Breeding Bettas?

[Kyle Barker]

I am wondering how to breed B.splendans. I have a 1gal jar for the male (i think thats small so if he needs bigger please inform me) and a 10 gal tank for 2 females. LOTS of plants and the usual lights, air, filter etc. I am lost after the part when he makes his foam nest. Any help, especially on tanke size/design? Thanks for any help.

Kyle

[Youkai]

Usually what you want to do is have a 10 gallon tank with some plants, usually floating. No filter is usually best. You want the male in there. Make sure he has his nest built.
Introduce a female slowly. A lot of people use something like a vase that floats. The male gets used to her. When you let her out, the male will chase the female. This may result in mating, or might not. One way or another is usually ends in a bit of damage to the female. Make sure you have a good tank kept ready for her to recover in. You may have to try a few times.
When they do mate, the male will collect the eggs and put them in his bubble nest. Remove the female pronto.
When the babies hatch, they will need infusoria for first food. You'll want to remove the male after they've all hatched.

This is a short run-down, I would suggest getting a good book and doing some online hunting.

[Kyle Barker]

Perfect, that really helps. Would water sprites be good, or should i get other floaters? What size aquirium should the gals be kept in (i got a 20ish gallon. Would that be better for the male of females)? Do you know of any specific books for bettas (in english), all i have is general tropical fish books that arent that great. Not trying to get ahead of myself but do paradise fish's"M. opercularis" breed in the smae manner, and cage conditions? Thanks for the help

Kyle

[Youkai]

cobomba(sp?), hornwort, anything really that floats...so yeah, water sprite should be fine. Basically it's there to give a bit of nest support.
There is a fantastic book on bettas published by Barron's. It's called
Bettas
A Complete Pet Owner's Manual

Most any pet store should be able to get it in.

As for the paradise fish!
pretty much identical, except that the males and females can be kept together when not breeding. The male will harrass the female when he's watching the nest/eggs though.

[chamitch]

use a ten gallon. and this is what makes a good breed and not. fill it up about half way. and test for nitrogen. thats teh key. and i think u got the rest

[Kyle Barker]

Cool thanx, i guess i'll try again. I failed miserably! I just couldn't seem to find quality animals, so i got them from the pet store....now they are dead. suprise suprise.
thanks for the input.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Kyle, we sell dynamite hornwort at work! I think we sold 5,500+ bundles this year. Easily the biggest seller of hornwort in Western Canada (if not ALL of Canada) for the last 4 years!

[MartinW]

Kyle, if you want you can also float a margarine container lid in the tank and the male can build a bubble nest underneath it. Whether you use one or not is up to you, I'm just used to using one so I use one. However, if his bubble nest keeps on disappearing because the bubbles pop a margarine container lid would help. I had that problem with my blue gouramis who also make bubble nests and once I put in the lid he blew the bubbles underneath it and the bubbles stopped popping.

Martin

[Kyle Barker]

Good idea, but i would have to do it with natural looking setup(s). I want them as something to look at and enjoy more then anything. But if i fail too much with plants, i will give it a shot.

[MartinW]

Let us know how the breeding project goes! I've bred bettas before but the fry died:( I think I overfed them. I love breeding though cuz it's so exciting seeing them develop over time!

Good luck,
Martin

[Kyle Barker]

Will do, i need to find soemwhere that has HEALTHY fish first. I think its safe to say we have no good pet stores here. So eventually when i find nice bettas i'll try all this out.

Jeff: I may be buggin ya about them plants in a month or so.
Thanks again,
kyle

[MartinW]

Kyle, you can try www.bcbetta.com . I don't know what part of BC they're in (it says 100 miles north of Seattle, would that be Vancouver?) but hopefully it's close to Victoria so you can drop by and pick one up.

Martin

[Kyle Barker]

Hey thanks, they have AWSOME looking fish. I cant believe the colours! That is fairly close, so i may go and pick some up soon. Thanks for the link