# Trying to get bettas to mate, not working so far...



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

*Hey!! i have been trying to breed my bettas for a while now and they have laid eggs a few times but they always seem to get eating or something...i have 6 silver tip tetras in the tank with the bettas, is that why the eggs keep disappearing?*

*also have you got any info on breeding bettas and caring for the babies? *

*Thank You...*


----------



## Jennifer (Jan 23, 2009)

as soon as you notice the eggs i would separate the other fish from them but leave the eggs in the original tank. they should come to hatch then


----------



## megrim (Jan 23, 2009)

I'll be watching this thread too. My partner has tried to breed these guys on and off for years.

Never managed to happen though.


----------



## Squish (Jan 23, 2009)

I'm assuming you're talking about fish...?
When our fish had eggs, we separated them so they couldn't be eaten and they turned out all right. Other than that, I barely know about snake breeding, let alone fish. I have a friend who breeds fighting fish, I could maybe ask him for you if I remember when I see him...


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

*Yes*

yes please tell me what he says about fighting fish and what i would need to know when breeding them bettas/fighting fish are the same thing thank you


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

*another question...*

Another Question i have is how old do you think untill the babie fighting fish will start to fight each other? by the way do i seperate all the fish from the eggs or all the fish exept the fighting fish? 

Thanks


----------



## Vixen (Jan 23, 2009)

Once the eggs are laid seperate the female but leave the male with the eggs, he will look after them retrieving any eggs which fall out of the nest.

Just make sure you feed him on a good diet during this process or he might eat a few eggs. Preferably with some fresh foods such as brime shrimp, bloodworms etc combined with a high quality betta pellet.

Edit : It sounds like you have them in a communal tank, you should have had them in a tank all on their own, with a lowish water level and a very very small filter so as not to disturb the water current and hence ruin the nest.

If there are other fish in there they will eat the eggs.


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

OK how long does it take for the eggs to hatch? anybody know?

Thanks


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

Heres a good link www.bettatalk.com it will tell you nearly everything.


----------



## kakariki (Jan 23, 2009)

Cool thread Guss! I have got as far as the egg-laying & then dad trashed the nest?? Any ideas? I removed the female, water was still......
As far as I know, only the males will fight, so you only need to seperate them. Take the young females out away from dad though, but they can be left together. This is a thread I will be keeping an eye on!


----------



## Moreliaman (Jan 23, 2009)

your better off setting up a seperate tank for them with no other fish, i used to have one with a perspex divider.
easy enough to make if you buy the glass & silicone.


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

Your silver tip tetras are eating your fry!

Put the male in a 10g or 5g tank if you want to breed. Cut a cup in half and lay it on the water surface tapped to the side of the tank to stop it moving. This will be his little cave that he makes his bubble nest out of.

Put the female in something clear (so the male can see) and put it in his tank. Make sure she cant get out or male in!. They may flare at each other but thats ok. Once they seem to be okay with each other slowly release her in his tank. Make sure you have some plants for her to hide in.

The female will hide in the plants for a few days until she thinks it safe. This will give the male betta sometime to fix his nest. Make sure there is no major fights. Once she thinks its safe she will come out and swim around him. She checks the nest out and if its good they will start mating. This can take awhile. As they mate eggs will start falling out of her and fall to the bottom of the tank. The male will quickly swim down and collect the eggs and spit them in the nest. The female may help. Once hes done he might mate again making more eggs.

When he finishes he will chase the female away. Time to remove her. He will care for eggs until they hatch.

This is just a quick overview, if you want more just pm me.

Daniel


----------



## redbellybite (Jan 23, 2009)

good will use this thread to .......


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

Make sure you keep a lid on the tank to keep warm moist air in (Important for fry).


----------



## kakariki (Jan 23, 2009)

So Daniel, any ideas on why my dad-to-be trashed his nest? He did everything right, but just went nuts & totalled his nest. It had the eggs in & everything!


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

Was the temp stable? Is this his first nest? He might of not liked the nest and wanted to start again forgeting the eggs.


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

hey that idea about cutting a cup in half and stuff sounds really great! i just dont know what to do with the silver tip tetras and the fry if i get them... keep bringing in ideas people!


----------



## Moreliaman (Jan 23, 2009)

imalizard said:


> Make sure you keep a lid on the tank to keep warm moist air in (Important for fry).



very true m8, sudden changes in air tempetures can damage their developing lungs.
Anyone ever seen pure black ones ? see if you can get imbellis rather than splendens, much prettier IMO.

Im trying to breed chocolate gourami's at the moment.......anyone had any success with them ?


----------



## kakariki (Jan 23, 2009)

Choc Gouramis? They'd look cool! I have seen a Betta that was labeled black, but imo it was very dark purple/blue. As far as I know temps were stable but it was his first.


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

If it was his first he might need a few more shots till he works it out. Make sure you get young bettas, they breed better.


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

Ok so from what i have gathered, i need a 20-40litre tank with a heater and maybe a filter i cut a cup in half and tape to the side of the tank so it doesnt move, put the female in like a plasticbag/container so male cant get in or female out... but it has to be see-thru then when the male has made the bubble nest let the female out and let them do stuff...lol and then when the fry hatch if they hatch move the female out and keep male in till the fry hatch...anybody got any ideas what to do with the fry when they hatch? if the males are brought up together will they fight and will the females fight other females?

Thanks..........again


----------



## Moreliaman (Jan 23, 2009)

kakariki said:


> Choc Gouramis? They'd look cool! I have seen a Betta that was labeled black, but imo it was very dark purple/blue. As far as I know temps were stable but it was his first.



Yeah they look nice....but a right royal pain in the Ar ....bottom...really fussy about water conditions.
Another id like to try and breed is liquorice gouramis...they are stunning lookin fish, but trying to get hold of some is like trying to get rocking horse manure!!

apparently the pure black splendens are as rare as hens teeth!


Gussy.....also ive always found you get better results if you feed live or frozen live foods to any fish when trying to breed them, better vitamin content.


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

Once the fry hatch leave the males to care for them. The fry will not eat. When they are born they hang on to the bubble nest. They may fall but the male will pick them up. Do not clean the tank at this time as any water change will kill them. Make sure you have a very very slow filter. Once they start swimming feed them microworms. Feed them a few times a day. After a few days of the fry swimming remove the male.

Keep on feeding the fry until they are big. Dont feed them brine shrimp as they can get swim bladder if fed to much.

You can not keep male together at all. Once they are big enough remove them and keep them in seperate tank. You can keep a maxium of 6 females in the 10g tank.

BTW, what type of bettas do you have? Are they veil tails.


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

*I dont think i have enough room to keep the fry i guess i could keep 1 or 2 but not all of them around how many babies do they have like 50? also ill post a pic of both of my bettas within the next 5 days or something or ill try to find a very similar one on google images that ill upload to the thread... do you think i could give the fry back to the shop when they grow up?*


----------



## imalizard (Jan 23, 2009)

Yes they could accept them. They have any where between 300-500...lol.


----------



## the_h1tcher (Jan 23, 2009)

i think reason you dont get many pure black splendens is because they are infertile, i think its got something to do with the gene that makes them black or something


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

ok thats the same colour and im %99.999999 sure thats the same species so yeah, there you go... and the female is kinda dark with a blue-ish tail


----------



## LauraM (Jan 23, 2009)

It's a good idea to get a simple 10 galon tank or something wit a simple sponge filter so the eggs dont get sucked up and as soon as you see the eggs put them in there...


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

Another thing, when you said 300-500 that was really weird because how big are the nests, because it didnt look like there were 300-500bubbles in the bubble nest or is like that what the eggs stay in and out of the 300-500 do all of them survive or do some die?


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

...Other than all the labling that looks like my female fighter fish and are there ways to tell how old a fighting fish is? also im definatly going to be asking the aquarium shop if they will accept the fish before i do anything lol otherwise what am i gonna do with 500 fish?!?!?!?!?!?! lol


----------



## wiz-fiz (Jan 23, 2009)

how do u tell the diff between male and female? hope your breeding goes well


Will


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 23, 2009)

Easy, if you look up male betta then look up female betta you will see a big difference


----------



## Moreliaman (Jan 24, 2009)

the_h1tcher said:


> i think reason you dont get many pure black splendens is because they are infertile, i think its got something to do with the gene that makes them black or something



Dunno m8...never heard that, i know the japs breed em, they just dont import em out of the country.....greedy buggers !


----------



## ReptilianGuy (Jan 24, 2009)

keep the father with the eggs, once they hatch they will kil the father so if you wish to keep him remove him immediatly after hatching.
feed the fry fry food for a week or a couple i think and then remove them to seperate tubs.. you do this with an air tube and sucking them up 1 by 1 like a vacumm. can get a bit tastefull if you over suck..... ( the fry will kill each other if you take a couple out and put them back in... but will live together fine for a month after hatching i think if un-removed) and as they get bigger increase the size of the food as to thier size wich is common sense really. beaware that you can end up with several 100* betta's if all's succesful

it's been a while since i bred them so i'm a lil rusty

forgot to add. if the female is still in the tank with the male there is a high risk of him destroying the eggs if he gets agitated by her. it's only highly succesful if only the male is with the eggs in the tank... and even then it's rather difficult for a first time to get a high amount to selling age..
i was only lucky enough to get 5 out of around 200- 250 fry for my first attempt. by the end i was getting around the 80-130 mark to survive and by then i was over betta's lol pretty fish but patience testing when it comes to breeding... although it's a pleasing end result knowing it was succesful...
i'm just sticking to breeding native fish now. when the time comes


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 24, 2009)

I have one last question, its pretty stupid and probly obvious but anyway...
how do i know when they have stopped laying the eggs and what if they 
finish before i like get back will they eat them all straight away or does
it take like 10 mins before they feel like eating them?:|


----------



## imalizard (Jan 24, 2009)

shnakeyguy said:


> keep the father with the eggs, once they hatch they will kil the father so if you wish to keep him remove him immediatly after hatching.
> feed the fry fry food for a week or a couple i think and then remove them to seperate tubs.. you do this with an air tube and sucking them up 1 by 1 like a vacumm. can get a bit tastefull if you over suck..... ( the fry will kill each other if you take a couple out and put them back in... but will live together fine for a month after hatching i think if un-removed) and as they get bigger increase the size of the food as to thier size wich is common sense really. beaware that you can end up with several 100* betta's if all's succesful
> 
> it's been a while since i bred them so i'm a lil rusty
> ...


 
You do not remove the father once they hatch because the fry don't swim when they hatch. They hang onto the nest. The father will look after them until they start free-swimming. Once they start "free swimming" you can remove the male. Keep the fry together until there's fights. You might get the one fry that eats others but this doesn't matter. Remember the fry are really small when they hatch so removing them while there young would be hard. If you keep the fry well fed on micro worms there will be no fighting.

Your female and male are normal veil tails. They are the most common bettas. Veiltails are not show quality and only some shops accept them.

You will have enough time to check on them but make sure you check on the fry during the day.

EDIT: Forgot to add, when you try and breed them keep the light on all day and night, thats so the male can see the eggs. It works for me.


----------



## ReptilianGuy (Jan 24, 2009)

Gussy-SMF said:


> I have one last question, its pretty stupid and probly obvious but anyway...
> how do i know when they have stopped laying the eggs and what if they
> finish before i like get back will they eat them all straight away or does
> it take like 10 mins before they feel like eating them?:|


 
you will notice blackish or brown specs in the sperm bubbles


----------



## ReptilianGuy (Jan 24, 2009)

imalizard said:


> You do not remove the father once they hatch because the fry don't swim when they hatch. They hang onto the nest. The father will look after them until they start free-swimming. Once they start "free swimming" you can remove the male. Keep the fry together until there's fights. You might get the one fry that eats others but this doesn't matter. Remember the fry are really small when they hatch so removing them while there young would be hard. If you keep the fry well fed on micro worms there will be no fighting.
> 
> Your female and male are normal veil tails. They are the most common bettas. Veiltails are not show quality and only some shops accept them.
> 
> ...


 
cheers for fixing that up. like said, been along time


----------



## Gussy-SMF (Jan 25, 2009)

so when the male starts squeezing the female leave them for like an hour before taking out the female or what?


----------



## PeachSlices (Jan 26, 2009)

Alright, the amount of eggs you count or see cant make you sure how many there are there is always 50+ in the nest. if you feed you fry properly you can have all 300-500. i'm currently raising 22 Giant HMs and females pick on females. Daddy Betta takes care of bubs and mummy eats bubs SOOOOO you remove mummy wen she releases all her eggs.
the parents can eat the eggs wen breeding some females do that more help the male.

If Anyone is interested in Giant HMs i'll send you the link to get some.

Simon


----------

