What to do...

Maz_Beh · #1 (**permalink**) 11-12-2008, 05:03 PM

im tryin to breed my betta i have a 10 Gl tank with 1 water plant sponge filter and 55W heater set to 80F. recently my crown tale male died i think he had dropsy swimming upside down and side ways laying on the bottom. my female is a white SD and very health should i purchase a new male crown tale and put them in side by side tanks or in the same tank or buy just a long tale male. Or should i put in my first betta long tale male in with her, i have had him for about 2 years now and he is pretty big. I dont know what to do because i dont want to move them from tank to tank as im afraid that might stress them out to much. i feed them pellets 2 times a day and once every 2-3 days some frozen blood worms.

Would breeding a long tail male and SD female produce crown tale fry or not.
Thanks in advance.

Maz_Beh · #2 (**permalink**) 11-12-2008, 05:05 PM

I couldnt come to terms that he was sick and diying, he was so beautiful and had lovely colour POOR guy....

want him back....

mdellasalla · #3 (**permalink**) 11-12-2008, 05:26 PM

From what I have read, long tails are dominant traits, so you would end up with all long tail fry.

Were your male's scales sticking out when he died? If they were and he was swollen then he probably did have dropsy which is very contagious and you should be either treating your female and defiantly not putting a new fish in that environment unless you want 3 dead fish.

You don't want the male to be too much bigger than the female or he won't be able to squeeze her right. I would not put a new fish straight in with the female in the breeding tank at all. If you wanted to get a new fish you could put them side by side, but make sure your new one is happy and healthy and making bubble nests before you try breeding them.

FishMomma · #4 (**permalink**) 11-12-2008, 06:52 PM

BettaLu&Meg is the breeder on this site who answers many of the questions. I know he hasn't been on much in several days, but you could try sending him a PM with your question. I know he would be glad to help!

BettaLu&Meg · #5 (**permalink**) 11-12-2008, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maz_Beh

im tryin to breed my betta i have a 10 Gl tank with 1 water plant sponge filter and 55W heater set to 80F. recently my crown tale male died i think he had dropsy swimming upside down and side ways laying on the bottom. my female is a white SD and very health should i purchase a new male crown tale and put them in side by side tanks or in the same tank or buy just a long tale male. Or should i put in my first betta long tale male in with her, i have had him for about 2 years now and he is pretty big. I dont know what to do because i dont want to move them from tank to tank as im afraid that might stress them out to much. i feed them pellets 2 times a day and once every 2-3 days some frozen blood worms.

Would breeding a long tail male and SD female produce crown tale fry or not.
Thanks in advance.

The set up you have for your breeding tank is perfect conditions. the temp, filter and size of the tank is what i basically use. As for what type of male you want to put in, is entirely up to you. For the female, You want to make sure she is at least 10% smaller than the male, Making sure of this will make it easier for your male to wrap around her and embrace her. If she is the same size as your male, it will make it harder for your male to dominate her and the tank. Now Before you put them "together" physically you need to make sure that they are both ready.

Since your putting a new male in i would keep your female in a vase, bottle, or chimney in the center of the tank. Putting them together right away can be fatal to one or both of your bettas. Keeping your female in the center of the same tank and placing your male in the ten gallon with her (free swimming) gives your male the chance to get used to his new home and kind of explore it with a companion thats, sort of confined to the center of the tank. Doing this will get him used to the breeding tank faster and will help promote making a bubble nest. Even if you have a male for a couple of years, placing him in a new tank will make them curious of there new surroundings and will ignore you, the female/male just to make sure his new home is safe and "his".

When you place him in the breeding tank, Place a styrofoam cup in the corner of your tank and tape it to the sides. Taping it to the sides will prevent it from floating all over and keep it in one spot. This will also make the male sure enough that this is a good spot to nest. Breeding can be fustrating and patient testing, but with dealing with this comes great rewards

.

So if you decied on which male to put in, place it in the breeding tank so he can get used to the tank enough to make a nest and mate. Now there are ways to help promote breeding in bettas, Remember tho, we don't breed bettas, Bettas breed bettas, and we just give them the right enviroment to do so. Check out the sticky thread on the breeding section on "promoting breeding in bettas" for tips and how-to make breeding easier.

Also what you want to do, after getting used to your breeder tank is lower your water level to 6 inches. Bettas natural breeding enviroment is shallow water and brown. Looking at that sticky thread i stated above will explain why and how

Also getting a Veil(which i think you mean by a longtail) and a SD, will not make a crowntail. Unless there are crowntial genes in one of the two.

Please keep me posted on this and how your doing and i will be happy to help you out and make this as easy as possible. Remember the signs of ready-ness in your bettas.
FEMALES= when they are ready, usually change color show vertical stripes, show there "pearl" on there belly(at the begining of there anal fin) and usually flare at the male
Males= Constantly show off flaring(when intrested) and will swim away after showing off to the nest to make more bubbles, If your males shows off and trys to constantly attack without swimming away most of the time, Keep her in the vase until he's swimming more to the nest after showing off.

If i didn't answer some or any of the questions please reply, i have been ill and in the hospital, and haven't been around for a couple of days but i will be on today to help and answer all questions i missed.