How To Breed Bettas/what Equipment Is Needed? (total Newbie Here!)

Hi, I'm considering breeding bettas in the near future. (Not really to make money, just as a hobby.)
I've kept these beautiful fish for several years, but never thought about breeding them...until now.
So, what are the steps to breeding bettas?
What equipment is needed (for ALL the fish; male, female, and fry)?
Please be as detailed as possible! Thanks!

 

Have you checked out the stickies at the top of the betta breeding forum? I'd start there.

 

Have you checked out the stickies at the top of the betta breeding forum? I'd start theyes, re.

Yes, I have. But it still doesn't seem to give the info I need! (Remember, I've never bred before or ever looked into it.)

 

The spawning tank will ideally be 5+ gallons so the babies can be raised in there for a while.

Bettas will need to be conditioned with protein rich foods for around a week or two before spawning can take place. The male will make a bubble nest under a nesting site (Indian almond leaf, bubble wrap, half a Styrofoam cup, etc). The male will chase the female until she is receptive and willing to mate with him (be warned if they don't want to mate you can have torn fins, missing scales, etc on both sides!). They will wrap around each other, and the female will drop her eggs. The male will grab them and place them in the nest. They will continue doing this until all of the eggs are gone. Then the male will chase the female away, and may kill her if she is not removed quickly. Always have a bunch of floating plants so she can hide.

Once the eggs hatch and the fry are free-swimming, the father is removed. The babies must be fed tiny live foods like infusoria, micro-worms, vinegar eels, baby brine shrimp, etc. Once the babies begin to quarrel, each baby will need to be separated into its own tank or cup. (Cup being temporary until it finds a home - the cups' water will have to be changed daily!) Females who are nice can stay together in 20+ gallon tanks as a sorority.

You can get upwards of 100+ babies in one spawn. They may all need to be separated from one another.

Betta breeding is not something to be taken lightly. It's at a whole different level than livebearers or anything like that.

I'll add a list of everything in a second.

 

"Creativepetkeeping" has awesome videos on YouTube about breeding bettas

 

List of basic things needed:

Male and female betta

Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kit
Dechlorinator
Buckets for water changes
Fine mesh nets

5-20 gallon spawning tank
20+ gallon growout tank
Tanks for the original male and female betta to live in

Craft mesh to separate male and female while you condition (or separate tanks)
Meaty foods for conditioning (mosquito larvae, bloodworms, etc)
Indian almond leaves, bubble wrap, or 1/2 a Styrofoam cup
Heater

Culture for the fry (infusoria, micro-worms, vinegar eels, baby brine shrimp, etc)

Upwards of 100 cups to separate the babies until they are sold once they start quarreling.
20+ gallon tanks for the females if you want to keep them in sororities
Filters and heaters for the sorority tanks

And a lot of time each day to devote to raising the babies and performing water changes.

 

List of basic things needed:

Male and female betta

Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kit
Dechlorinator
Buckets for water changes
Fine mesh nets

5-20 gallon spawning tank
20+ gallon growout tank
Tanks for the original male and female betta to live in

Craft mesh to separate male and female while you condition (or separate tanks)
Meaty foods for conditioning (mosquito larvae, bloodworms, etc)
Indian almond leaves, bubble wrap, or 1/2 a Styrofoam cup
Heater

Culture for the fry (infusoria, micro-worms, vinegar eels, baby brine shrimp, etc)

Upwards of 100 cups to separate the babies until they are sold once they start quarreling.
20+ gallon tanks for the females if you want to keep them in sororities
Filters and heaters for the sorority tanks

And a lot of time each day to devote to raising the babies and performing water changes.

Thanks so much!
So, one more question. Let's say, instead of a 100-plus spawn, I wanted maybe 50 babies. Would it be ethical to pull out the other 50 eggs before they hatch? Or, could I pull out some of the fry during the first few days and euthanize them (with clove oil)?
I'm not asking if I COULD -- of course I CAN -- but would it be humane?

 

Eh...it's kind of a personal thing with the humane argument. I don't really want to get into that.

Taking out eggs could result in the bubble nest being destroyed or upsetting the male, and euthanizing babies could result in the best looking baby being killed, if you're just looking at it from that perspective.

 

Eh...it's kind of a personal thing with the humane argument. I don't really want to get into that.

Taking out eggs could result in the bubble nest being destroyed or upsetting the male, and euthanizing babies could result in the best looking baby being killed, if you're just looking at it from that perspective.

Thought about that, but I'd rather cull some tiny fry early on, and have the rest well cared for, than end up with hundreds of fish that end up being cramped in tiny jars for lack of space...or sold to chain petstores because I can't properly care for them all...

 

Thought about that, but I'd rather cull some tiny fry early on, and have the rest well cared for, than end up with hundreds of fish that end up being cramped in tiny jars for lack of space...or sold to chain petstores because I can't properly care for them all...

That's what I mean - the humane thing can go in circles so much that it just gets tiring to discuss. I agree with your position, just letting you know. I'd recommend to order a good pair online so you will have more buyers - bettas you cannot find in any old pet store will sell better than a solid blue veiltail that you can get for $5 at Pet-(insert chain name here). (Nothing against solid blue veiltails - that was my first betta! But for breeding they aren't ideal.)

 

That's what I mean - the humane thing can go in circles so much that it just gets tiring to discuss. I agree with your position, just letting you know. I'd recommend to order a good pair online so you will have more buyers - bettas you cannot find in any old pet store will sell better than a solid blue veiltail that you can get for $5 at Pet-(insert chain name here). (Nothing against solid blue veiltails - that was my first betta! But for breeding they aren't ideal.)

Thank you, just wanted an "I agree!" or an "I disagree".
And thanks again for all your wonderful *detailed* advice!!

 

Just going to jump in here If you do decide to cull your fry, it's best to wait a little bit before you pick out the ones to get rid of. Many fry have deformities such as bent spines, missing fins and swimming issues, and it would be better to cull those than the strong healthy ones (in my opinion at least)

 

I felt the need to jump in. Breeding bettas is not something I would recommend for a beginner to breeding fish in general. Betta breeding is a time consuming process that requires knowledge of the subject. I've seen a lot of the posts say you need a male and female betta. While this is true, not all males will breed with all females. There are a large number of bettas that simply don't like each other. You also have to keep the bettas tempermant in mind. You're more than likely not going to get two bettas, put them in a tank, and they breed. I have a thread of my most recent spawns journey on here. With that male, I had three females and the last one I tried finally worked a week later. You have to condition both fish for at least a month with live, frozen, and freeze dried foods mixed into their diet. After conditioning, you have to slowly introduce the two which tanks about a week in most cases if done properly. Then, you have to rerelease the female full of eggs and breeding ready into the breeding tank. The breeding tank should have no more than 4-6 inches of water in it. You also have to watch the fish closely for aggression and remove the female directly after spawning as the male could kill or seriously injure her. Next, you wait 24-72 hours for the eggs to hatch. About 2-3 days later, more or less, the fry should be free swimming (vertically) and the male should be removed. From there, the fry must be fed micro foods like infusoria from the first few days then transitioned to finely powdered foods. After 14 days, you need to start doing daily water changes. At about 4-5 weeks, the fry should start to get their color. Around 4-6 weeks, you have to separate the males and aggressive females.

 

Just going to jump in here If you do decide to cull your fry, it's best to wait a little bit before you pick out the ones to get rid of. Many fry have deformities such as bent spines, missing fins and swimming issues, and it would be better to cull those than the strong healthy ones (in my opinion at least)

Honestly, I hate the thought of culling, but when breeding, I think its a necessary evil...

 

I typically don't cull until they're older. I have one that looked like it had a bent spine. It's been four weeks, and it's straightened now. He used to always look like he was bent in two. I've found that some of the weakest fry from my spawns don't eat when I begin to transition them over to powdered foods.

 

Flowingfins has bred bettas and can offer more advice.

 

Honestly, I hate the thought of culling, but when breeding, I think its a necessary evil...

I agree, it is a necessary evil. But it's not all bad. Think about it more as an unnatural natural selection. In the wild, the deformed fish and the weaker fish would be most likely to be eaten. This gives the other fish a better chance at survival (the ones that are actually doing well).

In the end , you do more good than you do bad by culling. It prevents bad Bettas from getting into a world where they probably won't be wanted and will waste away on shelves and it gives the healthier ones a better chance to grow into healthy adult bettas

 

I agree, it is a necessary evil. But it's not all bad. Think about it more as an unnatural natural selection. In the wild, the deformed fish and the weaker fish would be most likely to be eaten. This gives the other fish a better chance at survival (the ones that are actually doing well).

In the end , you do more good than you do bad by culling. It prevents bad Bettas from getting into a world where they probably won't be wanted and will waste away on shelves and it gives the healthier ones a better chance to grow into healthy adult bettas

Definitely. I mean, even if a fish is healthy, if s/he has undesirable characteristics and I can't care for the fish, I'd rather humanely cull than send it to a pet store where it would die a horrible slow death. Even more so if the fish is already sick!

 

Definitely. I mean, even if a fish is healthy, if s/he has undesirable characteristics and I can't care for the fish, I'd rather humanely cull than send it to a pet store where it would die a horrible slow death. Even more so if the fish is already sick!

What do you mean by "undesirable characteristics"? I don't think I'd cull a fish if it's not the color I want. I'm sure there's someone out there that may want it. But if it's got a bent spine or a deformed head , I'd more than likely cull it. (The only time I wouldn't cull is if it was too old to be culled)

 

What do you mean by "undesirable characteristics"? I don't think I'd cull a fish if it's not the color I want. I'm sure there's someone out there that may want it. But if it's got a bent spine or a deformed head , I'd more than likely cull it. (The only time I wouldn't cull is if it was too old to be culled)

Oh, I think you misunderstood!!!
What I meant is that if I had a SHOCKINGLY average fish that I COULD NOT care for (because of overcrowding or something like that) and that NO-ONE wanted, I'd rather put him to sleep than let him suffer in a chain pet shop. (and the "average-ness" might decrease the fish's chances of being purchased at said pet shop.)
But as far as color, I could care less if a was just keeping it for a pet or giving it to a friend. But if no one wanted it, and I couldn't care for it, and the ONLY other option was a Pet store shelf...

 

Oooooh I get you now sorry for the misunderstanding. What I thought you meant was that you had a perfectly fine fish that was the wrong color than what you were breeding for (you got a red when breeding for an orange) and do you'd cull it

 

Oooooh I get you now sorry for the misunderstanding. What I thought you meant was that you had a perfectly fine fish that was the wrong color than what you were breeding for (you got a red when breeding for an orange) and do you'd cull it

Oh heck no!! No no no!! Makes my stomach turn to think that some one would do that (and I'm sure you felt the same way!!!)
Thanks for asking & checking, though.

 

Thanks so much!
So, one more question. Let's say, instead of a 100-plus spawn, I wanted maybe 50 babies. Would it be ethical to pull out the other 50 eggs before they hatch? Or, could I pull out some of the fry during the first few days and euthanize them (with clove oil)?
I'm not asking if I COULD -- of course I CAN -- but would it be humane?

I think that if you don't want all the babies, then maybe betta breeding isn't for you. Obviously you will cut down on the number of fish as you weed out deformities, but I think to cull just because you don't have the room/resources for all of them indicates that you shouldn't be breeding them in the first place.

So I say go for it, but only if you are willing to find homes for all of the fish that you breed

 

Wow, this went from a breeding discussion to a humaneness debate! Oh, the things that happen when on Fishlore!!

I think that if you don't want all the babies, then maybe betta breeding isn't for you. Obviously you will cut down on the number of fish as you weed out deformities, but I think to cull just because you don't have the room/resources for all of them indicates that you shouldn't be breeding them in the first place.

So I say go for it, but only if you are willing to find homes for all of the fish that you breed

Oh, I'm TOTALLY willing to find great homes for all the fish I would breed, (and maybe keep some myself!) but I think maybe you're right about waiting to breed until I can really care for 100+ babies.
Man, I really love this forum; there are some great sensible people on it!