If I buy a red female beta and male blue beta and they mate, will the babies be purple?

Question

Will they even mate if I just have them in the same tank? Is it okay to have them in the same tank?

I don't need an 8 yr long response, I just want to make purple fish

Answer 1

No, I don't think so, eather it's red babies, blue babies, or some blue some red. You have to see for yourself what happens, and once the female is done laying the eggs, please take her out because the male will probably kill her. I'm just warning you.

Answer 2

Reproduction in Betta splendis can sometimes be tricky...and females are usually more dull in color...sometimes a greenish hue. Here is a site...its kinda long and technical..but it may help on determining color. After that you can look up courtship of the beta to see how to introduce them and get them to build a bubble nest. http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=859

Answer 3

please dont buy betta fish they are confined to dirty bowls and vases. These tiny glass enclosures are hardly acceptable homes for bettas, who, in nature, swim in large ponds and streams. Sadly, many people buy betta fish because they think that they can “save them.” What they don’t realize is that this just creates a demand for them, so stores will just keep buying more and more fish, condemning them to miserable lives as a trinket or accessory in someone’s home. heres a site about them

http://www.peta2.com/TAKECHARGE/t-bettafish.asp

Answer 4

no, purple bettas aren't really that simple to create.

you will get a multicolor bettas probablym ostly blue with red wash on the anal fin.

Answer 5

except you've the money to purchase separate bowls and area to positioned all of those bowls for all the newborn male bettas that survive, do not breed them. now to not prepare nutrition for betta fry.

Answer 6

no dear they would be either blue or red only, 'cos the genes determine the color and since parents are blue and red the babies would be either red or blue

Answer 7

no, i do not think so, i think it usually comes out blue, or whatever the male color is.

Answer 8

nope.

Answer 9

no, just buy 2 purple parents duh!

Answer 10

There's all you need to know about betta breeding :-

1) selecting pair:-
When it is time to select your breeding pair. Well, I hate to break the news to you, but unless you have quality breeding stock to start with, you will NEVER produce any quality bettas. Considering the fact that it takes the same amount of time, space, money and work to raise a crop of crappy bettas or one of splendid specimens, it seems obvious (well, at least to ME LOL) that breeding quality stock is wiser. It is also easier to give away, trade, sell quality bettas than it is to unload bettas that look like Quasimodo (you know, the Hunchback of Notre Dame) on a bad day :). In short, make your life easier and a little more spent upfront will go a looong way. So here is some advice as to how to select good breeding stock, and the do and don't of purchasing bettas for breeding purposes. Listen to mother: I know best.

Avoid pet store bettas like the plague. I have covered the topic in length in my very first Bettatalk Radio show, so here is a little synopsis for those of you who missed it: Pet store bettas are not suitable breeders for many reasons, but here are just a few:
they are too old. Old bettas have no sex drive (not unlike old people LOL) and since they have not yet come up with a Viagra for bettas, you will be S.O.O.L. Most bettas live only 2 years, most of them stop spawning when they are about 14 months and most pet store bettas are already 1 year old or older (because ignorant people want the BIG bettas with BIG fins, not understanding that those bettas lives are already pretty much behind them)
they are often unhealthy. Kept in poor conditions at the pet store and shipped from the far East in even poorer conditions, most of them carry diseases and are either already sick or are contaminated and soon will become sick. You take them home and they die on you. Only bettas in tip top condition make suitable breeders so that means the pet store bettas in most cases are out.
they have the wrong tail type. 99% of pet store bettas are veil tails and veils tails are a thing of the past. Meaning that no reputable breeder breeds veil tails and that the current betta finnage standards have long bypassed the veil tail mutation. We are on to bigger and better things, such as halfmoon tails, delta tails , Double Tails and crowntails. A veil tail is not even allowed to show on the circuit and has no retail value. It will be hard to sell the fry.
last but not least they have no set genes. Meaning they are "mutts", a blend of tons of different genes, the result of none selective breeding, meaning were breed at random without any breeding goal (other than producing tones of cheap bettas to make quick money). You will never be able to accurately predict the outcome of any spawns from pet store bettas. Further more they all carry major faults which would take years and years of hard work to rectify, such as red washes on blue bettas, or blue iridescence on red bettas, bad DT splits and other hidden flaws and deformities.

So do yourself and the betta hobby a BIG favor and don't propagate bad pet store betta genes.



Avoid larger, flashier bettas. As I said above, only younger bettas are suitable breeders and most often, the younger the better. Young bettas may not look very striking, as they have not yet had a chance to blossom and to grow striking finnage. They are usually much smaller than adult bettas. The beginner breeder may not know how to pick breeders and will automatically go for the larger flashier bettas, not understanding he or she is making a mistake in doing so. Seasoned breeders will always go for young, smaller pairs. Hence if you spot the photo of a male with big fins on a site, you should run as fast as you can in the opposite direction! Hugh. Wise Buffalo has spoken.

Pick the proper size breeders. If your male is big, then pick a big female. But if he is small then you must find a suitably sized female for him. The rule is the female should be of equal or lesser size then the male. Never bigger. Do not worry about the female being "full with eggs" this is just a bunch of #@*! and all females will produce eggs, whether they look big or not. Sometimes, a female that is "full of eggs" will actually become a problem for the male who can no longer wrap around her properly, resulting in failure to fertilize the eggs (duh).


Pick the proper strain according to your bettabilities. Not all strains were created equal :) and some of them are much more challenging than others. Melanos are a good example and very often will be hard to spawn. Halfmoon males are also notorious for being horrible breeders. My advice is: pick a strain according to your bettabilities. If you are just starting, pick one that is easier to breed even if it is not your favorite color. One has to start somewhere and you still have a lot of learning to do. Later when you know what you are doing (as though we EVER do !! LOL) then you can move to fancier, rarer and more fragile, temperamental and expensive strains.


Always buy breeding stock in pairs. It is always best to get both your male and female from the same breeder. If at all possible, you should buy a brother and sister. If no siblings are available then ask the breeder you are buying from to select a suitable mate for your betta with compatible genes. This is a very important detail too often overlooked by beginners! Unless you have both pieces of the puzzle, you will not be able to successfully reproduce the traits of the strain you have selected. It is imperative that you deal with a breeder that has extensive genetics knowledge otherwise he or she will not be able to adequately match a pair for your needs. That is another reason why you should never buy breeding stock form a "green" breeder, regardless of how nice the betta photos on his or her site are. I cover more about this in the "where to buy stock" page. Again, cutting corners at the beginning will usually result in major set backs in the end. So you get what you pay for and it is best to spend an extra $20 or $50 buck and get started on the right foot. Many beginners also have the misconception that one should not breed a brother or sister together because you would get inbred fry.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Hum. (sorry) :P I couldn't help but laughing my head off. OK you guys, let me set the records straight here once and for all. Breeding brother to sister is not only OK, but it is also desirable and most often absolutely necessary to get any kind of decent results. You can cross brother to sisters up to 6 generations without ill effect. Remember, they are fish, not people!!! :). Anytime you outcross two different strains, you will usually suffer a major set back both in finnage and color purity and often lose the traits of the parents in the process. Although outcrossing is necessary now and then, you should only do it when absolutely necessary and otherwise it should be avoided, unless the breeder is trying to 'inject' additional traits into his/her line. In short, do purchase brother/sister pairs if at all possible.


Always buy at least two pairs of each strain. Hey!! Here is another concept that seems to never sink in. What do I have to do to make you listen? Hammer it in? Yeah? OK. Here it goes. Repeat after me:

" I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain, I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain"

Howz that? Huh? What did I hear you say? Did I just hear you say that maybe you could just be ok with only one pair because... STOP! I don't want to know what kind of lame excuse you have come up with to justify cutting corners once again and shooting yourself in the footsie!! Obviously you were not listening a moment ago so you will write down 100 times for next week :

"I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain"

That should cure you. (I hope?)

OK :) seriously, here are a few reasons why it is imperative to purchase more than just one pair of any strain at one time:
the one pair you would otherwise end up with might not like each other. Bettas have tastes and personalities and not every time you put two together you end up with a love connection. No love, no spawning. (what part of no did you not understand?). If you have a back up pair you can try pair #2, or even criss-cross male #1 with female #2 and male #2 with female #1. You have 4 possible configurations and 4 times more chances of getting a pair that clicks and getting a spawn.
one male might not be a good breeder, but his brother might be. Having a back up male could save the day.
one male or female might become sick and be out of commission. Then what will you do? Go back to the same breeder and hope (or pray) that he or she will still have any pairs from the same spawn left? (dream on, good breeders sell their stock super fast and you will be left out of bettaland). Also you will have to spend another $20 just to ship an extra pair which could have been avoided by having it shipped along with the first pair for the same shipping fee in the first place.
again, since outcrossing is generally speaking not a very good idea, then unless you have two pairs, you will have to outcross if the only one pair you do have fails you. Your breeding program might be set back by about 3 years that way.

As you can see, for all above reasons, it just makes sense to grab two pairs always. See? Aren't you glad you repeated "I will always buy at least two pairs of each strain" a billion times? :)

2) setting up the tank and pair :-

Setting up the spawning tank:

First, rinse the new tank.

Also rinse the corner filter to get rid of all the carbon black powder.

Pick a place for the tank. It needs to be away from direct sunlight, away from heat/air condition vents and must be placed preferably on a fish tank stand, or on a STRONG table/piece of furniture. Water is heavy. About 8.5 Lbs per gallon. Even though your tank is going to be filled only halfway to spawn your pair, you will later gradually add water to it and end up with a full 10 or 5 gallon tank. Pretty darn heavy. So think ahead and please do not place it on the floor. A tank placed on the floor cannot be cleaned, because you cannot create a vacuum to suck out tank water and clean the bottom that way.

Fill tank halfway with clean water. You can use fresh tapwater or aged, pretreated tapwater. If using fresh tapwater, remember to add Amquel, Novaqua, Aquarium salt (1 small teaspoon per 2 1/2 gal), aquarisol and, if necessary in your area, PH down.

Add 3 drops of Maroxy (to prevent fungus which tends to attack eggs)

Now place the filter in the far back corner. Yes, I know the water level is not high enough to cover the filter silly! :) That is why God created diagonals :).

Just put it at an angle so that only the top of it is aligned with water surface.

Plug your air pump, cut your air tubing in half, add a valve in the middle to restrict the airflow and attach one end of tubing to the air pump and the other to the filter. (pretty darn obvious :) ).

Using the valve, restrict the airflow so that the filter is barely bubbling. A bubble or two per second would be good.

Place your thermometer in the front of the tank. Float it in a the corner, or affix it with suction cups, whatever.

Now place the submersible heater, also in diagonal, towards one of the back corners as well. Once you are done fussing around with the heater, and only then, plug the heater in the electrical outlet. Heaters can be dangerous. Always unplug them before working on tanks. Make sure to turn heater all the way down. Then turn it slowly back up until the light comes on. Leave it be for now.

Next, cut your stirofoam cup in half. Imagine you have a big sword, imagine you placed the cup standing on a table in from of you, and then cut it in two equal halves vertically. Get it? You end up with two half cups that look like little plane hangars :). Hopefully baby bettas will park under there soon :)). Put a piece of tape on the round edge, float your hangar with the cut part down, and the top of the cup facing you, push it right against the glass. Tape it to the glass so it won’t float away.

Take your bushy plants, remove their base, tie them together with the plant weight (flexible) and place your artistic creation :) in the back of tank, near heater and filter.

Last, place glass chimney, standing up, inside the tank, near the cup.

Let the tank run for at least 24 hrs. 3 days would be even better, giving a chance to the water to age some and to the temperature to be optimal.

Twice a day, check the temperature. Your thermometer should read 80F to 82F. Keep adjusting heater until you reach this temperature. Once this is achieved and stable for about 2 days, you can introduce the breeding pair.



(Oh goodie goodie!!!!)
Introducing the pair:

There are many different ways to go about it, and each way has its plus and minuses. All I can do is tell you how I do it. Other breeders may do it differently. That doesn’t mean they are wrong and I’m right. But then again, everyone knows (especially my boyfriend) that I’m always right!! Hehehehehe.

But seriously, don’t become all freakozoid if you have read different methods elsewhere. Diversity is good. For me this is what works:

Place the male and the female in a small cup. Float cups inside tank, side by side. See if they notice each other and their reaction. Is he flaring at her? Is she showing vertical bars (dark bodied females only). If so, you are in good shape!!

Allow cups to float for about 30 min, so temperature of their water evens out with tank’s water. Then introduce a bit of the tank water inside the cup and let them float for another 30 min.

Now you are in business :). Or almost.

Empty the female’s cup with the female into the glass chimney (the top of it is open remember, so you can pour the female and her water right in there).

Release male directly inside tank.

As long as the female is protected by the Chimney, you can introduce the pair any time of day. Even if you have to leave the house right after. They cannot harm each other. They will get acquainted while you are doing your thing (whatever that may be :) ).
The big moment:

Yes it has finally arrived, the moment you were waiting for!!

You come home and run to the fishroom. Curious. What has happened while you were gone? Here are a few things to check:

1)- water temperature. Is it still in the 80 to 82F?

2)- Filter: is it still slowly bubbling?

3)- The cup: is there some bubbles or even a full bubblenest under it?

4)- The male: is he flaring at the female? Swimming around the chimney? Displaying for her? Showing her how gorgeous he is? Or is he completely ignoring her.

5)- The female. Is she showing the vertical bars? Is she swimming with her head down? Or is she flaring back at him kinda telling him “Oh no you don’t!!”

If he is showing interest and if she is not flaring back at him like crazy, then release the female into the tank. YOU MUST KEEP AN EYE ON THEM AT REGULAR INTERVALS for the next day or so. A number of things could go wrong at this stage and cause the injury or death of your female or even your male. Trust me I had little gals kick the living sh… out of large males!! (girl power!!! Hehehehehe). If at any time, the life of either one of the bettas seems at risk, remove them immediately.

Now, proceed to the next section “How bettas spawn” to understand better bettas’ behavior while spawning and to know what to do next!!

Remember it takes as much money and effort to set up a tank to breed crappy pet store bettas or to breed nice quality genetically pure bettas. Please do not propagate bad genes and contribute to making bettas uglier. Be selective when it comes to picking a pair and try, if you can at all afford it, to get your breeding pair from a reputable breeder (may it be me or anyone else :)) ) Please see "selecting stock" for more info on how to pick a suitable breeding pair.

3) Spawning :-


how bettas spawn... in pictures...

OK, so you bought all the supplies, then you proceeded to set-up the spawning tank (see previous section) boy, you have been a busy camper. Busy??? Hah!!! You don’t even know the meaning of the word “busy” until you start spawning and raising fries!!… Aaaahhhhhh I used to have a life… I used to take long walks along the beach at sunset… I used to … Well, so much for that. :).

Watching bettas spawn (especially if it is your first time) is one of the most exciting moments you will experience as a betta breeder. Even now, after having tones of spawns under my belt, I find myself sometimes waking up in the middle of the night and going to my fishroom to see how my pairs are doing. And if I catch them at the right moment :) huh hum, (you know….) then I just sit on the carpeted floor and watch them until my eye hurt. Truly, the males never look as magnificent as when they are spawning. Their colors are vibrant, their fins all spread out in a superb display of beauty and grace.

Every time I spawn them I am taken by their beauty. And every time, I learn something new. It seems no two bettas are alike and no two bettas will go about it exactly the same way. Hence the novice breeder can be quite confused. Many things can go wrong at this stage, and the pair may not breed. I cover this more in length in the next section “Problems with spawning”. But for now, let’s assume you are on a lucky strike and everything goes well and let’s see what happens when a male betta and a female betta are put together in a spawning tank:
To refresh your memory, both male and female were introduced at the same time in the spawning tank. Female was placed inside a glass chimney and male released in the tank. The first thing that happens is the male sees the female inside her chimney glass and swims towards her, flaring.
If the female is dark bodied and if she is receptive to the male’s display, she will soon have vertical bars on her body. Bettas get vertical bars when they want to spawn (or if they are scared). So, if your female has bars, you are in good shape. But if she does not, don’t be bummed, there is still a chance she will change her mind later she is after all, female !!! LOL !!!!
Male will then look like he is possessed. Basically the testosterones are up the roof :)) !!! He’ll swim like crazy, darting and flaring and attacking the glass, unable to get to the grand price (yet :) ). Meanwhile she is a bit worried but soon figures out he can’t get to her, so she starts teasing him: “Look but don’t touch!” and might even flare back at him :).
Male gets busier still, alternating his showing off macho attitude with frantic building of a nest. The one to the left was so insanely thick I had to take a photo!! He’ll keep blowing bubbles on one hand and huffing and puffing at the female on the other for the next day or two or even more. But as soon as he has built his nest, or got a good head start on it, you should release the damsel.
Then he realizes she is in reach, and she realizes that she can get her little fishie butt kicked, so a lot of confusion will take over the spawning tank. Some pairs may be gentle with each other, other will beat the crap out of one another. Usually, it is the female that gets picked on and after the first bite from the male she starts running for her life. That is normal. He will chase her around and nip her and she will run away for a day or two or even three.
The female will usually figure out a way to hide from him, usually behind the corner filter, heater and of course the bushy plastic plant you have placed inside the tank for her protection. Her fins will be frayed, but usually she will take quite a bit of abuse before being truly endangered. Some males do kill the females though so you need to be the referee and keep a close eye on the honeymooners :) at all times.
Then, out of the blue it seems, she decides she is not scared anymore and she swims up to the nest, checking it out. If she likes what she sees, she allows the male to get close and if all goes well, they start telling each other they like each other: She swims with her head down (often with her fins closed), indicating she is now submissive. He stops beating her up and instead starts swimming in an S like motion, rubbing his body against her (sheeesh this is starting to get a bit risque!!) :)))))


There she is, with her head down, under the nest, ready to start spawning. He tries to figure out the best angle to approach her for the embrace.






They often swim in circle, clockwise or counterclockwise, trying different angles and it often takes a while before they figure out how to do it best (some male NEVER do figure it out! Ha!! ) :P

To the left, the male is too high and she is too low, hence they failed to wrap, and had to try again.

They’ll keep trying over and over again for hours until they finally get it right.

And finally: BINGO!!!! The male successfully wraps his body around the female’s and squeezes hard, they lock in that position for a few seconds, sometimes sinking both at the bottom, still not letting go of each other (how romantic!) :). First few embraces usually produce no eggs, but that doesn’t stop the bettas from having a grand old time. :)
Finally the male releases her and swims away, usually to the bottom of the tank, looking for eggs. She lays motionless, floating pathetically, paralyzed. I am not sure why that happens, but the advantage is that it gives the male a chance to collect most of the eggs before she has a chance to get to them. Some females eat the eggs if they can get them first, but many more actually help place them up the nest with no intention to harm them or gobble them up :).
Well, for now he didn’t find zip so he joins her again under the nest. I remember this male who got side tracked and forgot to go back up, and so after a while the female swam down, nudged him like she was saying “Hey, what about me, huh?”, and then he followed her back up and resumed the spawning!! I was amazed at how much personality she had!!


Again, they circle each other, but now they have one good embrace under their belt, so it comes back naturally and they seem to be a bit more sure footed (or should I say sure finned? ) :))






And abracadabra, another embrace!!

This time he got her just right and she is able to release eggs. While she releases them from her egg spot, he fertilizes them. The eggs often collect inside a fold of her anal fin, and will that will break their fall until she is flipped right side up again, or...






They will gracefully fall, like little snow flakes, while the bettas are embracing. Here you see him starting to disengage and swim down, he will try to pick up the eggs in his mouth before they even touch the bottom. The eggs are white, uneven, and look like grains of salt. Every embrace can yield a batch of anywhere from 5 to 50 eggs.


Now he is picking them up. Since he has no basket or anything, he uses his mouth. :)) He is NOT eating them silly! (well, but then again, sometimes he is :(( ). He will pick up to 10 eggs at a time and then swim straight up to the nest where he spits them back out, along with a few bubbles, in a neat little package. They stick to the bubbles, and up they stay, awaiting the arrival of more eggs :)).
He will do as many trips as necessary to insure that all eggs have been placed in the nest. As I said before, many females will gladly participate in the collecting and storing of the eggs. It is sweet to see them working side by side. Of course it usually takes a while for the female to come out of her temporary paralysis and get to work, so she usually will only bring a few eggs back to the nest.


Then they do it again, and again and again… Every time, a new batch of eggs is added to the previous batch, and the pile of eggs gets bigger and bigger and bigger.






Up to 500 eggs can be produced that way. If the embrace is tight, like the one to the left, the eggs are likely to be fertile. If the embrace is a half *** job :), then the eggs will not be fertilized properly and will not hatch. They will usually be eaten by the male who keeps the nest clean (see next section). Unfertile eggs will fungus and may infect the good eggs if not removed.
The spawning process can take anywhere from 2 to 10 hours, so when does one know when they are done? It is easy: the female will release less and less eggs (left) and then she will release none. At that point the male figures he can’t get anything more out of her and chases her away (figures!! :) ). (oh, just kidding guys, where is your sense of humor? :) ). She will hide in the far back and if she comes out to the open he will chase her away as though she is the devil itself.
At this point, it would be a good idea to remove the female and put her in a clean jar with some bettamax, to prevent her injured fins/body from getting infected. Feed her well, pamper her and do not spawn her again for at least 3 weeks. Mr. Betta is now king of the spawning tank. He has posted himself under the bubble nest and will not budge from under there for the next few days.