy, I found it hard to believe as well. She's already bred with a male once before. Very expensive female that a friend of mine got from a professional breeder across the country. When she was still with my friend she got beat up by a male that was in a divided tank with her that would jump the divider to pick on her, so her tail is still healing from that, she had even longer fins before that encounter. Her egg spot is very prominent, her ventral and analfins are just so bushy, you can't see it unless she is moving a certain way. But as soon as she moves them there it is. Lol. I'll try to get a picture of her showing her egg spot, but whenever she sees the camera she gets too exited and won't cooperate. Lol. And, no beard. She is a girl, just pretty like a boy. Funny, that a Betta tomboy is gorgeous, not your typical stereotype. My friend actually purchased 2 females from that specific breeder, both with the long beautiful fins. They are pretty rare from what I hear, but I'm happy to have one. I'm hoping that there's a chance that can get passed down to the babies.

So glad to hear everything went so well last night, keep us posted about the eggs, and of course when you start with your next pair! I love these updates!

They’re all so pretty, and yup she’s got a big “baby belly” as I call it— how cute!


Yay! Now to wait the 24-72 hours for baby fry to hatch! I’m so glad everything went well, and they are such pretty fish.
The fry will probably carry a good amount of metallic sheen to them, I’m not an expert with this particular color type but I’ve seen someone breed a solid black to a metallic and their fry were somewhere in between. Then they bred the fry together and got super metallics! So excited to see how yours turn out, keep me posted!

Lol. Baby Belly. That sounds about right, though I never thought to apply that to a Betta. I call her a fat hog. But yours sounds much more pleasant and less demeaning. Lol! My husband already thinks I'm nuts with my fish stuff, now he's going to hear me talking about baby bellies and give up on me. You should have seen his face when I was trying to explain to him how my male had started to build a bubble nest last night, 24 hours after the Indian Almond Leaf went in. I was excited, he was just dead faced and said that he didn't understand how that was exciting, and asked for clarification, saying, "So what you are trying to tell me is that you turned a fish on?" Lol. Darn boys and their translations......

 

Well good news! It seems Hue didn't eat the eggs after all. He's just that type of male that can't sit still. He is constantly moving them apparently, spreading them out then clumping them back together again. I can't be sure how many there are but it must be 50+ at least, if not hundreds that he's hidden well. It seems Hue is mixing them in with new bubbles.. to hide them better? Makes them much harder to guesstimate though.
Also it will probably take a little longer for the eggs to hatch because the temperature is only 25C (77F)

Sheena-Phx
That actually makes her an amazing girl... longest fins I ever saw on one for sure. She does have the deeper body type. Too bad about her caudal though, I hope that tail grows back soon. Are you sure you want to cross her with a veilteil? Anything crossed with a veilteil would come out as a veilteil, and she has such beautiful long fins.. The colour of both male and female is hard to come by though, so it may be hard to find something else.

My back-up male is this fellow, named Kyoto, that I've had since June. He needs a little more conditioning though, so I'll give him another week. Not sure what girl to cross him with... I conditioned nearly all of the other girls until they were showing breeding stripes because I wanted to be prepared for the male rejecting the females I planned to breed with. I guess I have plenty of choice now.

 

PascalKrypt, I agree, I've never seen another female with those fins. I don't have another halfmoon male that I could breed her with, so I was going to go for color instead of fins right now. Unless I get another male to match her soon, but I can never find those specific colors. That's why I have these two, lol. The only two I've ever been able to find. I love the light peach and metallic light blue. The female also carries a purple gene from her parents. So, yeah, kind of bummed that I don't have another Halfmoon, but I'm hoping the colors will will create some gorgeous babies. That boy is absolutely beautiful by the way, I can't wait to see how you do with him. : )

 

PascalKrypt, I agree, I've never seen another female with those fins. I don't have another halfmoon male that I could breed her with, so I was going to go for color instead of fins right now. Unless I get another male to match her soon, but I can never find those specific colors. That's why I have these two, lol. The only two I've ever been able to find. I love the light peach and metallic light blue. The female also carries a purple gene from her parents. So, yeah, kind of bummed that I don't have another Halfmoon, but I'm hoping the colors will will create some gorgeous babies. That boy is absolutely beautiful by the way, I can't wait to see how you do with him. : )

So what's going on with your bettas? Do you have a schedule in mind yet, have you started conditioning etc.? A breeding tank set up?

 

Already conditioning everyone in their respective tanks. I'm hoping to get the breeding tank ready to go today or tomorrow, then I will move my male in. It's already up and cycled, but I need to move it to a different location and remove the substrate. I'm not sure how much longer my female will be holding her eggs, so I'm probably only going to have him in the breeding tank a few days before I introduce her. Starting an infusoria culture for fry in a few days just in case. If I get eggs, then I will immediately order a culture of Walter Worms online. Haven't gotten them yet, and want to make sure everything is successful first.

 

PascalKrypt, I was thinking the same thing when it's time to put her back. All those raging hormones and everything can't be good for the community aspect of things, lol. And as far as the mustard girl goes, she truly is a girl. I know, crazy, I found it hard to believe as well. She's already bred with a male once before. Very expensive female that a friend of mine got from a professional breeder across the country. When she was still with my friend she got beat up by a male that was in a divided tank with her that would jump the divider to pick on her, so her tail is still healing from that, she had even longer fins before that encounter. Her egg spot is very prominent, her ventral and analfins are just so bushy, you can't see it unless she is moving a certain way. But as soon as she moves them there it is. Lol. I'll try to get a picture of her showing her egg spot, but whenever she sees the camera she gets too exited and won't cooperate. Lol. And, no beard. She is a girl, just pretty like a boy. Funny, that a Betta tomboy is gorgeous, not your typical stereotype. My friend actually purchased 2 females from that specific breeder, both with the long beautiful fins. They are pretty rare from what I hear, but I'm happy to have one. I'm hoping that there's a chance that can get passed down to the babies.

So glad to hear everything went so well last night, keep us posted about the eggs, and of course when you start with your next pair! I love these updates!

I’ve seen some of those long finned females on eBay when I was looking for my new bettas. Some lovely koi Halfmoon females with huge fins. Maybe one day I’ll get some! She’s pretty though, that’s for sure.

Already conditioning everyone in their respective tanks. I'm hoping to get the breeding tank ready to go today or tomorrow, then I will move my male in. It's already up and cycled, but I need to move it to a different location and remove the substrate. I'm not sure how much longer my female will be holding her eggs, so I'm probably only going to have him in the breeding tank a few days before I introduce her. Starting an infusoria culture for fry in a few days just in case. If I get eggs, then I will immediately order a culture of Walter Worms online. Haven't gotten them yet, and want to make sure everything is successful first.

Female bettas will often hold their eggs indefinitely. I have two that have been chock full of eggs going on 3 months now

Update on my breeding: I ordered the new baby brine shrimp eggs and Spirulina. Debating whether to introduce my female (I was surprised by how fast she was conditioned) tonight or tomorrow. What do you all think? All I have to do in the breeding tank is add another Indian almond leaf, take out about 5 gallons, and vacuum some white hair algae off the spiderwood...

Oh! And remove the live plants from their gravel where they’re buried and find a way to get them to stay in place in a bare bottom tank— any ideas? Should I just let them float?

 

Female bettas will often hold their eggs indefinitely. I have two that have been chock full of eggs going on 3 months now

I have always been told they only hold them for a week to a few weeks! This makes me feel so much better! Thanks for that bit of info!

Do you have any plant weights? Suction cups and fishing line? larger pebbles to kind of brace them in a corner perhaps? There are a few ways to do it with a bare bottom, it just depends on what you have on hand and how creative you can get. : )

It sounds like you are just about ready! I would say you're ready for the next step of introduction.

 

Do you have any plant weights? Suction cups and fishing line? larger pebbles to kind of brace them in a corner perhaps? There are a few ways to do it with a bare bottom, it just depends on what you have on hand and how creative you can get. : )

It sounds like you are just about ready! I would say you're ready for the next step of introduction.

I just remembered I had some larger glass pebbles! I’ll put those to good use, oh! And pull my flat heater (sits on the bottom of the tank) out of my community tank and switch it with the heater I have in my breeding tank, due to the water level needing to be so low.

 

Great idea! I'm sure all of that will work perfect. I'm going to have to use my flat heater too..... You just reminded me. Lol. Need to find it... Hmmm.

 

Update on my breeding: I ordered the new baby brine shrimp eggs and Spirulina. Debating whether to introduce my female (I was surprised by how fast she was conditioned) tonight or tomorrow. What do you all think? All I have to do in the breeding tank is add another Indian almond leaf, take out about 5 gallons, and vacuum some white hair algae off the spiderwood...
Oh! And remove the live plants from their gravel where they’re buried and find a way to get them to stay in place in a bare bottom tank— any ideas? Should I just let them float?

Getting there! I would just do it tonight, for a short period. After yesterday (I mean, still just two experiences to compare, but eh) I have concluded that the more time spent introducing the better the odds they won't tear each other to shreds. They both know clear and well what's going on.
I see you've found a solution but for the future - keep those ceramic/clay rings they often use as plant weights on aquarium plants for sale in shops. I use them as plant weights later on when needed, hehe.

I have always been told they only hold them for a week to a few weeks! This makes me feel so much better! Thanks for that bit of info!

Nope, definitely not. I've had most of my adult girls show breeding stripes for nearly a month now. There are 8 of them and not one dropped any eggs.

I just remembered I had some larger glass pebbles! I’ll put those to good use, oh! And pull my flat heater (sits on the bottom of the tank) out of my community tank and switch it with the heater I have in my breeding tank, due to the water level needing to be so low.

I just position my heater diagonally and adjust the water level so it will just work (which is about 5-6 inches) ... =# I'm such a cheapskate.

... not sure what Hue is doing actually >.< I can't see any eggs anymore, but there is an enormous pile of bubbles in the dead middle of the bubble nest, with several layers of bubbles sticking out downwards into the water. I think he covered the eggs from below... not sure if that is normal or ominous O.O

 

Getting there! I would just do it tonight, for a short period. After yesterday (I mean, still just two experiences to compare, but eh) I have concluded that the more time spent introducing the better the odds they won't tear each other to shreds. They both know clear and well what's going on.
I see you've found a solution but for the future - keep those ceramic/clay rings they often use as plant weights on aquarium plants for sale in shops. I use them as plant weights later on when needed, hehe.


Nope, definitely not. I've had most of my adult girls show breeding stripes for nearly a month now. There are 8 of them and not one dropped any eggs.


I just position my heater diagonally and adjust the water level so it will just work (which is about 5-6 inches) ... =# I'm such a cheapskate.

... not sure what Hue is doing actually >.< I can't see any eggs anymore, but there is an enormous pile of bubbles in the dead middle of the bubble nest, with several layers of bubbles sticking out downwards into the water. I think he covered the eggs from below... not sure if that is normal or ominous O.O

My betta did that at one point XD
They get quite creative when they’re bored




Does it look complete? I think my little boy thinks so, he’s been swimming under the designated bubble nest area

 

Does it look complete? I think my little boy thinks so, he’s been swimming under the designated bubble nest area

It looks wonderful! Definitely good space for her to hide (though unless inferno is an idiot it'll be completely obvious where she is, haha)
He can just feel the pressure of that leaf. "The bubble nest has to be THIS big. Or it won't do."


Also thanks for sharing reassuring experience.

 

He is quite an idiot I’ll admit he hasn’t even noticed her yet (I added her in a clear container) he’s to busy flaring at me... what a goof.

Meanwhile, she is staring at him. Quite intrigued.

 

How fun. I'm so excited for you! I'm so behind in my game. Lol. I still don't know where to move my darn breeding tank. Ugh. I absolutely LOVE your setup. He'll catch on here anytime and then call himself a goof for not seeing the female before, lol.