# Breeding my betta (Spartan)?



## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

So, I have been told (rudely, hate those people anyways) that bettas can only breed when they are under 8 months. Except... stores sell them... at 5-8 months.... Sooo buybreedbuybreedbuybreed? -.- unlikely.

Anyways, my male is about 2.5 years, and had never flared until I got my female (equal size to him, 8 mos), and instead of flaring AT her, he flared...FOR her. Strutted his stuff, fins expanded twice I have ever seen them lol. 

So, is it actually possible for me to breed him? At what REAL(ish) age are bettas no longer able to breed?


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

Its better to breed them early, thats why many ppl buy from a breeder but i personally used my petstore guy whos about 1 and a half years old. The main problem with breeding old bettas is that the act itself may be too much, even with a well conditioned older one. Ive even read of males that were 6-8 months dying afterwards. He may tire out halfway through, or tire out and lose interest in the female. I have read that after spawning their immune system is weak and they become susceptible to diseases. Mine being a year and a half old, i conditioned him very well, left him in until the fry freeswam then qt'd him in aquarium salts for 10 days, giving him mass amounts of mosquito larvae for protein. Even now hes a bit lethargic but slowely regaining his personality and i think he may be going blind.( its been alittle over a month since the spawn) So its sort of at your own risk. It always is but with older bettas alittle more so, but if you are careful and condition well, then remove and spoil rotten it may work. I weighed my odds and chose to try because i love my oldman and wanted a baby to remember him by 
Really as long as he is alive and healthy and conditioned he can possibly spawn if he feels like it


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Well that makes more sense  lol I never liked the "you're stupid they have to be bred by 8 months or else" kind of answers >< Which in my opinion is an answer I expect by people who probably never tried breeding bettas, or breeding older ones lol.

By the way, nice female in your picture  Pretty colors. My friend found a green and purple one - but was unable to get it.


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

Like Punki said, often you want a younger fish just because they are more energetic and can handle it better. 

Breed at your own risk though, Even the younger males often don't handle spawning well. 

Good luck!


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

That makes sense  I do have an 8 month old female, and a 5 month old male. We rarely have females to buy here...


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

the older the male the more females it produces in a spawn. and the older they are the more prone to disease they are.


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

mernincrazy8525 said:


> the older the male the more females it produces in a spawn. and the older they are the more prone to disease they are.


I hadnt read anything about older=more females but that makes sense, thanks for that info!


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

I have breed up to 3 year old for a male keep in mind the end result was 5 fry and was a lot of work to care for the male after spawning.. like those said before me they are more susceptible to disease


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## Amphibianite (Aug 6, 2011)

So if I may interject my question to clarify. No matter the age of the male it can kill them to spawn? So say under a year old (being no one knows exactly how old a petstore male is) they will still suffer problems after mating? I am extremely curious because I have a male I adore and wish to breed, but I do not to chance losing him. He is my most stunning looking male.


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

yes they can die after spawning because it tires them out. thats why you pamper them after spawning and put them in a quarintine tank.


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## Amphibianite (Aug 6, 2011)

I am reading up on that right now Mernin, thanks for the info though. I am still planning on breeding my CT boy, I just want to know how to do it safely and give him the absolute best chances of coming through it okay. He will probably be slight over a year by the time I am ready to breed. I don't know how old he is exactly I am guessing closer to 8 months than 6. I have only had him less than a week at this point so he is still in QT. I still need to get him used to new tank, then get the Breed/Grow out tank set up. Then Condition him and the female...when I find her @[email protected] So I am guess he will be over a year old or close to it. So I have a lot of concerns about breeding him incase it harms him, but I adore him and his colors and would love to have babies.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

..... I would totally pamper them after breeding. (not that I don't already... but more so works ^^) 

I got two more males too!!! Pretty things  both crowntail crosses.. probably 8 months or a lil' older lol. The ones here I assume are about 8 months... smaller ones are 5 months.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

-sighs- sadly, it did not work out for this spawn!! There were no eggs left (betting he ate them) and he lost interest in the nest. But no worries I am not giving up  I'll try again eventually!! I even have two new females, hopefully healthy.... just a bit small and young.


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## Amphibianite (Aug 6, 2011)

Sorry to hear that Sena. Hope the next works out.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

So do I. Still have hope  but oh my gosh he survived ANOTHER poisoning today.... What is it with plastic fish tanks? This time I caught it quickly, and noticed his distress (delirious swimming, unreactive to me, didn't act normal and swam kind of haphazardly.)
So now he is in a breeders net in the twenty gallon... My new females are with Madame in the other and Dusk has the other tank  but it's all good!!


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Well, wish this thread could be closed. Because now I can't breed my lil' guy.


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

why not?


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

Im sorry to hear about his tumor, but hes lived such a nice long life, and its still small, so although you wont be breeding him, i think hes got some time left to enjoy. Great job keeping him healthy and alive for so long and GL with any future spawns


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

oh so sorry. that really stinks. i bet you are crushed. you took good care of him. know that.


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Sena- Just FYI, there's no such thing as "plastic poisoning"...unless your tank has spontaneously combust, which I doubt happened.... 

Your fish is stressed probably from other factors. It's not the tank.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I can close the thread for you, Sena, if you want.


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## cajunamy (Apr 28, 2011)

I also agree that the plastic poisoning isn't real ... something else is stressing him out. I have MANY plastic containers and none of them have ever done any harm to any of my fish. I would look closer into his water conditions.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Didn't I read something nabout some plastic bins containing something toxic?


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

I also read something about that Drama, im too tired to research atm but my mother was even telling me not to re-use gallon jugs more then a few times because the plastic has been said to be leaking something toxic. It may only be things made of recycled plastic, im not sure.


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## Squigles (Sep 10, 2011)

I just joined like 2 days ago and I really want to breed my fish. I have 1 male and 1 female. I looked online and it said that I have to put the male in the main breeding tank first,let the male claim his territory, put the female in a separate but smaller container and put it in the male's tank and let them get to know each other but without actually touching or fighting. I put the two tanks next to each other and they keep facing each other. Is this right? What should I do? I can't breed them until I get a larger tank though and a net...and a bunch of other containers for the male babies. Please help.


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## bahamut285 (Dec 10, 2010)

For the plastics and reusing bottles and such, one should only be wary of the recycle number at the bottom of most plastic products. If it is a low number like 1 or 2, it is generally fine; the cancer society doesn't recognize these plastics to have any health concerns. You should be careful of things labelled 6 or 7 (like styrofoam cups). You can still use them for something temporary, but it is not recommended for anything permanent. I know when I get them from restaurants, I always transfer my food to a proper Tupperware container.

Like I said in my other post, you don't get "plastic poisoning".


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## GreenTea (Jan 31, 2011)

Hi Squigles, I would reccomend researching the threads posted in this area of the forum for more information. You will need to condition your fish with certain kinds of foods, and have a heater and filter for the fry tank, amongst other things. Good luck.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Squigles said:


> I just joined like 2 days ago and I really want to breed my fish. I have 1 male and 1 female. I looked online and it said that I have to put the male in the main breeding tank first,let the male claim his territory, put the female in a separate but smaller container and put it in the male's tank and let them get to know each other but without actually touching or fighting. I put the two tanks next to each other and they keep facing each other. Is this right? What should I do? I can't breed them until I get a larger tank though and a net...and a bunch of other containers for the male babies. Please help.


Hi, Squigles and welcome to the forum. If you start a thread in the breeding section then more people will see it and will be able to answer your questions. We have several very knowledgeable and experienced breeders who would be more than happy to answer yoiur questions.


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## cajunamy (Apr 28, 2011)

Yes, some plastics can be toxic. You have to look at the numbers.

Data sheet for acrylic sheeting http://www.professionalplastics.com/professionalplastics/content/AcryliteFFDataSheet.pdf

And if you search acrylic aquariums, many aquariums, the kind you pay to go to with the sharks and such, use acrylic for their tanks. The fish do not get poisoned from it.

Acrylic tanks have been around for many years, and my point is that if they were toxic, there would be many people that would have dead fish from their tanks.


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## Punki (Apr 30, 2011)

Thanks for clearing that up. Useful information to have, i had no idea Styrofoam was more prone to becoming toxic.


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## Squigles (Sep 10, 2011)

Thank you. So if I do breed my Betta Fish, what would I do with the all the babies? Can they be separated from the mother after a certain amount of time? What if I can't keep all of them? Should I give them away or sell them or give them to the pet store?


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Squigles said:


> Thank you. So if I do breed my Betta Fish, what would I do with the all the babies? Can they be separated from the mother after a certain amount of time? What if I can't keep all of them? Should I give them away or sell them or give them to the pet store?


@Squigles- If you have questions about breeding, I suggest you go do research by looking/reading in other threads instead of asking questions in a thread meant for someone else. Or you could PM a breeder.


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## Squigles (Sep 10, 2011)

You're rude. I don't know how.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

To start a new thread, go to the top of the breeding section page and click on "new thread". Then you can ask as many questions as you need to. Youlovegnats was not being rude. She pretty much said thge same thing I did. We want to help you but it's best if you had your own thread instead of posting in someone else's thread. If you have any problems or questions about anything, please feel free to contact a moderator or Admin.


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## cajunamy (Apr 28, 2011)

I am almost positive that the acrylic/plastic in fish tanks are the PET/PETA one that is as safe as using a glass tank.

I've been trying to look for specifics, but of course no acrylic tank advertises what specific acrylic/plastic they use. You'd have to email your tank's manufacturer to find out for sure.

And yw


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