Breeding bettas

[BettaLu&Meg]

Some things cant be rushed....BUT CAN BE HELP
Try a couple of these thing to get going again.
For breeding potential u want the water to be set at 80F. there natrual enviroment is usually 74-82degrees F, but 80F is what i always keep my breeding tank at and had numerous spawning.
Next, you don't want her chimney to be to close to him or the nest, u want to set it somewhat in the middle of the tank. I have a 10 gallon tank as my breeding tank and i place her in the middle.
Next, since bettas natural matting environment is usualy in brown water, u can do this if possible. Whats in the water that produces that matting mood is something called tannins. To get this in your water and to make is a little brown is a leaf or leaves u can purchase on line call Indian Almond Leaves, now if this is hard to obtain, i was taught in my begining breeding stages by a betta breeder from thailand, u can us a tea bag to brown the water and to produce the tannins. now its has to be reg. tea not anything flavor for the fact that bettas don't drink tea! but in seriousness regular tea is needed for the producing tannins. the leave on the other hand had great benefits to it. while it browning the water it releases these tannins, and also produces a place to makes nests, and give the bettas antioxidants and improves health, immune system, and gives them the neccesary mood to mate.
You also want to cut a styrafoam cup in half, from top to bottom not center-around, and place it on top of your water. heres a link to give u an idea How to breed Betta splendens with pictures betta spawning set-up
Then tape with scotch or clear tape to the wall to secure it from floating around. bettas like to make sure there nest will always be in the same place at all times for security!
This will be your Nests home, and it will also prevent your bubbles from seperating.
Next, You dont want your filter to cause tremendous amounts of currents if you have a out of tank filter try to block the water being thrown back into the tank violently. if u have this problem what i did is take a 2litter bottle and carefully cut out the part where u pour your drink from to the size of a fist. then poke and cut very small holes Big enough to get water through and so the water doesn't fill up and pour over the top and small enough so your bettas don't get thru them. Also to promote matting since bettas live in shallow water it sometimes helps to take out water and leave about 6-8 inches of water. doin this though will delete your chance of using the filter, the best filter to have is Hydro-Sponge Filters - AquaCave this type or a spong filter like this! doin all this will better your chances.
Also, believe it or not every betta and fish has its own personality and own taste. i own 10 and breed but only one viel tail will mate with a crowntail male and visa-versa. so if nothing happens after a couple of weeks consider another female. Let me know how it goes and your outcome, i will always want to help to feel free and don't hesitate to ask. i have fry of my own and its one of my crown males and my normal viel female. and are 2-3 weeks old.
please ask and i'll be happy to help! ive been taught by people i met in thailand betta farms/hatchery. and never had a problem ever since!!

PROMOTING BREEDING
there are a couple of ways of promoting breeding in your bettas.
1- A seperate breeding tank should always be just for breeding this is so you don't have to run around wondering which tank you want to make your spawning happen in. A 10 gallon is good for this. limits the swimming all around and harrassments.
2- lower your water level to about 6 inches, this is because in there natural enviroment the water is shallow and still. For some filters it wont reach the water to keep it clean so being on top of that is neccasary.
3- Introducing tannins in the water. This can be done in a couple of ways. INDIAN ALMOND LEAF - AN ASIAN SECRET - IT WORKS LIKE MAGIC ! You will be amazed at the results and improved vitality and breeding frequency in your fish. The leaves have been a long kept secret in Asia where they are used by many breeders and wholesalers.
It also will brown the water making the bettas natural breeding habbitate available.
The Sea Almond tree produces a substance in its leaves and sap to defend against insect parasites. The dried leaves are ideal for reducing losses due to bacterial disease, and keeping sensitive species. This leaf will also if floating will be a housing for your males bubble nest. Add one leaf per 10-15 gallons of water for all sensitive fishes such as baby discus, dwarf cichlids, rare bettas and all black water tetras, rasboras and catfishes.
3A-For tannins instead of an almond leaf you can simply place a REGULAR TEA BAG in your water to brown it. this will also release the tannins neccasary for promoting breeding. AND WONT HARM YOUR BETTA! i know and did this and you seen my precious fighters
4- The Bubble Nest- Your male HAS to make a bubble nest before you even think of releasing her. Without this its just a death match. Insuring that there a bubble nest or to get him into the idea is place the Indian almond leaf in Or If thats available which for me at the time it wasn't here yet. Place a styrofoam cup, cut long ways, on top of the water. Giving him a bubble nest housing. This will Keep all the bubbles together, will give him the idea that bubble making will not be destroyed and float away (sense of security) and if he is already making one place the cup over the bubble and watch him make more in it. My video should the huge nest the CT made. This is because my female didn't like the nest, she swam up to it played with it and ran away. UNTIL his nest was that big is when she gave it up lol!
5- The Egg or "Pearl" and Strips- You also have to make sure your female is in a confined area like a vase, chimney, or a bottle in the center of the breeding tank. This is so the male has constant sight of her and will show off his stuff! then will retreat back to the area where the nest will be made, and start his project. Also keeping her close and not just on the other side of the tank with a divider is because with that she can get and hide far way on the other side of the tank and loose intrest quickly, same for the male. When You see that her vertical strips are present and her "pearl" is protruding out of her belly then she's intrested. (Remember wait for the nest to be a decent size before releasing her).
6- The hidding place- You need to place in your breeding tank a hiding spot for your female, while she's being harrassed or simply tired from matting she WILL run away looking for a spot to hide for awhile to relaxe for a few min. then she will come out and the be harrassed again, this is normal and not just being bullied.
7-The harrassment- You have to make sure your female is smaller than your male! Other wise your male will have trouble showing dominance in the tank, and do damage to him! Again learned this from exp. Making sure she's a little bit smaller than him will insure that he can wrap himself around to spawn, also will give him the upper hand in "dominance showing" and will eventually nip and rip some of her fins. This is NORMAL AND CAN'T BE ANOTHER WAY. THIS IS THERE NATURAL WAY OF BREEDING (unfortunatly). If you notice while she is being chase and hiding and looses her strips and its been gone for an hour take her out and keep her in the bottle for another 3 days and repeat.
8- Patients- this is the hardest thing to do, trust me i know! i'm as impatient as anyone else if not worse. but the spawning/matting process can take up to 4-5 hours with all the harrassing and chassing, flirting and showing off, and going back to the nest to spawn. This hobby will test your patients cuz it did mine! BUT will be worth it when you see your bettas spawning.
9- keep your water temp at 80 degrees F.

Keeping them in the bottle close will always get them to show off and promote spawning being that they always have sight of each other and have a chance to.

[betta girl]

i want to breed my betta and don't know how someone please help!

[hvincent]

Did you...read the first post in this thread at all? What exactly are you confused about?

[betta girl]

well my male betta keeps raming the female and scaring her what should i do?

[BettaLu&Meg]

thats the nature of breeding. there will be lots of harrasments going on in the breeding process. but i will be on soon to further assist.

[betta girl]

do u know if its ok to put two females together? i put my two females together and they started to fight and would'nt stop but evenally i serpated them before someone got hurt is this normal?

[BettaLu&Meg]

yeah its normal, BUT, females are known to coexist with each other when there is 3 or more. In cases females WILL fight regardless on how many females are their tankmates. fighting is usually a sign of dominance of the tank, In some cases(like in yours and mine) females wont stop harrassing each other until one is dead or swims away from the dominant betta. I have plenty of females, well 5 adults, and 14 fry females, and the adults DONT get along for nothing! is also, i'm pretty sure because they are old in age that they don't take nothing from each other, including space. So as for your females fighting and ripping each others fins, its normal. In breeding fin tear is inevitable and will happen all the time. Even if its just a little bit.

sorry to keep going on and on, tend to do that.... But as for your complete answer, Yes its normal. You can try to purchase another female or two and try to place them in again. You will see fighting for the most part but if you have a big enough tank for them to swim away this just might happen and coexisting is possible. Remember the tank size recommended PER betta. Check out the threads i posted on "betta care" and it explains everything(basics) you need to know about bettas

[betta girl]

i hate to keep bugging u but do know recommended tank size per betta?i'm trying to breed my to bettas together and nothing seems to be happening should i which to the other female or should keep trying?

[BettaLu&Meg]

No your not bugging me! listen the best thing you can do is answer questions, and i don't mind helping out, especially sharing this great hobby!

As for your questions,
1. the recommended size per betta for a tank is 2 gallons per. But if your trying to breed i would keep your betta's in at least a 10 gallon tank, With the male free swimming and the female in a vase, chimney, or a soda bottle. this way they can't physically get to each other.
2. This is the patients part i was explaining in my thread. and unfortunatly spawning can last up to 4 hours, but prepairing to spawn can take days, weeks, even months. These things you can't rush, and i don't recommend it! rushing your bettas constantly switching them out will stress her out and take her mind off the male, this you don't want.
SO... what you should do is my method of promoting breeding, as i posted on the breeding section i believe the third thread down. You want to keep the pair you wanted originally. try this tho... what is your betta in? a vase, bottle, chimney if so, which she should be in! leave her in the breeding tank for 3 days, then 1 day take her out of the tank(not letting her loose with him, taking her completly out the tank) this way within that 24 hour period your male will swim around and start (in my opinion) to miss her. Now after that 4th day of removing, place her back in the tank (STILL IN THE VASE, BOTTLE, OR CHIMNEY) for 3 more days and then the 4th day remove again. Do this for about 2 weeks, and if she's showing her verticle strips and her "pearl" under her belly is visible then try to release them together.

when you release her with him, spawning and the ritual of spawning can take up to 4-5 hours, with the chasing each other, harrassing, and the actually spawn. So when you release her, STAY AND OBSERVE for all the time there together(this is the patient testing part again) and be sure not to walk away for a period of time without putting something in there for her to hide in(i explain this in my other thread on promoting)

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate! ask!

[betta girl]

what do fry eat?Ssome say they eat baby brine shrimp and the other says blood worms and the other says micro worms if so how do i get micro worms?