First time breeding and getting set up.

[lvandert]

Alright so I decided about a month ago that I was going to breed bettas, so for the past month I've been collecting the necessary things (tank heater, baby brine shrimp, lots of plastic plants etc.) But I do still have a few questions.
1) I've seen the breeding tanks without gravel, do I need to take my gravel out? Also do I NEED a sponge filter, what if i just cycle the water out daily? I'll attach a pic of my breeding tank.
2) I also only have a 5 gallon tank, so how many fry could live happily in there? I know its small but I don't have the room for a 10 gal :( I'm also guessing that I'll have to cull some out early.
3) Why does everyone hate veiltails so much? I realize their old news and there are bigger and better out there. I know they don't sell the best among breeders but I have a local pet store that wants to buy my offspring so they can sell them ( dont worry I dont plan on making much money, if any, from breeding. I'm more doing it for the fun).
4)I also have NO idea what type of betta my females are :( Petsmart said one was veiltail but they've been known to sell males as females so I'm not to sure on their suggested breed. The other girl I bought from said local pet store and they didn't know. The blue girl, Selena, was said to be a veiltail but I think she might be a delta due to the, oh what are they called (the lines on the tail, you count them and look at patterns). My red girl, Big Red, I honestly have no clue on. She's actually the biggest betta I've had, and her tail fin is a little messed up but she seems healthy so I'm thinking it was just defect from birth. I'm thinking she might be a giant. I saw a male (for the first time in petsmart) and they had almost identical coloring. It's really hard to see on Big Red but she does have some blue irridecent streaking in her tail (if only two or three minuscule stripes) Once again I'll attach pics of my two girls.

I'm sure I'll come up with more questions later but for now I think I'm empty. Thank you for everyone who does reply/ follow. This will be my breeding page too once I get things going.

[PitGurl]

I hate to break it to you but if you don't have room for anything bigger then a 5 gallon then you don't have room to breed bettas. Bettas can spawn in a 5 gallon and they fry can stay in there for a short time but then you'll need something large for a growout, 20+ gallons. Then you have to add the fact that the males can't stay together forever. Where are you going to put 50+ bettas? They're are some "stickys" on breeding in this section I suggest you read them if you haven't already. Good luck.

[lvandert]

I guI've read a bunch of the stickys. My mom has one of my ten gallons from when I was a kid, but once again now I have no where to put it. I was going to cull them out so I don't have to worry about getting a bigger tank. I'm ok with only having 5 or ten survive in the end. Once I can distinguish the sex and they can live in their own little jars I am going to bring them to my pet store so they can sell them. So I'm not going to have them until their big adults any ways. My pet store would rather get them from me and know they're young and healthy vs getting them from somewhere else.

[Oldfishlady]

While I agree having bigger tanks on hand will make it much easier and increase your success rate in getting a better outcome.....But.....you could still do it with just a 5gal.....you most likely will not end up with very many fry that will grow to adult and you may even have some stunting issue....but this can at least help give you an idea what to expect and maybe find that you will want to go bigger with the next spawn.....

So lets work with what you got.....
In the 5gal-remove the filter unless it is a sponge filter-but turn if off when you add the breeders until the fry are free swimming, add a bunch of live plants and some common snails.....I would leave it full to the top with water-the substrate/gravel-you can leave it-but some of the eggs can get trapped and even fry later on if it is larger size gravel-you can also place a smooth object under the nesting site to help prevent this too. But removing it would be best.....

Have your breeder in separate container-neither in the spawning tank and start feeding them well....good quality varied diet fed in small frequent meals and if you have access to mosquito larva-mass feed this and you can get them ready in about 3-4 days-if not 2 weeks....let the pair see each other for 5 min each day-other wise you don't want either fish to see any other fish during the conditioning period....Once conditioned.....

Make a 50% water change on the spawning tank-add the male and something to use for a nest site-add the female cupped floating in the tank with him-when he flirts with her through the container and tries to get her to follow and she try to follow-release her......

You will see a lot of chasing, nipping...etc.....she may approach the nest and he will attack driving her off...this is normal....as long as you have plenty of cover for her...leave them together...spawning may take place within the hour to weeks......hard to say since this can vary a lot....as long as she is not panting and in great distress...all is fine...she may or may not be torn to pieces or even the male can get torn up.....

Soon he will become more gentle with her, swimming in the "S" pattern, slapping her with his tale leading her to the nest-she should follow in the head down position.......embracing begins...sometimes it can take several embraces before you see eggs...stand back and watch-its an awesome site to see-but do not intervene or stick your hand in the tank.....

If you need to leave them together for longer than a day-feed as normal and turn lights off at night.....check the nest each AM-often they spawn in the cover of darkness or at first light.....

Once you have eggs-remove the female

The male should be tending the nest-

Temp at 80F-usually you will have hatch in 24-28h more or less-watch for tiny tails hanging from the nest and bouncing babies.....

I turn the light off at night like I normally do-they have what is called a lateral line that functions somewhat like echo location and can tend to their eggs/fry in total darkness-you can leave the light on too....either is fine....

I feed before during and after spawning...some breeders don't...its up to you....

In another 72 hours more or less from hatch...fry should be free swimming....this time line can be different based on when the eggs dropped and other factors -often they do not all hatch and free swim at the exact same time....

If you want-you can take the male out once most of the fry are free swimming-if he is a good father he can stay with the fry long term-but since this is his first spawn and you don't know...I would remove him so not to risk the fry....

I would get my BBS hatchery started the day after the fry hatch-I like to use 2 hatcheries started 24h apart......It is best to feed newly hatch BBS with their yolk sac intact for best nutrition-if BBS is the only live food you plan to feed....Poor nutrition is a big killer of fry......

Once you start feeding the fry-start making 25% daily water changes for the first week-then 50% starting on week 2

If you have common snails in the tank along with live plants-this can make things easier-both the snails and plants can help water quality and help to create microorganism for fry food.....

If you have a sponge filter-turn this on once you start feeding the fry on a low setting.....so low that it doesn't break the water surface....1-2 bubbles/second......

By week 2- I would cover the top of the tank with plastic veggie wrap to help retain heat/humidity for when the labyrinth organ start to develop-that first breath of air if too cool and dry can cause mass deaths and if they survive you can have buoyancy issues with them

By using a 5gal-you will have a normal die off in the beginning and later.....usually in a 5gal long term....you may end up with about 5-10 fry-but this can vary, however, this is a good number to work with for the first spawn.....

Lots of different ways to spawn and rear fry successfully....its finding out what works for you, your breeders and what you have on hand...remembering that each spawn can be different even with the same breeders....

It is important to be respectful and responsible-it can be a lot of fun and rewarding rearing your own Bettas from eggs to adult-but it can also be a lot of work and very time consuming and not everyone is willing to put forth the effort needed for a successful spawn......many things can go wrong as many things can go right.......

Good luck.....

[lvandert]

Thanks for the info! I'm working on maybe getting a bigger tank for cheap, yay craigslist! I know I might not get that many to adult stage anyways because their hard to raise. I Think I will try to use the 5gal at first just to maybe get a feel for it. I have a "3 way breeder" but when I take all of the stuff out its just a really good floating cup :) once again thanks for the help :)

[bettafish15]

I would take the gravel out, because the male needs to be able to dive down to the bottom and collect them, and the gravel will swallow the eggs. This is why breeding tanks are bare-bottom :)

[lvandert]

Well then I got some work to do before I start

[CarmanDirda]

They seem to have regarded most concerns, but be careful culling out fish that aren't injured/deformed/etc. It'd be better for you to upgrade tank size than to cull, because you may be getting rid of what would become the best sellers and biggest money makers.

I know you said money wasn't the biggest concern when it came to selling, but some good finds would do you well, and may be good for future betta lineages.

[Fabian]

Well i breed my bettas in my 5 gallon tanks.They should be fine without any substrate.The fry will still survive well now.

[lvandert]

Yeah I have yet to actually remove the gravel yet. School has been crazy and along with work I barley have enough time to sleep. I'm still pondering on which two to put together.