# Breeding betta's



## lovemypets73 (Apr 23, 2012)

Have a pair of betta's that have bred once but no babies hatched, probably my fault. I have them in a divided 10gal tank. When I remove the divider the male tries to hurt her and have to put the divider back up. :animated_fish_swimm

When they mated the first time, he chased her but she didn't appear afraid, now she is frantic to find a hiding spot. :betta:
I have taken both out of the breeding tank and they can't see each other. 
I'm going to put the male back in the breeder tank but not the female . 

My question is, am I doing the right thing and how long before I introduce the female. 
I have bred angelfish and cichlid's but when I saw the mating of these two betta's I was hooked, what a beautiful thing to watch.:betta:
Tnks for your help


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Have to ask,are you prepared for the fry?They can have up to 300 babies,and there is a chance that all 300 are males,needing alot of jars.Do you have live food cultures?How are you conditioning the pair for spawning?Whats the tank temp?

Its going to take more than just putting them together and getting fry,as you have seen males are aggressive to females.Even during the spawning process there is aggression.


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## straydog (May 14, 2011)

I bred a pair of betta back in the late 80's. I used a 20 gallon high, with only the male in it added a leaf from an African violet ( not sure what the purpose of the leaf was but was told to do so by someone wiser than me ) for some reason after adding the leaf the male created a really large bubble nest. Once the nest was built I added the female shortly after they bred and I removed the female. I let the tank sit as it was doing no top off water change or filtration till the fry hatched, then I removed the male. Thinking I could raise the fry in the 20 gallon tank. Boy was I wrong only a few days after hatching they started fighting. I had clear solo drinking cups sitting every where with betta fry all over the house. There were at least a hundred of the little suckers to hatch out.


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## lovemypets73 (Apr 23, 2012)

majerah1 said:


> Have to ask,are you prepared for the fry?They can have up to 300 babies,and there is a chance that all 300 are males,needing alot of jars.Do you have live food cultures?How are you conditioning the pair for spawning?Whats the tank temp?
> 
> Its going to take more than just putting them together and getting fry,as you have seen males are aggressive to females.Even during the spawning process there is aggression.


I know how many fry there could be, I have hatched out anglefish eggs and fed the fry newly hatched brine shrimp eggs. Raised them and sold to local pet/fish stores, so know how to do that. The water temp is 80. I have a sponge filter/air pump .
After the male has a nice bubble nest(beneath 1/2 styrofoam cup) should I introduce the female then I know there will be a certain amount of agression. Thanks for all your help. sorry don't know how to do the quote yet, fairly new here


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## Tiari (Apr 25, 2012)

If you have the future plans set as to how to care for the fry, separate them and feed them, then you can commence with attempting breeding.

With the male separated into the breeder you need to add an Indian almond leaf. Some have had success with the Styrofoam cups, but they do not provide the essential extracts into the water that the Betta is looking for. Almond leaves will release a tannin that helps calm the Betta, and aids in the adhesion of the bubble nest making it stronger.

After adding the leaf, once your Male has built a pretty large bubble nest, then you can attempt to add the female. Remain vigilant in watching them, and if after a length of time there is more outright fighting (damage to either party), remove them and abort the mating attempt. Keep them separated for at least two weeks before trying again.

If you do gain a successful mating, do not remove the male. Keep him housed with the nest and eggs, until hatching begins, then remove him. The Male will in fact care for the eggs, and repair the bubble nest over time.


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## lovemypets73 (Apr 23, 2012)

Tiari said:


> If you have the future plans set as to how to care for the fry, separate them and feed them, then you can commence with attempting breeding.
> 
> With the male separated into the breeder you need to add an Indian almond leaf. Some have had success with the Styrofoam cups, but they do not provide the essential extracts into the water that the Betta is looking for. Almond leaves will release a tannin that helps calm the Betta, and aids in the adhesion of the bubble nest making it stronger.
> 
> ...


The 1st. time they did breed, I removed the female and left the male to keep the eggs in the bubbles, then removed him on day 4 as no fry hatched, I even used a magnifying glass to look for live fry but none were seen. Did I do something wrong. Where do I get the Indian almond leaf? Will difinitely get some. 
Tnks so very much. :fish-in-bowl:


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## Tiari (Apr 25, 2012)

Betta fry should hatch in around 48 hours, so yes, something went wrong in the breeding attempt.

You can get almond leaves or something called "Atison's Betta Spa " which contains the extract online. The real leaves are better though IMO.

Make certain that the water temp in the breeding tank where the eggs will be is 80 degrees F. Cooler, and the eggs will most likely die.

Another tip is to get a glass hurricane lamp top (can usually get them at Walmart. These are a cylinder that are open on top and bottom with a wide center. YOu can place this in the tank, and add the female into the hurricane lamp, so that they male and female can be gauged for readiness to mate, without risk to injury to either. If they are, simply gently lift the hurricane lamp top to release her.


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