# Any Betta breeders in da house



## dean (7 Jun 2013)

Looking to pick you minds and see how you go about it


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## ale36 (7 Jun 2013)

what you need to know i have bred some in the past


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## dw1305 (7 Jun 2013)

Hi all,
They are really easy to breed, but you need to get set up quite a while before you introduce male and female.
The main problems are the fry are incredibly small, so you need a source of food. Green water or_ Paramecium_ are best, but if you have a weedy tank you can get away with using Vinegar Eels, which are a no maintenance live food.

The other problem, if we are talking _Betta splendens_? is that you need somewhere to store the male fry singly from quite a small size. I've never tried any other _Betta_ spp., but I've used the same technique for Killis and _Trichopsis pumila (_with 35mm film canisters as nest caves_)._

The method I used was a cheap 11L plastic tank, with about 10-15cm of water in the bottom, small amount of sand, large handful of Oak leaves, wodge of moss and 3 or 4 Indian Fern (_Ceratopteris)_ plants or  Nile Cabbage etc  and a couple of pieces of polystyrene drinks cup. Air powered sponge filter and small heater (set to 27oC) added.Tank was then filled with 50:50  rain/old tank-water. I used cling film for the cover, and then just left it for a week. After a week add the male and a lot of mosquito larvae*.

You should already have conditioned some females with Mosquito larvae, again a weeks feeding should do.

The male should start building his bubble nest (usually under the Indian fern) straight away. As soon as he does you need to add the female. The best method is to put her into a clear 2 litre pop bottle with the top cut off, so the male can see her, and she can see him, but he can't attack her. I usually leave her over night, if she is ready to spawn she will show vertical stripes and have her head down (so her body is at 45o) in the morning.

At this point carefully tip the female in (you have to make sure not to disturb the bubble nest). The pair should mate straight away, the male will nip at the females anal fins (sometimes at this point things go wrong and he attacks her), before they embrace and spawn.

Once they've spawned you need to remove the female (usually leave them 24 hours as they may have a few goes before the female is spent), and the male will then guard the nest until the fry are free swimming. Start feeding them Vinegar Eels as soon as they leave the nest. I usually left the male in the tank and carried on feeding mosquito larvae. At some point the fry will start killing one another (usually in a bout a month), at which point you need to remove the parent male, and have a sort through and separate all the male fry singly.

*To culture mosquito larvae you need a builders bucket, a couple of handfuls of grass or nettle cuttings, a cork (or bit of polystyrene) and some water. Put the leaves in the bucket, add the water and cork and then just leave it outside some-where shady and the mosquitoes do the rest.

cheers Darrel


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## ale36 (7 Jun 2013)

very good advice there Darrel, i was going to write something similar but you beat me to it, Dean if you need a microworm culture one you set to go let me know and ill revive mine and send you some they are great protein source for betta or in fact for any type of fry!


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## dfektor (7 Jun 2013)

Im in the process of doing this as well


> The other problem, if we are talking _Betta splendens_? is that you need somewhere to store the male fry singly from quite a small size.


I thought this was one or two months onwards? Have i been mis informed?


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## dean (8 Jun 2013)

Cheers guys
Very helpful as usual


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## dw1305 (9 Jun 2013)

Hi all,


dfektor said:


> I thought this was one or two months onwards? Have i been mis informed?





dw1305 said:


> At some point the fry will start killing one another (usually in a bout a month), at which point you need to remove the parent male, and have a sort through and separate all the male fry singly.


 
cheers Darrel


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## dfektor (14 Jun 2013)

I really need to go to specsavers sorry!


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