Could someone describe what i need to do to breed bettas (majerah ;)) i have a male veiltail and a male crowntail.But what would i need to breed these?My veiltail has built a fairly large bubble nest already.Or the process from mating to raising fry?

Well first off you need a goal,(Ill get to this in a minute)and also a home for all the fry.Veils while pretty are not in any demand and the fry therefore will be hard to rehome,unless you know several people wanting some and can line up a spot at the LPS.Bettas will have anywhere from fifty to over 100 fry at a time,and its not unheard of to have all males,which means fifty to 100 jars,which need cleaning every other day.So you must have time to do this,doesnt take too long,your best bet is to have double,so you can set one up the night before and then just switch jars.Lack of cleaning leads to stunted fry and those will be hard to sell.

The goals.What is the reason for spawning?Shows,or future show stock or jut pets.If its the first get some nice stock from a few breeders,and then work from there.If its just pets then as long as you can home the fry,then read on!

Female.You need one to compliment the male.You dont want her too large or the male cant wrap her,nor too small, he may kill her.Complimenting colors would be great and a crowntail for the male CT or a VT for the Veil!

Supplies.You need a spawning tank,an adjustable heater,live plants(Java moss,duckweed,an amazon sword,all work well)Press and seal(Trust me its handy) a thermometer,and a lighted hood.Also a sponge filter,a pump and a valve to adjust the airflow is great as well.Frozen and live bloodworms,fruitfles ect to condition the pair.You will also need fry food and the best is baby brine shrimp,live not frozen,vinegar eels,grindal worms and daphnia.New Life Spectrum Grow is a miracle food,so look for it too if you can get things online.I dont use microworms anymore,the fry stayed too close to the bottom.You should start the cultures a week before you condition the pair to be spawned.A growout,20 gallons up,or two 20s at least.

Conditioning.This is the easiest part but also the part you must keep an eye on.You want your male and female to get used to each other.This is done by placing them beside each other,in their own containers of course.You want to make sure you feed them lightly,three times a day for two weeks.The way i do it,is I place them beside each other and card them.This is basically sticking an index card between the two so they cannot see each other.Then after they finish their meals,take the card away for 30 minutes.The male should dance,and assuming the female is dark colored,she will bar up.Not horizontally,this is stress.Vertically.She will also dance when she sees him possibly flaring at each other.Look now for signs of extreme aggression in the two.The male will flare,and try to get to the female,as opposed to flare,spread fins,flare,spread fins,ect.The female will not bar up or will start to blow her own nest(a sign of dominance,you dont really want this)If the pair seem to enjoy seeing each other,on the last three days i leave the card off.

Spawn tank setup.Many use a ten gallon,I use a dish pan.I have had the most success with it,but whichever you decide.The ten gallon,place the heater close to the bottom,the sponge filter to the back corner.Usually the opposite front corner is best for the nesting site.I prefer to use Indian Almond Leaves,but its not a definate.You can use a sturofoam cup,cut in half lengthwise and place it in the corner.I tape mine to the side to keep it steady.Set the tank up a week before adding the pair.Fill it half way,barebottomed.You want the temp to be 86-89.It may seem warm but trust me they love it.Now for the press and seal.Many use seran wrap,but i use this.Cover the whole top,nice and snug.The front you will be pulling up quite a bit but you must have it humid or the nest will not hold,and at three wekks when the fry are breathing,they will die from asperation(I think is the word)Or too dry of air hitting the labrynth organ,which is newly developed.Press and seal just seems to stay better.

Spawning.Now most will place the male then add the female a day later,in a cup.I throw em both in at opposite ends.Keep a close eye on them.THe male should start a nest,flirt,hit the female,rinse repeat.The female should be hiding for the most part.When the male comes to her,you want her to bar up,face him nose down,and be submissive.He must dominate her,or she will not spawn.Watch the male for over aggression.If he is hunting her,and constantly busying himself with finding her and attacking,then he may kill her and they wont spawn.If shes up swimming about and he is hiding,shes a man killer.Within three days you should see them under the nest,wrapping.
(very hard to see but this is what to look for)


They can wrap for up to several hours,just leave them be(watch from afar,heh)Once they are done the male will chase the female off.Remove while trying not to bother the nest.Coax her with yummy bloodworms.Her tank should be clean,warm and ready with some salt for the stress of spawning(ripped fins,missing scales,ect)

Raising the fry.Daddy should do his job if hes a good male.He will mouth the eggs,clean them,place them back in the nest,eat the bad ones and pick up falling ones.He should also patrol the tanks,which is why the female must be pulled quick.A father is very protective.The next day you should see tails hanging from the nest(can take a bit longer but no longer than two days)The next stage is freeswimming,where they can swim about on their own.WHen they can all swim,daddys done.Remove him,placing him in his old tank,cleaned warm and with salt.For the male i suggest you keep his light off for a day so he can rest,and feed him very well,as if conditioning.He will be worn slap out and some pout for a week from the loss of the fry,so just watch him.Back to the fry.

Freeswimming.Have the spongefilter on one bubble every few seconds for the first week.Then gradually turn it up from there.First food i feed is vinegar eels for the first week.Then BBS,freshly hatched.They will eat this until jarring at the age of 8 weeks(for me any way)Feed carefully any fry food.Even though its live,they will try to over eat,or the food will die.For this purpose i have a baby mystery snail in my fry tanks.They are good nurses.When they get big enough to fit them in their mouth,usually by four weeks,feed grindals.You will need to feed fry three times to four times a day,small amounts until eight weeks.Then you can cut back.Introduce the daphnia whenever you place them in a growout,usually a 20 gallon,by nine weeks,or sooner depending on the amount of fry.At 8 weeks i start to feed them powdered fry food,just a little.I use atisons betta starter,a very fine powder.Feed it at the time you would feed in the morning,replacing the live.If they dont eat it,then try a spray bottle set on mist.After you place the powder,mist it a squirt.The food should start to fall.Most piggies will snatch at it,and once one does the rest will follow.The will eat it like voracious hounds,lol.Once they are eating the powder well, then try the NLS grow.Its a little bigger,but still small enough they can eat it easily.From there move up on larger pellets,and you can intru=oduce frozen bloodworms once they can fit them in their mouths.By that time,you should see males and start jarring them and placing the females in a nicely planted setup to relieve waterchanges.Congrats,if you made it far enough you are jarring,you have raised yourself some fry!Or well, fishes,as they wouldnt be fry anymore.

Any questions with setups,or anything you dont get let me know,i am horrid at through explanations.

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Does the water level in the breeding tank have to be low?

Well, some say its best to keep the male from wearing himself out by swimming from top to the bottom recovering fry and eggs.Its just a preference really.

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Very well explained majerah, actually this might make a good sticky.

Is it a good idea to add a cave or something to the breeding tank so the female can hide of of sight if she needs to?

Thanks!Ive never had a sticky,lol. The cave is again breeder preferene.I say with plakats its a good addition,as they are very aggressive spawners.

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