Fish Folk Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Any tips for a first time betta breeder? Getting set up to do our first trial run at breeding Betta Splendens. Bought a basic veiltail blue male and female at the local chain store. Ran a “test pattern” on housing future male fry using 1-gal jugs. We change water easily and regularly, drawing from discus tank. Set up a bare-bottomed 10 gal. Added sponge filter, basic maintain-78-degree heater, hornwort, lots of water lettuce and duckweed, and one large Catappa leaf. Added male, and moved female over. Here’s a short video of how they’re prepping... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 I like this idea, especially the way you have the jugs set up, but this is waaaay too daunting for me. @Daniel's story of his son wishing for broken legs to avoid having to take care of betta jars seems a cautionary tale! I am looking forward to living vicariously through you on youtube, tho! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 @Fish Folk Your setup looks good! What I used to do was very similar. 10 gallon tank with plants and about 6" of water, and the bottom of a Styrofoam cup which the male almost always chose to build his nest under. Water was about 80 but I sure 78 work too, I don't think an exact number is critical. I kept the female in a tank next door (similar to what you are doing) until she was ready as indicated by breeding stripes. Younger females work better in general than older females. Sometime they have trouble figuring out how to tango on the first go round. I look forward to watching this project develop! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 1 hour ago, Brandy said: I like this idea, especially the way you have the jugs set up, but this is waaaay too daunting for me. @Daniel's story of his son wishing for broken legs to avoid having to take care of betta jars seems a cautionary tale! I am looking forward to living vicariously through you on youtube, tho! My son still laughs about it (now days anyway). I had hundreds of male bettas going at anyone time which was what led to so many jars. Those were the days!🙂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandy Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 @Fish Folkwhat did those jugs hold originally? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 23 minutes ago, Daniel said: I had hundreds of male bettas going at anyone time which was what led to so many jars. We will only be "jarring" 14x male bettas. That's all we've got room for. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 I actually just had a betta batch hatch. Your set up looks good, in fact I do much much less and have had decent results. Having a paramecium culture ready for the feeding the fry when they are tiny is key. Good luck! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 4 minutes ago, Brandy said: @Fish Folkwhat did those jugs hold originally? I bet it was sweet tea! Ya'll wouldn't know about that up in the Northwest.🙂 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 1 minute ago, Brandy said: what did those jugs hold originally? Got a friend who works at Chick-fil-a. They're the basic jugs that they sell gallon lemonade and iced tea in. I had him ask permission to snag me some pre-fill. So no labels, and no lemonade / tea. Cut them open then, so Bettas can be moved by hand in or out. The handles still work. We stick a bubbler down the handle. It's adjustable, so som bubbles can break surface tension, or none. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 1 minute ago, MAC said: Having a paramecium culture ready for the feeding the fry when they are tiny is key Would vinegar eels be too large? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 1 minute ago, Fish Folk said: Would vinegar eels be too large? I interested in hearing @MAC's reply. They are pretty small on day one. Rotifers and paramecium are great at first, then maybe microworms, then baby brine shrimp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 1 minute ago, Fish Folk said: Would vinegar eels be too large? I couldn't tell ya, sorry. I've never had a culture. I keep a few muck jars around that fill with all sorts of tiny critters and feed that along with green water. The bettas are tiny tiny tiny even a few days after hatching. one of my "muck jars" 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 6 minutes ago, MAC said: muck jars That needs to be a band name. Something with banjos . . . 😂 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAC Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 This will be my first time using baby brine shrimp so I'm excited to see what that does for my yield. In the past it was green water/paramecium then hikari first bites stirred into green water, then ground up other fish foods in green water. The fry quickly showed different growth rates so I tried to keep a variety of food sizes available. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 22 minutes ago, Daniel said: I bet it was sweet tea! Ya'll wouldn't know about that up in the Northwest.🙂 I miss the training sessions my job sent me to in Charleston SC. I particularly miss the sweet tea (I had to go half and half, lol), biscuits, and banana cream pie. Oh my. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 Did a big water change, and moved the female Betta jug inside the half-filled 10-gallon breeding tank. Both are very excited! If he builds a bubble nest tomorrow, we’ll try them out. Here’s a 60 sec short video... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Matt Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I just listened to an old co-op live stream where Dean talks about his betta breeding, maybe something to also look into. "Breeding bettas and other fish with master breeder Dean" 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 10 gallon. Maybe 20 gallon i heated my tank to 80-82 You don’t need the air on yet, but helpful to have a nasty sponge filter in the tank. Great source of fry food. glass lid over tank. I like to use the old style incandescent light bulb over tank. Around 2 1/2 to 3 weeks the fry will develop their labyrinth organ and the air above the water needs to be warm. If not you might experience a high die off. also I agree with Daniel on the styrofoam cup.... or cut a piece of wax paper maybe 6x6. I would introduce them very wary on a day you can watch from a distance and check on them from time to time. Once spawning is complete 10 gallons might not be enough if the male is aggressive. oh and if you don’t have lots of micro food and green water I would wait until you do. My last spawn I raised over 1,000 fry good luck. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 Oh I just remember two more tips... if successful you will need containers for all the fry. Try to find a local restaurant supply company. I purchased 1,500 small/medium take out containers with lids. The other, you will need to separate some of the fry sooner. The larger fry might start to hunt those not growing as fast. Good luck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 I'm dying to hear the progress on this project! You're going to keep the fish store busy selling bettas this summer, I guess. Also, how is your dwarf gourami breeding project going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 Just now, Maggie said: I'm dying to hear the progress on this project! You're going to keep the fish store busy selling bettas this summer, I guess. Also, how is your dwarf gourami breeding project going? The first try adding the female did not yield any eggs. I think he was too aggressive, and she was not ready. I’ll be trying again in the next few weeks. The Gourami pair also hasn’t appeared to show any spawning. Hunted for hidden bubble nests... couldn’t find anything. Just changed water on both betta and Gourami breeding tank. We’ll see! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 2 minutes ago, Fish Folk said: The first try adding the female did not yield any eggs. I think he was too aggressive, and she was not ready. I’ll be trying again in the next few weeks. The Gourami pair also hasn’t appeared to show any spawning. Hunted for hidden bubble nests... couldn’t find anything. Just changed water on both betta and Gourami breeding tank. We’ll see! Did she ever show vertical bars down her sides? How old is she? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 43 minutes ago, Daniel said: Did she ever show vertical bars down her sides? How old is she? She didn’t seem to show the bars, no. She was friendly through the jug... he built a nice nest... but when she was added and left in for 24 hrs, it was clear she was hiding at that point, so she was removed to recover. Not sure exactly how old she is. We’ve had larger females, so guessing she’s on the borderline of breeding age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 1 minute ago, Fish Folk said: She didn’t seem to show the bars, no. She was friendly through the jug... he built a nice nest... but when she was added and left in for 24 hrs, it was clear she was hiding at that point, so she was removed to recover. Not sure exactly how old she is. We’ve had larger females, so guessing she’s on the borderline of breeding age. When she is ready, she will let the male (and you) know: Older females are harder (but not impossible) to work with. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie Posted February 24, 2021 Share Posted February 24, 2021 4 minutes ago, Daniel said: Older females are harder (but not impossible) to work with. Hey now!! Ok, you're right. Don't ever forget it! 😁😁😁 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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