Betta Fish Care in 10 Steps with No Fancy Words

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This is ok as long as neither fish's life is in danger. This courtship may last several hours or even days. Be sure there are plenty of hiding places for the female to escape the bullying, and check on the pair regularly to prevent serious injuries. Let nature take its course. The male will finally get the female under his bubble nest and they will embrace. It may take a few embraces to produce eggs. Then the female will go into a 'zombie-like' state while the white eggs fall to the ground from her little white ovipositor. The male will swim down and scoop them up, putting them one by one into the nest.

Some females will help with this once they recover, but others will eat the eggs, so watch carefully and remove her if she is eating them. They may embrace many more times, but eventually the female will stop releasing eggs. Remove the female betta. Once the female is done releasing eggs, the male will bully her again, and she will hide. Gently scoop her out and put her into her own tank.

Treat her tank with Maroxy to help her fins heal. It is a good idea to treat the breeding tank with Maroxy, too, to prevent fungus from killing the eggs. Leave the male in the tank until the fry can swim around. This will be about three days after hatching. Some breeders will not feed the male at all during this time.

This is supposed to reduce the risk of the male eating the eggs and fry. Other breeders will feed him a small amount of food every second day. If you choose to feed him, do not be alarmed if he does not eat right away, but continue to offer the food, and gently remove uneaten food with a turkey baster. Keep the filter off to prevent any current from disturbing the fry, but keep the tank light on day and night. Wait for fry to hatch. When the fry initially hatch they will hang from the bubble nest, and the male will replace any that fall.

After a few days, the fry will begin "free-swimming," swimming horizontally and venturing away from the nest. Before this, the fry will be feeding on what's left of the egg yolk, and cannot eat on their own.

Remove the male from the tank, being very careful not to net any fry. He can return to his normal routine and feeding schedule. If he is still looking ragged from the courtship, add some Maroxy to help him heal. As soon as you remove the male, feed the fry a small portion of live microworms. Feed twice a day, and watch closely to see how much is eaten. If live microworms are still present when it is time for the next feeding, you can skip it since the fry still have food.

If you see many dead microworms, you are overfeeding, so cut back on the portions. Fry need to be fed very small, living food such as, Infusoria: These will feed the fry for their first week of life; Microworms: Good for fry days old; Baby Brine Shrimp: These are easy to hatch and are the easiest to control how much to feed, but feeding too much will result in swim bladder disorder;. Give the fry time to grow. Continue to feed increasing amounts of food.

When the fry outgrow the breeding tank, they will need to be moved to a larger tank. Not all fry will survive the first few weeks, but if you see large numbers dying each day, you probably have a problem. Check temperature, chemical levels, and consider the possibility of treating for infections. When the fry are 1. You can begin turning off the tank light at night. Over the next few weeks, gradually increase the flow of the filter, watching fry carefully to be sure they are strong enough to swim against the current.

Place the fry into grow-out tanks. By the time the fry are two weeks you should move them to at least a 20 gallon Make sure the temperature and water in the tank are the same as what the fry are used to. Fry are delicate — one slip up could result in them dying. If you used a half-filled five or 10 gallon Wean the fry off live food. When the fry are about a month old you can gradually start switching the fry to frozen and then freeze-dried and flake or pellet food.

Make sure the food is crushed small enough for their tiny mouths. Offer small amounts, and wean them off the live food slowly. Always remove uneaten food. Putting guppy fry in the tank may help as they will eat the pellets. Then the betta fry will start to eat them too. When the male fry begin fighting anywhere from weeks of age , it is time to remove them from the tank. Place them in individual tanks close to one another, as they can become depressed if suddenly isolated. Males that are not fighting can be left with the females until they become aggressive. Some males will refuse to eat the first day or two; try feeding them live food to stimulate their appetite.

Continue to separate out all male and aggressive fish as they become apparent. In the following days and weeks you will want to begin isolating the males with opaque dividers, as they will stress each other out, flaring and trying to attack the males in adjacent tanks. Decide the future of your spawn.

If you are selling your fry, you will want to start contacting potential buyers. Most fry will begin to display their adult traits by weeks, and you can begin to select the best fish for future breeding or take pictures to send to buyers. If you are trying to create a genetic line, you will only want to select the best few fish from each spawn to continue breeding, and sell or give away the others, or you will quickly find yourself with more bettas than you can possibly take care of.

This takes time and experience to see; sometimes experienced breeders find themselves accidentally putting two males together. Males have longer fins, however young males have short fins. Males flare at each other. Females usually won't, but females can be just as aggressive as males. Females have an egg spot, which is located on her belly; this is where eggs are released during spawning. Males blow bubble nests; if you jar a Betta and it blows a nest, it's a male.

However, some females also blow bubble nests, so be sure to double-check. Not Helpful 17 Helpful He is probably sleeping. Many types of fish sleep with their eyes open. By turning the light on, you are signaling that it is daytime, and time for him to swim, eat, etc. Not Helpful 16 Helpful My male is building a nest but I have no female. What would be causing him to do this? What do I do about it? No, that just means he likes the environment you provided him with and you are doing a good job taking care of him. Many male betta behave this way when the environment is ideal.

Not Helpful 53 Helpful Any live insect is fine, but it would be a good idea to get the insects from a pet store or fish tank store. Wild insects often carry harmful diseases that can hurt your fish.

Siamese fighting fish

Betta fish in particular seem to love blood worms, both frozen and freeze dried. Not Helpful 25 Helpful I imagine you mean the same type of betta, or same coloration. In this case most of the young will bear those features. Keep in mind that, like pretty much anything else, Bettas have regressive genes, so you may get a few with surprisingly different features. If you mean the same as in 2 fish from the same spawn, this is inbreeding and can result in deformities and weak genetics. I would not do this myself, nor would I sleep with my sister. Not Helpful 27 Helpful The male betta does that because it feels that the tank you have provided it with would be a good place to have fry.

If a female ever came along, it would be prepared. This is a compliment to your excellent tank arrangement. Not Helpful 44 Helpful Can I feed my bettas with mosquitoes and small fishes of guppies, platies, Moli, etc.? If your fish is large enough, yes. He will enjoy the hunt and so will you and the fact that you give him meat. Betta are carnivores meat-eaters and should not be forced to eat the same fish flakes for their entire lives.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful How will I know when the male and female are ready to be in the same tank during breeding? Your betta will see the female and begin to flare at her. When you put them in the same tank, they will most likely fight. This is normal, and it's okay -- they are pretty tough. Not Helpful 28 Helpful You can not speed up the breeding process of 2 Bettas, because there is a certain time when the Bettas breed together to make fry and eggs.

Also know that all Bettas are different, and some breed early, some breed late. Just make sure your Bettas are healthy and not aggressive.

Not Helpful 20 Helpful Does the female have to be in a different tank away from the male when not breeding? Yes, she should be kept in a different tank. If not, she and the male will fight and risk injury to themselves and damage to the eggs. Not Helpful 9 Helpful I have a baby girl and a younger boy.

Do I put them together?

Answer this question Flag as Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Already answered Not a question Bad question Other. Tips Before attempting to breed anything, make sure you have a plan for the young. Bettas can produce over fry in one pairing, so be sure you have somewhere for them all to go. Always remove dead uneaten food from the fry tank, otherwise it will decompose and cause a bacterial infection. Make sure not to suck up the babies in the water changes, they are small and may not be able to swim against the current.

The Easiest Way to Breed Betta Fish - wikiHow

This allows the use of a heater and filter, which will provide a much healthier environment than individual small jars and tanks. Some pairings never work, either because the bettas do not like one another, or one is a poor breeder. Don't be discouraged to try again with different pairings. Some breeders prefer tanks as small as 2 gallons 7. While this can speed up the breeding process there is less room for the female to run away and hide it will mean moving the fry to a larger tank at a younger age, which can be risky and result in the death of some or all fry if not performed carefully.

High-quality fry come from high-quality breeding stock. If you are planning on selling your fry, it is worth it to invest money in good breeding pairs. Do a lot of research before breeding. There are many good sources on the internet, or you could talk to a local breeder or aquarium expert. If you create a unique, stable genetic line, name your strain for future identification. You may have to make tough decisions about fish born with severe deformities. If they are suffering, you may want to consider euthanasia as a humane option.

Never attempt to breed fish with deformities like crooked spines or misshapen fins. Always use brine shrimp nets when netting bettas. Standard nets can catch and shred delicate fins. Before breeding, pick your fish wisely. If you get a sickly fish it can affect the young. Don't hesitate to ask the breeder or store owner questions. One may add live plants like Hornwort, Java fern, and Anacharis as they can reduce the ammonia levels and also provide good oxygenation in the tank. Live plants also grow tiny microscopic organisms which the newborn fry can feed on as sometimes the live foods that are available are too big or too fast for your fry to consume.

Never feed young fry uncrushed flake or pellet foods as these are too large and fry will ignore non-live foods. Fry will either starve to death or be killed by a bacterial infection caused by the uneaten food. Get books about breeding from a library and watch videos of how to breed before breeding so you can know what to do and what to be prepared for. Some breeders provide something for the males to build the nest under, such as a styrofoam cup, piece of lettuce, or another floating object. Make sure the fish you'll be mating are healthy.

Warnings Always use care when administering chemicals and medication to the tanks.

Betta Fish Requirements

Bettas Have Different Tail Shapes — Part of what makes bettas so fascinating are their wide variety of shapes and colors. The tale shapes alone include comb, crown, delta, double feather, halfmoon, halfsun, plakat, rose, round, spade, veil, and more. Wild Bettas are a Dull Brown and Green Color — As mentioned, the vibrantly colored bettas you see in stores got that way through selective breeding.

In the wild, bettas are a dull brown or green color and their fins are smaller and much more understated. Males and Females are Easy to Tell Apart — Male bettas are not only larger than females but they also tend to have brighter colors and more ornate fins. Most pet bettas are therefore male.

Bettas Breathe Air and Can Survive Out of Water for Short Periods — Bettas have a special organ called the labyrinth organ, which allows them to breathe air from the surface. This is what allows them to survive in waters with low-oxygen content, such as shallow rice paddies, stagnant ponds, or even polluted waters. Because betta fish sometimes live in water with low oxygen, this doesn't mean they prefer it… and it also doesn't mean bettas should be kept in vases with flowers.

What's in a name?

Unfortunately, the idea that you can keep a betta in a flower vase is widely circulated, but this is not a healthy or humane way to house these fish. Bettas Build Bubbles Nests — Male bettas build bubble nests, and once the female releases the eggs during an elaborate courtship ritual the male gathers them in his mouth and "spits" them into the nest. Because creating bubble nests is an instinctive behavior, your betta will likely build a bubble nest even in captivity without a mate present. Male Bettas Guard Their Offspring — The male betta not only builds the nest, he also watches over the eggs until they hatch.

The beauty of the Betta

The female doesn't participate and is, in fact, typically chased away by the male. Bettas are Intelligent — Betta fish can learn to recognize their owners and perform tricks, such as following your finger around the bowl, swimming through hoops, or pushing a ball into a goal. When choosing a fish as a pet , it's important to understand that they require care and compassion, just as furry and feathered pets do. Though they speak an entirely different "language," fish perception and cognitive abilities match or exceed that of other vertebrates.

In a review published in Animal Cognition, 6 Dr.

In addition, there's evidence that fish display pain-related behaviors, such as increasing their ventilation rate and rubbing their lips against the sides of their tank after being shocked. Fish living in large aquariums with complex i. A betta fish can live up to three years if it's well cared for. Remember that bettas don't necessarily have to be kept solitary. A male betta can be kept in a community of fish without other male bettas and female bettas can be kept together. In addition, the tips that follow will help you create a stimul ating environment to keep your betta happy and healthy.

Provide items for your fish to explore — plants, rocks, structures, ceramic objects, etc. You should also provide a place for your fish to hide. It's important to make sure the "furniture" you add to your fish tank is non-toxic. Provide the right type of food for the species of fish fish may vary in their nutritional requirements. Clean the tank regularly and use pure water most tap water contains fluoride, chlorine, and impurities that can harm fish.

If your fish seems sick, take him to a fish vet along with a sample of tank water. While some fish do better alone, most enjoy companionship and should be kept in pairs or more ; your fish may even enjoy some interaction with you on a daily basis. View our Privacy Policy. You will also get free access to more than , Mercola. You can unsubscribe at any time and I guarantee the privacy of your email. Please Sign In or Register to continue. Aggressive Cat Becomes a Snugglebug December 17,

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