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Betta Breeding '10

  • #21
haha. im sure ANY betta that is saved from petco will be 10x more active! but especially since you're priming them, great job!

i remember finding a halfmoon female at petco once. i thought it was a mega steal. then i realized why it made it to petco---it had dropsy. and it was pretty advanced. died a week later. :(
 
  • #22
Sorry to hear, I really wanted to breed halfmoons, but they didn't have a female halfmoon. So i went with crowntails :). I also want to breed plakats but they dont sell those at petco. Found out i don't have a 10 gallon tank lying around we used to have like 2 or 3 of them and now there all gone?! so im looking around for those and im also looking for jars for the males 1/2 gallon minimum size.
 
  • #23
How do you set up your tank for breeding? I used to use styrofoam coffee cups, water sprite, and straw.
 
  • #24
for this set up I'm looking for a 10 gallon tank, because i guess i don't have one lying around. For the breeding tank this time around hopefully with some luck, because the last couple times i haven't had luck.

My set up:

1. 10 or 30 gallon fish tank half full
2. aquarium heater, hood, no filter
3. lots of live plants, i see they even really enjoy the fake ones i put in there so now I'm trying to get some live ones, potted, floaters, and mid level. duckweed, hornwort, anacharis, java moss etc

i think that's about it, then i will be setting up my live food stations including..

Infusoria-i heard i could make it with straw, grass, or other greens soaked in water
brine shrimp, i saw a cool set up on the betta forum ill try to get the pic over here or just post the link
daphnia
microworms, walter worms, banana worms (maybe)
also heard of the egg yolk thing they call it the asian style, it's where you break up hard boiled egg yolk in water and shake it up, put it in a spray bottle and give the tank a couple sprays a day, but not too much because it fowels the water fast. not sure if im going to use this method either

then i heard around 4 weeks they should be moved to a growout, and depending on the number of fry i get, they will be moved to a 30 gallon, or ill just top off the tank. or the 55 gallon tank, this tank will also have sponge filters going

then i get to wait, pick out the males jar them and hopefully be able to find homes for them all :)

===========================
there was the other thing about culling your fish, the deformed, unhealthy ones, i just got into that topic on the other forum, what do you think? should this be done and if so how? There main methods are clove oil, strike to the head, and fed to predator fish.

also are blood worms just mosquito larvae? It says mosquito larvae on the package, but also says bloodworms so i'd assume yes, just when i think about it now, i think of them as 2 different foods
 
  • #25
All good but I would have a filter in there to provide a little water circulation. Otherwise it could be 85 F at the surface and 70 F at the bottom. A little circulation won't be a deterrent to breeding or to the nest.
 
  • #26
Ok, having a sponge filter was best picked now out of the forums :), i'll put a little sponge filter in there too
 
  • #27
When I have an empty tank, I should try this! Good luck Dustin! :)

There's some local shops selling plakats here... biggest males I've ever seen... no wonder they're called "fighters"....
 
  • #28
It's a pretty cool hobby, you don't see many fish that use a bubble nest, the fry are the hardest part to keep alive, but think thats with most fish that don't take care of their young. Just make sure you have jars so you can separate all the males.

they had some huge male bettas at petco, like 2-3 times bigger than the normal ones, they called them king bettas

Update: conditioning is going well, i added air hose to both tanks so the water would circulate a little, the female loves to play with the bubbles :D, the male doesn't seem to care much. Also the males fins look like they are getting longer too, and he has started building bubble nests. One more week and then i can start the spawn :)
 
  • #30
After about 3 weeks their labyrinth / breathing apparatus begins to develop. That's when the young have the most mortality.
 
  • #31
Just over a week into the conditioning, the males fins seem to have grown a little, and he is showing great color now. The female is still plump and round, and very active. Is it normal for the male to flare at me when i feed him? haha, I don't know if he's extremely hungry or mad at the toothpick. (i pick the blood worms and feed them to both of them with it) Or maybe he's mad i make him get some exercise, dropping his food at opposite ends of the tank. Scares the crap out of me sometimes, he is swimming a lot faster than usual too, and he has jumped for the food too.
 
  • #32
Yep, it's normal!
 
  • #33
Are we talking about fish, still?
 
  • #34
Haha, yeah at the time, yesterday i noticed the male flares up and swims around the tank, seems to be pretty territorial.

Sortof off topic about the bettas, but i had another tank and was wondering what i should breed in that one? i was thinking cichlids or angelfish. any thoughts

dustin
 
  • #35
dustin said:
Haha, yeah at the time, yesterday i noticed the male flares up and swims around the tank, seems to be pretty territorial.

Sortof off topic about the bettas, but i had another tank and was wondering what i should breed in that one? i was thinking cichlids or angelfish. any thoughts

dustin
Click to expand...

if yah can find them locally "shellie" cichlids have always struck me as interesting.....the tanks seem to be boring as far as appearance as its just a bed of sand and snail shells but their antics seem to make up for it.....

http://www.shelldwellers.com/shelldwellerbasics.php
 
  • #36
angelfish are cichlids. all cichlids have a disruptive lateral line that breaks around 2/3rd portion of the body and continues from the middle of the body to the tail. im a big fan of tanganyikan cichlids as well, but most require a tank size of 50 gallons or more. that being said, you should try the apisto dwarf cichlids of south america. they dont get that much larger than 3-4 inches, and some of the species have brilliant beautiful colors on the males as well.

or you could try north american native species like Elassoma okeefenokee, not a cichlid, but definitely a fish worth keeping.
 
  • #37
Those look pretty cool, though i don't think I've ever seen them at the pet store before, but I've never looked so I'll have to plan a trip and take a look at what they have. I'd rather not breed another live bearer just because they are pretty straight forward.

I would be giving these a 55 gallon tank

Open it up to any fish that fits the 55gallon tank size, I have really only had experience with live bearers and bettas, when i breed them. Anyone have suggestions of easy to breed fish. I was thinking of trying mouth brooders. I'm really not sure haha i haven't actually looked through all the fish for awhile, just gone in and picked up my bettas. I don't know if I have the money for a salt water set up, but i have all the supplies for a freshwater one.

Of course I'll also do my research before i get them, still have to get some things for the bettas too, so it will be awhile in the future before i start another tank
 
  • #38
dustin said:
they had some huge male bettas at petco, like 2-3 times bigger than the normal ones, they called them king bettas
Click to expand...
Those are plakats, my friend. :-D

Dude, try some killifish. ;)
 
  • #39
55 gallon tank mouthbrooders?

kinda high roller status but have you seen the Tropheus species from tanganyika? or even Cyprichromis from the same lake? (i bet you can tell that im kinda obsessed with tanganyikan cichlids)
 
  • #40
Clue: really? Hm, maybe because they were labeled as "king bettas" I didn't think they were plakat, I'm sure they had plakat genes, because they were short finned, though they didn't have much color, only a couple of them were there last time i was. They didn't have giant females so I'm not sure if the CT or VT females they had would breed with the male being 2-3 times larger than she was. I'll also check out the killies, I've heard of them a few times too.

Amp: haha just a little bit. They do look like cool fish, maybe if i can find a local supplier I'll try them out.
 
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