Newbie's Guide to Breeding Betta Fish

So, you've got yourself a male and female betta and want to breed some young ones. Before you begin, there are a few things you need to know about breeding betta fish. This article will give you a few tips to get you started.

Before you attempt to introduce the two, you have to spend some time getting them conditioned. You should feed both of the fish high quality foods starting two weeks before you put them together. Live food is best, but frozen blood worms and other dried foods will also suffice. You should also note that younger females usually produce more eggs, which may result in a larger brood.

Bettas are often referred to as Siamese fighting fish because males will battle each other on sight. Therefore, you should never put two males in a tank together. Males can also get rough with their female counterparts at times. When breeding betta fish, it's important to keep your eye on the female. You'll need to remove her from the tank if the male gets too rough with her.

So you've finally got the two together. At this point, the male will wrap around the female to prompt her to release the eggs. Upon release, the male will release his sperm to fertilize them. After she releases all of her eggs, you should put the female in a separate tank so she can recuperate.

Male bettas take care of the young. He builds a bubble nest to hold the eggs, and will return them to the nest should they fall out. Fry should start emerging about two days after the eggs have been fertilized.

The young fry have to stay in the bubble nest for two more days since their gills haven't developed well enough for them to swim independently. Once the gills have fully developed after the two days, the male needs to be removed from the tank. If you fail to do so, he may eat all of the young fry.