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My new Betta

  • Thread starter Trapper7
  • Start date
  • #21
I used to keep a male betta and a few African Dwarf Frogs (the small, non-aggressive frogs) together. They all got along well. I had a bit of trouble when it came to feeding though. Be careful, the pet store will try to sell you the processed frog food in a little container. The processed stuff can cause all kinds of health problems. They need frozen bloodworms to be healthy. It's not much of a hassle at all. Most of the big pet chains have a freezer section. About half a cube is more than enough for three frogs and the pack will last for months. The only issue with this is, Mr. betta is going to think he's gone to betta heaven lol. They love the stuff and will over eat on it every time. The good thing is the frogs only need to be fed every other day.

Just something to think about :). It could be solved easily but just netting the betta when it comes time for the frogs to eat (they take awhile, I don't know how the poor things survive in the wild).

Crystal
 
  • #22
Thanks Crystal. I didn't know I had to feed the frogs bloodworms, but once you said it I thought it might be a problem because I know Betta's love it. That's what I use as a treat to feed mine.
 
  • #23
You could never breed a betta by just putting a female and male together. The male needs a shallow warm tank slightly darkened with Indian almond leaves and something to make a bubble nest under. A female is not filled with eggs unless she has vertical bars, NOT horizontal. you must first condition them both with healthy rich foods for maybe 2 weeks, then place them in a ten gallon together and... well I give up, its a really complicated process, if you really want to try I will tell you. It would take FOREVER to type. You betta is a veil tail betta (the most common sold) but is not a normal betta. Normal bettas all have short tails and not just the females.

However... I did so when I was a teen. I had one male and one female with the the white spot on the belly, full of eggs. My tank had hiding places and they spawned. I've also bred Paradise Fish, T. trichopterus, C. lalia, C. labiosa, and Pearl Gouramis. I had Water Sprite as floating plants, which they used for the bubblenest.

Obviously, you don't toss a female that isn't ready in there, but as long as she's egg laden and has adequate hiding places, they'll spawn and she'll survive.
 
  • #24
ALL female bettas have a swollen oviposter, and it doesn't mean they have any eggs in them, they are only ready to mate if they develop vertical bars. They must be conditioned and should never be left together for to long. You also shouldn't keep betta males with betta females because after they mate the male will attack the female as a threat to his kids. I believe you got lucky with them breeding like that and under normal circumstances would never breed like that. Also since the way they breed has a lot of aggression they must be checked on VERY often. They should NEVER be put together the way you described.
 
  • #25
No they don't all have that swollen look to them. I only chose the ones that were plump. The worst I've ever had with them was that they get shooed away, but they've never been killed or brutalized.

Vertical bars is a new one to me. Not that it isn't a real indicator but I've never read anything about that or noticed that pattern.

I did a little googling and I'm not getting good pictures to illustrate things but here was one site that gave 9 things to look for in breeding:

Here is a list of nine things you really must know about breeding Beta Fish.

(1) Learn to distinguish between mature male and female Bettas. Click here to see several Male Bettas, then click here to see several Female Bettas. Note that the males have much longer fins than the females.

(2) Male and female Bettas should not be kept together except for an hour or two in a fish bowl or small aquarium, while they spawn.

(3) Keep each male in its own fish bowl. Click here to read more about fish bowls. Click here to buy a Fish Bowl Kit. Sometimes more than one Male Betta can live together in a large aquarium. But most experienced Betta Fish breeders keep each male in its own bowl.

(4) Female Bettas can be kept together in one aquarium as shown at the top of this page in a picture of a six-gallon aquarium, where twelve Female Bettas live together. Some experienced Betta breeds keep a few mild tempered males together in large aquariums with or without females. But some males are too aggressive and cannot be kept with other Bettas, except for a short time for breeding with a female.

(5) Most of the time we feed floating pellet food labeled for Betta Fish and freeze dried blood worms, which are mosquito larvae, to our male and female Bettas. Click here for more about these foods and feeding fish.

When we're ready to spawn our female Bettas, we feed them the following foods each morning and each evening in the order listed: BettaMin, Freeze Dried Blood Worms, some live or frozen brine shrimp, then a few live Black Worms. Click here to read more about Black Worms.

With good care and plenty of food the female Bettas will swell with eggs, and the good food will also encourage the Male Betta to build a big bubble nest. Sometimes I have been able to see pinkish eggs through the skin over the abdomen of plump females.

(6) Change 20% of the water each day in the bowls with the males and in the bowls or aquariums with females. This should stimulate the males to build bubble nests on the surface of the water along the edges of their bowls. You can see a bubble nest above the spawning Bettas in the photo just above. Click here for more information about how to change water in your fish bowl.

(7) Put your plumpest female in with the male that has built the biggest bubble. They will usually quarrel for a while. The male may rip the female's fins, she may nip him back, then he'll embrace her, and they'll spawn as shown in the picture above. You can see in the picture above that the male has ripped the females fins. You'll need to watch carefully to be sure that he doesn't hurt her too badly.

If they don't spawn, you should remove the female and put her back in the aquarium or fish bowl that she came from, or the male will probably hurt her. If they do spawn, you should still remove the female.


(8) The male Betta, not the female, will care for the eggs in the bubble nest. You will see him taking the eggs into his mouth where he cleans them with special natural chemicals in his mouth. Two days after spawning the chemicals in his mouth change and dissolve the outer layer of the eggs to release the fry.

(9) Now comes the difficult part. We were never able to raise the Betta fry in an aquarium or a bowl. Instead we put them in a pond. This only works when the water temperature is 68 degrees F. or warmer. The pond was often 70 degrees F. and warmer during the summer.

#7 was where I was going with that. When I say a plump female that implied one that is conditioned and ready to spawn. Not that I tried real hard to condition them with live food but I did do the partitioning thing to get each other's interest piqued.

Still looking for decent pictures.
 
  • #26
Here's a pretty good picture of a female betta that is NOT in breeding condition:

Orange_and_green_marble.gif


Here's a female with the vertical banding, plumpness, and barely shows the white spot on the belly:

stripped_blue_melano_geno_female.gif


Here's one that looks plump:

F_opaque_female.gif


Here's a blurry picture of a plump female:

female+betta+2.jpg
 
  • #27
The white spot means NOTHING other then that it is a female! Also not all males have long fins, many plakat males are mislabeled as females.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/bettafish/breeding.php


A plump female could simply be constipated, also with white females you won't see much barring. My female is full of eggs because she is showing vertical bars next to my male. Females should not be kept together in groups smaller then 5 or more and a 10 gallon is a fair size tank and should not be kept in groups in smaller tanks. The temperature for a healthy spawn must be at 80-82 degrees as they are TROPICAL fish. Bettas also must be conditioned for 2 weeks for the pairs health. The tank should be treated with either Indian almond leaves for medicine to keep fry and eggs from dieing of fungus. Place the female in a clear container inside of a ten gallon tank fill with only 4-6 inches of treated water, hiding spots, and nest spots. Also include plants. DO NOT use a substrate, this may cause problems later on. the male should have already been in the main tank and chose a bubble nest spot. when the female is in the container he should go up and flare at her and swim back to his nest. Leave them for 24 hours or until the female gets vertical bars. Once the time has passed release her into the tank. After this point keep an extremely close eye on them. Small amount of aggression is fine. The male should try to find her and flare at her, and try to lead her to his nest. once she is there he will mate and place the falling eggs in his mouth and put them in the nest. You shouldn't use substrate as it is easier for the male to see eggs on a flat surface. It is alright if the female floats there for a few seconds. They may spawn a few times but once the female swims of, remove her. Leave the male with his eggs and he will take care of them until they become free swimming. Once most of the fry are free swimming remove him as well because he has down his job. You can feed him again but, he may become depressed for a little while. This usually is fixed with live food. Fry can be raise on very tiny food. many people use boiled egg yoke broken in a spray bottle. remove uneaten food before feeding again. You can also feed vinegar eels and baby brine shrimp.
 
  • #28
The vertical banding is what is known as "breeding colors". A lot of fish get darker or more colorful when they are excited about breeding. While I have seen what I thought was a pregnant Black Molly never having babies, that sort of thing (constipation, dropsy,...) is the exception to the rule. The female Bettas in the above pictures were plump with eggs. The white spot is the breeding tube and becomes more pronounced when they are ready to mate.

As for conditioning, you can do that. That's fine and it ensures that she will be ready. Indian almond leaves are new to me. While treating the eggs with a preventative fungus med is nice, I never did so. From what I have read, if the eggs weren't fertilized to begin with they will fungus up. Fertilized eggs generally don't fungus up. I have no statistics to compare and contrast but I did just fine without the extras. I just used Water Sprite as that provided both protection / hiding places as well as bubblenest material.

I used styrofoam coffee cups and cut out the bottom. Then I folded the conical part into quarters and floated them on the surface. The provided anchoring for the bubblenest. I had the temp in the low 80's, with the tank's water level to about an inch above the heating element of the heater (I didn't have a submercible heater). I had light filtration going, just enough to make the water temperature more uniform but not too much agitation to mess up the bubblenest.

As to food for the fry, their yolk sacs were good for about a week but I also placed dried grass in the tank and that led to infusoria. I also had going a brine shrimp hatchery kit for the fry when they got a little older.

What I did as a kid was pretty simple, ugly, cheap, and effective. And while mine and Ant's gills are flaring over technique and opinions, we still got baby Anabantoids and no females got hurt in the deal.

Enjoy your Bettas!
 
  • #29
almond leaves are anti bacterial... keeps fry from getting sick, even some ants use tree sap to kill bacteria. It also makes the water a little bit cloudy witch mimics there natural home encouraging breeding. The treating keeps the bad eggs from harming the rest if the male doesn't eat them. I have seen a huge success rate breeding this way. Though I olny have 2 bettas now, I may find a plakat male and female and try again.
 
  • #30
Hello Ant/Jim:

y'all are both right. Both methods are ok. I personally side with Jimscott if you just want to raise a few betta babies, it need not be expensive.
 
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