I might attempt to breed again, a few ?s 1st

[Maryrox247]

Well, I have as you may know attempted breeding before with DeadSunlight but have never had a successful spawn. One time the eggs were sterile either that or the daddy didn't take care of them, another time when we tried to breed my king bettas Fishy (R.I.P) with Ember (R.I.P) fishy just sat there on his tail and let ember do whatever (I conditioned them both for over 3 weeks! They saw each other 24/7 and fishy was interested before...then again he ALWAYS sat on his tail ALL day...) and the other time DeadSunlight (R.I.P)was injured too badly by the female and Orange (R.I.P) was too aggresive. So anyways here are my questions:

1. What is the smallest size tank (but still SAFE) that you can breed in because i done have a 10 gallon handy, or should i just not breed? (I CAN get a Rubbermaid or Sterilite tub and i have some spare decor and a heater i can put into it)

2. Is it ok to feed during the spawn or after the embrace when the male guards the nest?

3. What do i do if the male isn't guarding the nest?

4. Is it ok to let the pair see each other during conditioning? If so, how often?

Thank you, your answers are very much appreciated!

[Panthera]

Well I haven't personally spawned my pair yet, but I've researched tons and have asked these same questions before.

1.) I think a 5 gallon is really the smallest you can go, but if you have a big tub thats better :D Just bad if you want to get pictures of them.

2.) I wouldn't feed the male, he may mistake some of the food for eggs and begin eating them. As long as he is conditioned before, he'll be fine without eating for a few days. Just fatten him up after taking him out.

3.) Well there's not much you can do if he isn't being a good dad. Hopefully he'll realize whats going on and get his rear in gear and guard the eggs. If no though, some will probably still survive.

4.) I'm going to condition my pair for a few days, then show her to him for 20 mins every day. Then I'm going to leave her in the tank in a small Kritter Keeper so he can't get to her for about a day. Then release.

Hope that helped!

[Oldfishlady]

Lots of different ways to spawn this species and it can be different for each pair....

The smallest container I have used is a 5gal-but I also do the full to the top with water...first time at breeding I think the hobbyist should use the half full bare bottom tank and with experience...move on to other methods....this is just my opinion.....

Feeding during spawning and egg/fry care-varies-for me-this depends on how long the pair are together in the spawning tank...if over 24 hours I feed them

Some male will not eat when they are tending the nest and the added food may pollute the tank-mine will eat so I feed them-but I also feed live foods and this makes a difference IMO-if they don't eat it the live food will survive in the freshwater and he will eat it later or it will turn into a mosquito and fly away and bite me....lol.....

When the male will not tend the nest or is a known egg/fry eater-I artificially hatch the eggs-I use a small container and as gentle as I can I allow the eggs and nest to float into a small container-I then float this container in the heated tank-attached to the side so it doesn't sink-since I use lots of live plants and the male usually uses water lettuce for his nest this small container will have a plant and also a common snail or two-I leave the snail-usually they will start off eating any fungus or bad eggs first before they move on to the healthy ones and by then the eggs have hatched-I will try to remove all but one snail in the artificial hatch container with tweezers if I can to limit the number of healthy eggs eaten-but this has never been a problem.....the eggs that drop to the bottom of the container also hatch and so I don't worry about them or making water changes since I have live plants with them and a clean up crew to take care of dead/dieing/fungus
Hatch rate may be lower than when the male tends to them
Once the fry are free swimming-I will allow small amounts of the tank water to flow into the container daily-I will start to add live food at about day 10 from free swimming and usually by day 14 I will release them into the spawning tank that I have the artificial hatch container floating in that I have been pouring out and replacing water daily from.

I like to condition my breeders so they can't see each other for 3-7 days...this varies from Betta to Betta

I house my Bettas differently than most and mine are always in peak condition for breeding generally-when I plan to spawn I pull the pair I plan to use and place them in small containers so they can't see any other Bettas and increase the food intake along with daily water changes for 3-7 days

I then dump them in the spawning tank at the same time for a little temp shock....usually I will have a spawn within a few hours-if not first thing in the AM I will have spawning before I even turn the lights on

The younger the breeding pair the faster they spawn IME
Sometimes with my older guys that I am breeding back to daughters I may have to changes things up a bit...all depending on the Betta...they can keep you on your toes.....thats what makes it fun...in my opinion.....lol....

[Maryrox247]

Thank you both so much for the replies! They really helped a lot and i think you might see a breeding log in the near future! (lets hope anyway lol)

[MrVampire181]

I spawn in 4 gallon shallow tubs with 3-4 inches of water, a 50 watt heater set at 82F-86F, and a plastic plant. I do add an IAL leaf but 9 times out of 10 the male builds his nest in the back corner. I make the water dark with IAL. I have had an almost 100% success rate with this method. As for growout...depends on the spawn size...for a small spawn I use a 10 gallon, medium sized spawns are in a 16.5 Sterilite tub, and larger spawns are in a 30 gallon. I'll be buying two 20 gallon long tanks soon to be used as growouts.

[dramaqueen]

I would go with the sterilite or rubbermaid container. If you breed in a small tank, you'll end up having to move the fry anyway to a larger growout tank.

[MrVampire181]

As far as spawning tanks are concerned...they should be big enough for the female to get away but not too big that the pair loses each other and to house the fry for a month.