im new and could use advice

[Ilovemyshiny]

recently i discovered a 99cent store selling betas in about one inch cups and very very dirty water. i have now rescued 9. i personally own 6 males and one female. i have fall in love and now want to breed them. i would love any tips. i have little knowledge. i know the basics. any tips advice about breeding and in general about keeping the fry alive and my adults happy. BTW this website is the most amazing thing i have ever come across.

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to FishForum. The best advice I can give you is to tell you to research and read as much as you can about breeding bettas. The breeding pair has to be conditioned first. Then you need a 10 or 20 gallon breeding tank. You need to know how to set it up,what to do when you actually put them together and what to feed the fry. Fry need live food. Then you'll need a LOT of jars to put each individual baby fish in once they're big enough, then you'll need to find homes for all of them. Hope this helps.

[Ilovemyshiny]

question how many fry do they generally produce. and what is this "conditioning" every one speaks of. i know about the bubble nest the females eggs how long till the eggs hatch, you know the basics. i have been reading ALOT im tying to collect all the info. here are some different questions do betas NEED the air bubbles?

[IonBaller07]

They can produce from 50-200 normally but can have MANY more if you really know what your doing. Conditioning is feeding them extra healthy protein filled foods for the two weeks up till breeding time. Foods such as brine shrimp(frozen or live) and bloodworms should be fed for those two weeks. Then you put a femalein a clear container in the a ten gallon or bigger tank with the male outside the clear container. Thats when the male shouldbuild thenest ifhe hasnt already. If he doesand the female gets her vertical stripes you can release her into the tank. They will then wrap soon and release the eggs, watch them though because they can still fight. The eggs should hatch in a day or two then the babies will feed on their egg sacs for 3-4 days. After than you need to feed them tiny live food which is one of the hardest parts. And are bubbles arent necessary because they breate air from the surface.

[dramaqueen]

They can lay from 100 to around 1000 eggs but not all of them will survive. Conditioning is feeding the breeding pair foods like live blackworms,frozen bloodworms or live brine shrimp for 2 weeks. The eggs hatch within 2-3 days. If you are talking about an airstone, no, they don't need one. They breathe air so they aren't as dependent on getting oxygen from the water.

[dramaqueen]

Ionballer, you beat me this time! lol

[Ilovemyshiny]

fantastic information. the more the better. anyone know were i can get a good deal on the containers for when i need to seperate the fry?

[Ilovemyshiny]

also one of my males has built a huge bubble nest in his small tank way to small to breed in. is it possible to breed them in there then move the fry once they hatch? im guessing no, but just wondering.

[dramaqueen]

How big is the tank? Fry can't be moved until they are about 2-3 weeks old, I think.

[IonBaller07]

For tanks for containers for the fry I would check your local dollar store they might have little containers around a gallon or so. If not Aquabid has these AquaBid.com - Your Aquatic Auction Website They look kinda small, which they are its a quart, but if they use them I guess its ok.

And they fry must stay in the same tank for 2-3 weeks, they are too fragile too move and any changes in water chemistry could kill them. You could either move the betta into a bigger tank to let him build another, try to move the nest into the big tank, or try spawning them into the smaller tank. I remember dmhalfmoon on here said hes bred in a 2g tank so its possible but there is going to be MANY more fatalities especially if its your first time. I would just move him into a the bigger tank and try to move his nest in, even if most of it falls apart he might see some of the remaining bubbles and build on to it.