Female Betta Concern

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I recently adopted a female betta about 3 weeks ago. She is in a 5 gallon tank with a divider that houses a male betta that i also adopted at the same time. A little while after I got I noticed a white spot on her and was concerned, but was later told that it was no big deal. Some time after that I noticed that she got fatter around her head and skinner in the back. I did a lot of research and found out that she had developed eggs. At the same time my male betta was creating bubbles on his side, but I cleaned them out when I changed their water (not knowing that I would later need this if I wanted to breed). After my research and learning about the mating process, I got scared because this is my first time as an official fish owner and I've grown very fond of my bettas. I don't know what to do. How long will the eggs stay in her? Should I wait for the male to create bubbles again and try putting them together? I'm leaning on the side of NOT putting them to together for fear of my female's safety. If I do not put them together what will happen to the eggs? To my betta? Will she die from the eggs being in her for too long? I have no idea what to do or how to react because of my fear of losing her. What should I do? What do you recommend?

Get back to me soon please. Thanks!! :)

ANSWER: Sasha,   I would not recommend breeding them in anything smaller than a ten gallon tank. Only because I keep a small air pump ran bubble filter in the corner that will not disturb the nest and the fry. It helps when you start feeding. Breeding betta's are quite a process but, very rewarding. I am going to send you a care sheet though I am going to give you the gist of it. You are going to want to get a heater in the tank for the fry. Before you even start this venture keep in mind you are going to have alot of betta's and if you have alot of males, you are going to need alot of jars or containers to keep them separate. They are great for gifts for your friends though. I have raised them for centerpieces for weddings for people to take home with a small amount of food and a care sheet!!!! You are going to get your tank in the 80 to 84 degree range. When my bobby blows his nest and she sees this she starts to develop her eggs. If they don't spawn they are usually reabsorbed. That's when you take the divider out. Watch them closely. He may beat her up abit this is normal. Take you rocks out so fry don't get lost and make sure you have some places for her to hide. You can get caves or fake plants. You can get plant weights from you shop so you don't need rock. If he is really hurting her and you see any real damage or he just doesn't stop and she is sinking to the bottom from exhaustion put your divider back in. Try again after she heals if it doesn't work try another female. Later you can put the females together. If they successfully mate you will see it is so beautiful. He will start to rub up against her and will wrap his body around her to encourage her to release her eggs. You should be able to see them they come out in a stream. He will start to take each egg and put them in the nest. While he is occupied you are going to have to put a divider back in or remove her from the tank before she starts eating the eggs or he kills her.       

   He will watch and take care of these eggs. If they fall out he will gently pick them up from the bottom and put it back in the nest. Very shortly they are going to dissolve their yolk sacs and start free swimming. In about 3 to 5 days. Then dad has to be moved or they will become food. Here is where it gets a little tricky.

  Taking care of your fry. When they start free swimming upright they are hungry. There are a few different ways to feed your fry. I prefer the pet shop tube food and hard boiled egg yolk in water. I switch back and forth to make sure they get the protein they need. Remember your betta's are carnivorous. Only a few drops at a time about four times a day. Be careful not to foul up the water. As they start to grow abit go to the pet shop and get brine shrimp eggs. They are cheap. I put mine in a gallon size fish bowl and as they hatch I net them out and add them to the fry tank. Now your food is alive and will not foul the water and they are extremely nutritious. In a few more weeks you can switch to a betta flake until they are large enough to eat frozen bloodworms or brine shimp. I usually stick with the worms so I can keep track of how many they are eating and there is alot less waste in the bottom of your tank.

   As they grow you are going to watch their behavior. As soon as you start seeing aggressive behavior amongst your males they are going to have to be separated into separate containers. The females are fine together. This whole process may take about a month or more sometimes. Oh, In the beginning they will hang around the bottom I put glass over the tank. This is because they are not using their labyrinth organ yet to gulp air. They take their first breath around 3 to 5 weeks. Watch closely it can be sooner. I do this because you want their first breath to be close to the temperature they are in while they are susceptible to pneumonia.

   Now all you have to do with all them little containers you got from the dollar store...lol Is find homes for everyone. Here is the site I mentioned. If you have any other questions just ask. Make sure that bubblenest is nice and large too!!     http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=bettafishbreeding  Good Luck,  Tina

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi again,

First off thank you so much!!!! :) Secondly, I've decided not to breed them simply because I don't have the resources and I don't want my Penelope to get hurt. As long as the eggs won't harm her, I'm okay with that. I just had a few more questions about just raising bettas in general because I want to keep the two I have for as long as possible and I want them to be healthy and happy.

As far as feeding goes, I feed them BettaMin flakes once everyday and I don't feed them on Saturdays just to give them a chance to clear their system. Do you recommend that I add to this diet or change anything?

I was thinking about getting a filter to help keep the water clean and reduce the number of times I change the water (which is half gets changed after the second week and all the water gets changed after a month). Is that necessary?

Thank you, Sasha

Answer
Sasha, I feed my betta's frozen blood worms. They come in a nice flat pack. You can just cut and peel the corner back and run it under some water for just a second to loosen the worms on the end. Then dip into your tank and let them eat one by one and you will figure out how many each eat a day. I feed twice a day. My babies' eat about three a piece. I also give them a cracked frozen pea, thawed once a week to stop the constipation they are prone to. Do not forget to remove the shell later.  Definitely you can filter your tank. You want to go with a filter for that size tank so as not to disturb their swimming patterns. You can also add a couple corydora's. They are cute little catfish that are not bothered at all by the cooler water and stay out of their swim zone so usually they are no problem. You can throw a shrimp pellet in for them every other day and they will eat the blood worm that may get away to the bottom before your betta catches it. The filter is not necessary but , it would keep your tank cleaner. Good Luck, Tina