# Will they breed?



## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

First off id like to say i have no intention to breed these bettas but i always wonder with the nest he builds what would happen if i pull out the divider...? I know how you setup a proper breeding aquarium but these bettas are housed in a maybe 3 gallon or more container with a devider in the middle. Its wide and shallow. It is covered. There are floating plants, a pinch or gravel. No filter or heater, but i keep them in a room with the ac shut off so its probally about at 78f. Im told they are plakat dragons. They are 5 months old. Also what do you guys think about these bettas? Thanks for any advice!


















Kind Regards, ;-)


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

And i know this may sound stupid but what makes this fish a plakat dragon? Is it just the short fins or do they grow bigger? Just curious if these actually are plakats...? Ill have better pics tomorrow of them and the setup.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

They are not dragons at all. They are red HMPK.

As for if they would breed they might but you are not prepared. Spawning should take place at at least 80* and fry are best raised at 82-86*F. You need a thermometer to know exactly what your temp is because water temperature will be several degrees lower than ambient room temp.

You also need a much larger tank to grow fry out in besides a 3 gallon, not to mention separate tanks to condition and house the pair, plus foods for the fry.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

And about the bettas; are they plakat dragons? what does that mean exactly...?


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

They are plakats, to be specific they are halfmoon plakats or HMPK. They are not dragons. "Dragon" bettas exhibit thick 'armor-like' scaling. Originally this scaling was only white but through selective breeding you can now find dragon bettas in a wide variety of colors.

Here is an article about dragon bettas.
http://www.bettysplendens.com/articles/page.imp?articleid=3433


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

So wat makes these guys halfmoon?


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

The 180 degree spread of the tail.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

The tail shape. It's rounded like a half moon shape.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

thanks!


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Sorry, but your fish is not a dragon. He might be a dragon geno (if he shows thick irid on body - picture not clear).

Further he is not a HMPK. To be half moon, the caudal needs to be a half circle shape. Your fish is round/oval - so he is a regular PK.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

the female looks pretty clamped, too. and, she's a Cambodian, right? she doesn't look too happy. ._.

they certainly are beautiful bettas, though. :d


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

Luimeril said:


> the female looks pretty clamped, too. and, she's a Cambodian, right? she doesn't look too happy. ._.
> 
> they certainly are beautiful bettas, though. :d


those are the pics from the site i got them from, shes not clamped and shes very happy. i will post updated pics later today.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)




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## Betta Slave (Dec 8, 2009)

Good luck if you decide to breed them... they're both lovely!


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

thanks


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

WHOA ARE THEY IN THE SAME GLASS?


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## FlareThis (Jan 24, 2011)

The male is gorgeous, but no I would not advise breeding them, its very expensive, very time consuming and can potentially result in the death of both parents, not to mention you need live food to feed the fry, a large grow out tank, a heater, a sponge filter and enough space to separate up to 300+ potential babies.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

i put them in the same glass while i was doing a water change, for about 30 seconds. there wasnt any nipping, they were a lil stressed from the water change which explains the color and no her fins are never clamped.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

i was just curious in regards to posting this topic, not serious about breeding them in this tank. i have a ten or 20 gallon coming this week.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

You should never, *ever* put males and females together, even if it is for only 20 seconds. They should only be together for breeding purposes, and even then it is a difficult process to get them to not kill each other. Also, I don't suggest keeping two fish in a divided tank any less than five gallons, especially with no filter. What is your water change schedule?

I suggest you do a bit more research before you decide to breed, it doesn't some like you have all your betta facts straight, considering you put them in the same glass.

There are tons of good sites out there with betta info and betta breeding info out there, like bettysplendens.com or bettatalk.com


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

turtle10 said:


> You should never, *ever* put males and females together, even if it is for only 20 seconds. They should only be together for breeding purposes, and even then it is a difficult process to get them to not kill each other. Also, I don't suggest keeping two fish in a divided tank any less than five gallons, especially with no filter. What is your water change schedule?
> 
> I suggest you do a bit more research before you decide to breed, it doesn't some like you have all your betta facts straight, considering you put them in the same glass.
> 
> There are tons of good sites out there with betta info and betta breeding info out there, like bettysplendens.com or bettatalk.com


I agree. You should only divide a minimum of 5 gallons IMO. In a divided 3 gallon, that's like... you have to do probably around 4 100% water changes a week (might get away with 2 50% and 2 100%) Just double the normal amount of water changes. 

Also, you really should do months of research before you breed. Live food cultures take weeks to setup (Fry NEED to eat live food for their first weeks), fry containers can cost you hundreds of dollars (most likely 100% daily water changes), growout tank/tub needed of at least 20 gallons, IAL's, lots of cover, breeding tank, ability to stand constantly patiently checking through clear buckets of water for a really long time for fry during water changes, and more.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

Thanks, but i know what im doing. ive kept bettas for more than 9 years and havnt had a problem so far. Im not trying to be impolite but; it was 20 seconds and the bettas didnt so much as nip one another. I change %100 of the water every two days and i said before that I am getting an aquarium for the pair this week. Thank you for all of your comments, take care


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

Also as ive said; ive had experience breeding in the past, i use 55's for growout. its been a couple years but i have a bit more knowledge than you think so dont get too far ahead of your self. This is why i dont usually post on forums; power trippin.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

Jacob21 said:


> Also as ive said; ive had experience breeding in the past, i use 55's for growout. its been a couple years but i have a bit more knowledge than you think so dont get too far ahead of your self. This is why i dont usually post on forums; power trippin.


LOL No one was "power trippin", we just want the best for your fish. We get a few people on here sometimes that try to breed when they have the maturity (or the age) of a 10 year old. :lol: Just looking out for ya!


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

For some odd reason I was under the impression you had never bred Bettas before LOL. Now that I read through my post, sorry I sounded a bit blunt 0.0 I've been on too many troll-haunted places lately and keep forgetting to tone it down to normal level for Bettafish.

Well then, good luck with them if you do breed. *sigh* such pretty Bettas that "dance" in my eyes (In other words I imagine pretty fry coming from them ^.^)


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

Random and no offence question....but if you have been in the betta hobby so long how come you dont know the tail types of your fish?


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I was like jacob - I simply loved them and didn't care what their tails/color were called. I began taking notice since 2005 ...... about 20 yrs later.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

Its no problem guess just felt cornered lol. Ive never had plakats ive OLNY had and bred the "petsmart type bettas". Im trying to condition them but the female refuses to eat anything but pellets! What do i do in a situation like this?


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## briser (Feb 7, 2011)

You said in the first post in this thread that you weren't planning on breeding them, I'm a little confused.


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

things change


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Who says you can't change your mind? lol


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## Landon21 (Mar 27, 2011)

Shes finally eating the bloodworms!


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