[Trillion]

can bettas breed n a little tank if not how big of a tank do they need?

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[jan]

I'm not really in to Betta's, but I do remember this topic from a while back.
It contains some pretty handy info and links:

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.ph...topic=89072&hl=

* Topic moved to the General discussion forum, for a better response

[Trillion]

thanks jan I was just asking for a friend I don't have no bettas.Seems like no one on here does!

[jan]

Actually there are quite a few members that are in to Betta keeping. Just try the search option at the bottom of the page. And off course there is Tinkerbelle our resident Betta gourou. Maybe you could contact her

[Kuda]

yes trillion i keep bettas, and theres many otheres on hear as well

[benJii]

Breeding bettas can be a very complicated process, I'm exactly sure on the details, but it involves alot of removing the male. Raising the fry can be just as hard, as I'm sure you know that males do not get along, and that instinct is born into them at a young age.

I personally havent throughly sought out the hobby of Bettas, but it very well indeed looks cool. I've been tempted at the Betta macrostoma at a fish shop nearby, except for the $200 price tag.

Bettas are very cool, the fact that they have such short life spans, and often some of them that you buy have alredy lived half of their lives. Plus im very much not into all of the culled and selectivily bred anything, and i find the same thing with Bettas too. I predict in college when im low on tank space the thought of some Bettas may appeal to me.

[Trillion]

ok, sounds good ill let her know its possible. I didn't think it was.
what size tank does she need though?
Thanks people.

[Tinkerbelle]

I would not suggest breeding in anything less than a 10 gallon tank. The reason for this is after breeding it becomes the grow out tank for the fry.

To breed bettas you will need:

A male betta, as young as possible* (3.5-5 months of age is prime)
A female betta, as young as possible (3-4 months of age is prime)

*Because most pet store bettas are actually quite old it can be much harder to breed with them. Males develop their large tails mostly around 8 months so they are able to be sold at that age much more easily because of the 'pretty' factor. Much past 6 months of age with either sex and its not as effective and spawn sizes decrease.

A 10 gallon tank w/ lid

A sponge filter appropriately sized to the 10 gallon tank

A heater appropriately sized to the 10 gallon tank

A reliable thermometer

A plastic cup cut in half and a 1 or 2 pieces of tape 3-5" long (the cup gets taped at water level to the side of the tank)

A live plant that will float (i.e. camboba)

A hurricane lantern (tube of glass for putting over candles, you can get it at a craftstore)

Food for the resulting fry... Microworm and Baby Brine Shrimp cultures work best. Bloodworm for when they're older.

The ideal setup is something like this:

 Fishstuff.jpg (44.82K)
Number of downloads: 24

You set it all up, with a bare bottomed tank, and then do a fishless cycle on it.

Once it is completely cycled you can introduce the male. Let him acclimate for a day or two. Then you place the hurricane lantern into the tank, and the female goes inside the hurricane lantern. You then WAIT until she shows behavior typical of breeding readyness. This includes vertical striping, like a zebra, placing her body in a 45 degree down angle, and a visible egging up of her abdomen. Once the first two signs are visible, the third should follow shortly.

The male will generally 'flare' his gills and fins and show off for her. He may even swim back and forth between the lantern and the cup, where he will probably make his bubble nest (to put the resulting eggs in). Hey may alternatively make the nest in the floating plants. Give him both so that he can have a choice, or end up moving them at some point.

You then release the female but do not just ignore the tank. One or both fish may become badly beaten up due to the mating process. Generally the male will pursue the female out of aggression and then lust. If you manage to catch the actual fertilization process its really neat. The male wraps around the female and 'hugs' her to cause her to release her eggs. he then will either catch them on his tail and fertilize them, or swim down to the bottom of the tank where they've fallen and fertilize them (or he won't do it at all and then you have dud eggs). The female will float stunned for awhile, and they she may or may not join the male in carrying the eggs in his mouth to the bubble nest where he will spit them out into the awaiting bubbles.

Once the mating process is completed the male will drive the female from the nest. Remove her. Within 48 hours the fry should begin hanging, where you will just see the tips of their tails. The male will continue to tend the nest and replace any fry that fall, or eat off fungus infected eggs. As soon as the fry become free swimming remove the male and optionally the cup. You will need to begin to feed them at this point. Small meals 4-6 times a day are key for optimal growth.

Once the fry are 2-3 months old the males will begin getting aggressive. You will need to start separating them into their own individual tanks at this point. Prepare for lots of water changes. Beanie baby boxes make good fry tanks but you do need to change the water every other day.

For basic betta keeping please feel free to check out my website,Better Betta Care. I know its a little basic- but I wrote it as a guide for most of my friends in college who bring home bettas and want to keep them in vases and never feed them.

This post has been edited by Tinkerbelle: 15 March 2006 - 11:45 AM

[Tinkerbelle]

DannyBoy17, on Mar 16 2006, 04:22 AM, said:

Sorry Tink, but I wouldnt dare read past the Betta age requirement.

I dont believe that is true in anyway, "yeeviabetta", one of the top Betta breeders on online forums, has no age requirements (besides the desperately old and young).

He also uses 10g tanks.

Well if you didn't eread past, its just a suggestion or guideline for the most productive breeding ages. Much past those spawn sizes go down... We're talking prime time breeding is from 3-6 months in most cases, but I have had a successful spawn with a 6 month old female to a 11 month old male. The male ended up eating the fry but I figure there were at least 50-75 eggs in that spawning, vs. the nearly 750 the breeder I got my fish from told me about in a prime age spawning.

[plecsarebetta]

I agree with Tink, the younger the better with spawning bettas..most* bettas wont spawn over 14 months in age..My last quality pair $40 plus shipping from Thailand spawned at 4 month old and had huge batches of eggs....The spawnings got less regular as the fish aged
(*although some do to prove us wrong)

[blargonator]

what the crap is up with the bubbles at the top of the water?

[Tinkerbelle]

blargonator, on Mar 24 2006, 10:51 PM, said:

what the crap is up with the bubbles at the top of the water?

the bubbles are formed by the male to act as a nest for him to spit the eggs into once fertilized.