# Hiding Betta



## Nobodynotime (Nov 7, 2008)

I have two bettas one male and the other female. I am interested in breeding them after my mollies had lil' babies. My female betta just recently had a sudden change in behavior, hiding underneath the leaf of her fake plant in her bowl. Is this possibly a sign of a readiness to breed? Her water is clear and was recently changed and she is feeding regularly so I cant really think of anything else that would be wrong, but who knows. Any input would be be appreciated on her activities or a little help on breeding bettas. Thanks much


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

We have a couple Betta experts on board, hang in there, I'm sure they'll see the thread and get you some good advice soon.


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

here i am!

first of all...when she is ready to breed she will let you know, her stomach will be gigantic with big band of black stripes going vertically from its stomach and from her sides too.

breeding a betta, you will need to condition her for the best bet of the most eggs, the conditioning would take a 2 week period time sometimes 3. you will need to let the female and male see each other every single time and day 24/7. this will help her get her readiness and stuff herself with more eggs, also a reminder, you will see BLACK BANDS going vertically down, this is just telling you that she is getting ready but she isn't ready. also, when conditioning, it is very important to feed her live food such as live baby brine shrimp, live bloodworm, live mosquito larvae and especially live california black worm for the best live food out of all...
another thing that can be used to replace over live food is this pellet product that is called "atison pro" and this can be purchase on a petsmart website or "atisonbetta.com". its good for conditioning your betta for showing its true colors and also condition your female before breeding time takes place.
and also a reminder, feed your male as much live food as it can also...as you will have to skip a 5 day period time for the male feeding schedule, if you feed him during when the fries are hatched...he will become hungrier and will taste the little guys, and then your male is ruined for breeding...it won't stop eating the baby the next breed so its completely gone for ever.

from your female hiding under...take out those plant, replace it with IAL(indian almond leaf) if possible. or you can buy BLACK WATER EXTRACT and use the dose as its recommended, over dosing may be used, not harmful to bettas at all, it gets the fish horny and ready to breed and also reduces chance of disease, but IAL would be best. don't panic if the water turns yellow, or dark yellow into tannish brown, thats natural for these items and also a natural habitat to their homeland in their swamp rice field. 
also another thing, these stuff REDUCE STRESS for these betta's. so its extremely helpful to use it everytime when your just keeping them as pets or breeding them.

remember...the breeding will take a while and you might be scared that the male will kill the female, don't worry...its natural. and also when doing this, the process might take between 1hr-5hr before breeding is done. depend on how they are breeding. after they breed, make sure you have plants in your breeding tank for the female to hide as she will be exhausted and very torned up from the male, and the male will be guarding. leave female in their for about 2 hour, and take slowly transfer the female out with a cup or something.."DON'T USE A NET NO MATTER HOW SOFT IT IS", the reason why i said this because their skin are very sensitive and using any net can increase the chance of getting fungus on them.

by now, you will need to start your fries food for the best living result, INFUSORIA...you will need at least a clean 2 liter bottle(bigger bottle/jar would result more food), fill it up half way with tap water. get a cabbage, rip a good piece big enough to cover the bottom and boil it until its cooked. once you boil it, put the cabbage inside and fill up the rest with TANK WATER this time for bacteria to start making infusoria. leave it somewhere that gets sunlight a whole lot and for about a week, look inside and you will see a dusty looking particles that is moving around. that is infusoria, and most of the fries will live if you feed them infusoria. in about 2 weeks or 3, you can start microworm or vinegar eels and so on as it grows.

just prepare to have space for them as it will be A LOT of fries if your tending to try and keep them all alive, 20gal+ would be recommend if keeping all alive. cull(kill) the one you wish to reduce the number or to take the life of a deform betta.

and HAPPY BREEDING! LOOKING FOWARD! anymore info, im glad to answer


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

Excellent information Big_One, thanks for posting!


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## Nobodynotime (Nov 7, 2008)

Awesome info thanks a lot. Just wanted one clarification: when do you put them together? Thats the part I didnt see here in the information.


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

Nobodynotime said:


> Awesome info thanks a lot. Just wanted one clarification: when do you put them together? Thats the part I didnt see here in the information.


leave the male in the breeding tank with a piece of styrofoam or some floating plants with broad leaves. Remember to add Blk Water Extract/IAL/ or atison spa in order to get the betta to make more nest and also stronger nesting...once your female stomach gets LARGE i mean ratherly HUGE, the stomach should be whitish tan or yellowish brown. And the anal tube sticks out a little more, then she's ready!


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## block2 (Sep 12, 2008)

BIG_ONE said:


> leave the male in the breeding tank with a piece of styrofoam or some floating plants with broad leaves. Remember to add Blk Water Extract/IAL/ or atison spa in order to get the betta to make more nest and also stronger nesting...once your female stomach gets LARGE i mean ratherly HUGE, the stomach should be whitish tan or yellowish brown. And the anal tube sticks out a little more, then she's ready!


Excellent information Big_One on both your replys, just thought I'd better add a little bit about the Indian Almond Leaves. Although they are great for nest building, be careful, because they also make the male more aggressive at breeding time. On the other hand, they also help the female recover from any wounds she receives during the breeding process.

Regards
Jeff


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## BIG_ONE (Aug 18, 2008)

block2 said:


> Excellent information Big_One on both your replys, just thought I'd better add a little bit about the Indian Almond Leaves. Although they are great for nest building, be careful, because they also make the male more aggressive at breeding time. On the other hand, they also help the female recover from any wounds she receives during the breeding process.
> 
> Regards
> Jeff


yes, they make the male more aggressive...toward to other males.

the reason is...IAL enchance the male hormone of breeding and gets him horny and thats why he gets more territorial than before, IAL would be best, but if not available...the other 2 will do just fine. although try to get atison spa as its a bit better than black water extract 

but either one will do just good


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

For someone just starting the betta breeding process, I feel it is important to let them know that there is a great deal of work coming and that it will last a long time. Breeding bettas is not generally a money making proposition as the market is generally flooded with them and the cost of the original equipment and set up for the fry is not small. The labor involved for the amateur breeder is also staggering and continues for the approximately 3 months until the fry are old enough to sell if you are lucky enough to find homes for them. 
I am not saying not to breed bettas but do your homework about more than just the actual spawning process, that is just the beginning of the job. There is a lot more to it than that and you need to know all about it before you jump into something that is a very big commitment. A lot of people buy small pets and do not want to care for them when the actual work starts and this is much more labor intensive by far.
Also get to know about the culling process because it will come up. If you do not think you can do this then it is not fair to do the spawning at all. There are going to be fry that should not live and if you cannot humanely kill them then you should not allow them to be produced. These are hard words I know, but someone had to say them and while I do not enjoy the job, I feel it would be irresponsible of me not to do so before you got into a situation you would perhaps regret later.


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## Nobodynotime (Nov 7, 2008)

Point taken chickadee. That being said how many fry can be expected from the average spawn?


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## Chickadee (Nov 15, 2008)

I have read of a professional who had 9 spawnings that produced no viable or living fry at all due to one or another problem and then had a spawn that produced one fry. Then I heard of another who had a spawning which produced 300 fry that about half survived to the age of needing to find homes for them. Then there was one who had 200 who survived but they had to cull 178 of them due to deformities because they did not keep up on the water changes. So it is all relative and believe me, if you are doing this alone it is a lot more work than you can possibly imagine. 

Mollies, guppies, platies and livebearers are one thing but bettas are one of the hardest fish to raise (not to spawn). Spawning is one thing but RAISING them is another. 

Like I said, if you have your heart set on this course, then do not let me dissuade you but please, please make sure you know what you are getting into before you do it. It is a heartbreaking thing to get half way through and realize you just do not have the will to go on. Three months does not sound like a long time but remember they are not going to all evaporate from your home in minutes at the end of that time and selling them even on eBay or aquabid costs money. You may not make enough to cover the sales charges and then you have to purchase the materials to ship them out. This is not a money making proposition that I can promise you.


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