# has anyone tried to breed BETTAS



## sickz (Dec 25, 2004)

i used to have about 5 bettas and i bred a pair. the only problem was that i couldn't take care of the fry. I was very surprised at how easy it was to breed them. Have any other members tried? please share


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

Contact Tinkerbelle and look in the species profiles...


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

I have had several attempted spawns, one successful, however the heater failed and i lost the fry.

what kind of set up did you have? its very irresponsible to spawn bettas if you're not ready to care for the fry, because males and females often get pretty trashed during spawning, and a lot of breeders loose their best stock males this way (usually you want to have 2 females per male... spawn sisters)

my setup included a 10 gallon tank with a styrofoam cup cut in half and taped at the waterline for the male to build his bubblenest under, a heater with the tank at a constant 80*, and a sponge filter set on very low so as to create almost no current. I had 3 live plants in there that had been under lights for a few days to get the infusoria going... the tank was also fully cycled. no substrate on the bottom of the tank so the male could find the eggs and fry easily enough before they became free swimming and i removed him.

what kind of pairs do you have right now? just veil tail petshop quality fish? luckily they are THE easiest to spawn. my attempted spawns were with a super delta male to a spawn sister... the one that worked was a high quality veil tail crossed to a super delta female. the fry reached 3 weeks and the largest 2 were JUST showing their irridescence (turqouise, like both parents) and the power went out overnight and somehow when it came back on it made the heater go crazy and pretty much boil the fry







this was over christmas break.

i may yet attempt one more spawning over spring break between a yellow (non red) butterfly cellophane veil tail and a triband turqouise/maroon/opaque white veil tail.

if you need any help with setups or betta information, email me. [email protected]

edit: you can also refer to my webpage for pictures of my fish and some good basic betta care 
Neverland Bettas


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## kove32 (Oct 26, 2004)

They are a peice of cake to breed!! I bred them in a 15 gallon! Two viel tails, think I might do it again since I have a free 10 gallon! Man o man is it awsome watching them breed too!!


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

kove32 said:


> They are a peice of cake to breed!! I bred them in a 15 gallon! Two viel tails, think I might do it again since I have a free 10 gallon! Man o man is it awsome watching them breed too!!
> [snapback]873634[/snapback]​


lol piece of cake? you must have gotten damned lucky. wait til you have to deal with a female (or male) that is in shreds from some pretty rough breeding habits.

how was raising the fry? what food did you use? any lack of ventrals on the resulting fry?


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## sickz (Dec 25, 2004)

lol i think i was like kove32 and was not as prepared as you were for breeding them.

Well my dad used to breed and sell them back when he was a teenager in Vietnam. Equipment and things of that sort weren't really that widely available so i guess his breeding methods were really simple. Actually, in order to raise the fry he had to actually catch worms and other sea insects from local rivers.

and to answer ur questions..umm i don't have any bettas right now..got myself some piranhas and yes they were pet shop quality bettas.

anyways have u ever successfully raised fry to the point of adulthood?


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## fishguyeric (Aug 12, 2004)

I bred them and it was a pain. My first pair kicked the crap out of each other, and even though I seperated and medicated, they died. The second pair was shy but eventually I got a spawn and found the fry as easy to raise as most fry I have raised of other fish (killis, gobies etc.)

I found that liquifry and BBS are both great food for fry. First the LF then BBS, and I kept the babies on BBS until they were over 1" since it is a great food.


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## sickz (Dec 25, 2004)

yea i mostly used BBS when i attempted to raise my fry. the only problem was that i couldn't properly house the BBS, and when they died, the water smelled like sh*t.


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## kove32 (Oct 26, 2004)

I must have gotten lucky, took many attemps (seperating and reuniting them) and two pretty beat up fish, but both made it alright and are still living to this day (did this back in summer!)


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

bbs isn't that great of an early on food for baby bettas. it has a tendancy to make them sit on the bottom for extended periods of time because it is a very 'heavy' food. this sitting on the bottom can cause them not to form ventral fins (the long dangly front ones). Infusoria, green water, and microworms are the best starter foods, introducing BBS at 3-5 weeks.


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## o snap its eric (Feb 19, 2003)

PM kain. he pretty good at breeding them bettas


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## sickz (Dec 25, 2004)

what exactly are microworms..do u have to grow them like u do BBS?


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## Tinkerbelle (Oct 14, 2004)

sickz said:


> what exactly are microworms..do u have to grow them like u do BBS?
> [snapback]874735[/snapback]​


i bought a culture from a woman in colorado.


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

I kept microworms before, they're easy to keep.


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