View Full Version : help with breeding
I have done alot of research on the web about betta and breeding. I only wanted 1 and now have 7 beautiful betta.
First, I chose the 2 that I wanted for breeding, then I put them in a tank seperated by a clear divider for about 2 weeks.
My female has been showing signs she is ready, but when I put them together he gets very aggressive. I left them for a few hours, but she got quite wounded. She still insists on trying to get to him, but I thought maybe he needed more time. I waited another few days. Today I went to see how they would do and he is less aggressive toward her, but I noticed that she has already released eggs that have fallen to the bottom of the tank and are just laying there. He has not built a bubble nest and is not interested in the eggs at all.
Will she lay again? Why doesn't he seem interested? How can I help him to be ready?
jnmrcs
08-17-2006, 12:05 AM
I read somewhere that show to him another male will help him to make a bubble nest
William
08-17-2006, 01:50 AM
Yes she will lay eggs again.
There can be a wide variety of reasons behind the fact that he isn't ready to breed. How is the tank decorated, water level, water parameters etc.
Ok, so I did more reading here about Betta breeding. I went outside last night disappointed and looked down and saw a leaf. I washed it off and put it in with them so it could float on top. I just got home from work and guess what, he made a nest and it is already full of eggs!! I am so excited. They were swimming together and he was looking after the egg nest. I did remove her and fed her some good bloodworms.
She still looks bloated though. I am wondering if she is done releasing eggs. How do I know? I have read everywhere to take her out immediately after releasing eggs. I did not see the embrace or the eggs.
Update**
So I checked after work today and all the bubbles are about gone and so are the eggs. What happened? I mean I didn't get them into the actual breeding tank I was going to use, but since he made the nest I was going to leave him. I left the light on all night so he could see the eggs and he was taking care of them. I don;t know where I went wrong. Any help would be appreciated from anyone who has had successful spawns. Thanks.
William
08-19-2006, 07:13 PM
The first few spawnings can fail untill the fish learn.
I got my 10 gallon tank set it up with heater, sponge filter, plenty of plants and I am going to either get a big leaf or a styrofoam cup. They are not getting along right now, but I am going to try again. If they do not work out, I went and got another pair that I would like to try with.
Using the same pair to continue to try is ok, right?
William
08-21-2006, 02:47 AM
Yes that is ok. They usually don't get along for a time after a spawning.
I have fry today!!! They are swimming all up and down. I think they are the coolest thing ever. I just left them together and they did it. He is taking care of them very well, but they look really hard to keep up with. Thank you for your help. I will keep you posted how the process is going.
DemonShark
08-23-2006, 10:54 AM
congrats
William
08-23-2006, 05:38 PM
congrats indeed.
Ok, well this attempt did not go well either. I came home and the heater was not plugged in all the way. I have decided to try again, but I might use another female.
William
08-23-2006, 09:46 PM
sorry to hear that.
Might be a good idea to let the female rest a little.
DemonShark
08-23-2006, 09:53 PM
ditto here
I decided to try the same pair again with success. Well once I had fry floating from the nest, he started to eat them. I thought ok and left him, and when i came back they were all gone. I am using a different pair now and starting from scratch. I have them conditioning right now, so we will see how things go with them.
BTW, the male now is a crown tail. I am so excited that I was finally able to find crowntail males. They are so much prettier in person. I own 2 crowntail males now.
William
08-28-2006, 03:21 AM
The male that eat his children will likely become a better parents over time.
Nice to hear your make progress even if no success as of yet.
Thank you. I appreciate the support you have given me. This is very frustrating when they hatch and you think you are going to have babies, and then later they are gone. I will let you know the progress in a week or 2 with my new couple.
Full3R
08-29-2006, 04:00 AM
what would be the smallest tank to breed bettas in?
William
08-29-2006, 05:15 PM
5 gallon or so but i would prefer a 10.
well this was fast. I put them together yesterday (her out of bowl in tank) and we already have eggs. My crowntail has this huge nest. my other male didn't make one nearly this big. Maybe I will have better success this time. I also found a respectful fish store that would be willing to purchase any that I can not find homes for so long as they are healthy and adequate size and age.
what would be the smallest tank to breed bettas in?
I prefer the 10 gal also. It gives plenty of room for the female to hide in plants and him to make a nest. I know I would not go smaller now.
William
08-30-2006, 01:27 AM
Good luck with this batch.
octony
08-30-2006, 04:04 AM
NIce job!
How long does it normally take any given male to start doing it right? He ate them all! I am getting very frustrated with these bettas. This new male had a huge nest and was doing so well last night tending to it so good. I thought for sure he would come through for me. Why does this keep happening with all my spawnings?
William
08-31-2006, 01:24 AM
There is no given time but if they haven't improved after a few spawnings it might be time to start looking at other factors that might effect the outcome.
It can also have to do with the age of your males. Too young males are less likely to succeed
Is there a way to tell the age of the males?
William
08-31-2006, 06:27 PM
Nah. you have to know.
I decided to go back to my original pair since they had successfully spawned 3 times, but without the babies making it past 2 days. They have just finished breeding. I got to watch and I have pics. It was the coolest thing and lasted almost 2 hrs. I have probly 200 eggs. I counted up to about 100 or so in the 1st hour. I am hoping that this time with the male will be better since he has had 3 fail. I also read more and I don't have to leave him in for 3 days if he starts eating the eggs and fry. I will see how things go this time. Hopefully I will have better luck than my previous attempts.
William
09-02-2006, 06:07 PM
good luck!
Slow Cheetah
09-03-2006, 03:38 AM
I have a male and female betta and i was wondering y do u need a leaf on top to let the eggs be spawned there? can this just be a average leaf from the backyard that is dead or picked off a plant?
Full3R
09-03-2006, 04:37 AM
it depends, some plants can be piosonous to your fish, but the leaf is needed for the bubbles the male blows to stick onto to hold the eggs
You could also use a styrofoam cup too. Be careful on the leaf you choose. Not only can it be poisionous, but sometimes the leaf will not float properly cause them not to make good bubble nest.
Ok, not sure about this. My male was doing great and all. Well the nest bubbles starting popping and all the eggs fell to the bottom. When he tries to put them back he is not making bubbles to hold them. Those bubbles pop immediately too and the eggs fall.
I have read that they need the oxygen fromthe bubbles to survive and hatch, but others said they'd be fine. Will they be ok on the bottom? He is really trying to get them back up but it seem his bubble maker is broke, j/k ;) I was really hoping this would be the time and now it might end in failure again.
The eggs are just about 24 hrs old and none have hatched out yet. I will watch today and see.
The eggs have been laying on the bottom since last night.
gwenkat
09-03-2006, 03:27 PM
Kdce - here is a link to a betta forum. They have a whole area just on breeding. You might want to check them out and see if they can help you with your breeding. IT is obvious you want to succeed and they may be able to help.
http://www.bettaforums.com/forum/index.php
Thank you. That's a great site.
Well on my end of the betta world. My fry are hatched and doing very well. Daddy is still in with them and is being wonderful. Over time they do become better parents as William said. I only have about a dozen but that's enough to start until I fully understand how to feed them and care for fry. I will keep you updated now. I plan on removing daddy sometime later today, I am still scared he will eat them.
William
09-04-2006, 09:37 PM
Thanks for the update.
I never took daddy out, but he is doing great with them. they are barely free swimming right now, but getting around pretty good.
Slow Cheetah
09-06-2006, 06:52 AM
To reply to kdce I am really new and i dont even know when the bettas a ready to breed so i can know when to put in a styrofoam cup. Is there something like the bettas become brighter or something when they are ready?
William
09-06-2006, 03:53 PM
Put a floating plant in your tank instead an you won't have to think about styrofoam cups.
I agree, I went with the plant leaf and it worked nicely. The way I started was with a 10 gal tank. I added about 5-6 inches of conditioned water, a heater, thermometer and a couple fake plants for momma to hide, and the leaf for making the nest. I also put in a mayonnaise jar lid and it seemed to work the same. I didn't want my babies to have any air to them that why I chose those items.
To reply to kdce I am really new and i dont even know when the bettas a ready to breed so i can know when to put in a styrofoam cup. Is there something like the bettas become brighter or something when they are ready?
I am new at this too. What I did was I went to Wal-Mart and bought the double Betta tank. It has a clear & blue shield that you can place in the middle or take out. I left them side by side with the clear divider for several weeks. I knew they were the 2 I wanted to breed. i got the pair for that purpose. After a while I noticed the white egg thingy under her belly, she started to "bloat" and her coloring went from a slight color to a very very dark color with vertical lines. You will know for sure when you see this. Occasionally while they were conditioning, I would let them together for a little while as I was sitting there. They weren't friendly at all. Over time they couldn't stand not having each other in sight and I knew it was time to breed. Before I got the breeding tank ready, she released eggs in the double tank though he could not get to them.From reading my other posts, you will see that it has taken 4 tries for me to have any fry lasting longer than 1 day. I think breeding is exciting and frustrating in 1. I am seeing patience is the key, and they don't always make it. I knwo I will continue to try to have babies. I love my fish very much and love adding to my family. I sit with them every night for about 30-60 mins and talk to them. They really perk upi when I come home from work. I love it. Almost as good as my kids! :)
just to let you know, its been a week Sunday since my fry have hatched. I cleaned the tank tonight and counted 13 fry. They all seem to be healthy so far and swimming around. They are very hard to keep track of.
William
09-09-2006, 03:58 PM
good to hear. 13 fry isn't much but it is a success and later spawning might give you more fry (if you want more that is)
I am very happy with this amout for now, until I know more about how to care for them. I can count 8 right now that are alive and doing very well. I know a couple died. I have been feeding BBS and they are eating well. But i do have 1 little runt. Is that normal to have a runt? It is doing well, eating good, seems to be struggling a little to swim up but its only about half or less the size of the other fry. Should I worry, remove it or just let it go and see how it develops?
William
09-15-2006, 10:15 AM
Runts are normal and it is best to put them down.
Just an update--
Fry are now 5 1/2 weeks and doing well. I had 3 die on me so I have 5 left. One is super huge and the rest are average size and about all the same. They are starting to develop a little color I can see under lighting. I am very pleased with them os far and I hope they continue to grow into beautiful adults, even if its only 5 betta.
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