why is it so hard to get Siamese fighting fish to breed?

Answer 1

Its not that hard at all with a little planning and taking the time to make sure the fish are ready. Here's the method I use and have used for years. 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

Answer 2

Beta fish are picky breeders. It also depends on the size of your tank, the temperature of the water, and how calm the surface of the tank water. If the tank water is above 80 degrees, the males will build a bubble nest, in preparation to lure a female to it. He will show off he physique to get her interested in him and his nest. If the female is interested, she will follow the male to his nest, and the courtship begins. the size of the nest has to impress her, or she'll swim away. The less turbulence, the better the nest stays intact. You need a tank at least a 5 gallon size, so that the female can get away if she needs to. 80 degrees and above in water temperature is needed to stimulate the male the build a sizable bubble nest.
A good dose of patience is needed,too. Good luck and I hope this helps you out. If you are really interested in breeding these beautiful fish, go to your local library and check out a book on Beta Fish, or your local pet store should have books on this subject.

Answer 3

Honestly assuming you have a proper breeding tank, and healthy bettas it's not that hard. (Keeping the fry alive is the hard part.) Sure every so often you get a pair who either try to kill, or ignore each other.

We'd need a like more info about what is going wrong to really give advice.

Answer 4

It isn't all that hard. You just need to simulate breeding season. Low water level and warm water are keys to breeding. Make sure the water surface is still. When you see the male build a bubble nest you will know he is ready and that is when you should introduce the female.

Answer 5

You need to give us details here.. I mean, you can tell the difference between males and females right? You're not putting two males together are you?

If your male is often making himself a bubblenest, that might be a good time to find him a likely female.

Answer 6

In the wild, animals often bedded down in high grass. By circling round and round they tramped the grass down making the resting place more comfortable.
Also, by doing the above, they are able to feel for stones, holes, etc might be that they would have to adjust for.
When house pets do it, it's because nature had programed it into their heads.

Answer 7

Coz the females like more beating the males rather then banging them...lol



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Answer 8

bowls dont have corners