BREEDING:
Selection of stock may or may not be a concern. Unless you are attempting to breed for a specific color or characteristic, you can use any Betta for breeding purposes. They should be between three and eight months ideally and should not have been bred during the previous two weeks. However, males may be able to breed with only a couple of days of conditioning.
Conditioning is essential - especially for the female. Live or frozen food is best and the female should be fat with eggs before attempting to spawn. Females who are young, but are not fat, still have eggs but the number would be smaller. Young females are much easier to spawn than are older females who have never spawned before. If you are lucky, a female is good for about four or five spawnings before she should be put out to pasture.
Male Bettas can breed as young as two months, but must be large enough to wrap their bodies around the females during the embrace. Male Bettas are often bred until they die of old age, around two years of age. Males may successfully spawn 30 or more times during their life with no adverse physical reaction.
Selection of the breeders is important if you desire a specific coloration or quality of fish. To obtain show-quality babies, you normally must begin with "show-quality" parents. This high quality of fish can be obtained from pet shops, other local hobbyists, or from hobbyists anywhere in the United States. Bettas are easily sent via the US Mail Service. They are advertised in FLARE, the national publication of the IBC, which is the International Betta Congress which holds conventions and sanctions Betta events.
Many breeders use "trios" when breeding. This means they will put one male into a breeding area with two females. Many believe the jealousy between the two females may speed the mating process. However, since females normally eat eggs, this increases your chances of losing your successful spawning.
Ideal conditions for breeding would be in a ten or five gallon aquarium filled about five inches. The water and surface air temperature must be constant and approximately 80 degrees. Bettas spawn quicker when the water is even a little warmer, but the eggs will develop too quickly if the temperature exceeds the 80 degree mark. It is best to spawn at 82 and then gradually decrease the temperature to around 78 during incubation. Under these conditions, the eggs should hatch in about 48 hours. If the temperature were to remain at 82, the eggs would probably hatch after about 36 hours and the fry would likely be deformed and die.
Ideally, the tank will have clean, living plants for the female to hide in. The female should be placed in the tank prior to adding the male. After a couple of days, the male should be added. The two should not be able to touch, but should be able to see each other. The ideal tool to use is a chimney from a kerosene lamp. The female can be housed inside the chimney and then can be released after the male has completed his bubble nest. The construction of the nest usually takes only a day or two and the nest may be as small as a quarter or as large as the entire tank's surface. Mating usually occurs two or three days following the female's release. Remove the female after spawning occurs. Although some females will care for the young, most will not. Bettas are relatively simple to spawn, but the true challenge is getting the fry to live beyond ten days. This initial ten-day period is crucial to the development of the fry. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of fry die before reaching ten days old.
After the eggs have hatched, they will continuously fall from the nest and are constantly returned to the nest by the male. Using his mouth, he carries the fry to the nest and places it in or between the bubbles he has created. This constant, vertical falling continues for an additional 48 hours. Many fry will die during this period because of disease, Hydras, irregular development, or from being eaten by the male. After the babies begin to swim horizontally, a very slow stream of aeration should be started in the tank and the male should be removed. It is better to leave the male in too long, than not long enough. It is relatively safe to leave the male with the babies for months - until space will no longer permit it.
If the babies are constantly able to feed on algae, live food, or other products, they can be adult size in less than three months. Fewer numbers of feedings mean slower development and possible permanently-stunted growth. Ideally, you would feed Vinegar Eels and newly-hatched Brine Shrimp for the first week and then only newly-hatched Brine Shrimp.
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