The shallow spawn method

[MrVampire181]

This is the first thread I'll be making on how I've bred bettas using different methods and my experiences.

Well I read about the shallow spawn method here:
http://bettysplendens.com/articles/p...?articleid=723

Like Victoria Parnell I've had tremendous success with this method.

My setup:
My setup includes:

4 gallon plastic tub with white lid
1 plastic plant
1 50 watt heater set at 86 degrees
1 piece of almond leaf

I only use about 3 inches of water in my tubs. I no longer use a nest anchor because I prefer to let the male choose his nest site....be it in the front or in the back. I introduce them into the tub at the same time, snap on the lid and ignore them. Within a few hours I have a nest and almost always within 2 days a spawn.

Just thought I'd make a thread on this

I will be using this method outdoors/indoors this summer without the heaters.

[Dragonlady]

My 2 latest betta spawns were set up very much like the Thai method. I modified the method by adding lots of plants from my infusoria culture for hiding spots for the female. Since I heat my fish room to 85 degrees, water temperature was not a problem. The pairs seemed to spawn faster that way versus a standard 10 gallon half filled tank. Amazingly, there were no losses when I transferred the fry to a larger tank. You would not know the pairs had spawned by looking at their fins. It may be a bad idea to try this method if you have never bred bettas.

[crowntail lover]

This would probably be my favorite method when spawning Bettas. I always get a good outcome when I do.
I use...
8g plastic tub with lid filled with about 5in of water
usually 4 live plants.
50watt heater set at 84 degrees
bubble wrap for the nest
and plenty of IAL.
I have used a small sponge filter with low bubble movement as well that worked great
I usually introduce them both at the same time.
and I use a 30g growout tank and house the males in 1/2g jars and KC.

[MrVampire181]

I really like this method. It's a lot easier to move the fry. Usually when I spawn in glass tanks I drain most of the water and either net or suck the fry up with a turkey baster and put them in floating cups in the growout. With this method I just drain, pull the heater, clap on the lid, and place in the growout.

[nOOb iHACK]

I use this method myself but I was thinking of moving the fry to a different grow-out tank. This way I can start conditioning my next pair. Or I can just buy another spawning tank. Do you think the fry would be okay if i move them? They're two weeks old today.

[MrVampire181]

I've moved fry at that age. As long as you introduce them to the new tank very slowly.

[PeggyJ]

Just curious ... Is it really necessary to move them into a "grow out" tank? My spawn are in a 10gal and are doing well so far. They are still tiny though and I can't see how many I have.

[MrVampire181]

For best growth yes, I usually use 66 quart plastic tubs as growouts.

[1fish2fish]

It depends on the size of the spawn. My fry are in a 12 gallon for a grow out and doing fine. There are only 11 of them in there (soon to be 9, just found two more males) so that size works well for them. A spawn of 50+ fish of course would need a bigger growout tank, depending on how many females you get.

When I get back into breeding full time I'll be using a 29 gallon tank as my second stage grow out. I'll go from 5 gallon tub to 10 gallon to 29 gallon.

The reason behind the middle sized tank is so the fry don't go from a small tank where food is everywhere to a large tank where they need to find the food. The middle tank lets them learn that food won't always cover the entire tank.