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Breeding Bettas
Breeding Bettas isn't hard if you do
everything right and if you are patient.
This process has worked for me and might
not work for you.
The important stuff you need are a
submersible heater, a breeding tank (3 gallon or 10 gallon), food for the fry
such as liquid food or daphnias (be prepared), a top for the tank -needed for
keeping the moisture in so the bubble nest wont break (if you don't have one
then have saran wrap), a 4x4 inch wax paper sheet, a sponge filter, a thermometer (not the one humans use...the one for
fish), and a male and a female Betta, be sure to get a Bettas that aren't older
then one year (Male Bettas have long fins while female have small and sometimes
male have small so ask your store salesperson if he knows which is a male).
Now you must condition the Bettas and live
food is the best, especially live blood worms or live brine shrimp. Feed your
Bettas your live food 2-4 times a day as much as it can eat in 2-3 minutes. When
I condition my Bettas I condition them for about 2 weeks or until the females
belly is full of eggs and you can see that because her stomach will be FAT and
if you look under it you will see one egg hanging.
Now you must have a breeding tank. As I
said earlier a 3 gallon tank is fine but I would take a 10 gallon. Now it is
important that you don't fill the 10 gallon tank all the way! you must fill it
only 4 to 6 inches deep. And don't put any gravel in it because if you do then
it's really hard for the male to find the eggs when they fall. And have a little
hiding place for the female because the male will chase her so she has to hide or he
will hurt her sometimes even kill her! Be sure to have some old water because
the water has to be a little murky so the bubble nest wont pop. The reason you
need the 4x4 wax paper is because you need to take it and tape it down on the
corner of the tank because that is where he will build his nest...under the wax
paper.
When your putting the male put him 4 days
before you will breed the female. Because first he will take atleast two days to
make a really good bubblenest and the second two days you have to put the female
by the males tank in a little 1 gallon bowl or a half gallon bowl.
During this time the male will keep coming
to the female and flare up and keep working on his bubblenest. The female will
show she is ready by getting vertical lines on her belly, flaring back, showing
her fat belly, or wiggling. After these two days put them together and leave
them in the tank for 12-24 hours and they will mate during that time if you
followed the process.
When they are mating the male will put his
body and wrap it around the female connecting their genital pores and after a
couple of times you will see about 10-20 eggs falling down each time. As they
are falling the male will catch the eggs in his mouth (don't worry he isn't
eating them) and then he will blow them on the bubblenest and sometimes the
females help. This process may take 2-4 hours and after its done immediately
take out the female because if you don't either the female will eat the eggs or
the male will kill her because he guards the eggs like crazy. Sometimes some
males eat the eggs so if that does happen then take out the male and lower the
water level to 1 inch and just leave the eggs like that and if you can try to
get a eye dropper and place the eggs back on the nest. You can tell he is eating
the eggs if he just takes the eggs in his mouth and never returns hem on the
nest.
After 32-80 hours depending on the
temperature (usually its 32-48 hours) they little fry are really small and have
no color and have little sacks under their bellies which is their food supply
for the next couple of days. They cant swim yet and will keep falling vertically
the male will catch them and put them in the nest again. The second day they
will be able to just stay horizontally. The male will still put them back in the
nest because they will still fall down. The third day they will be able to swim
and take the male out immediately because he will get tired of brining them back
to the nest and he will just eat them. And if your male starts to eat the babies
on the first day or second then just take out the male and lower water level to
1 inch and don't do anything to them. they will have enough strength to swim one
inch.
Now just feed them liquid food or micro
worms or daphnia. They will grow pretty fast and after about 2 months some will
start to show aggressiveness and start attacking others so separate them. And by
6 months they will be marketable size. Have fun with your new pet fishes.
Good luck and hope you enjoy your Betta
Breeding.
If you have any questions breeding Bettas
please contact me at
[email protected] Thank-You!
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