How To Breed Female Betta Fish Sucessfully
When you want to breed your female Betta Fish, the very first thing you need to do is make sure youre ready and up to the task. Dont overlook the fact that itll take some effort, time, and sufficient funds to put into action!
One of the most important things to remember is that you will need sufficient space for about 30 to 40 clean glass jars to keep the males apart. Also, a secure pond that contains no other tropical fish plus youll require a past level of experience in knowing how to care for your pet Betta Fish.
The Best Way To Buy Female Betta Fish
Sometimes this can become a difficult task and you may need to visit several pet stores before you find suitable and health female bettas. As soon as you have purchased the females, dont leave them for a long period of time in the same bowl or tank. You should always start first with buying cheap Betta Fish as not to waste a lot of money. As soon as you have enough experience and consider yourself an expert, you should try to breed your very own masterpieces.
Helpful Hint: Try and find females with lots of energy so that you increase the chances of spawning. The best chance of success you have if the fish are between 7 to 12 months of age. Always keep a another pair of females on the side just in case it doesnt work out with the first pair of female beta fish.
Preparing the mating tank isnt that difficult if you follow these simple steps: select a tank about 6 to 10 gallons in water capacity. Leave off placing too much decorations or tank gravel. However, its a good idea to place a few large leafed plants in the tank giving the female a chance to hide from the male. The water temperature should be stable and around 80 degrees with a depth of no less than 6 inches.
You can add more more when the fry (baby fish) begin swimming. Adult Bettas usually dont need air filtration, but for the fry its essential. But keep in mind that the fry cannot handle a powerful filter.
So consider using the old-fashioned box type. The best type should use an air pump. Plus make sure that the carbon filter (that was sold with the pump) is not easily acceptable. Best if you use floss and/or suitable sponges. By doing this youll avoid any chance of bad reactions occurring between the carbon and an anti-fungal treatment.
Helpful Hint: Its best if you allow the pump to operate through a complete cycle before you expose the female fish which allows bacteria to grow.
You should always feed fish ready for breeding with very high quality fish food. Our recommendation is: BettaMin, live or frozen brine shrimp freeze dried blood worms and even a few live black worms. Many breeders swear by a food substitute called "tubifex worms" along with other combinations. Dont overfeed your bettas because youll end-up cleaning the tank too much and replacing the water much too often.
You should replace about 20 percent of the water in each glass bowl or betta tank on a regular basis to help prevent poluted water occuring and to encourage the fish to get ready to breed. Also, you should always keep the male separate in the breeding tank but he should be able to view the female in her tank. Watch for the signs of him starting to build a bubble nest.
USE HIGH QUALITY FOOD
If you use high quality food, the female Bettas should start to plump-up as her eggs are being produced. Sometimes, with the lighter colored Bettass youll notice her eggs and watch for the appearnce of horizontal stripes when she is ready. If you cannot see it, see if you can spot look near the anal fin for a white gravid tube. If this is showing, the female Betta is ready.
When this occurs put the female in the water together with the male. Dont get upset if at first you see some rough treatment, including fin nipping or even other bad behavior. But if it gets too rough for the female, remove her and wait a day or two and let her recover. Then try again, and if all goes well a second time (that is: if they embrace each other) she will produce her eggs under the males bubble nest. The male beta fish will then fertilize and take care of the eggs. Important: At this time you should remove the female and place her in her own tank.
Over the next few days you will notice the male keeping the eggs clean in his bubble nest. After which comes the fry. For about the next 30 hours or so you shouldnt remove out of the tank. After about 2 days (after the fry have hatched) you see the first fry start to swim without much help. Its at this point that you should remove the male fish lest the baby fry become fish food for the male. Usually a day after the baby fry hatch, youll need to allow them their first feeding. This can be baby brine shrimp, microworms, or even daphnia. Another good method is to use liquid fry food. In most cases, the baby fry will need to be fed up to 5 times a day.
Helpful Hint: The water temperature of the tank *MUST* be above at the very minimum of between 68 and preferably 70 degrees. Make sure that there arent any other fish in the tank that could eat the baby fry.
After about 10 - 12 days, you can feed them a little powdered food. However, this should be a tiny amount which has been finely crushed as flake food. Watch out that they should be about a quarter of an inch or so in length. Then at about 4 - 5 weeks, they should have grown to around a half inch in length, and should start to display sexual dimorphism, so that you are able to tell that the males apart from the female Bettas.
Important: Always separate the males Betta Fish from each other otherwise fights will break out and you could wind-up losing some of your fish.
Peter Myles is an expert in the care and breeding of betta fish as well as betta fish care and offers free tips and advice at his website www.bettafishguru.com