# breeding halfmoon bettas - first timer :D



## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

hi, just wanted to set up a little log that im going to try to keep updated as i go through my first ever spawn! the pair im breeding are both halfmoons i got from Chard56 on aquabid. and without further ado, heres the couple! 

the boy, Hades:










the girl, Pixie:










and the tank, as it is now:












so, right now i am conditioning them both, they are out of sight of each other, and im feeding them frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, and pellets, feeding 3 times a day. im thinking that if they both look good on wednesday, ill put hades in the breeding tank for a few hours and then introduce pixie, in a jar. and ill see what happens from there 

as for the tank itself, all i have in there right now is a heater and a couple IALs. pretty soon their will be a dozen small marimo balls (yes, a literal dozen lol) as well as some fake plants, and a few little places to hide for the girl. im still not sure if im going to put a styro cup in their yet, i might just let it happen on the leaves or find a floating plant if i can, well see. 

if anyone is wondering, i will be feeding them a variety of foods (all of which i purchased on aquabid from a user named Fishguy_1955) the food is an artificial plankton/rotifers blend, spirulina powder, decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, and a blended starter meal that he makes himself. oh, and a culture of micro, banana, and walter worms. i plan on feeding about 4 or 5 times a day, with a water change about 30 minutes after feeding.

im really excited to get started! if you have any suggestions or comments, feel free


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

They both look really good I am interested to see the fry  I usually add a piece of bubble wrap for the males sometimes they use it sometimes they have other ideas of where to put the nest. And what ever your feeding make sure its good in protein. I will usually do mosquito larva, bloodworms along with their regular pellets. Best of luck tell me how the food goes for you I'd be interested 
to try it


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

Good luck on your first spawn! I Usually add a styrofoam cup in with the male for his bubble nest...if he uses it, great! But Even if he doesn't it isn't a big deal, I can just take it out  What a beautiful pair!


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

> as for the tank itself, all i have in there right now is a heater and a couple IALs. pretty soon their will be a dozen small marimo balls (yes, a literal dozen lol) as well as some fake plants, and a few little places to hide for the girl.


LOL. I LOVE marimo moss balls, I have a whole ten gallon tank so full of them that you can hardly see the bottom  My mom wants me to get rid of some....but I told her if I do that, I would still have a ten gallon tank, so why not keep all the moss balls? heehee. If you want places for the female to hide, buy a terra cotta pot at a craft store, usually about 99cents.  Just make sure if there is a hole in the bottom that your bettas can not get stuck in it xD You know bettas...always trying to do something...well....INTERESTING.... LOL


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

cool pair. i love chard56 and he is actually a member on this forum. all of his females are huge so is she massive. and what is the males coloring?


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

@creat- i will definitely try to keep this updated, im excited to see how they turn out to!!! :-D

@FiSh- thats what i was thinking, ill probably go for the styrofoam cup too  and thank you! yea, im starting to love marimo balls too. im horrible with plants and even i havent been able to kill them yet lol funny that you mention terra cotta pots, because i just got back from a craft store, and i picked some up xDDD and yeah, i know they will get into mischief any way that they can xDD


@mernin- thanks!  yes she is enormous! i was almost scared that she would be too big, because i have heard that it is bad to have a female that is bigger than the male. she isnt, but just barely lol and yeah, sorry the pictures are so blurry, and his has alot of glare on it... hes blue, with black trim and a black face. chard called him a "melano butterfly", but im still pretty new with the color pattern names so i have no idea what that means lol.


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

They are impossible to kill  From what I hear, they are from lakes and stuff, so I'm guessing it is really dark because they don't float on the surface, but sometimes a little close. Mine don't float, though  They get kind swished around from the filter current, though. LOL


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

really? i never knew they floated... none of mine do lol


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

Mine don't float, they just sway with the current when they get caught in it...my Betta fish Ember likes to push them into the filter flow so they sway around...I think he likes his game...LOL


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

oh i saw that male on his sales. you know pixie's brother is actually for sale know! here he is
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettasd&1309398004


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

oh. my. god. mernin, you have no idea how badly i want that fish lol. unfortunately i just cant take another fish right now.... no money and im trying to concentrate on the ones i have first, but he is gorgeous!!! :shock:
FiSh- that is so cute! mine like to pay games too, i think its adorable xDD


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## mernincrazy8525 (Feb 28, 2011)

i knew you would like him. but i am interested in what the fry with this male will look like!


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

me too! i really have no experience with color combos (of course, this is my first time lol) but im hoping that some look like the mom, because i fell in love with her color the minute i saw her. i wonder if any will combine their colors somehow? so exciting!


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

so i thought i would just post a quick pic to show you a few additions that i put in the breeding tank. 










sorry, i know my pics are blurry/have alot of glare, so ill just give you the rundown on what i put it  so in addition to the heater and IALs, their are now a couple fake plants, about 14 marimo balls, and 2 different sized terra cotta pots. ill probably add more for her to hide in, because i want to be sure she has enough cover, especially because ive heard of spawns lasting days before they even embrace lol well, thats all for now 


edit: and by the way, if the tank looks really small, thats because i took a pic from the side lol.


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

Nice setup! I have never tried IAL but supposedly they have amazing qualities....but my bettas spawn fine without them, and I get lots of healthy fry


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

thank you! yeah, it came with the food i bought so i thought i would try it out.  i have heard that it actually doesnt have any special qualities, other than its tannins making the bettas feel more at home because it occurs naturally where thy come from (though i never really understood that, as these bettas have not been wild for many generations, id guess...) oh well! anything that might give them a boost is okay with me 

edit: hey just wondering, how long do you condition your pair for? and how long do you leave the male in the tank for by himself, when do you add the female in the jar (or vase) and how long do you keep her separated? just wanted to get some various opinions


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

I condition my pair for 1-2 weeks, depending on when the female is full of eggies and the male is building a bubble nest :3 Sometimes the male doesn't build a bubble nest...it doesn't seem to matter, though, he usually build one when he sees the female. Once they are done conditioning I add the female to the males tank in the jar/chimney/vase/etc. (I condition the male while he is in the spawning tank so he can just build a bubble nest in there.) How long I keep them separated depends...if the female has vertical white stripes across her then I know that she is ready to breed, and if she is flaring at the male. Sometimes the females are a little shy, but as long as she has the vertical stripes you are okay  Once the male and female are flaring at eachother and the male has at least STARTED a bubble nest, I release the female. The female stays in between 1-3 days, I don't feed them when they are together, it can arouse aggression over the food...once you see the male aggressively chasing her away and gaurding the bubble nest, and if you can see eggs in it (but they are pretty tiny and hard to see even for me) then remove the female and let the male do his 'daddy' thing  I feed them both after they are separated, some people say it may induce the male to eat his eggs because he is still huingry, etc. but I find that it does not matter, I just feel bad for him and don't want him to starve :3 If the male and female have not mated after 3 days, then take out the female and condition the male and female for another week, and try again. Sometimes they are not in the mood. Things that make them switch into 'breeding' mode I find are: good food, and water changes. this resembles when there is fresh water in rice paddies after it rains, as the most rainy season is the season they breed. (AKA spring) just when doing the water changes if the male has a bubble nest try not to 'HULK SMASH' it. LOL. I accidentally did this to my male before, and he seemes to be mad at me ever since x) If you have any other questions feel free to ask


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

thank you!  ive only been conditioning for a few days and already the female has faint breeding bars, and looks eggy. the male has small bubble nests in the corners of his tank, but not a big nice one. hes not in the breeding tank tho lol

edit: i wanted to get pics of the breeding bars to show, but she got stressed when i put the camera up to her. guess not :/ lol


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

Yeah it depends on the betta fish, one of my females is I'm guessing a little conceited, and loves to swim up to the front of the tank and pose for me  But Jade, my purple roundtail female, hates pictures and hides in her cave


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

so i thought i would just update really quick.

after a little scare with a "parasite" that turned out to be planteria worms (phew!) everything is back on track, and i just released the male into the spawning tank










hes just making himself comfortable, so im going to give him a day or 2 before i put the female in a vase. im so excited! and Hades was being hilarious in the tank, he was staring down an IAL, flaring and everything, then went and put one lone bubble under the tupperware top i have in there. yay!!! DD


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

and i also got a little better pictured of the pair, when he was still in his own tank though... here we are:

pixie










and hades










just thought id share


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

Very pretty still  They will have gorgeous babies, I just know it


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

thanks fish 


lol, when i typed that i felt like i was actually talking to fish xDDD


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

shes in the jar 












its adorable, she is flaring at him like crazy. he is flaring alot too, and he kinda looks confused, like what the heck is she doing here? xDD


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Oh those will be some incredible babies! I hope everything goes well.


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

thank you creat! im actually a little frustrated right now, he is showing so much interest in her, and even though she was showing interest in him in the vase, now all she does is run and hulk smash his nest. -___- hopefully things turn around so i dont have to call it quits!!


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

As long as no one get seriously injured I wouldnt call it quits obviously they like each other or she would stop coming over lol. It might take a few days for them to figure it out


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## FiShFiShFiShFiSh (Jun 21, 2011)

LOL.  And I agree with Creat, as long as there are no serious injuries they will be finetogether


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

yea, im just super paranoid. i freak out every time i see him go for her, i know hes only doing it because hes frustrated though, because otherwise hes been really gentle. ugh! why does she have to be such a tease.... lol


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## lunawatsername (Apr 20, 2011)

so i just thought i would do a quick update, they did not spawn -___- i had to take her out because it looked like she was getting stress stripes, she wasnt really that eggy anymore and they both looked tired. they were in there for a good 3 days, but it just wasnt the time i guess :| oh well! ill be re-conditioning them over the next couple weeks, and well see what happens


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