New to Breeding

[Marcurii]

Hiya Forum!!!

Uh, I'm kinda new to the forum but I've been heavily researching Bettas and breeding them, but I still need some advice.

Okies, male breeding pair, Ashford & Simpson are house in a partitioned tank and have been for about a week now. They seem to be quite happy in their tanks because Simpson has been happily blowing bubbles on the top of his tank for about 3 days now and Ashford has been making her own little bubbles and sporting some very vivid vertical zebra stripes on her sides. Plus she's getting a little pudgy around her middle. From what I've been reading, they say that they're ready to mate but I'm not too sure about putting them together cause Simpson still flares when he sees her in addition to swimming up and down frantically and Ashford simply floats away.

I would like to breed them but I don't want them to kill each other because they were an early christmas gift from my mother. So, how do I know when to put them together in their honeymoon suite?

Oh yeah, during their condition for the past week and a half, I have been feeding them Beta pellets, the Tetra freeze dried blood worms, the Tetra Freeze dried shrimp, and some of the Tetra flakes. (Simpson like everything except for the pellets and would rather starve than eat them, and Ashford likes everything except for the shrimp.) I feed them about 4 flakes, 4 worms and 3 shrimp for Simpson and 4 pellets for Ashford about twice a day, may increase to three times a day.

I have them living in a 1.5 gallon tank which I clean religiously every 5 days and their honeymoon suite is about 2 gallons with some aquatic plants and no gravel.

Any suggestions for what i should do?

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum. Here is a sticky with some general guidelines for breeding bettas. We have several members here who have bred their bettas and I know that they will be more than willing to offer their advice. :)
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/b...-bettas-30005/

[MrVampire181]

Ok the members who are willing to help thing was obviously directed at me lol jk. But just to let you know I'm the cause for all the breeding madness around here :P .

Ok let's look at your breeding setup before we get to introducing your pair.

1. I used to breed in 2 gallons. WAY TO HARD. It gets dirty quickly and the fry need to be moved within a matter of a week or two which isn't healthy for the fry and can be fatal if not done correctly. A lot of books say 2-10 gallons is a good range of tank size for breeding and I agree, if you know what your doing. I would upgrade your tank to a 5 or 10 gallon. Can't afford a new tank? NO PROBLEM!! You can buy a cheap plastic storage bin (clear of course). I like the 20 gallons personally. If you spawn in a 20 gallon you never have to move the fry (unless your spawn is HUGE). Be sure to provide hiding spots (caves, thick plants, live plants will help with infusoria to feed the fry ;) ).

Heating: You didn't mention having a heater in your tank. For 5-10 gallons I would use a 50 watt heater. In tanks under 5 gallons I'd use a micro-submersible heater (availalbe at walmart).

Bubblenest cup: I use a half styrofoam cup as a bubblenest anchor. The male will build his nest under this.

Introduction to the tank: Here's what I do: Float the pair in the tank for 30 minuets at night. Release them at the same time and then turn off all the lights, now you can get some z's without freakin about your fish, as long as your fish are in total darkness the can't see or hurt each other. A good chance is that they'll breed in the early morning.

Tips: I use Atison Betta Spa at a rate of 10 drops per gallon and I use with my other water conditioner. DON'T use it with aquarium salt. I've had spawns happen each time I used it tohugh some didn't either survive or the eggs were eaten by dad.

[Lethbridge]

If you do decide to use a plastic container, please look to make sure the plastic is either type #2,#4, or #5 if not the plastic can be very toxic to fish. I work at a pet store and i get alot of people saying they decided to move/breed there fish in these plastic containers and they die within a few hours, the heater warms the water which releases harmful chemicals into the water, i would definately stick away from the rubbermaid brand as most of there plastic is unsuitable for fish to live. If you do not like the half a styrfoam cup idea, because fry and sometimes get stuck on the cup and die, i would reccommend bubble wrap as bettas in the wild breed under fallen IAL and this would more represent the bettas natural habitat. Just keep in mind that everyone has a different way of doing things and you will learn as you breed more. Hope this helps

[Marcurii]

Ah I was wondering about the styrofoam cup. Now do I have to attach that cup to the side of his tank or can it be free floating?

And yeah I have a an overhead light heater for my old large tank, but I guess I can splurge and by the cheap one from Wal-Mart.

As for a rubbermaid container, ewwe, lol. I don't even eat out of rubbermaid, so I wouldn't subject my babies to that.

Hmm, I might have to postpone their coupling for a week to get the pump and set up my fry tank. Would this affect Ashford and Simpson in any way? Cause she's seems to be "ripe" with eggs, lol.

And wow, you guys respond fast :D

[Lethbridge]

You can have the sytrofoam cup any way you like it. I personally tape it to the glass to keep it from floating away however it does get suctioned pretty well to the glass even if you dont tape it so it is up to you. A good constant heater is good that why you can raise the temp to low to mid 80's which will not only make the fry grow fast, but also it will help keep disease down. ya good idea rubbermaid is definately not the container to use. As for waiting a couple weeks go for it, it is always better to over condition your male so that he does not eat the eggs, and the more you condition your female she will produce more eggs so no it cant really hurt, but dont go too long or the female could drop or absorb all her eggs

[lilyrazen]

Originally Posted by Marcurii

I have them living in a 1.5 gallon tank which I clean religiously every 5 days and their honeymoon suite is about 2 gallons with some aquatic plants and no gravel.

1.5 that you split or a 3 gallon that you split? Either way the 1.5 is small for one betta, and two in there is really cramped.

[Lethbridge]

for temperary storage 1.5 gallons is okay for a betta however for breeding and day to day life atleast 2 gallons is recommended

[MrVampire181]

I agree with all above. I know one breeder who used #7 plastic jars and a few hours later their fins were pretty much singed off. I like the storage bins personally because they're cheap, durable, and aren't as clear as regular tanks which can help in spawning. But do what you think will work. We all have our ways of breeding. When I started I used the method at www.teradoty.com/bettas . Now I'm using bigger tubs and sometimes totally different methods.

[Lethbridge]

where as mr. v uses tubs i use 10 gallon aquariums, although they are more expensive i find they look alot nicer and i like to be able to see the fry very well, but again its all preference