I found a site that said to use a styrofoam cup to do this. Is this correct and if so how do I place it in the tank to allow the male to build a bubble nest? Learning how to breed Betas and Need Advice.
2007-03-31 16:12:31 · 7 answers · asked by jagkris2000 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
You really don't have to provide anything if there is little to no current in the tank. To use the syrofoam cup trick (which I do sometimes) cut the top lip off. That thick part around where you drink. Allow that to float as a ring in the tank. Here's the method I have used to raise bettas for over 20 years and it works very well for me.
Breeding tank: A 10 gallon makes a good breeding tank for bettas. Place in on a dark surface and set it up with no gravel or decorations. Use a small sponge filter and a heater. maintain the heat at 78-82, the temperature is not really that critical. Using a hood is a good idea to hold in heat and moisture.
Conditioning: Condition the male in the breeding tank. Condition the female in a seperate tank and be sure they cannot see each other. Feed well on frozen or live foods alternating with flakes or pellets for at least a week. The female should be plump with eggs and the male should be flaring and showing his best color, maybe even building a bubble nest.
Spawning: Drop the water level in the breeding tank to about 5" deep. Place the female in a bowl or other container next to the breeding tank so that the male can see her. As soon as there is a good bubble nest in the breeding tank add the female. Check for eggs in the bubble nest every few hours. You know they are finished when the female is hiding from the male and he no longer leaves the nest to chase her down. He will also not be trying to attract her to the nest. At this time remove the female from the breeding tank. If they fail to breed within a few hours go back and repeat the conditioning steps for a week.
Eggs and fry: The eggs will hatch in 2 days. At first the male will collect the babies and return them to the bubble nest, this is normal. Once you see that the babes are able to swim in a normal fashion, remove the male. Now is the time to start feeding the babies. Feed them newly hatched brine shrimp, micro worms or vinegar eels. Feed several times a day for the first week to 10 days. At that time you can start addig some powdered flake food to their diet and begin increasing the water level in the tank.
Care: The babies need very clean water. Do a 50% or more water change every day and be sure to remove any uneaten food or dead babies that you see. Keeping the water clean and changed very often is one of the major keys to sucess. Be sure you cull the brood. Culling is to remove unwanted fish. Remove any deformed fish right away and destroy them.
Rearing and selection: Eventually you will need to split the batch as they will over crowd the 10 gallon. Removing the females to another tank is the best way. The males can stay together without a problem. Continue to feed quality foods of increasing size working your way up to frozen or adult brine shrimp and continue to do large daily water changes. Once they begin to develop color, you should cull based on color. Keep the color you like and remove the rest. Even if you started with two reds you will get a few that are not red or are not evenly colored. If they are near adult size a shop should buy them from you or at least give you some store credit. Be ruthless, keep only the very best to breed with next time around.
The males can stay together basically for their entire lives as long as you never seperate them. Once seperated even for a day they will begin to fight so keep that in mind.
Best of luck and stick with it, you'll have baby betta before you know it!
MM
2007-03-31 16:37:29 · answer #1 · answered by magicman116 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I got my bettas to spawn using a styrofoam cup. I cut it in half lengthwise and floated itin the aquarium with the cut side down and the open end facing me so I can see inside and taped it to the glass. I would also recomend Bettatalk.com , they have some great information on there. Also, it might be a good idea to order some microworms or something so you will have something to feed to your fry before you spawn them.
2007-04-01 00:32:28 · answer #2 · answered by Julianna 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i had a male beta and it built bubble nests all the time! i didn't even do anything to make it start...sometimes i would put a mirror next to its bowl to play with him, and he would get aggressive, so that might help bring out his natural instincts...
2007-03-31 23:21:54 · answer #3 · answered by KatE 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
add plants to the male plastic or real and he will build the nest
2007-03-31 23:24:21 · answer #4 · answered by Kenzie072 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I used a plastic lid and let it float on the water! or even if you have some floating plants. they well built it where the feel comfortable
2007-03-31 23:18:06 · answer #5 · answered by Roni Lynn 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i would say a big water change and warmer water.
2007-04-01 00:00:45 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
DOn't really need anything
2007-04-01 00:38:15 · answer #7 · answered by Malyssa 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋