Baby time?

[Kageshi17]

Ok, you guys remember my post "Akashi is sick!". Well...I put him in his 5g isolation tank and now instead of floating listless on the bottom, hes doing it at the top. But (first time ever I believe) he has created a bubble nest, a nice big one too. So....my idea is, maybe he wants to have babies? But if that is the case....what should I look for in a female? All the ones I've had have chased him down and gone crazy with blood thirstiness. Hahaha but yeah, it was pretty scary. What are the signs that they are good mates? He is pretty docile...any ideas?

[anasfire23]

Just because he's building a bubble nest doesn't mean he wants to spawn. It usually means he's happy and that his water conditions are great. Males rarely want to spawn unless they can actually see a female and creat a bubble nest specifically for that female. All my males build bubble nests when they can't even see a female. It just means he's happy, so you should be happy! Did u try adding a little sea salt to his water? I've found that's saved a few of my betta's when they've looked worse for wear. just 1/2 a tea spoon into the 5g should do it.

[Kageshi17]

Thank you so much. Theres just so much death around me, I dont think I can take much more. Thank you.

[Echo]

Bettas need atleast 2 weeks conditioning before breeding. Plus if your betta came from a petstore more then likely he's to old to breed, which might be why he's so calm.

And make sure that's aquarium salt, not marine salt. Aquarium salt can be bought at petstores or grocery stores under Rock salt used for making ice cream.

[(RC)]

marine salt works also. I've used it for years. it's iodized salt you have to make sure not to get.



RC

[anasfire23]

Echo, I have to disagree with what u said about bettas needing to be conditioned for 2 weeks before breeding because I only condition mine for 3 or 4 days with alot of live food and they breed everytime! Also I bought all my bettas from my LFS and they're not too old to breed at all.

[Christine]

Sorry Anasfire, that just means you got lucky. LFS bettas are known for being much easier to spawn than other type bettas in general. Improper conditioning can contribute to one fish killing the other. Additionally often times the male doesnt eat for days on end but yet works nonstop the whole time. He needs to be conditioned properly to be able to perform his job fully and remain healthy. Spawning can be very stressful on bettas and its a very good idea to take what steps you can to reduce that stress.

[(RC)]

If your feeding your fish a good healthy diet day in and day out then a few days of live food will be enough. Honestly with the diet I feed my fish don't get any special feeding before I spawn them. MY fish all get pellets in the morning with a frozen food and left over BBS at night. It all depends on what your normal feeding regiment is on how long you have to condition them.


RC

[gemjunkie]

Salt is NOT NECESSARY with bettas unless you want to do a salt dip. They are NOT brackish or salt water fish and don't require it in their water for daily living.

IME too many people use it in their water and it causes problems for people that don't use it. It makes them dependant on it to stave off infection and disease.

[(RC)]

I haver found some salt added to MY betta breeders tank to really improve my number of successful spawns.I don't know if there is something lacking in the water around here,but by adding salt to my spawning tanks I get a better percentage of spawns. I know of a few other Betta Breeders that have found the same thing.


RC

[anasfire23]

Originally Posted by (RC)

If your feeding your fish a good healthy diet day in and day out then a few days of live food will be enough. Honestly with the diet I feed my fish don't get any special feeding before I spawn them. MY fish all get pellets in the morning with a frozen food and left over BBS at night. It all depends on what your normal feeding regiment is on how long you have to condition them.


RC

My bettas all get 2 feedings a day, one of betta pellets in the morning and either brine shrimp or bloodworms in the evening so they have a pretty good diet to begin with. I also fast them one day a week (Saturdays) and then on the Sunday they get 2 feeds of live food. I guess those who feed their bettas on flaked or pellet food alone would not have much luck spawning them after only a few days conditioning but seeing as my bettas have a good diet year round I have better luck I guess. IMO it also depends on the chemistry between the spawning pair, if they like each other from the get go then the female will bar up alot faster and want to spawn, but if they don't seem all that interested in each other then it's going to take alot more conditioning and work to spawn them. I was extremely lucky that my female like both my boys and would bar up litterally within an hour of being able to see them.

I think with breeding bettas there isn't really a right way or wrong way to do it as long as you observe the general guidelines you can pretty much create your own methods that suit you.