# Successfully keeping male and female bettas together. AND breeding them!!!



## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

I have a question. 
I just set up a large pond (1,000 gallons) currently it houses goldfish and guppies. What if I move my bettas (6 females, 1 male) into it for the summer. Do you think they would breed and not fight?


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Probably will be fine. Yes they will most likely breed. Is there plants in it? Or a lot of hiding spots? 
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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

tankman12 said:


> Probably will be fine. Yes they will most likely breed. Is there plants in it? Or a lot of hiding spots?
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Yes.
Should I get more females or males?


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

I would but maybe 20 females, in it. You dont need to add any more though. I got a question though. Where are you going to put the bettas after the summer?
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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I agree, do you have place to store possibly 700 Betta's? That can come from just one spawn alone but likely you won't get any babies anyway since all the fish will just eat the eggs.

Breeding is very stressful for both fish, mothers often die and fathers become depressed after breeding so I don't really think this is a great idea no matter what the size of the tank/pond is. Also the females will most likely gang up on the male too, that's happened plenty of times. It's also best to know the personality of the fish since some are more aggressive and they'll just kill each other :-/


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Oh, not if your goldies eat them first!
I had a 2" goldie with half a male betta shoved in his mouth no problem. (I was growing them out before adding them to the larger ones and decided to put him with my betta.) Had to pull the bugger out and he did not survive being chewed up!
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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

Olympia said:


> Oh, not if your goldies eat them first!
> I had a 2" goldie with half a male betta shoved in his mouth no problem. (I was growing them out before adding them to the larger ones and decided to put him with my betta.) Had to pull the bugger out and he did not survive being chewed up!
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



:shock: They do that???


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yup, goldfish easily get a foot long and even longer, fish never technically stop growing but goldfish can easily fit Betta's and guppies in their mouth at a young age and goldfish WILL put anything in their mouth, they don't much care what it is haha


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Yep! Goldies eat whatever they can get a hold of. I'm guessing the male betta was a bit too slow. You may lose a few guppies now and then, but guppies breed enough that you shouldn't notice.
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## Pandanke (Jun 16, 2014)

A couple problems with that include the fact Goldies will eat whatever can fit in their mouth, and the additional issue of temperature. Ponds are typically too cool for bettas, which is why coldwater fish such as koi and goldfish do so great in it.

Another issue is the fact that it'd be inhumane to leave them over winter if you live in most areas which have a winter. Seeing as your profile says New Jersey, it would not be advisable. Bettas do not overwinter, they'll die. Even if you manage to somehow get them out prior, you almost definitely wont see any successful fry, and likely will have a few deceased from trying.


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## CrazedHoosier (Mar 18, 2014)

+1 Pandanke. Haha, random question for you Bettacrab, did you know there was a page on Facebook called Hermit Crab Crazy? Do you own it?


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

If you
a) had no goldfish (or guppies, really);
b) had only females;
c) brought them in over the winter; and
d) made sure the water params, temp, etc, were okay...

...then, yeah. They'd be fine.

I would just keep them inside, in tanks, though. If you're feeling that your pond needs spicing up, maybe a big pleco you've grown up to size indoors? Or some platies? But yeah.


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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

Pandanke said:


> A couple problems with that include the fact Goldies will eat whatever can fit in their mouth, and the additional issue of temperature. Ponds are typically too cool for bettas, which is why coldwater fish such as koi and goldfish do so great in it.
> 
> Another issue is the fact that it'd be inhumane to leave them over winter if you live in most areas which have a winter. Seeing as your profile says New Jersey, it would not be advisable. Bettas do not overwinter, they'll die. Even if you manage to somehow get them out prior, you almost definitely wont see any successful fry, and likely will have a few deceased from trying.


I said for the summer only.


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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

CrazedHoosier said:


> +1 Pandanke. Haha, random question for you Bettacrab, did you know there was a page on Facebook called Hermit Crab Crazy? Do you own it?


No, but I have youtube called crazyhermitcrab


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Ya but bettacrab, where are you going to put the bettas after? Do you have a tank for every male? Do you have the room for a 20 gallon + tank for a sorority or individual tanks? Where are you going to grow the fry out? Where are you going to bring or sell the babies? In a pond, betta babies will probably survive, cuz of all the micro organisms and hiding places. I know some one that breeds rainbow fish in their pond. But he had three 250 gallon tanks. So he had a place to but them and he also sold some. But rainbows are more wanted usually in a pet store.
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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

tankman12 said:


> Ya but bettacrab, where are you going to put the bettas after? Do you have a tank for every male? Do you have the room for a 20 gallon + tank for a sorority or individual tanks? Where are you going to grow the fry out? Where are you going to bring or sell the babies? In a pond, betta babies will probably survive, cuz of all the micro organisms and hiding places. I know some one that breeds rainbow fish in their pond. But he had three 250 gallon tanks. So he had a place to but them and he also sold some. But rainbows are more wanted usually in a pet store.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



I was planning on ordering small tanks for the males. Or dividing the tank. I was going to raise thm in the pond. And then put the females in my tank.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

That might seem good at first. But there will be a lot of breeding. So you my end up with 700+ bettas. (So lets split that in half) 350 male bettas, dang that will be a lot of tank splitting. 350 females, for that MAYBE a 250 gallon tank. If you have the space/money than ya go for it.

I would just put 1 male, 1 female to keep down the breeding. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Like said before.. the goldfish are likely to eat any adult betta you put in there..


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

I dont think they will eat them. But that is IMO. As long as they arent huge. I have seen bettas with 5-6 inch goldfish (at a couple of my local petcos and lfs). They have been together for a while...
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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

And before I mentioned that my 2" fantail had half a male in his mouth... I had to pull the darned thing out, and goldfish have nasty teeth in their throats, so I'm pretty sure it's quite possible.
Again, why are you suggesting the OP risk the lives of their fish? A pet store setting is very improper, and not done in the fish's best interests so should never be the basis of "proof" of anything.. animals are stressed to the max and do not behave naturally..


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

A 55-75 that has gravel, plants, rocks and is actually cold water for the goldfish. Isnt a proper goldfish tank?
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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

For comets and commons yes, but not for the Bettas is what she's saying. We're just wondering why you'd say the Bettas would be fine when clearly it's not their type of environment let alone, not proper tankmates no mater the size of the pond.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Cold water is not proper for betta though...
And it really depends on what kind of goldfish are in the tank when you are talking about temperature...


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

+1 Fancy goldfish need around 76-78 for their temps ^_^


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## CrazedHoosier (Mar 18, 2014)

Fancy Goldfish like a temperature similar to tropical fish? Wow, I didn't know that! And tankman12, Fancy Goldfish are the ones that get 4-6 inches (sometimes 8), but Common Goldfish and Commet Goldfish easily get larger than 8 inches. Compare that to the almost 1 inch diameter of a Betta, it would basically be like putting your favorite cheeseburger in your mouth (everything is a cheeseburger to a Goldfish)


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Well I have a shubunkin, and when I introduced two smaller shubunkin into its tank, it tried to eat both of them and only gave up when they wouldn't fit in its mouth. 

Goldfish are pretty voracious eaters and if it fits in their mouth it is fair game. Even if they could not eat an adult, they could probably easily eat younger fish. 

I have seen people keeping pairs of bettas in larger tub ponds (think around the 40-100 gallon mark) over the spring/summer and then bringing the fish back inside over winter. You are most likely not going to get huge numbers of fry by leaving both parents in, as I would think there is a very good chance either one or both parents would cannibalise them. I don't get any cannibalism by parents in my wild betta tanks, and even then, I only get a dozen or so fry growing out per tank. 

This is because it's the predation from older siblings you also have to watch out for. I have had juveniles wipe out entire new spawns in a matter of minutes as newly free-swimming fry are extremely vulnerable. 

So I think it's probably a slim possibility you'll end up with hundreds and hundreds of fry at the end of it. 

However, I personally wouldn't put the bettas in with goldfish. I would think set-up a separate, smaller pond, and you are probably going to be much more successful.


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## Pandanke (Jun 16, 2014)

CrazedHoosier said:


> Fancy Goldfish like a temperature similar to tropical fish? Wow, I didn't know that! And tankman12, Fancy Goldfish are the ones that get 4-6 inches (sometimes 8), but Common Goldfish and Commet Goldfish easily get larger than 8 inches. Compare that to the almost 1 inch diameter of a Betta, it would basically be like putting your favorite cheeseburger in your mouth *(everything is a cheeseburger to a Goldfish)*


This is my favorite, and one of the most true statements about goldfish ever.


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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

The pond is around 80F because it is summer, that is great for bettas. I purchased 3 (1 gallon) betta tanks, then I bought 3 bettas (2 female 1 male) I put them in the pond, they have been in for 8 days without problem. They are the bosses of the pond.


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Cool. Do you have a heater for the 3 tanks
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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

No. I still need a heater. Or I can put them in my empty divided 10 gallon


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

Are you going to put them in your 55? If not than a 10 gallon divided 2 times. To make three spots, would be much better.
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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

tankman12 said:


> Are you going to put them in your 55? If not than a 10 gallon divided 2 times. To make three spots, would be much better.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



My options
1: all 3 in my 55 gallon
2: females in my sorority, make in my community
3: make a new sorority: male in community
4: divide a 10 gallon 3 ways
5:give them each a tank


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

I would do 4 or 5. You can TRY 1 but chances are, it may not work.
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## Bettacrab (Jun 30, 2013)

tankman12 said:


> I would do 4 or 5. You can TRY 1 but chances are, it may not work.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


What?


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## tankman12 (Nov 13, 2012)

The option numbers.
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## Flint (Oct 22, 2013)

I agree.


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