Can i breed bettas

The group should be a minimum of four. Betta fish require a tank that is a minimum of five gallons. For groups of females, you will need a tank of about 20 gallons or more. Warm water also aids in breeding betta fish as it stimulates their urge to reproduce.

Once you have a permanent tank set up to that size, with a heater and a filter you will want to make it entertaining for your fish. Including live plants for betta or some silk plants will provide areas for your betta fish to hide and rest their fins on.

The betta breeding tank should not have any substrate, but you will need to provide plenty of hiding places in the form of leafy plants. A plant with broad leaves that touch the surface, an Indian almond leaf, or a small piece of Styrofoam all work well.

The bubble nest protects the fry, so this is a crucial step in breeding betta fish. Betta fish prefer to have a good deal of privacy during mating, so when you select a space for your breeding tank, be sure to pick a quiet area, away from other fish.

The water in the betta breeding tank should only have a depth of about five inches. A filter can help keep your tank for breeding betta fish clean, but it can also damage the bubble nest, so if you decide to use one, pick something with a very gentle flow.

Breeding betta fish works best when both mates are between four months and one year old. Your breeding pair should also be at the peak of health, so choose betta fish with no deformities, injuries, or signs of disease, such as white spots or a lethargic nature. The answer to how to breed betta fish comes down to choosing a healthy pair and ensuring that conditions are perfect for mating.

In addition, carefully introducing the fish and monitoring them as they mate will ensure that all of the fish, including the baby bettas, remain healthy and safe. This will help prevent chemical spikes, which can cause health issues while breeding the betta fish or even killing the betta fry. Successfully breeding betta fish often depends on whether the breeding tank environment is correct for constructing a lasting bubble nest and the hatching of the eggs.

To create an ideal environment, the air at the top of the tank should be quite humid. It is not just the tank, you will also want to make sure that your male and female betta fish are ready to mate.

You should condition both fish for about two weeks before adding them to the breeding tank. To condition the fish, provide rich, meaty foods , such as bloodworms, tubifex worms, or daphnia for Betta.

These foods can be frozen or freeze-dried, although live foods often offer better nutrition. These foods should be provided to the betta breeding pair between two and four times each day, but only give small amounts during each feeding. Give the female time to explore her new surroundings before you introduce the male to the tank.

Remember that successfully breeding betta fish often comes down to ensuring that both fish are as comfortable as possible. Breeding betta fish really begins when both fish have been introduced to the breeding tank. Once the male betta fish takes notice of the female, he will begin to flare his fins at her, dancing around her in order to attract her attention.

His colors will also deepen and become more vivid. The changes in the female betta will be even more noticeable. Her colors will also deepen, and dark stripes will appear on her body. These stripes should be vertical. This is the ovipositor, and it is where the eggs will come from.

These changes are a key signal that she is ready to breed. One of the most fascinating aspects of how to breed bettas is the bubble nest. Once he becomes interested in the female, the male betta fish will begin to construct this nest. Once the nest is made, you can release the female into the tank. This is usually around hours after first introducing them.

If you used a divider, you can now remove it and allow the female access to the whole tank. If you used a small container, sit the female in it for another half an hour and then add her to the tank. She will most likely swim straight to the bubble nest to inspect it. If she does destroy it, remove the female and start the process again.

If she destroys it a second time you may need to find another pairing. When the male has spotted that the female is within his reach, his displays will become more impressive and he will start to chase her around the tank. They start to perform a dance where they swim next to each other and flare their fins every inch or so.

This will continue until the female is ready to spawn. The signs which females display indicating they are ready to spawn depends on their nature. Some females show their submissiveness straight away, swimming up to the male with their head down and fins by their side, others will charge at the nest. Once she is ready, the mating dance will begin. The aim of the male is to flip the female upside down and wrap himself around her to fertilize the eggs as she releases them.

Once he has achieved this, they will either stay floating or sink to the bottom. This embrace is not to help her release the eggs, but to increase the likelihood that the eggs are fertilized as their ventrals are close together this way. The female may float sideways and look lifeless while she lays the eggs , but this is normal! This process can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Most Bettas lay between eggs per spawn but some can lay up to The male will start to catch all the eggs, taking them up to the nest.

Once the female has been removed, cover the tank with plastic wrap to keep the moisture and heat in. This creates a humid environment and helps hatch the eggs and develop the fry.

When the female has finished laying eggs, the male will release milt into the tank to externally fertilize the eggs. Over the next day or two, the male will spend his time catching any falling eggs and blowing more bubbles. Sometimes they build new nests and move the eggs there. Over the first 36 hours, the fry will use up all the oxygen in the bubbles, which causes them to collapse. As the fry starts to hatch, they fall from the bubbles and the male will catch them and put them back. As soon as the fry is free swimming, the male will need to be removed.

Or if you have a fry raising tank the fry can be moved there. It can take up to four months to raise the fry to adulthood so you will need plenty of food. They will need small foods such as brine shrimp, infurisa, or microworms.

If you want to breed fish, Bettas are a popular choice for all aquarists. For beginners, they offer an easy introduction to breeding because the process is relativity simple and easy to follow. For more experienced aquarists it gives them the chance to hone their skills and create perfect breed species. Followed the instructions you left and was successful twice but what I have noticed is that of all the offspring are female. Yes indeed i have succesfully breed 3 diferent females 3 diferent hatches whit in a coupple weeks to a month of diference in d age of hatchlings.

I have followed these steps, and it went great! The female and male are perfectly healthy and the female has layed 42 eggs. My friends are now having healthy betta babies, and I want to thank you for writing how to breed betta fish. About a month in. Separate males from females. I had 3k frys but it end up dying. I feed them daily infurisa, egg yolk and brine shrimp.

I had or less left. Can you please help me? Maybe any special procedure? HI Marilyn, are the water parameters where they are supposed to be? Has the tank fully cycled? Many thanks, Robert. Place the sponge filter in a corner of the tank. Place the heater in the tank and set the temperature to 80 degrees Fahrenheit Do not turn it on just yet. Fill the tank with 6 inches of clean conditioned water dose the tap water according to the water conditioner manufac.

This water level is ideal for the male to pick up any dropped eggs. Then add the biological conditioner and aquarium salt to the water - following the manufac. Add a few almond leaves to the tank, not only does it naturally buffer the pH - but it also releases tannins in the water which are believed to prevent fungal infection from taking over the eggs and the adult breeding pair.

Float 1 leaf in a corner for the male to build its bubble nest. See the image above. Assemble and add the breeder nest cleaned and rinsed. Place the net close to the almond leaf where the male will build its bubble nest, and so that he can see the female. Add the java moss. Turn on all the electrical equipment. Adjust the air regulator to let out small bubbles per second.

It should not be too strong otherwise it'll disturb the male's bubble nest and will make it difficult for the fry to swim. Day 1 On the first day, you should start your microworm culture for your fry. To start out your microworm culture, get a clean container and add a 1 inch layer of cooked oatmeal. Let the oatmeal cool out overnight in room temperature, then mix in 1 tsp of the active dry yeast. Add the microworm culture to the cooked oatmeal - this will have a slightly fermented smell which is completely normal.

Slowly mix the culture into the oatmeal. As the oatmeal ages, the microworms will feed off of the produced yeast. Put a lid on the container, make sure to poke some holes on the lid to let air in - otherwise the culture will die.

Stir the culture once a week to keep it alive. Day 10 After conditioning your breeding pair for 10 days, they are ready to be placed in the breeding tank. It is important not to disturb the tank otherwise the bubble nest risks falling apart. Day 13 By now you should have the following: The bubble nest should have grown substantially. The female has a dark-colored body, she should be displaying vertical bars showing she is ready to breed.

The female should have a plumper body, indicating she is full of eggs. The female's egg tube, a small white spot on her abdomen, should be displayed. The female, in the presence of the male, should swim with her head down showing submissiveness. If the female doesn't show these signs the second breeding trial, then replace the female.

Day 14 After the chasing period stops, and the pair finally decides to breed, the female will submissively swim towards the male - with her head down. Day 15 Congrats! You now have eggs! You can either: not feed him - so it won't entice his appetite making him eat all the eggs feed him very small portions - so you don't pollute the water The eggs will take anywhere from hours to hatch.

At this point, 2 things can go wrong: The male will eat all of the eggs The male stops looking after the eggs, and they all fall and the nest collapses. Day 16 After hours, you should now have some fry beginning to hatch. Day 19 The fry should have absorbed most of their yolk sac by now, and are becoming more active and are beginning to swim more.

Remove the male - his job is now done. Left him rest for at least 2 weeks before breeding, medicate him to treat any wounds made from breeding. Feed the fry - x a day with microworms. Scrape the sides of the microworm container and place them in a small cup of conditioned water.

This will prevent the oatmeal culture from polluting your tank water. Feed the fry in small portions, it's alright to leave a FEW worms in the tank for the fry to feed on during the day - as the worms can last days underwater. Leaving too much food can pollute their water. The fry have a very high metabolism - so they must constantly be fed otherwise they can die of starvation. Microworms will be their main source of food over the next 2 weeks. Turn off the lights at night - now that the male is no longer in the tank, you can let your fry rest.

Keep a lid on - make sure there aren't any openings in the tank. The fry will need to breathe air with high humidity - dry air isn't healthy for the fry. Cover any holes or openings with saran wrap. Day 30 Your fry are now 2 weeks old! Slowly fill your tank - over the next 7 days. Emphasis on slowly! The fry are very fragile and won't react well to changes in water parameters. Add new water in small portions evenly distributed over 7 days. Start you Brine Shrimp Culture - your fry are now large enough to eat them.

Setup the hatchery according to the manufac. The baby brine shrimp BBS will hatch after hours. Remove the floating egg shells, and refrigerate the BBS. This will slow down their metabolism, keeping them alive longer.

Day 37 Your fry are 3 weeks old! Change their tank - you can now add them to the 20 gallon tank. Now that their 10 gallon tank has been completely filled, they're ready to be transferred to a larger tank to grow out.