Betta Albimarginata?

[Goosedub]

I have a reverse trio of these. I have heard that they breed pretty regularly, but mine don’t seem interested. I have had them for a while and they are definitely adults. Anyone with have experience here?

[Odd Duck]

Please tell us more about water parameters, temps, tank size, filtration, tannins, etc.

[Goosedub]

Well I live in Chicago so it’s hard water. pH around neutral. No tannins. Temp 76-78. Sponge filter in a 10 gallon.

[Odd Duck]

I would start with adding tannins and mixing in some RO water if you want to optimize breeding.  Bettas will certainly tolerate hard water but if you want to trigger breeding, you’ll be more likely to be successful if you provide as close as possible to their optimal conditions.  Mixing in RO water will reduce hardness and let tannins more easily bring down your pH.  Your pH doesn’t need to drop much for B. albimarginata but most Betta species tend to like the lower side of “neutral”.  I would also recommend increasing the temp a bit since 76 is the low end of their preferred range.  Breeding for many species is more likely to happen when the fish are kept mid to very slightly higher end of their preferred range, then triggered by a water change a few degrees cooler than tank temp.

Are you feeding plenty of live, meaty foods?  And by water parameters I’m asking for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, GH, KH, and your actual numbers on the pH levels.  I ask because occasionally I am surprised by people’s results.  For me, it’s just standard baseline information.  It’s very hard to make intelligent recommendations without having all the background info.

[Goosedub]

Do you experience with this type of Betta? I understand getting closer to what they like  it he would may help. My water parameters are fine. I don’t have an RO unit and would prefer not to mess with water other than my tap water if I can avoid it. I was thinking I would push the temp closer to 80 and add some tannins to see if that helped. I was just wondering if anyone has had success spawning these and what they did? 

[Odd Duck]

Any advice you get is going to have very limited quality if we don’t know your water parameters.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

@Goosedubwith wild bettas which I have played with just not albimarginata (bellica and imbellis as well as hybrids were the ones I've had) you can use a 20 +- gallon trash can, an air stone, some wood like mopani or another high tannin wood, and lots of leaves and age the water - you add your dechlorinator and or conditioner and give it 48-72 hours. This will bring down the pH and make it more like the stuff they get in pools and ponds that form from the rainy season. You just use a water pump and a hose to do your water changes from the trash can. 

Your water may or may not limit you. I know with certain fish they can spawn but the eggs require certain parameters to hatch and produce viable young. On the IBC website they state albimarginata like soft water but are adaptable to a wide spectrum of parameters so I think this is not the case. All you can do is what you can do. 

I agree with the others that getting a test kit or some test strips would really help your hobby and help us help you more. Have fun and good luck with your albimarginata they are gorgeous fish. 

[Goosedub]

I appreciate that. That was a really helpful response. I have a test kit. I have 0-20 nitrite, 0 ammonia, Gh off the charts, KH 40-80, 0 chlorine. PH 6.8?

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Personally my albimarginata have spawned in a calvus cave on its side a few times. Bottom section is an egg transfer. I think good food and stable water is the key for me. I do not chase "perfect" water at the risk of stable water and pretty much everyone gets happy enough to breed for me. **my disclaimer have not produced fry possibly due to the pandas they hunt worms flakes and everything else they find in my tanks **

Mine do enjoy live blackworms quite a bit if an option I'd try live blackworms, live baby brine, and or live daphnia to get them fired up. The hunt helps in my systems.

Their set up:

Overflow sump 18x26x15 tank

2 female & 4 male albimarginata , with panda loach colony

Temperature: 74°F
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
GH: 300
KH: 30
pH: 7.0

Foods:  live blackworms,daphnia, and brine shrimp. Live whiteworms ( recently added)

Repashy occasionally and extreme flakes both krill and spirulina varieties

Edited December 23, 2021 by mountaintoppufferkeeper

[Goosedub]

On 12/22/2021 at 9:00 PM, mountaintoppufferkeeper said:

Personally my albimarginata have spawned in a calvus cave on its side a few times. Bottom section is an egg transfer. I think good food and stable water is the key for me. I do not chase "perfect" water at the risk of stable water and pretty much everyone gets happy enough to breed for me.

Mine do enjoy live blackworms quite a bit if an option I'd try live blackworms, live baby brine, and or live daphnia to get them fired up. The hunt helps in my systems.

Their set up:

Overflow sump 18x26x15 tank

2 female & 4 male albimarginata , with panda loach colony

Temperature: 74°F
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
GH: 300
KH: 30
pH: 7.0

Foods:  live blackworms,daphnia, and brine shrimp. Live whiteworms ( recently added)

Repashy occasionally and extreme flakes both krill and spirulina varieties

Your water parameters are very similar to mine

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

Mine really fired up with live foods its one of my go to adjustments for anything not yet settled