# very newb to breeding



## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

hey
ive had my male betta "Leon" for about a week or two now. i really enjoy him. i would really like to breed these fish so i can have some to sell or keep some more. i have him in a 2 gallon tank right now. if i got a female, could i just keep her next to the bowl for a few days, then put her in. how hard is it to breed, and how many fish come out of one egg hatching?


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

It takes alot of time and money to breed. I'd wait until your more experienced in betta keeping


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Please do a WHOLE lot more research before you even consider breeding . Sites a like bettysplendens.com and bettatalk.com are great starters. You have got to realise this hobby requires a lot of time,dedication,space,and money.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

To answer your questions..

no you can not just add her to the tank. That would result in one or both of the fish being killed

breeding can be easy or difficult depending on how much research you've done and how much work and time you put in

one spawn can yield up to 200 babies, however even the most experienced breeders rarely get that many fry. Generally you'll get somewhere between 20-50 if your really lucky, more experienced breeders might get upwards of 100. New breeders will be lucky if they get 10 or more from their first spawns (speaking from experience).

Breeding is not something that should be jumped into. Take your time to learn how to breed properly and responsibly.

Some things you should consider are:
*Do you have the time?*-Water changes must be done EVERY SINGLE DAY, when the males are jarred you'll have to change the water in the jars as well. Can you handle changing water every day. Also, fry need to be fed multiple times a day, at least twice with 3-5 times a day being preferable.

*Do you have the money?* The start up costs for breeding can get pretty expensive especially if you don't have anything. You'll need a spawning tank (generally 5-10 gallons), a growout tank (anywhere from 10+ gallons), jars for the males and aggressive females, heat for all tanks and jars (cold fish don't grow), live foods, live or silk plants, shipping supplies for when you sell your fry.

*Are you breeding for the right reasons?* There are many hundreds of thousands of bettas that die each year because they are sitting on petstore shelves. If your going to breed you need to have a goal in mind that will make Betta spelendens better. Goals like improved finnage, improved color, longevity, etc should be behind any breeding.

*Are you willing to cull?* Bettas are sometimes born with genetic deformities and must be killed because it would be cruel to let them live. Are you prepared to do that. Also, what if you can't find homes for all the fish, your options are cull or send to a pet store (where they may likely rot to death). Culling is often the hardest thing for breeders to do but it must be done.
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How will you find homes?* Are your fish going to end up back at a petstore? Can you trust that the store will take care of the fish instead of letting them die in filth like most stores do. Will you be able to find homes where your fish will be taken care of correctly.

I would also advise you not to breed a petstore fish. Many people do but you have to realize that very few people are going to buy a fish bred from pet store stock. If your willing to cull and find homes then more power to you but don't expect people to be all over your fry. It's something akin to breeding mutt dogs.

I'm not trying to scare you off, much the opposite. I just want you to really have an understanding of how serious breeding is and how it must be done responsibly.


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

thank you guys for the information, i dont think im gonna be breeding these.


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## brandonwlee (Jun 22, 2009)

I encourage you to try only if you have a clear objective after doing lots of suitable research. Spawning a pair isn't difficult, its the rearing of the tiny fry that is the hardest part.


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

thank you brandon for your contribution. i am going to wait quite a while for this. first i want to make sure my betta has the optimum tank and environment. i just ordered a 2.5g tank that comes with everything. all i need now is a heater for it and i think i am set. just a question, would 2.5g be enough to put the male/female together when it comes time? i can still cancel my order and get a 10g tank if i need it, but i thought 2.5g would be enough, when the time came.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Nope, for breeding them you need a 10g, IMO. Hopefully breeding is far down on your list right now, so you really could get a 2.5 for your male or spend the money for a 10g right now.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

Some people spawn in a 2.5 gallon but remember that the male and female cannot be housed together long term and the male will have to be removed eventually. You need a tank for the male, a tank for the female, and a tank for the fry.

Read the breeding sticky at the top of this forum for more information.

Also here are some links with helpful articles..

www.bettysplendens.com
www.bettaterritory.nl
http://www.bettas-jimsonnier.com/

Read and read some more. It takes a lot of time and a lot of equipment. You can't breed bettas having only one tank.


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

well the 2.5g was only 20 dollars and it came with a fish net, water conditioner, plants, gravel and the works.... the cheapest 10 gallon i saw was like 30 dollars at walmart with a lid on it. but they were out of stock on them. i think ill just continue with the 2.5g and see how i like it instead of wasting the money and i might not even breed them. i just thought it would be a cool learning experience to see the new fry hatch and stuff. i would sell the offspring on craigslist probably and just keep the rest of them. im sure only like 5 would hatch on my first try anyways so its not a big deal from what i hear about it. but when i get good about it, ill have like 50 of them and i wont know what to do like the people here said. could probably sell like 20 on craigslist but then i got like 40 more i dont know what to do with. so yeah i dont think i want to breed them.


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

wow i just watched a short video on youtube on betta spawning. that is pretty cool. i read that site and it doesnt seem too hard to breed them, its just i have no place to sell the offbreed so yeah i dont think im gonna start this anytime soon. but by the looks of it, i think i could try it right now if i wanted to just from reading that site. why do you say it takes a long time to get it down, it doesnt seem too hard at all. just use some bubble wrap float it on top, put a divider between the male/female and then once the male is finished with his nest, introduce them.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Um, you have to condition them first... and you'd need to spend alot of money on a quality pair of bettas to breed because nobody really wants pet store betta babies... (I'm talking 50$ for just the pair, nevermind the shipping)

*Edit: Also, your male and female will beat each other up, so you'd have to be prepared for that, and know how to treat torn fins. If the breeding isnt done right the male might not even make a nest and just eat the eggs. There're many variables.


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

well thank you, now i am really sure im not breeding.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Maybe down the road you could, just wait awhile until you get all the supplies needed and experience if you really want to.  I didn't mean to scare you off, it's just not as easy as you think it is. ;D


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

no problem, you didnt scare me. i think you guys just helped me not rush into it and make a huge mistake. but yes i will do tons more research before i even attempt it.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I'm glad you're going to do more research. It's not as easy as it may seem. So many things can go wrong, even if you're an experienced breeder. I think spawning is the easiest part. Raising the fry to adulthood is the hard part.


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## brandonwlee (Jun 22, 2009)

Breeding is a really rewarding experience if you get to take care of the fry till adulthood and see their beauty.If you are determined to take up the challenge, just go for it, if you have lots of discipline and dedication, you shall suceed. but before that, do lots of research to give you a guideline, more often all the readings are only a basic idea of what you should do when things go wrong, and the steps to set it right, in practical, there are quite a number of variables that can be different from place to place and person to person, ie temperature, water quality, other environment factors, food, and you yourself. It is impossible to find a book or read an article that perfectly suites your own environment, breeding style, and growth rate factor. So there comes the 'experience' part. but to gain it, you need to step up and try. when you are ready, get a not-too-expensive pair (the reason is that you will most probably fail totally the first few times and barely make it to the 3 week fry survival mark). If you are not defeated by then, then you are ready to make some progress. and take note there must be a lot of passion in it and its time consuming for example to culture your own fry food and maintaining water quality. Anyway hope one day you are ready, and the hard work is all worth the while when you see a bunch of adult beauties in your tank!


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

well i was looking at this thing to hatch baby brine shrimp. i hear they are good food for after the 2 week mark, then id feed them some of my bloodworms, then to the adult food. first 2 weeks id feed them the euphoria or whatever it is. just put some lettuce in a treated water bottle and some light on that, and let it do its work, then pluck it with a medicine dropper.


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## Ethan (Dec 3, 2010)

or u can use vinegar ells, micrworms , banana worms ect. you can buy these of aquabid. If your still interested in breeding get Animal Planet's betta book it is really good!

Here's my website http://bettafisharecool.yolasite.com/ I took a lot of time on this and has some good links why not stop by.


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## kpullen89 (Feb 11, 2010)

I'm not a breeder by any means but I just wanted to say it's very responsible of you to ask questions on the forum before trying to breed. Lots of people just watch videos on youtube and plop a couple bettas together then disaster happens.. Kudos to you for being smarter.


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## jschristian44 (Jan 6, 2011)

thank you kpullen. i did watch a couple videos on youtube on the eggs and stuff just to see what its like and its truly amazing. but yeah ive done a lot of research on it the past few days. the only things stopping me from trying it right now , is still lack of knowledge and no place to go with the offspring. i could sell a couple on craigslist most likely but i doubt all of them. at this point i feel i got enough knowledge to attempt it, but i doubt i would get anything good out of it. like the people said, producing them is easy, but keeping the little fry alive seems to be quite a task from what ive read. feeding them euphoria and making baby brine shrimp has to be the hardest thing about breeding these things. i think once you get past that stage, its all cake. i also think conditioning them and making sure their ready and stuff and seperating them afterwards and stuff is also quite a task, but that part seems pretty easy compared to the feeding of the fry from what ive read. i still think it would be an awesome learning experience to see this thing happen. after i get enough research, probably a few more weeks to a month, ill try to see what i can come up with. the hardest part for me will be keeping the little fry alive until adulthood and then selling them, thats the only thing stopping me from trying this right now. as well as getting a 10g tank for the breeding. from what ive read bubblewrap turned bubbles down seems to be the best nest for the eggs. everyone said it works the best because the fish thinks the bubbles are already made, etc so he starts building more. its quite ingenious.


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