[DesertOasis]

This is a thread following my second ever betta breeding project, which I have codenamed Project Blue (because it sounds cooler).

My male is a young mustard pattern halfmoon from Thailand, my female is a pretty mystery girl from my LFS.

They were destined to be together through fate, and hopefully, I won't be accidentally killing all of their children. :crying:

Updates will be posted at every major turn. Right now, the male is getting used to his breeding tank while the female relaxes in her pre-sexytime jar. Stay tuned. The fry will be for sale at the end if Project Blue is successful.

 

[Varmint]

Cool.

Interesting choice for your gal. It's hard to tell from the picture, but is she a veil tail?

Are you interested in breeding Bettas or are you doing it for fun? Either way, you may want to check out a book called the Betta Bible: the art and science of keeping Bettas by Martin Brammah. He had a great section on genetics. I liked the book in general because I learned a lot about random things like diet and exercise for my fish.

How did the last breeding project go? Were you able to raise the fry to adulthood?

 

[Nordic]

Don't know if it is still warm enough over there, but you would do yourself a big favour by raising the fry in a tub or kiddie pool full of floating plants outdoors. The fry just grow that much faster, pretty much ready for market after a month or so.

 

[Varmint]

Don't know if it is still warm enough over there, but you would do yourself a big favour by raising the fry in a tub or kiddie pool full of floating plants outdoors. The fry just grow that much faster, pretty much ready for market after a month or so.

Do they grow faster because they have more space and access to live food?

 

[Nordic]

I think it is because of a combination of all of those things. But it holds true for most species. It is just very evident with bettas.
Wild fry swim around with balloon bellies all day long. Our tank fed ones, maybe get a full stomach once or twice a day.

You don't need anything too big. They normally use cement rings like those you find around tree stumps, maybe 2 to 2 and a half feet diameter to make ponds. But kiddie pools are a good, cheap alternative. Stick it full of hyacinth or whatever floaters you have, maybe some papyrus in the middle.

 

[DesertOasis]

My replies

Don't know if it is still warm enough over there, but you would do yourself a big favour by raising the fry in a tub or kiddie pool full of floating plants outdoors. The fry just grow that much faster, pretty much ready for market after a month or so.

I would love to do that!!! Unfortunately, I live in an apartment, not a house, with no porch or yard space. The weather would be perfect in the shade too.

About the female, I think she's a veiltail but I can't be sure. She's a bit larger than the male, and I'll have to look into that book on betta genetics - this project is more for fun and spare cash; it's my girlfriend's betta that I borrowed, and she's starting to catch my interest in the hobby . I'm a junior in college right now, working and going to school, so this is a fun side project, but I want to treat it with all the effort as if it were a serious venture. No point in putting in half effort.

I'm excited to see how the fry turn out! I'm hoping they'll take after their father.

 

[The Dude1]

Very cool! I've wanted a Crown tail Betta with that copper look for quite a while. I have an extra tank running just for Buces and Anubias growout

 

[GrampsGrunge]

Now is the time to start making tiny, live food, (infusoria) for the future batch of babies. If you have access to a few plastic gallon jars, like the ones some pretzels come in, fill them with water from your tank and float a leaf of old Romaine lettuce in each, giving the jars some sunlight each day would help speed the process. Should take a couple to few weeks to get the infusoria cultures going.

 

[DesertOasis]

Update!

There are eggs in the nest! Hard to count how many with the low lights and surrounding bubbles. Let's hope for the best and plan for the future. Infusoria culture is churning away in a spare 2 gallon. :smile2:

 

[Varmint]

Congrats. He looks like a good dad!

 

[Nordic]

Haha, you are in for lots of work. It is the one fish I'd go out of my way not to breed.
Maybe if I had some show winners as starting stock, but even then, it is loads of work and expense with all the live food required as well as quart bottles to raise the little buggers in. Then each of those little bottles needs to be serviced daily with food and fresh water.
Only to have to compete with this on the open market. (guy standing on bottles of fish)

 

[FisheriesOmen]

Microworms would do wonders for you. Super easy to raise and they got lots of movement for the fry.

 

[Varmint]

Haha, you are in for lots of work. It is the one fish I'd go out of my way not to breed.
Maybe if I had some show winners as starting stock, but even then, it is loads of work and expense with all the live food required as well as quart bottles to raise the little buggers in. Then each of those little bottles needs to be serviced daily with food and fresh water.
Only to have to compete with this on the open market. (guy standing on bottles of fish)

I like to call this the Matrix.

 

[DesertOasis]

Update: Fry

The fry hatched and are now free swimming, feeding off infusoria and algae in the tank. I moved a few freshwater plants from my main tank over to introduce more phytoplankton and hiding spots. I can see pigment in their little tummies, and they're pooping, so they are eating. I guestimate 50 in all, hopefully nearly all of them will make it to adulthood in the next few weeks!

 

[DesertOasis]

Cost & Plans

Haha, you are in for lots of work. It is the one fish I'd go out of my way not to breed.
Maybe if I had some show winners as starting stock, but even then, it is loads of work and expense with all the live food required as well as quart bottles to raise the little buggers in. Then each of those little bottles needs to be serviced daily with food and fresh water.
Only to have to compete with this on the open market. (guy standing on bottles of fish)

This project is more fun than anything, I'm not banking on profit, if anything, that would be a cherry on top. Here, it's not so expensive to feed them because I have a pond right near my home, and i just drive over, grab a bottleful of algae and infusoria, dump that in a jar and use an eyedropper to suck up the stuff I want from the crowd. I ended up tossing out the spinach water because it smelled disgusting and I don't have a place I can put it outside, plus it's a little unnecessary with the pond just a short drive away. When they get old enough to be separated, I have a plan set up for a Tupperware bin with separate units for each fish made with plastic walls (cut up school folders) and a bottom cut from aluminum screen, all things I already have on deck. Luckily, water for me is included in my rent, so I can literally and figuratively make it rain with no additional charge. :hihi:

 

[Varmint]

The fry hatched and are now free swimming, feeding off infusoria and algae in the tank. I moved a few freshwater plants from my main tank over to introduce more phytoplankton and hiding spots. I can see pigment in their little tummies, and they're pooping, so they are eating. I guestimate 50 in all, hopefully nearly all of them will make it to adulthood in the next few weeks!

So cute! Good luck. Hopefully most of them will make it do you can see how they turn out

 

[Opare]

That Lil Wayne GIF made me die .


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[Maclyri]

Any update?


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[Varmint]

The fry hatched and are now free swimming, feeding off infusoria and algae in the tank. I moved a few freshwater plants from my main tank over to introduce more phytoplankton and hiding spots. I can see pigment in their little tummies, and they're pooping, so they are eating. I guestimate 50 in all, hopefully nearly all of them will make it to adulthood in the next few weeks!

How are they? Are they growing?

 

[Nordic]

I suspect he is busy finding out how much work it takes to make it rain with $2 bettas.