# Many questions about breeding...Im entering the research stage.



## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

So I really want to breed my bettas and I was thinking about doing it sometime in the next month, so I figure now would be the time to start researching. I have already been reading multiple sites since Ive had them but theres a few things I need clarification on, so I will ask most of them now but Im sure there is more I will have later.


I know you are supposed to have a 20 gallon spawn tank but Ive heard of people using 10 gallons, are ten gallons sufficient?
To entice the male you are supposed leave your female in sight of the male for a few days, but my male has been in sight off her since I got them through a divider. Will this he not be interested since she is a "common sight" to him?

Umm, well I guess it was only two questions for now. Thanks in advance for any help.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You CAN use a 10 gallon but bigger is recommended because its easier to maintain water quality.Is your divider clear?


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> You CAN use a 10 gallon but bigger is recommended because its easier to maintain water quality.Is your divider clear?


I guess it would be considered opaque, they can definitly see each other because they flare at each other sometimes and sort of follow each other back and forth.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Have you read about conditioning? The male and female should be conditioned for about 2 weeks. During this time you should feed them rich foods like bloodworms or brine shrimp.This helps the female to develop her eggs. According to my book, this should help the male's desire to build a bubblenest.


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## Chicklet (Feb 9, 2009)

10 gallons is sufficient as the breeding tank.
A divided tank is not sufficient.
The male needs the female close, in a divided tank she can go to the opposite end and thus discourage the male.
She needs to be in a vase or chimney type container, planted in the middle of the tank, So he can have sight of her at all times,


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Yah I know about conditioning I actually went down to the local petstore to see what they had, does frozen foods work when thawed out or does it have to be live. 

And I know a 10g divided would be way to small I have another 10g that Im ready to fill once Im 100% sure Im doing this (well basically once I get my mom 100% sure I can do this)


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

According to my book, frozen foods will be fine.


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## crowntail lover (Apr 25, 2009)

I have been conditioning my pair with Bloodworms, hight proten pellets, and shrimp!! 
Is this koolio? 
My book says its great.....Just double checking...


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yep, getting your mom's approval would be a good thing. lol Good luck!


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Aww, I had no luck looking for grow out tanks, closest I found in my price range was a 6 Qt shoebox shaped tupperware thing. Would that be suitable or do they need more vertical space. It was only about 4 inches high but was atleast 9-10" long. The other was a 6Qt fishbowl shaped tupperware but it was $3 a piece.

Also quick question, If I have a white male with blue on his fins, and a pure blue female. Would the babies be blue/white or do they come out random colors? 

Ohh yah I remember. My other question was about filters and heaters. I know our supposed to have a filter in the spawn tank but you cant put one in each grow out tank can you...same with the heaters, I wouldnt want to get them used to 81 degree spaawn tank water and then move them to 76 degree grow-out tanks.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You might try looking for a storage tub, like a rubbermaid tub.Something that would hold 10 or 20 gallons. You could put a filter and heater in one of those.You don't need to separate them immediately. When they start getting aggressive with each other, you put the males each in their own container and the females can stay together in the spawning tank.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> You might try looking for a storage tub, like a rubbermaid tub.Something that would hold 10 or 20 gallons. You could put a filter and heater in one of those.You don't need to separate them immediately. When they start getting aggressive with each other, you put the males each in their own container and the females can stay together in the spawning tank.


Yah that sounds like a good plan. I plan on spawning them in a 10g, then if they get too big I can put them in a big rubbermaid, and if they start fighting I can just find containers as I need them. One question though, if I were to give/sell them to a petstore how would I get the fish to them? Do they have spares of those little containers or am I supposed to supply those?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I have no idea. You could call them and find out.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Alright few more quick questions.

-Is there any issues I'm not seeing about using the spawning tank as a permanent female sorority, like just ween out the other ones until there are 6-7 females left.

-I heard you should not have any substrate so the male doesnt lose any of the eggs in it, but you also need lots of plants for the female to hide. Well how do you anchor the plants without substrate?

-Does freeze dried food work for conditioning, I will be using other stuff too but I already some freezedried blood-worms.

-I think I already asked but, do you feed them the conditioning food EVERY day or is it still once a week type of thing.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

I also need to build small caves, add fake plants, and maybe driftwood or terracotta pots, should I add these before I attempt to spawn or after I decide which females will be the permanent ones.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I would go ahead and add them to the spawn tank.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Alright, whats the best substrate for a spawn tank, if any. Id prefer to have none for cleaning/expense easyness but I cant see anchoring anything without it.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think it needs to be bare bottomed because the eggs fall and the male picks them up off the bottom to put them back in the nest. Also, the babies need to be able to find their food. You might need to use large glass rocks or something like that to hold down the plants. I had a problem with mine floating to the top because they aren't secured to the bottom. Hmmm, I wonder if suction cups would work? I may have to try that! lol


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## Nataku (Feb 22, 2009)

It needs to be bare bottomed. Both for the male to catch the eggs, but for the fry as well - in the first couple weeks they will spend a lot of time laying on the bottom. The live food they will be eating should also not be able to get away from them (aka go hide in the rocks). You need a bare bottom for cleaning, so you can tell the difference between fry and poop and can keep the tank clean.

Java fern is one a plan on using for breeding, I've got it in several of my tanks now. It does not need to be anchored down. It will sink n down to the bottom on its own, and it isn't supposed to have it's roots buried anyhow. Water sprite, which floats on the top of the water, is also looking promising, and I'm considering trying some of that in the future too. I'm just worried the male might use it to build his bubble nest under instead of the cup! There's also Java moss, which sinks to the bottom, just lay it out in a few spots in the tank, it will give the fry some thing of a grass-like environment to sit in.

I've seen a lot of breeders use little terracotta pots for caves during the breeding, they seem to work for when either fish wants a cave to go hide. They are then removed after the breeding (around the same time the female is removed) to help keep the tank somewhat more clear for the sake of cleaning later.

Freeze-dried works for conditioning. And yes, conditioning is a high-protein diet. That means more than a day. Most breeders I've read up on tend to feed a mix of live, frozen and freeze-dried depending upon availability, along with a few pellets (in particular, Hikari), but over half the betta's intake during conditioning should be the freeze-dried/frozen/live stuff.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Ok I think I know everything I need to now, no wait one thing, the java moss/fern and such, do they need some type of fertilizer or light to grow?

EDIT: nvm, I see it does not.


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## IonBaller07 (Mar 29, 2009)

Sould I move my 15w florecent over it while Im trying to grow it or do my bettas need it more? Or can I get a florescent bulb like this and put it in a lamo I used for my lizards?


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