Have
you ever dreamt of breeding the Siamese fighter Betta splendens, but
have been put off by the thought that they are difficult to breed?
Untrue, if you follow my simple method of spawning and rearing fighters. What
are we dealing with and where do they come from? They come from
Thailand and are kept at a temp of 80f in soft acid water. They grow to
about 60mm. Colours;
Reddish brown in wild stock. Man made colours include vivid reds and
blue and a mix of the two. There is also the Cambodia which is a light
cream, but is not commonly seen. Breeding First
make sure that you have a pair. The sexual difference is easy to see.
The female of the species is a duller colour, and is heavily built
around the front part of her body. Males of course, have longer finnage. To
condition them for breeding put them into a spawning tank, 24x12x12,
furnished with a mop or thick clump of plants as a refuge for the
female. Supply the male with a half of a polystyrene tea cup, cut
lengthways, and floating on top of the water. the nest will be built
under this "cave". It provides an area protected all around the top and
the sides, with the male underneath. Place the female in an opaque
plastic container in the prepared tank, so that the male cannot see or
get to her; he will kill her if she is not ready to spawn. You
must feed them well with the best of food, plenty of live food is best.
It need not cost a lot to do this as you are only feeding two small
fish. After a week or so
the female will fill up with roe, looking as if she has swallowed a
marble. When she is ready to spawn a small whitish pimple will be seen
in the ventral area. Now transfer her to a clear container so that the
male can see her. If he is ready he will start to display, and build a
nest. When the nest building has gone on for a day or two the female
can be released. Keep a close eye on them at this time, the male
becomes excited and displays his maximum foliage to the female, also he
opens his gillcovers wide. He will try to entice the female under the nest. Eventually the female joins him, and he will wrap his body around her, then turn her onto her side. She will release a number of eggs which he will fertilise. The
eggs drift slowly down and will be collected by the male spitting them
into the nest while the female recovers. This is repeated until she has
released all her eggs. This is the time when she needs refuge, and she
is best removed. The male is left to look after the fry until they are
seen clinging to the bubbles and polystyrene. The male is now removed. Cover
the tank with sheets of clingfilm or polystyrene. Make sure that there
are no gaps. When the fry are free swimming feed on infusoria or
substitute by lifting a corner of the covering and then replacing it..
NO DRAFTS OR COOL AIR MUST BE ALLOWED ON TO THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. The
fry grow rapidly on a diet of micro worms and brine shrimp. You will
find that a number of fry will not grow as fast as the rest. These are
best culled out. In about 2 months the young male fighters begin to
battle and so must be separated into small containers. Water must be
changed weekly in these.