Some questions about betta breeding

Hi, I am becoming interested in breeding bettas. While researching, I read that bettas can have up to a few hundred fry at a time. Average around 100. However, I read that I will only have around 30 or maybe even less surviving until adulthood. How many do you think will survive until adulthood(first try)? I won’t try breeding bettas if I can’t house all of them because I don’t think my LFS can care for them properly(all fish except bettas look great).

 

....to put it simple, a lot. Even if 30 survive, that is still a big load of fish to take care of til you can do something with them.

 

1. What kind of bettas are the easiest to breed?
2. I to help the bettas heal after breeding
3. Must I add a bubble wrap, part of a styrofoam cup or an Indian almond leaf for the male to make the bubble nest?
4. Is the Indian almond leaf necessary, where do I find it? I can’t find it in all my LFS.
5. Why is the male removed after fry becomes free swimming? Is it because he will eat the fry.
6. Can I reduce the number of fry by removing part of the bubble nest?
7. What is the average number of fry that survive until adulthood per spawn?
8. How old should the bettas be when I breed them?
9. How long do I have to let the bettas settle after I buy them before starting the breeding process.
10. Do I use water from the bettas tanks, new clean water or 1/3 new water, 1/3 from male’s tank and 1/3 from female’s tank for the breeding tank.
11. How deep should the water in the breeding tank be?

Sorry for so many questions. Thank you for answering in advance.

Can someone pls help? Thx

 

3) a still surface or part of the surface being calm does help a bubble nest stay together, so however you come up with that should be OK, i would probably make like a mini-dam with some airline tubing or something.

4) if it helps, they are also called catappa leaves.

5) yes, most likely

9) don't know a time frame, but they will need to be conditioned with a lot of foods like bloodworms, brine shrimp, etc. Pretty much frozen and live foods. I do the same when wanting to breed plecos or peacock gudgeons.

Don't know the rest, no interest in breeding bettas myself at this point!

 

1. What kind of bettas are the easiest to breed?

Generally easier to breed Betta with the same tail type(if that is what you meant). If you meant what species then I have no idea.

2. I to help the bettas heal after breeding

Not sure what you mean here.

3. Must I add a bubble wrap, part of a styrofoam cup or an Indian almond leaf for the male to make the bubble nest?

No you don't have to but giving them something to work with can help.

4. Is the Indian almond leaf necessary, where do I find it? I can’t find it in all my LFS.

No, but tannings and leaf litter(Oak leaves are also good) are beneficial in multiple ways, including giving the fry some natural food.

5. Why is the male removed after fry becomes free swimming? Is it because he will eat the fry.

That is part of the reason but it's generally fine to leave the male with the fry. He may end up eating them(some) if he gets really hungry, likely weaker fry that might not make it anyway.
A good reason to remove the male is to let him recover. He will spend all his time looking after the fry if you leave him in there. There of course is exceptions to this, if you have a particularly aggressive male for example.

6. Can I reduce the number of fry by removing part of the bubble nest?

If you mean before the breeding then you would likely just upset the male and he'd likely just build it back.
If you mean after, then I wouldn't recommend it. You risk damaging more than you might want and again stressing a Betta.
Best bet is to remove the fry you don't want after.

7. What is the average number of fry that survive until adulthood per spawn?

It highly depends on various factors. We know someone who raises hundreds at a time from every spawn. We have a more hands off approach leaving them to there own devices in a heavily planted aquarium and get a handful from a spawn. I think if you are more on top of things 40-60 is easily doable.

8. How old should the bettas be when I breed them?

For females, rather than a specific age wait until they look full of eggs, around 4-6 months or so. For males around 4-5 months.
It's generally recommended not to breed Bettes after they are over a year old. For males we don't feel like it's too much of an issue but it can wear females out to much as they age.

9. How long do I have to let the bettas settle after I buy them before starting the breeding process.

Give them a couple of weeks in their own tank before you introduce them. This gives you opportunity to QT them as well as condition them.

10. Do I use water from the bettas tanks, new clean water or 1/3 new water, 1/3 from male’s tank and 1/3 from female’s tank for the breeding tank.

Condition the male in the breeding tank and add the female. Providing you use the same source of water the parameters shouldn't be that different?

11. How deep should the water in the breeding tank be?

3 to 5 inches should be fine.

 

5) yes, most likely

Will the male only eat the unhealthy ones or all?

 

Will the male only eat the unhealthy ones or all?

No clue. But most predators usually do start with the sick and the weak.

 

Not sure what you mean

I meant how do I help the bettas heal after breeding

 

I meant how do I help the bettas heal after breeding

Keep them in tannin stained water and that should be fine and give them food you would use for conditioning.

 

No clue. But most predators usually do start with the sick and the weak.

Does it mean that keeping the male in the tank for around one week will help me to kill of the weak and sick fry so that I don’t have to cull them myself?

 

1. What kind of bettas are the easiest to breed?
2. I to help the bettas heal after breeding
3. Must I add a bubble wrap, part of a styrofoam cup or an Indian almond leaf for the male to make the bubble nest?
4. Is the Indian almond leaf necessary, where do I find it? I can’t find it in all my LFS.
5. Why is the male removed after fry becomes free swimming? Is it because he will eat the fry.
6. Can I reduce the number of fry by removing part of the bubble nest?
7. What is the average number of fry that survive until adulthood per spawn?
8. How old should the bettas be when I breed them?
9. How long do I have to let the bettas settle after I buy them before starting the breeding process.
10. Do I use water from the bettas tanks, new clean water or 1/3 new water, 1/3 from male’s tank and 1/3 from female’s tank for the breeding tank.
11. How deep should the water in the breeding tank be?

Sorry for so many questions. Thank you for answering in advance.

Can someone pls help? Thx

Hey,

So I am far from an expert on Betta breeding but have successfully raised a few batches for sale so my opinions below for you.

1. In my experience, there are no ‘easy to breed’ Bettas. You will have more ‘success’ I guess if as BigManAquatics said they are the same species of Betta (look at tail and fins). However, some Bettas just do as they wish.

2. There is no need to help the Betta to heal after breeding but you will want to give the female some time to herself as it’s pretty exhausting for her. If she has her own tank, simply leave the light off for the next few hours and feed her slowly (she may not feel like eating for a while). She will recover just fine if left to her self.

3. This depends on the Betta you have. I’ve had males that build Bettas close to the side of the glass, I’ve had Bettas that won’t build a nest at all and I’ve had Bettas that have been helped with floating plants or bubble wrap. It is often easier for them to build a nest if they have something on the surface to build it in, floating plants or as you said bubble wrap will be just fine. - please note that some males just won’t build a nest, they’re just funny like that.

4. Indian almond leaves are not needed, they help lower the PH in the water which can often lend to better breeding outcomes. But they are not always needed. You can get them from Amazon.

5. yes, make is removed so he doesn’t see the fry as a threat, some males can live with fry, I personally wouldn’t risk it once they are free swimming.

6. I personally wouldn’t touch the bubble nest once it’s built and definitely not when it has eggs in. Damaging the nest in anyway can result in the male giving up and going through the whole process again. There’s also no way to know which eggs are fertilised at this point either so just wait until they ‘hatch’.

7. This depends on so many factors and no number is the same. Water quality will matter, clean water is best to get the most fry to adults, amount of food given and some Bettas have smaller broods to others. I’ve had anywhere between 10 and 60 survive (if it’s your first time, expect the lower number) as through no fault of your own you’ll probably lose some.

8. jinjerJOSH22 the perfect answer.

9. I personally wouldn’t try to breed them until I’ve had them for a few months. They’ll both need to settle in their own environments first. Let them get to know you, feed them both properly with high protein foods and keep an eye on how they act. They may need quarantining first depending on where you got them from. Take your time, this is something that takes planning.

10. Conditioned tap water is fine, add a heater if you don’t live in a warm country and you should be fine. It usually takes about a day or so and then the female can be moved out and male a few days later so no need for a filter as they’re not in there long enough.

11. I personally breed in a 35L plastic tub filled about half way, this has been fine for me each time. Try this and if it’s not working for you change it up.

Things I would consider before breeding Bettas.

Space - these will take up a lot of space as they get older, they can be grown out in a larger tank together but after a few months they will need separating, bare this in mind and have this covered before you begin. Especially if you have 20+.

Try to get buyers before they’re adults, not always possible but saves you holding on to so many fish, feeding, daily water changes etc.

Have fun!!! It’s a very rewarding process but you will make mistakes (we all do) just take your time and listen and learn from your fish, they’ll tell you if they’re not happy.

Good luck.

 

Hi bettasXD
I have no experience breeding betta, but when I joined my local club I found people who had. I listened to them give talks to the group and was free to ask questions both at the time and now if I wanted.

The little I know is .
Its not easy .
Expect to lose adult fish that are killed by their failed partners.
You will most likely have to cull / kill dozens of fry in order to give the hundred or so fry you keep a chance at a healthy life.
In Australia you can’t make money unless you breed only the hard to find colours/ tail shapes. More culling of undesirable offspring.
Its a lot of work taking many months.
Its definitely doable by an average home person that has the time to spend. I know of one woman that was successful as a teenager.
Not many that I know of do it twice.


At least with my local water I was told the Indian almond leaf help stop the bubbles popping.

I suggest you join your local club and follow what is recommended practice in your climate with your water.I could write a list of what those around me have done but it may not help in your climate?

I suggest you breed other species and work your way up to bubble nesting fish with fry that need live foods.

Think of it as a 3 year plan. Something to build up to.

Here is a trick I saw with my own eyes.

A cardboard box of takeaway containers full of betta.
Each container has a very small hole in the lid.
Each container is tipped upside down with the lid on and then placed under water to fill without removing the lid. Each container was half emptied and filled again in under 15 seconds. That is the kind of thing you only learn by watching.

You need to learn those live food cultures ( micro worms) and how to keep the culture going for months on end as the first step in my opinion?

Good luck on your journey in the hobby.

 

1. In my experience, there are no ‘easy to breed’ Bettas. You will have more ‘success’ I guess if as @BigManAquatics said they are the same species of Betta (look at tail and fins). However, some Bettas just do as they wish.

8. @BigManAquatics gave the perfect answer.

I think you meant jinjerJOSH22 *cough*

Just to clarify I was referring to the "tail type" and not species. There are many different species of Betta found in the wild that are kept usually with the purpose to breed them. The most commonly kept domestic Betta is Betta splendens. The domestic fish is a hybrid I believe of various Betta species. There is also a wild Splendens which differs quite a bit in behaviour than the domestic fish.
Some species live in large groups and can be kept with multiple males.
Wild Betta breeding can make for a really interesting breeding project in my opinion. Not all are bubble nesters, some are mouthbrooders.

 

I think you meant jinjerJOSH22 *cough*

Just to clarify I was referring to the "tail type" and not species. There are many different species of Betta found in the wild that are kept usually with the purpose to breed them. The most commonly kept domestic Betta is Betta splendens. The domestic fish is a hybrid I believe of various Betta species. There is also a wild Splendens which differs quite a bit in behaviour than the domestic fish.
Some species live in large groups and can be kept with multiple males.
Wild Betta breeding can make for a really interesting breeding project in my opinion. Not all are bubble nesters, some are mouthbrooders.

Looks like I needs coffee today!! haha credit changed!

Agreed! Never seen any of the wild Bettas in stores by me but I’ve seen a few in the US fish stores which look really cool.

Would be a fascinating breeding project.

 

Try to get buyers before they’re adults, not always possible but saves you holding on to so many fish, feeding, daily water changes etc.

I will be moving so I am planning to get new tanks. I expect around 10-30that survive as this will be my first try. I think I will be the girls in a sorority tank and boys in divided tanks or their own separate tank. I am breeding not for selling, I am planning to keep them and maybe give a few to my friends. Also, don’t think I can sell. Only 13 years old…

I suggest you join your local club and follow what is recommended practice in your climate with your water.I could write a list of what those around me have done but it may not help in your climate?

I suggest you breed other species and work your way up to bubble nesting fish with fry that need live foods.

I don’t thinks inspire has a fish club. Even if there is, I think I’m too young to join.

What fish do you suggest?

Also, do I cull using clove oil?

 

Start by talking to your local shops about what fish they have a high demand for and would be willing to “ make a deal “ with you on . Getting cash is not going to happen straight away. You can only expect store credit. Expect to get dry food and water conditioner. In time hopefully you walk in and the shop owner knows you. Building a relationship takes time.

In my town the shops ask me to breed bristle nose plecos. As there seems to be a high demand for them. At best I might expect one dollar each . On a good day I might get one dollar a centimetre / $3 a juvenile. Given the cost of food and water in my country that is not profitable.

Perhaps some colours of cherry shrimp are in demand? They require minimum space.

Currently” rice fish “ are new to my country and bringing a high price at auction. Shops in my town are forced to pay top dollar by importers. Believe it or not it’s $20 Australian retail for a fish that breeds like rabbits. As easy as guppies to breed at least in summer outdoors.

So my suggestion is build a relationship with the best “fish only “ aquarium store in town.