My New Pair/Questions

[masterdan407]

I got a pair of betta last week from Petco. One male Delta tail and one female veil tail. I put the female in a cup inside the breeding tank. The male had just started on the bubble nest when the female jumped out of the cup into the tank. They are not hurting each other, just flaring. Is this a bad thing or does it matter at all that they are in tank together. Should I take the female out?

Also, the female has a black horizontal line all the way down her. Is that common because I have never seen it before. I am sort of new to breeding bettas...haha

[flyingpony22]

If you only purchased them last week then I don't think you have time to properly condition them. I would remove them immediately. Have you properly prepared for the spawn? Do you have microworms, bbs, etc to feed the spawn?

[veggiegirl]

Hey there,

The horizontal lines are the females stress stripes which indicates that she is not ready to breed, she will show vertical breeding stripes when presented to the male if she is ready to breed. You need to remove her because he may end up attacking her or vice versa.

[indjo]

+1 veggiegirl - the female is not ready to breed. Separate them and condition while you prepare what ever you need.

[masterdan407]

Maybe I didnt condition long enough....it was like a week and 3 days....what is your suggested time for conditioning? I have a microworm culture and baby brine shrimp eggs....I've bred a lot of other fish. So I know how to handle fry. I put them back into conditioning tanks for now. Thanks for the help!

[indjo]

Totally Isolate both for a few days - longer, better. Then let them see each other for 5-10 minutes daily until you are ready to breed them. They should be in breeding mode by then.

[MattsBettas]

If you just bought them, you should condition for at least three weeks.

[LadyVictorian]

+1 to this.

Also know all your offspring from this pair will be veiltail. They tend to be harder to find homes for so have a plan for all your fry. There can be up to 300 fry hatching and they will all need homes or to be culled down.

[Myates]

What foods are you conditioning them on, and how is the breeding tank set up?

[masterdan407]

I understand that all of the offspring will veiltail. I am at college and have thousands of college students that want bettas and don't know the difference between a halfmoon and veiltail. I also like veiltails. Their is nothing wrong with them. I am conditioning them on blood worms and bbs each in 5g tanks. The breeding tank is a 10g with a small heater in it set at 78. It's planted with some local water plants that I have had growing for 6 months. It also has a sponge filter and half of a styrofoam cup for the nest. I want to breed cheaper fish before I go and spend a lot money on better fish and not have a clue what I'm doing.