Hobbyist Breeding of Bettas

Just wanna share how i breed my bettas -


(Disclaimer - this serves only as a guide and i shall not be responsible for any betta deaths)

 Conditioning the pair...


This to me is a very important stage which most hobbyist may neglect. Find a suitable pair and house them in different containers. Allow them to see each others for about half hour a day. Usually i condition my bettas for at least 2 weeks. Feed them with a variety of food. From flakes or granules to live food like tubifex worms. Do note that tubifex worms from aquarium shops may carry diseases that will harm your betta no matter how you wash them before feeding. During these 2 weeks, carry on with normal water change regime.


 Introducing the pair...

 During conditioning, you may see the female's body language. If she displays a submissive attitude like head pointing downwards when faced with the male, or dancing along with the male, and with a huge stomach with eggs, it is signs she is ready to breed. Create a spawning tank no smaller than a 1 footer tank. Height of water no less than 12cm. You may put a ketapang leaf, a styrofoam cup or a plastic sheet on the surface of the water for the male to build a bubblenest. Always put the male in first. Let him get used to the environment first. Put some water plants such as java moss as hiding places for the females during pursuing stage. Put the glass chimney still containing the female into the spawning tank. After a few hours you may release the female.  

The spawning process...

I hope the male builds a sturdy and huge bubblenest by then i intend to release the female. Remember until the male feels he is ready he will chase the female off. When the pair are ready to spawn, They will come at each other and circle. The male will grip her body with his body and flip her upside down while wiggling, trying to curls up together with the female. He will then tighten and go almost lifeless, at which time she releases the eggs and he releases the sperm. The embrace will last 10 to 20 seconds. After the embrace the pair will be stiff and still. The male will be the first to react and proceed to collect the eggs while placing the eggs into the bubble nest. After spawning is completed, the male will chase the female, at this point you can remove her. The actual spawning process can last any where from an hour to 4 hours.

Types of Tanks to house your betta

When its comes to tank selection, people tend to get a headache. For myself, i have several tanks at home, glass and acrylic, various shapes and sizes. I ll like to share some thoughts about my personal opinion to tank selection.

After speaking to a couple of friends i had whom are also into keeping bettas, i discovered that glass tanks are still the more popular choice. Advanatges of glass tanks is that its enhances photo taking, and its scratch resistance. But they are much heavier than acrylic tanks.

On the other hand, acrylic tanks have the light as a major advantage. The ease of drilling and bending the acrylic enables tanks to comes in more different shapes and sizes.

I believe as a hobbyist factors such as budget, space and dcor plays a part in tank selections.

Betta Color Patterns

6 Major Patterns
- Solid-color - one color like (royal blue, red, orange, gold) basically covers the entire fins n tail area.
- Bicoloured - betta with light colored fins and darked body or vice versa. 1 color with a lighter or darker variation of the same color.
- Cambodian -has body with one color and fins of another .
- Butterfly - has body of one color that blends into the fins near the torso area but the outer edges of the fins of a different color.
- Cambodian Butterfly - cross breed of cambodian and butterfly betta. Body can be one color but fins has 2 colors.
- Marbled - Body and fins tips of same color but inner portion of fins is a different color, which gives the betta a striped appearance.