# HI, Betta Breeder, anyone!?



## girlpower31 (Aug 21, 2008)

:lol:I need help, anyone know a good betta breeder in kc ks/mo area? Need newly sexed fry for starting my breeding program that are under budget for a teen who don't work.;-)


----------



## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Can't say I know of any breeders in that area, but keep in mind that the breeding stock themselves definitely aren't going to be your biggest expense. Setting up even a very basic breeding operation can cost a lot of money, as you'll need tanks for your breeding stock, a tank to breed them in (a 15g or 20 long would be great), something like a 40g breeder for the fry to grow out in (and for the females once you separate by sex), gallon glass jars for all of the males, air pumps and air stones for all of these jars, filters, heaters, lights for the tanks, plus live food cultures for the fry. All told you're looking at at least $500 or so to set up the operation, even if you buy a lot of the stuff second-hand.


----------



## girlpower31 (Aug 21, 2008)

well, I have a ten gallon tank w/ heater and filter, and around 15 bowls for males, I have read you can reduce amount of fry per spawn by not allowing more than like 5 embraces. Food for fry though, whne I was searching online, I saw when I was getting my pet store bettas, (required school project), Petsmart sells baby betta food. Know anything about that?


----------



## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You need to do a lot of research before breeding so you will know exactly what you'll be getting into and also what you'll be needing. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I think babies do better with live food such as microworms, baby brine shrimp or vinegar eels.


----------



## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Even baby brine shrimp are too large for very young fry. The microworms or vinegar eels are definitely your best option. Also, is the food you're talking about Hikari Betta Bio-Gold? For some reason the package says "baby pellet" on it, but they're definitely just a standard sized betta pellet. There are powdered and liquid fry foods available, but generally it's difficult to get young fry to eat these foods so live is really the best option. These fish are capable of having hundreds of fish in a single spawn, so interrupting them during the spawn may work but you may still end up with a ton of fish. You will also need a much larger aquarium than the 10g for all of the female fry.


----------



## girlpower31 (Aug 21, 2008)

ok, heres the web-link for the food i'm talking about: Atison's Betta Starter - Food - Fish - PetSmart


----------



## girlpower31 (Aug 21, 2008)

this is actual fry food, not "baby" pellets


----------



## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

The betta breeding guides I've read, and the personal experience I've heard from betta breeders, says that live foods are definitely the way to go for young betta fry. However, there are testimonials written about that food, and people certainly have luck with using prepared fry foods with other types of fry. If I were you, and was interested in trying the prepared food, I would have live foods on hand anyway just in case.


----------



## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

What are you planning on doing with the fry when they mature?

I agree, breeding bettas is a huge responsibility and you really need to make sure that you are prepared beforehand. For starters, you are going to need a *lot* more tanks as well as heaters (or a heated room) and filters, and I am pretty sure that live food is the way to go.

Honestly, I would love to have baby bettas, but I just don't have the time or money involved. Another thing to think of is are you going to have the time to feed 100 baby bettas throughout the day, making sure they all get the right amount (especially when they move on to pellets or such) and if you choose to keep the males in jars you are talking daily to every other day water changes in all the jars. That's a lot of time and effort.

Just some food for thought.


----------



## girlpower31 (Aug 21, 2008)

i'm thinking of selling to friends, as well as a local petstore that in my opinion, REALLY needs better quality bettas, the ones I've bought from them die like immediately


----------



## iamntbatman (Jan 3, 2008)

Be sure that the fish store is willing to buy them. If their fish are low quality, they likely buy them in large numbers from an importer or mass breeder, so you may not be able to get very good prices.


----------



## radiobath (Nov 12, 2008)

This Q&A article on BettaTalk explains exactly the things you should be prepared for when you consider breeding. The text is hard to read, so I'll post up a good chunk of it.



> First of all, before setting up a spawn and deciding to breed bettas, each one of us should carefully examine the questions below and answer them *honestly. *If you cannot answer YES to these questions (all of them) then you should NOT spawn bettas.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


On it, it has a no-culling method of reducing the number of fry. Only thing I worry about is that if this is your first spawn, you may end up with little-to-no-spawn anyways, and using that method will decrease your chances further.

Edit: I have never bred bettas before, but I've been reading about 15 articles a day, along with browsing FishForum. I'm in no way an expert.


----------



## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Good information.


----------



## radiobath (Nov 12, 2008)

Forgot to mention this in my post last night...

Betta breeding is no get-rich-quick plan. Many breeders out there who have dedicated fish rooms, multiple spawn tanks, and reputation in Aquabid and IBC barely break even. The market is so heavily saturated, and Thailand breeders are always a few steps ahead of us with their breeding/spawning/raising techniques. Odds are, unless you are well-known in the betta culture, you won't be able to sell fish for more than a few dollars. And there is always the chance that you can't part with them, something that effects a lot of breeders--fish, mammal, or reptile. My sister bred angelfish and discus, and ended up keeping all of them (over $1,000 in tanks alone).

Pet stores usually get their bettas for wholesale en masse. 100 bettas for $50, or something along those lines. If you want to sell your spare males or females, you'll probably only be able to sell them for $1 each or 20/$10. If you want higher prices, they'll have to be gorgeous and hardy fish. And then the question of morality comes in: you know how pet stores treat bettas. You know how people treat bettas. Would you really be okay with selling your children to them?

If you're still unphased and want to continue, but don't know how to sell or keep 20+ bettas, there is always the option of culling. There are a few methods explained on BettaSplendens, but in the end, you have to understand that you'd be taking their lives away. If your morals don't get in the way with that, then another option is opened up.

But all in all, if you're planning on breeding LPS bettas, you'll probably have to just give them away. They're not worth much at all, and most pet stores would rather fork over money for high quality bettas instead of the same old shipment they get.


----------



## Kim (Apr 30, 2008)

Agreed totally. Great post radiobath


----------



## block2 (Sep 8, 2008)

*Make Your Own INFUSORIA*



iamntbatman said:


> Even baby brine shrimp are too large for very young fry. The microworms or vinegar eels are definitely your best option. Also, is the food you're talking about Hikari Betta Bio-Gold? For some reason the package says "baby pellet" on it, but they're definitely just a standard sized betta pellet. There are powdered and liquid fry foods available, but generally it's difficult to get young fry to eat these foods so live is really the best option.


It's quite easy to make your own INFUSORIA...you will need at least a clean 2 liter bottle(bigger bottle/jar would result in more food), fill it up half way with tap water. Get a cabbage, rip a good piece off, big enough to cover the bottom of the bottle and boil it until its cooked. Once you have boiled it, put the cabbage inside the bottle/jar and fill up the rest of the bottle/jar with TANK WATER, this is to allow bacteria to start making infusoria. Leave bottle/jar somewhere that gets plenty of sunlight for about a week, look inside and you will see dusty looking particles moving around. That is infusoria, and most of the fries will live if you feed them infusoria. After about 2 to 3 weeks, you can start to feed them microworms or vinegar eels and so on as they grow.

Regards
Jeff


----------

