This is the first time I tried to breed betta. After browsing through the internet and getting all the information, I have succesfully recorded the reproduction process. I would to share with everyone.
Betta splendens is one of the most wanted fish in everyone's aquarium. Breeding Bettas is not hard, though you might face problems at spawning them. They are oviparous fish, the male builds a nest in which the eggs/fry are kept for few days under the strict care of the Betta male. If you follow the next advices, you have big chances to get nice results of your Betta fish spawning.
I found out that Bettas are anabantids, (http://watershed3.tripod.com/bettas.html) belonging to a special group of fishes that have a secondary breathing organ- the labyrinth organ- that enables them to breathe air directly from the surface of the water. This enables them to live in oxygen depleted water.
That is they are able to survive in small amounts of water or in oxygen depleted pools. That does not mean that we SHOULD keep these fishes in small containers, however. Like all fishes, they need space in which to swim and to carry out their lives - and surely that is our aim in keeping them.
Yes, Betta splendens will survive in half a litre of water- but they will not thrive for long. Mature males are frequently kept in large jam jars and are often displayed that way in shops. Such commercial practices are maintained by frequent water changes to remove wastes such as uneaten food, faeces and any ammonia and nitrite build up. Using small containers is not good practice for keeping your pets, however. Let us keep fish and not torture. Any how the best condition for Betta to spawn are as followings.
STEP 1: Conditioning a pair for spawning
When conditioning a pair, feed a variety of foods - many live and frozen foods. Every day, or every other day, water changes in the container are a must, as more and better foods, together with lots of clean water, helps to get a pair into condition to spawn. Condition a pair for no less than a week, and two weeks or more if they have just recently arrived via a shipment or if they come from a pet store - the fish may have suffered from a lack of clean water and good food.
STEP 2: Setting up the spawning tank
For spawning, a ten gallon tank with three inches of water work best You’ll need a tank, a 50w submersible heater (for temprate climate) (anything larger may cook them!), a sponge filter (turned off during the actual spawning process), and add in lots of plants. Plants keep the water cleaner while the filter is turned off, as well as culturing infusoria to serve as the first food for the fry.
For a bubble-nest site, a Styrofoam cup cut in half (resembling an airplane hangar) works well. You need a tightly sealing lid for the top of the tank, as betta fry need the air and water temperatures to be the same in order to properly develop the labyrinth organ (common to the family Anabantidae). Water temperature should be around 80 degree F - no more, no less. Start this process about a week before the proposed spawn date in order to balance and stabilise the temperature. . Have a container (such as a glass lantern chimney) to put the female in, so that the male can see her but can’t get at her. Place this near the spawn site, but not touching the Styrofoam nest site.
STEP 3: Introducing the pair to the spawning tank
Place the male in a small cup of water and float him in the spawning tank for half an hour ( after the first fifteen minutes, dump out half of his water, replacing with water from the spawning tank). At the end of the half hour, dump the male into the tank. Then add the female in the same fashion, after first being sure that her container is closed so that the male can’t tip it over in his excitement. When her half hour has elapsed, place her into the glass enclosure where she will remain until she is released for spawning.
STEP 4: Releasing the female
Releasing the female from the glass enclosure too early may cause undue damage, so be patient at this stage. There are four main signs that will help you determine if the female is ready to spawn:
1. The female, when ready, will no longer be scared of the male, but will be more inclined to swim with him and even flare back.
2. Look at the female’s stomach - females always carry eggs, but when ready to spawn she will fill up hugely enough to look like she swallowed a marble.
3. The female will show vertical bars on the body indicating readiness to spawn, as opposed to the horizontal bars associated with fear or stress. This sign is not the most accurate, as pastel or opaque females don’t show any sort of bars. This sign should only be used in combination with #1 & # 4.
4. The last signs to indicate a female's readiness to spawn is that she will clamp her fins and swim with her body slanted forward, and will exhibit the vertical barring, and she will be doing a wiggling dance.
STEP 5: Spawning process
When a female is showing three or all of the signs, she is ready to be released. You should carefully take her out of the enclosure and place her away from the male in the tank. She will swim around and when the male sees her, he will flare at her and chase her around the tank. There will be some nipping of the fins - this is normal. It is not pretty, but that’s nature! Hopefully, at this point, he will have a well-built sturdy nest. The female will come out once in a while from hiding to inspect the nest. If it isn’t to her liking, she will bite at it and jump at it, destroying it.
There will a lot of chasing, nipping, hiding and coaxing but the male will resume building. That's why you have to put some plants in the corners of the aquarium in order to assure hiding places for the female. Also make sure you add some floating plants in order to help the bubble nest building.
Once the female approves the nest, she will come out doing the head-down dance, and will approach the underside of the nest. They will start the embrace. They will come at each other and circle. The male will grip her with his body and flip her upside down while wiggling and squirming. He will then tighten and go almost lifeless, at which time she releases the eggs while he releases the sperm. The embrace will last for 10 to 20 seconds.
Then the male will “come to" and collect the eggs while coating them with saliva, to spit into the nest. They will continue this process for one to three hours, although I have had a spawn last for five hours. After they are done, he will chase the female away and the female has to be taken out from the aquarium because the male will brutalize her in order to protect the nest. Put the female, for a few hours, in a jar with water where you added some metilen blue in order to prevent eventually infections caused by the wounds.
STEP 6: Daddy duties
Once spawning is complete and the female is safely removed, the male will guard the nest and any eggs that fall out will be put back into the nest.
You need to leave a light on the tank (or nearby) so that After about 48 hours the fry will hatch and the Betta male will assure they stay together in the bubble nest. After another 2-3 days the eggs will hatch and tiny (very tiny!) fry can be seen hanging from the nest a
Now daddy's job gets much harder, as the fry wiggle and fall out of the nest e frequently and the male has to keep up with them. In about two to three more days, the fry will begin to swim on their own horizontally. Now you can remove the male - his job is done.
STEP 7: Raising the fry
Once the fry are free-swimming, they need to eat lots of tiny food particles. They won’t usually eat for the first five or six days after hatching, but then you can feed live food and small flakes or pellets. “Liqui-fry for egg-layers” works great, as do micro-worms and vinegar eels. Now the filter may be turned back on (at a low rate). Keep the temperature at 80 degrees F, and leave the lid on the tank as warmth is crucial to the fry developing properly. Water changes may be started two weeks after they are free-swimming, after they are strong enough to swim away from the siphon. Keep this up for two to three months, when the young males will start to develop their characteristics - fins will elongate and aggression will increase. When the fish are three or four months old, wean them to frozen food and pelleted diet.
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