Are you interested in how to breed betta fish? There are a variety of ways to go about spawning bettas. Whether you’re looking to create your own beautiful betta fish creations or are creating betta fish to sell. Betta fish breeding needs to be carried out carefully so that these territorial fish don’t hurt or injure each other.
Betta Conditioning
When you are planning on breeding your betta fish, conditioning is important. Betta fish conditioning is when breeders provide the best living environment and diet in order to prepare their betta fish for breeding.
Conditioning allows the male betta fish to store energy for the breeding process and it encourages female betta to produce eggs. The breeder will want to introduce a lot of high protein foods during this stage. Most breeders recommend providing live food like worms, crustaceans and insect larvae that they would eat in the wild.
Betta Breeding Tank Setup
You can breed in a variety of tank sizes (10 Gallons to 20 Gallons) but we recommend using a 10 gallon tank. During the breeding process the eggs will fall to the floor of the tank. In order for the male betta to find the eggs it is recommended to remove the gravel from the container as it could trap some of the eggs.
You will want to add about 4 to 6 inches of clean treated water. Some breeders recommend adding salt (½ tsp) to the water to prevent itch and velvet in the young fry. Make sure the water is heated to a perfect 80 degrees fahrenheit.
Include a sponge filter with a very slow bubble rate. This is easily achieved by using an air pump with a control valve. The sponge filter will offer filtration and keep the water moving so no biofilm builds in the tank.
Add plenty of live plants. Plants cause microorganism growth, this becomes the first food for the hatched betta fry. Plants also double as a great place for the female betta to hide.
How To Breed Betta Fish Successfully
The male and female betta need to be introduced separately before breeding occurs. To do this you will want to put the female in a jar or bag and put the jar or bag into the tank with the male. You want them to be able to see each other but not be able to touch each other. Some breeders swear by doing this during bad weather or a full moon.
Let them get acquainted for about an hour and then turn off the lights. This encourages the male to build a bubble nest. The female should also start to get rounded with eggs.
Watch for active flaring. This will consist of the male betta working on the bubble nest and then scurrying back over to the female to display themselves to the female. The female will be rounder and possibly have vertical stripes. She should also be interested and flaring at the male betta.
Make sure to watch both and make sure neither is disinterested, sometimes this will display in horizontal stripes, known as fear stripes. If this is the case you may want to re jar them and try again after a week or two.
If there are no signs of distress or fear, they should be ready to breed and you’re good to release the female. Make sure to keep an eye on them as sometimes the breeding process can get violent. If that happens don’t remove the male (who will be more aggressive), but remove the female.
Betta spawn in the early morning so keep an eye out. Remove the female betta fish once the male is busy tending to the eggs in the bubble nest.
The male will continue to devote his time to guardian and caring for the eggs. While this happens, cover the tank to make sure the male betta is in complete darkness. This makes sure that he does not get distracted with things happening outside or around the tank.
In about three days you will see lots of tails poking out of the bubble nest. This means you have fry. After they have started to free swim you can remove the male from the tank when he has given up trying to herd them. Newly hatched fry are hard to see, so don’t worry if it looks like they all disappeared, they’re there, trust us.