[MattyFatty22]

Hello everyone!

I’m new to this community but I’ve been keeping betta fish for over a year now. My girlfriend and I are currently living in Japan and caring for betta fish here. We’ve tried to breed the standard betta that you can just get at any fish store, but without any luck. In late November we decided to move on from breeding betta and just care for them instead, so as a new hobby, we decided to get wild betta from our local fish store.

We bought a pair of Betta Rutilans and didn’t do anything special to encourage them to breed as we had researched that they are difficult to breed. So we’ve just been caring for them these last couple months. However, yesterday, we noticed a bubble nest in the tank and this morning we woke up to hatched fry in the tank. We were not expecting this at all. As such, we are under prepared. Since Betta Rutilans are a type of wild betta, we have no idea how to care for the fry. Although we’ve tried to research how to take care of the fry online, there isn’t much about Betta Rutilans. So any information or advice would be amazing!

Thank you,
Matt and Whitney

 

[LittleBettaFish]

Your B. rutilans should be excellent parents. While there's always the exception to rules, based on my years of experience working with the coccina complex species, in almost all cases, both the male and female possess excellent paternal instincts.

Therefore, there is no need to remove either adult or the fry from the tank. In fact, I prefer to let my fry grow out alongside the parents.

These fish aren't difficult to breed provided your pair is compatible and water conditions etc. are to their liking. My wild bettas were constantly spawning. Sometimes before the previous batch of fry had even left the nest!

You will need live foods if you want the majority of your fry to reach maturity. While the fry will graze on infusoria and other microorganisms in the tank, BBS and other live foods should form the staple of their diet. At least until they are large enough to transition over to frozen or flake/pellets depending on your preference.

BBS is my recommendation. I rarely bother with microworms unless the fry are too small to take BBS. It can be a fiddly process, particularly if you're only feeding a small number of fry, but it does result in the highest survival rates and best growth rates. The only concern is in overfeeding BBS, which can lead to permanent swim bladder problems. So if you notice your fry are having difficulty maintaining buoyancy following a meal, I'd cut down on the amount being fed.

I've kept and bred wild bettas for years now. So if you have any questions relating to wilds, particularly concerning coccina complex species, I'm happy to help.

 

[Maxwedge]

I had to look them up.... beautiful fish!

 

[MattyFatty22]

Thanks so much for the information, LittleBettaFish! It’s a real help! And I’m glad to know that the rutilans should be good parents! Since this is our first time breeding any type of betta, when do you suggest for when a good time to do water changes after the fry have hatched? I read somewhere that after 2 weeks, doing a 25% water change would be good?

Maxwedge, yes they are beautiful fish! Ours aren’t as vibrant, but more like a deep scarlet. Their iridescent looking eyes are stunning against their wine red coloring! Sadly it looks like our female’s tail got a little beaten up in the breeding process. Still beautiful fish though!

 

[LittleBettaFish]

Being that he's a first-time father, I'd wait until the fry were free-swimming. Simply so that you don't cause him any added stress. These fish seem particularly susceptible to velvet, so try to make sure the new water is fairly close to the tank water in regards to temperature, hardness, pH etc.

I do things very differently with my wilds compared to most hobbyists/breeders. I'm a very natural, hands-off approach to breeding and raising my fish.

I wouldn't worry about the tail damage. Wild bettas tend to heal incredibly quickly. I've seen fin damage heal almost overnight. Species from this complex can be very aggressive during the courtship and breeding process so some fin damage is to be expected.

 

[franzink]

Just wondering what setup is your aquarium? I thought you cannot put a male and female betta fish together or they will fight it off.


I need to breed my betta fish. what can you recommend on the size of the fish tank and should i put a lot of plants inside the aquarium?


Can i just buy a pair off at Petsmart?

 

[LittleBettaFish]

The fish in this thread are wild bettas. They are completely different in terms of care and behaviour to the ornamental Betta splendens that the majority of this forum keep.

I would not put a pair of Betta splendens in a tank, and many breeders will not even put the other species from the splendens complex (imbellis, smaragdina, stiktos, siamorientalis, and mahacaiensis) together due to the potential for serious aggression.