Fighting FIsh?

Question

i just bought a fighting fish and i'm wondering if i can breed it? if they can't be mixed together in the same bowl, how can they mate? and how do i tell the difference between a male and a female fighting fish? how often do you feed it? any more advices on this type of fish please, would appreciate the help.. thank you.

Answer 1

Breeding Betta's takes alot of work and time. You must condition the pair for at least 2 weeks on foods rich in protein. You will need a 10 gallon tank filled with about 5-6 inches of water with a sponge filter with a bare bottom, no gravel. You will also need to purchase some microworm or vinegar eel cultures at least 2 weeks before breeding. You will also need a brine shrimp hatchery and a Infusoria culture going. The tank must stay a constant 80F or your fry will die so a heater is a must.
After the two weeks on conditioning place the male in the breeding tank. He should start making his bubble nest. I use a new oil lamp globe and set it in the center of the breeding tank and place the female in the globe. This keeps her from getting harmed by the male and should also give the male something to be excited about. When the nest is rather big you can let the female out. (this should be done when you are going to be home to watch them closely) The male will chase her around the tank and when she starts swimming with her head pointed down he will lure her under the nest and wrap his body around hers and squeeze the eggs out. He will then swim around placing the eggs in his mouth and then spitting them up into the nest. Spawning can take from 2 hours up to 12 hours. When the female has no more eggs the male will chase her away. You will need to remove her at that time. If not she could be killed. Place her in her own tank and let her rest.
Leave the male with the fry for the next few days. You must leave the lights on in the tank 24/7 while the male is tending to the nest. It makes it much easier for him to find the fallen eggs. When the fry become free swimming (swimming side to side) you will need to remove the male and start feeding the fry infusoria and microworms. After 2 weeks you can start feeding them newly hatched baby brine shrimp. You shouldn't add water to the tank for at least 3-4 weeks and do it gradually over a period of a few days. Fry should be fed 4-6 times a day. You should also get a turkey baster to remove the left over food from the tank. Be very careful when cleaning the tank because Betta fry are very small. Betta's are one of the slowest growing fish so be patient.Once they get large enough to sex them place them into grow out tanks and start changing water about every 3-4 days. Betta's release a hormone that will slow down the growth of the other fry. Be sure to seperate the bigger ones from the smaller ones or else the smaller fry will become fish food.

The difference from male and female is the "egg spot" a female will have a white dot under her stomach. This is where the eggs are released from. They also have shorter fins than the males. Males are kept alone in the pet stores while females are housed together. Here is a link with a picture of the difference between them... scroll down to the bottom to view the pictures..http://members.aol.com/andrerich/aquarium/breeding.htm

You should feed your Betta a varied diet of pellets and flakes made for Betta's, as well as brine shrimp and bloodworms for treats. I feed mine twice a day and give them treats 3 times a week. Betta's are tropical fish and should live in a heated. filtered tank. Their ideal temperature is between 76-82F. They also enjoy leafy plants in their home to rest on.

Answer 2

males fighting fish have very bright colours whereas females are pretty dull. If u have siamese fighting fish, the males normally have a white dot at the end of their fins near the gills. another sign is that males have pretty long tails whereas the females normally have round tails.

to breed them, u will have to get at least 2 females , choose the ones that have a large belly. this normally indicates that they have eggs in their belly. get a tank & put some plants inside,,,sufficent for the female to hide.
put some lettuce/salad leaves inside the tank as well & let these rot to provide extra food for the babies when they hatch. Put the male in for a few days to enable it to blow enough bubbles. Put 1 female into the tank...u will have to keep an eye on their relationship or else the male will kill the female if she does not have eggs or are not ready to mate .Observe for few hours or so. if the male keeps chasing the female & are overly aggresive, remove the female asap. If the male make a curl around the body of the female, then u are in luck...the male is trying to squeeze the eggs out. as the eggs falls to the bottom of the tank, the male will pick them up & deposit them at the bubbles he created earlier. Once all eggs have been laid..the male will chase the female away. Remove the female least the male kills it or the female tries to eat the eggs. once the fry hatched, remove the male. the fry should be ok on their own then.

Things to remember:--

1. water in the tank should about 6-8 inches only
2. no filter or pump in the tank.
3. your tank should have a wide surface.
4. a week -10 days after the babies hatched depending on the amount of rotted veg left, chop some worms (i know its disgusting but they grow faster on worms) & feed them. not too much else the water will get dirty fast & u can't change the water cause they are too small.
5. once they are about an inch long u might need to seperate them. or put in lots of plants.

The last i breed them was like 15 years ago. But i think i got it all there. Nowadays aquarium normally don't sell females but i could be wrong.


Best of luck,,,,beautiful fish...loved em..

Answer 3

bettas are pretty simple to breed but they take time to watch the bettas and clean the waters and raise the betta frys(baby bettas).
The male has longer tail/ and female has shorter tail more like a fan.

steps
1.condition the bettas(make them eat a lot to make them full of eggs and energy)
2. let the male in a tank byiteslf and put the female in a seethrough cup and let it float in the water with the male.
3. when the male has a pretty big nest of bubbles, you release the female.
4. let the female stay in for 4 or 5 days. and if you see the bettas spawn(when they wrap around eachother) you let them do that until the bettas refuse to do that anymore
5. then you take the female out.
6. you then let the male watch the babys for a week.(feed baby bettas Brine shrimp when they can start to swim around the tank)
7. you then take the male out.
8. change water carefully. use a turkey baster to help collect baby bettas.

Answer 4

Wow! I'm really impressed with LuvinLife's answer, and that she took the time to so thoroughly cover the subject.
Two comments, though. 1. A five gallon tank would be fine, and only about half full. 2. After removing the male, place a tight fitting cover on the baby tank to keep the surface air the same temp as the water. This is very important as the fry are very susceptible to illness and death while their labyrinth systems are developing.
And did she mention you'll know the female is ready when it looks like she's about to explode?
And, place a small clay pot or similar object in the tank for her to hide in, between spawning periods.

Answer 5

Whoa there! Siamese fighting fish (Bettas) are really easy to take care of. Let's start with general care.

Bettas (contrary to popular belief) like to be housed in nothing smaller than a 1g bowl or tank. Sure they will survive in smaller living conditions, but it's kind of like living in a closet versus a room (if you catch my drift) and they are MUCH happier if you can provide this for them.

Males are flashy and much larger than a female. Chances are, unless your fish is small and drab looking, you have a male. A simple google image search of "male betta" and "female betta" will show you all you need to know. The differences are enormous ;)

As far as feeding goes you can normally follow the instructions on the package of food that you purchase. If you aren't sure what kind to purchase, I recommend Hikari Betta Bio Gold and Hikari FD Brine Shrimp. For me, it's 3 pellets twice a day and on some days I offer the shrimp for a little variety (bettas get bored with the same food believe it or not). Make sure to remove any un-eaten food from the bowl as it will pollute the water.

As far as breeding goes, if you are keeping your fish in a bowl, you do not have the parameters to breed him. Putting a female and a male together in a bowl will inevitably end up in a huge mess of problems ranging from injuries to even deaths. If you intend to breed, house them in at LEAST a 10g tank with plenty of places for the female to hide. I won't get into too much detail here, but visit http://www.bettatalk.com It's my #1 site for everything you need to know about these little guys! Good luck!

~Abby

Answer 6

Yes you can breed them. The male, which has the large flowing fins, and the female, which has short stubby fins, can be put into a 5 gallon tank together. When the female is ready to spawn, the male will make a nest out of bubbles that he produces from sucking in air and his saliva. The male then wraps himself around the female and she drops her eggs one at a time for the male to fertilize them. After he fertilizes each on, he then picks the eggs up and put them into the bubble nest to incubate. Then you take the female out and put her into a seperate tank, and the male watches over the eggs and the young when they hatch.

Answer 7

Breeding bettas is very complicated and only for people with lots of experience,you need 2 separate tanks for the male and female of at least 2.5 gallons with a filter and heater and another 10 gallon tank to breed them in,you can't breed bettas in a bowl.You must also think about what you will do with all the fry.

Answer 8

The Betta's spawning ritual is fascinating,and there are several inexpensive and comprehensive books on the subject,which is too complex to be dealt with in this forum.
So break down and spend a little money on a good book,or go to the library.

Answer 9

Fighting fish or Betta fish (same thing) can fight with some other fish and mainly other bettas.

Answer 10

You will need to get a female too, of course. Put her in the betta cup inside his bowl/aquarium. The water level should not come all the way to the top of her cup. This lets them see each other for a while. Kind of like a courting period. After a few days increase the temperature of the water to 75-78 degrees. Tilt the cup over. Do not force her out. Let her come out of the cup when she gets ready. The male betta will kind of wrap his fins around her a squeeze her. This will cause her to release the eggs that he will fertilize. When he releases her, she will look dead. She will float to the top. Scoop her out with the net and put her back in the cup and away from him. Make sure there are plants and places for the little ones to hide. I think after mating you have to decrease the water temp.

Go by a pet store to make sure I am right. But, that is what the gentleman that delivers our fish told me. I don't remember what the normal water temp for them is.