Hi there, quite new to fish but have just bred my first batch of fighters!

HI to everyone, i'm David and i've been hooked on fish for about 4months now, I have a community tank filled with all sorts and now a specialy set up breeding tank for bettas. I bought a male and thanks to the excellent article on breeding these fish at this site, had the newly introduced female spawning with the male within 1 HOUR!!! Was it beginners luck or are they just easy to breed?! Anyway I really recommend using this site as a primary source of info as the things I was told to do in the shop was shockingly wrong! Do they make it up as they go along or what?! ??? ??? I am now at the stage where a lot of the eggs have hatched and I now have about 20 or so swimming eggs wizzing around my tank, poor old dad is having trouble fetching them all, does anybody know roughly how many survivors is a good number? If anyone else has bred or is deeply interested in these fish, your experience would be aprieciated as I want to give the fish the very best life I can. I almost feel like they are my little children its odd! Thanks and hope to hear from people soon! ;D

 

I am not sure just what posts you may have been referring to, but I am glad for you if this is what you wanted. I do not know of anyone right off hand who has actively bred bettas here right now. I do know that I studied up on it extensively before deciding NOT to breed them as they are not easy to breed and the follow-up is unbelievable. I do hope you are prepared with a lot of equipment. You are going to need a tank for mom to rest up in and one for dad as well (not the old home tank) and a grow-up tank for all the little ones and then about 100 or so jars maybe for the little males as soon as you can tell that they ARE males (unless you want them to cull themselves - don't worry they do know how to do it )

It is my understanding that a normal hatching can range from 50 to 150 or so easily if they all do well, which they almost never do.

Good Luck and keep us informed. I did not realize we were that inspirational where breeding them came about. I am not trying to bring you down honestly, but you are in for a LOT of work and I won't kid you otherwise. I will say I am truly glad I am not in your shoes.

Rose

 

HI there again, just this morning I woke to find that all the eggs and fry had totally fanished! What has happened?! My only thought is that the daddy ate them all? I'm devistated as I was expecting so many healthy fry from such an immaculate breeding/spawning event! I will try again once they have both had time to rest. I have also added more plants to the breeding tank to make it more homely for them. Just don't understand where they have gone! ??? :'(

 

Did you remove the female immediately after the spawning? The female will eat the eggs if you don't take her out.
Also I believe you need to feed the fry some special food or they won't survive. Breeding Bettas is not as easy as you may think. There is also no money to be made in this hobby. To get only a few live fish you will have to work hard and spend a lot.

 

Bettas are easily one of the most difficult fish to breed.  If you have really studied the subject, it is really a long process of conditioning the breeding pair (you must have gotten a pair who were just lucky), and getting the pair accustomed to each other, and allowing them to get used to the breeding environment.  This all has to take place BEFORE they are even introduced to each other physically.  Before this they are only allowed to see each other through glass.  Then the breeding process itself is complicated and cannot be done without close supervision because of the danger of one or both parents injuring the other or killing the other.  These fish are not called Siamese FIGHTING fish for no reason.  When the eggs begin to hatch, the work is just beginning.  The male cares for the eggs until the fry can be left alone.  For the first few days, he has to be there to make sure that when they fall from the bubblenest he puts them back.  When the egg sac they are feeding from is gone they need "first food" for bettas and during all this time the water in the tank needs to be kept very clean and the filters need to be of the kind that are not going to suck the fry up the intake tubes.  Sponge filters work the best.  Fry are VERY touchy about water parameters so the ammonia has to be at 0, nitrite at 0 and nitrate at 0.  If this is not the case you will have deformed fins, bodies, or dead fish.  While they are growing you will need to be doing daily water changes and this is going to be a challenge while the bubblenest is still in formation as you will not want to disturb it.  You also have to make sure that you are not scooping up little fry while you are changing out the old water.  Oh this is only the beginning.  When they start to grow, you have to keep your eyes wide open because as soon as it is obvious which are males and which are females, the MALES have to be moved into individual containers or they won't be there the next time you look.  Now, keep in mind that each and every one of these small containers is going to have to be kept warm and cleaned every day to keep the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels at 0 because they are too small to filter.  You are still going to have to keep up the daily water changes for the tank with the females in it too and remember that they are going to grow so that tank is going to have to be of some size.  Usually most books say at least 55 gallons for the growth tank of the females and at least 1 quart jar for each male.  I would be nice and give each male one of the small betta tanks as they need the surface room that a jar just doesn't supply.  They need to come to the surface to breathe through their Labyrinth organ at the top of their head.  (Bettas are one of the fishes who need to breathe air as well as use their gills or they can drown) 

You may do as you wish as far as breeding bettas goes.  Be informed before you do and be prepared with the items and equipment you need to do it well and humanely.  Be sure you are ready to do all the work involved.  Be sure that you are not doing it for money.  Remember that when you see bettas in stores that they are not expensive fish.  You are not going to be breeding show quality bettas - professionals do that and that is pretty much limited to them.  They have the staff and the equipment necessary to handle the type of environment that those tempermental fish need.  Most of us amateurs know better than to spend the amount of money necessary of purchase a show quality pair to breed.  The cost and chance of loss is too great.  The professionals have staff to help with the water changes and equipment to make sure that each fish is kept in a constant temperature and clean individual tank.  Most of us cannot.  The people or stores that would buy from an individual are not going to pay you enough to cover the cost of your investment, let alone anything for the huge amount of time you have spent working to raise these fish.

If you want to do it for fun, just to breed some fish, my words of advice would be to get a good pair of guppies or mollies or platies or other livebearers and enjoy the easy route.

Rose

 

I spoke to someone at my fish store and asked what they pay for their Bettas from their suppliers. They get their fish for about 20 CENTS each!  They don't buy from amateur breeders.  Anyone thinking of breeding Bettas for money is wasting their time. The few breeders you see online selling their fish for $20-$60 each only get one or two fish of this quality each spawning and they are professionals. They still probably spend more than they make.
I think it's best to just enjoy the fish as pets and leave the breeding to those who have the time, money and expertise.