siamese fighters

[altaaf]

hi all,

need some help. i got a pair of siamese fighters although i keep em seperate in jars. thing is that the male blows a bubble nest even when the female aint home. when i put in the female, he just attacks her.

anyone know how to breed fighters?

do i put the male in the females jar, or the female in the males jar?

thanks

[Rod]

Use a tank about 24" x 12" x 12", no decorations or gravel. The only thing i like to add is a few floating plants or peices of elodea. Fill the tank to around 4" deep with neutral ph water of about 80 f and add the male. When he blows a nice size nest add a female. She should be in good condition and ready to breed that will be evidenced by her showing her ovipositor and being quite plump. Do this when you have a few hours so you can watch the action and be prepared to move the girl out if all does not go well. It's normal for the male to be rough on her, but not to the point where her life is in danger. Not all fighters are good breeders so be prepared to experiment with a few different fish if nessasary. After the male has squeezed all the eggs out and the female is no longer responding positively to his advances move her out to her jar for rest and conditioning.

The eggs hatch out in a day or slightly more then wriggle in the nest for a few more days. It is important to leave the male in with the babies as he picks any up that fall from the nest and puts them back, plus he repairs the nest all the time. Once the babies are swimming free and moving about the tank take the male out, his job is done.

Feeding is pretty simple, i like to use infusoria for the first week. To make this a simple way is to half fill a bucket with old aquarium water and add a spoonful of mud from the bottom of a healthy freshwater creek. You could add a little bit of banana peel or decaying aquarium plants leaves as food and then leave the bucket in a sunny location. Eventually the water will go a soupy green color and will be full of microscopic life. I take a half cup of this and add it morning and night to the baby tank for the 1st week. You will notice the babies grow in size each day and soon enough they are large enough to handle bbs. When all the babies are eating the bbs you can stop the infusoria and gradually introduce other foods like dust size beef heart and shrimp mix, finely powdered flakes etc. Add a weak airstone when you move the male out and add a active sponge filter once they are eating the bbs. The infusoria doesn't tend to pollute the water if the culture is right so i don't bother with anything until the bbs.

The secret to fast growth is daily water changes and 4 to 5 meals a day. Water change according to conditions, be the time they are 8 weeks the males will be obvious and it is time for each boy to have his own jar. At the 8 week age i waterchange up to 90% per day to maintain adequate water quality. The 2 foot tank can fit about 150 to 200 babies which is the average spawn for a good pair.

HTH

Rod

[altaaf]

hey thanks man, great help,

only one question.

you say that the female will expose her ovipositer when ready to breed, is this the little white thing sticking out, if not, how can i identify the structure.

thanks
Parker

[Rod]

Hi Parker,

Yeah thats the little white thing sticking out, she must be ready to go!!

Good luck

Rod

[YellowClaw]

Very good advice from Rod, may I add a few other notes that I found useful. It is important to keep the air in the aquarium free from cold drafts. Drafts will break the bubble nest causing the eggs to sink and the male to work harder at keeping them afloat. You can prevent this by covering the aquarium with a lid. I’ve also found that if you take a Styrofoam cup and cut it right down the middle and place the cut side down on the water, this creates a floating cave where the male beta will be happy to built his nest under. This will also prevent cold drafts from breaking the bubbles and prevent the fries from catching a cold, which will clog their nose with mucus and prevent them from breathing.

I’ve also found that by cutting the bottom off of a clear plastic container then standing it inside the aquarium with the male, you can then put the female inside of this container, this will seperate the two and prevent the male from beating her up until she is ready. The female will also show vertical dark strips when she is ready. When she is ready, gently lift the container to release her into the aquarium. The female tends to eat a few of the eggs every now and then so carefully remove her from the aquarium as soon as the ritual is over.

I keep the aquarium half full, this will saves the male’s energy when he is retrieving the falling eggs and keeping the babies in the bubbles. Yes, make time to watch this event. I find it very amazing. Enjoy the experience!

[nacra99]

Great Advice from both Rod and Yellowclaw.

If you live somwhere cold or where there is big temperature fluctuations from night to day, it might be a good idea to have a small heater in your 5 or 10 gal breeding tank set to 75-80 degrees. Fry are very succeptible to cold as pointed out by Yellowclaw, keep the tank covered and the water a constant temp.
It might also be a good idea to have a bottle of melafix on hand for the female (and sometimes the male) when they recover. The female may be pretty beat up with tattered fins and all, the melafix will prevent bacterial infections and help the healing process.

Bettas are great!
Have fun!