How to Reproduce Betta Fish

Bettas (Siamese fighting fish) are not that difficult to breed in captivity, but housing them all can be problematic. Since Bettas attack each other, especially the males, you have to house them separately. Caring for all of these tanks and bowls is a lot of work, so try to only breed exceptional Bettas. Although Bettas will start spawning behavior when they are 12 weeks old, they aren't healthy enough to spawn when they are that young.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 5- to 15-gallon tank
• 1-gallon tanks or mason jars (as many as you can find)
• Eye dropper
• Commercial fry food or hard-boiled egg yolk
• Aquarium heater
• Aquarium thermometer
• Net

1. Select the best male and female Bettas you can. Make sure that they are both nearly the same size and are over 20 weeks old. Feed them frozen bloodworms or live brine shrimp to get them in condition for the rigors of spawning.

2. Set up the 15-gallon breeding tank preferably a month before you breed your Bettas. Include a place for the female to hide if the male becomes aggressive. You also want to include the aquarium heater and stick-on thermometer. Keep the temperature to 80 degrees F.

3. 
    
   Male and bubble nest

   Put the male in first. He will soon build a bubble nest. Sometimes seeing a female in a glass jar right next to the breeding tank can stimulate him to build.

4. Watch the male and female interact. There usually is a lot of chasing about, but fins shouldn't be ripped off. The male eventually embraces the female by arching around her side. He releases his sperm as she releases her eggs. She will look stunned while he picks up the eggs from the bottom of the tank and places them in the bubble nest. She will eventually help put the eggs in the bubble nest. Spawning takes about a day.

5. Wait until the female is out of eggs and then remove her, or the male will try to kill her.

6. Wait until the fry are swimming before removing the male. This will be about a week after spawning. The eggs hatch 2 or 3 days after spawning and then the fry eat from an attached yolk sac for 4 days. After the male is gone, feed the fry liquid fry food or boiled egg yolk. Feed three times a day.

7. Separate the males from the females as soon as you can start to tell them apart. This can be when they are 2 to 3 months old. The females usually will look bigger than the males. Although the females can live together, the males must be housed separately, or they will kill each other.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep the parent Bettas separated from each other until spawning time.
• Sometimes a floating small piece of Styrofoam can stimulate the male Betta to build a bubble nest.
• It's recommended to get an electrical outlet strip for your breeding tank so you can keep all of your wires in order.
• A female Betta, on average, lays 350 eggs.
• Don't use a filter for the breeding tank--it will suck up all of the fry.
• Don't do a partial water change until the fry are 3 weeks old, and then only do a 10 or 15 percent change, not the whole tank. Add new water really slowly, so as not to shock the fry.

Resources

• "Siamese Fighting Fish" by Gene Wolfsheimer
• Betta Central: Betta Breeding
• About Fish Bubble Nests

[ryankristian]

on 5/21/2009 hi!? my name is ryan i have 2 bettas male and female, i already do that but not all, i only have 2 jars at inside male and female bettas,stick together and the male betta making bubbles,but i don't know how to breed that because im begginer breeding bettas so i seperated them .because i don't know to breed eh.

[scooter181]

on 5/16/2009 not the best