A Wife for my betta fish, Marry Christmass!

[Smilya767]

For Christmass, I was thinking about getting my Beta fish a wife. But I dont know any thing at all about how that is going to work out. He is a pink and purple and white betta fish. He Swims and sleeps alot. I dont think he likes his bowl that much because he sees his reflection in his 1 gallon bowl and i herd some where that he sees that as another beta and takes that as a thret or something. So, he lives in his small beta multicolored rocks and plastic leaves -- and no caves. Man I gotta go to pet co to get some new rocks and a cave. But, as I was saying for cristmass, I was thinking of getting him a wife, and a devied tank, like they sell at pet co. Well, then i was thinking of little baby fishes, (lol) and well i have no idea of beta "breeding", how dose it work? I know if i put them together they will eat each other, what should I do?!?

[iamntbatman]

Betta breeding is a huge undertaking. First of all, the fish are very aggressive. Introducing a male fish to a female without being careful will lead to fighting and may result in death. If you do it correctly and the fish do spawn, you have literally hundreds of baby fish to think about. You will need at least a 40 gallon breeder tank for the young fish with live foods such as infusoria, baby brine shrimp and vinegar eels ready to feed to the baby fish. As the fry grow, the males especially will begin to fight, so you will need enough one gallon jars for the possible hundreds of males you could end up with. Each jar should at least have an air stone. Such a setup would set you back at least several hundred dollars, if not more. And even if you were successful, you would need to find homes for all of the fish you'd end up with.

I highly recommend spending at least a few years in the aquarium hobby before attempting to breed bettas.

A divided tank would probably be ok, but definitely do not try to let the male and female share the same space as there will inevitably be fighting and quite likely death resulting from such an experiment.

[Flashygrrl]

Don't get those 2.5 gallon tanks with dividers either, if you want to divide a tank and give them both 2.5 gallons (which they would like a lot) get a 5 gallon tank and you can make your own divider. You'll have to pick a side to put the heater and filter in...you'll want a 25w heater for a 5 gallon.

Stuff you need to make dividers: #7 craft canvas from Walmart (they sell it in sheets, 1 will be more than enough), clear report covers that have the little plastic spines that slide down the side of the cover to hold the pages in. It's these little spines that you want, and aquarium sealant.

First: Glue the spines to the inside of the aquarium, you will probably need to cut them so measure first. They need to go far enough to the top that Mr. Betta will not think about jumping in with Mrs. Betta. Let it set for a couple days until the glue doesn't stink. Then cut your craft canvas to fit and just slide it into the spines. Make sure you cut it to make a tight fit!!!

Note: Spines and canvas should be rinsed really well before being put into the tank.