Are my bettas okay to breed?

[Jenny X]

My female is 3.5 cm+ the tail and my male is around 4cm+the tail. Are they okay to breed together? And the male has a bubble nest now 5m cm in width. I can't really see my females barring stripes. She cream coloured with red fins. So i can't really see any stripes. But there's no stress stripes either. So I was wondering if i should try making them spawn today. I'm getting a filter and gravel and caves and fake plants today. Is it okay?

[BettaLu&Meg]

Yeah those are ok beside the fake plants. You want to put real water plants in to help filtration, oxidation. If the female is slightly smaller thats ok, its actually better than the same size and the male or bigger. the male has to show dominance and will, and i repeat, will chase, bite, and harrass her. she might even have some ripped fins this is NORMAL in the matting process. another way to check if she's ready, is to look under her anal fins and see if u see what looks like a grain of salt, or a "pearl". this shows her eggs are there and ready. The best filter to purchase is of this type because it doesn't move that water to bother the fish and its ideal for the fry(babies after hatching)[Registered users only can see links. ] . I have standard water plants that i placed but there are a variety u can use. I have more info below if any doesn't comply with your need, Please contact me or post another reply and i'll send all the breeding info i have, and MOSTLY my experiance as a breeder

[BettaLu&Meg]

OH!!!!!!!!!!!! also i just caught myself, the gravel is a bad idea for breeding! do not purchase this for the breeding tank. Well not for the process but, if u do succeed in the matting and eggs are put into the nest, eventually when the eggs hatch and the fry are free swimming (3days after hatching) they will need to get to the food, most likely all fry foods, whether is powder fry food [Registered users only can see links. ] (which i use), Baby brine shrimp [Registered users only can see links. ] (also what i use) sets at the bottom of the tank. if gravel is placed in the tank it will be difficult for the fry to get to the food. this will result in stress and death of your newborn fry. This is a No-No lol. gravel shouldn't be put in.