Breeding bettas is generally an easy process for most, if you have the right equipment, the hardest part is raising the fry. In some cases, your pair just won't like each other.




PREPARING

When picking your bettas to breed, pick colors you want your fry to be.


Males have long, beautiful flowing fins, and are much bigger than females.


Females have short, stubby fins, and are usually not as pretty as males. This is a cambodian female.

You will need:

10-20 gallon tank
A sponge or box filter
Water plants(such as cobomba)
A net
Polyester floss for your filter(optional)
Fill the tank up about 7 inches high. This helps struggling fry get to the top faster.

THE BREEDING

Put the male in the tank and set the female in a jar next to the tank, so he can see her. He will build a bubble nest for her and occasionally go over to court her. When he starts to spend more time courting her than building, the nest is done.(This can take anywhere from 2-48 hrs. and it will be anywhere from 2inches by 2inches to taking up half the tank.) It is time to put in the female, provided she is fat and bubbly on her belly and probably has vertical bars across her belly. He may chase her around vigorously, for betta courtship is often rough, or they may get right to business. If you feel they are too rough on each other, you might want to try another pair of fish. The female may try to ruin his nest if she doesn't like it, in this case, you take out the female until the male has rebuilt his nest. When the female is ready she will swim towards him in a head-down position, and he this time will approach her more gently. They will swim in a little circle nudging each other and then he will wrap himself in what is like a upside down



U-shape around her and squeeze her belly to get the eggs out. Then he will slowly release her.


When they are done, you will see him go to the bottom and pick up the eggs and spit them into the bubblenest. Inexperienced males may eat the eggs. As he does this, the female will float to the top, looking dead for a few moments.


They will repeat this several times. When the female doesn't look very bubbly, you can take her out, and the male may try to chase her away from the nest, and may hurt her. Put her in a jar with methylene blue for any cuts or tears or lost scales. The fry will hatch in 24-48 hours. The male will be guarding his nest and eggs.


When they hatch, the male will put them in the nest and they will begin free swimming when there yolk sacs are gone. At this time feed them liquid fry food or infusoria, which is made by leaving pieces of lettuce in water and in sunlight for about 5 days. It is time to take out the male, at this time, he may try to herd them back to the nest, or eat them. After about 4 days they can eat Liquifry and in about 1 week BBS.(baby brine shrimp)(For more info on feeding fry, go to "Proper Feeding" in the links below.) After about 1-2 weeks, you can move the fry into a tank with higher water or raise the water at about an inch and a half a day. At as young as 5 weeks, the young males may begin to flare at one another and become aggressive. You should put all of the males in separate jars. Also, move any females that seem to be territorial. Okay, that's about it, then. Check out my other sites!

My other links:

Main Page
My Betta Club
Betta Keeping
Proper Feeding
Purchasing a Betta
The Market Place

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horseybetta@hotmail.com