June 15, 2005:
I have started conditioning them both for breeding as of today (06/15/05) and after a few days to a week of conditioning, will introduce them.
I was going to originally do my breeding in an extra 10 gallon tank I had laying around, however I have chose to do it differently. I'm finding my own way to breed, I guess, as I am using Aidan's 5.5 gallon tank he is living in. I am going to simply move the gravel to the opposite end of the tank in which he builds his bubblenest and leave it there for the filter feeder clams I am going to use to help keep the tank clean.
I have been doing a lot of reading on breeding bettas and think I will use the way that another betta breeder does it as a guideline to help me out. Yeeviabetta is what the person goes by on a message board I have recently joined and I like this person's method.
So tomorrow I am going to find some bubblewrap to use for the male to build his nest under. It helps keep the nest together and also insulates the nest as well.
I am also going to use a mesh container I am making out of plastic canvas to hold the female for the male's viewing, instead of the glass chimney (usually used for oil lamps, but craft stores carry them as well) that is usually used. This allows her pheremones to be distributed through the water and detected by him. In a glass chimney, this does not happen and both bettas must go by visual stimulus only. I'd like to ensure both my male and female are ready, so I am giving this a try. This is something I have not read about, however I don't claim to be the only one doing it.
I don't know much about genetics and am not sure what to expect out of this pair. But I will write here what I would like to happen. I would like the babies to have a nicely formed, double ray crowntail like their parents. I would like most of the males and females to have their dad's coloring.
You're probably wondering what I am going to do with the babies. I plan to keep one or two males and two females from the spawn and then put the rest on auction on an online fish auction site.