breeding bettas

[2fishy]

i have a pair and hes mating with her and popping her eggs out and putting them in his nest. do i need to take her out?? and how do i know when?

[Faran]

When they're done she'l go hide somewhere and he will protect the nest. Carefully remove the female and make sure not to disturb the nest or the male. She'll be pretty weak after the spawning so shouldn't give you much of a fght.

[2fishy]

ok ta. I had to put a separator in the tank coz the other fish were starting to bother them and eat the eggs. the water movement upset the nest a little but he just made a few more bubbles but the eggs are ok. how big are the fighters when they hatch and how long before they hatch?

[Faran]

They'll hatch within 72 hours and will be 1-2mm. You'll see dad grabbing them as they fall from the egg and he'll spit them back into the nest. A few days later you need to remove dad as well and let the kids grow up. In the meantime, feed the female well and she'll be ready for another go as soon as you have another male with a bubble nest.

[2fishy]

thanks heaps 4 that. just because they had eggs do it mean they are def fertile? what do i feed the babies?

[Luke*]

Not definitely fertile but bettas seem easy to breed, i got a great hatch rate out of mine, they looked white in the nest though so i thought they'd fungused but obviously not. Seems to be a lot better numbers than the tetras I've bred so far. I fed mine on green water the first few days, then microworms, then baby brine shrimp. Should take powdered flake food soon.