Betta Breeders?
- Thread starter VirgoWolf
- Start date
I think I have decided to breed bettas, I'd been considering it for a while and I know what I am getting into, so I decided to go for it. I have had enough practice with livebarers, they are too easy, I want a challenge. I breed pythons so I know the deal with seperating and having room for each baby and I know how to breed for quality. The ball python market is in high demand and you can't get by selling bad quality animals, expecially when it comes to morphs, which with ball pythons, is similar to high quality color lines with the best finnage in the bettas, there are hundreds of morphs.
Since we are going to open a petstore that we will take much pride in, I want to breed alot of my own stock and what I don't breed, I will be getting from friends who do, no questionable animals, minimal problems this way, and that's how I'd like to keep it.
Not that I will be selling many breeder quality bettas in a pet store, but I'll sell my not so perfect ones instead of culling (I will cull, but only those who woulden't have a chance to live a full happy healthy life, IE: Kinked spines) and of course I can breed my own "petstore quality" bettas, which in all honesty, I seem to find better looking than most breeder quality bettas, when you can find them. (which people on MFT seem to be able to do! )
So any of you guys who breed (or have bred) bettas, Give me all the beginner tips that you discovered in the process, I have read stickies and articles untill my eyes want to pop out (I am always like this when I venture into another animal or another aspect of keeping/breeding them) but I want the stuff you think they forgot in all of these.
Since we are going to open a petstore that we will take much pride in, I want to breed alot of my own stock and what I don't breed, I will be getting from friends who do, no questionable animals, minimal problems this way, and that's how I'd like to keep it.
Not that I will be selling many breeder quality bettas in a pet store, but I'll sell my not so perfect ones instead of culling (I will cull, but only those who woulden't have a chance to live a full happy healthy life, IE: Kinked spines) and of course I can breed my own "petstore quality" bettas, which in all honesty, I seem to find better looking than most breeder quality bettas, when you can find them. (which people on MFT seem to be able to do! )So any of you guys who breed (or have bred) bettas, Give me all the beginner tips that you discovered in the process, I have read stickies and articles untill my eyes want to pop out (I am always like this when I venture into another animal or another aspect of keeping/breeding them) but I want the stuff you think they forgot in all of these.
For starters you are going to need at least 500 1 qt jars. It takes a lot of work to breed bettas. A LOT of work, looking at all your projects you got going on it's not something I would attempt if I were you.
When you have fry they are going to need lots of waterchanges, several a week at least. The 500 jars is enough for a lil more than 1 spawn, so imagine how many you are going to need if you have multiple spawns going on at one time. This is just the tip of the iceburg.
All of this is why I got out of breeding bettas, it's just too much work, and even at 40 bucks each resale for the fry. There is hardly any return on investment.
When you have fry they are going to need lots of waterchanges, several a week at least. The 500 jars is enough for a lil more than 1 spawn, so imagine how many you are going to need if you have multiple spawns going on at one time. This is just the tip of the iceburg.
All of this is why I got out of breeding bettas, it's just too much work, and even at 40 bucks each resale for the fry. There is hardly any return on investment.
WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD!!! (this is not a post to start reading on your way out the door)
I know that much Pure, I was actually just looking at the jars, I found a couple really good wholesale places.
As far as my projects, well, most of them will be done before I'm ready to breed the bettas (since I don't even have the bettas yet and the supplies will take me a while to accumulate) so I should be fine. I am home all the time, so I will have the time to do all the water changes and such. For now I only plan on having 1 spawn at a time, but once we have our buisness up and going, we'll have people that we trust working for us to help do the waterchanges and clean out the snake enclosures and such, THEN and ONLY THEN will I even consider spawning more than 1 pair at a time.
Animals are full time for me, I don't have a job because my animals coulden't go a few hours a day without me here. When we have our petstore, I won't be looking foward to getting off of work and going home, there will be no real work, just me taking care of my animals from the time I wake up, till the time I go to bed, and of course, like children, all the midnight emergency care (like when my tank sprung a leak last week and we didn't get to bed untill 6am LOL).
It's not the investment I'm interested in, just want to make enough money from the animals to be able to afford to keep them happy and healthy. The Ball Pythons are very similar to bettas, even though some of these snakes sell for $5,000 - $100,000 a piece, there is really no money to be made after feeding the snakes, feeding/raising/breeding the rodents, reinvesting in new snakes, rack systems, thermostats, thermometers, hydrometers, incubators, etc... But it's worth it to be able to walk into a room and see all of the awesome creatures in all of the different patterns and colors and know that I am helping others have the same joy.
The reason I got interested in breeding bettas .... well let me tell you a short (in a nut shell) version of how I ended up where I am...
As a kid we had fish, of course being a kid, I loved them. When I was about 7 we got rid of the fish. As a teen I always HATED fish, my main argument was "There no fun, they just sit in a box and you can't play with them."
One random day while picking up feeder rats for the snakes I got cought stairing at the fancy guppies and hubby says "What you want fish now?", I responded with "No not really.... why, do you?" LOL, needless to say that day we went home with some random small fish (neons, guppies, and I think a platty or something) and since I had a tank, filter, heater, etc... at home from a friend, I figured I'd just take them home and set them up. Of course we didn't cycle and all that, but they all did OK and made it through. Since then I learned A LOT, upgraded and added to the collection and even put in a huge pond. I'm officially addicted to fish... so I still don't see why anyone would buy a betta, sure there pretty, but all they do is lay in the bottom of these bowls like there dead, who would want that?! Well Then I FINALLY find a fish forum worth joining (of course, here) after like 2 years of researching fish and joining forums that have like 1 post a week LOL. All you guys here talked about bettas like they were the best fish in the world. After getting tired of hearing how fun they are to own I decide there not so bad and I start the search. Took me a few weeks to find the perfect one, but i did. Since I've had Brilla I've been obsessed, I have him right next to my spot in the livingroom and I have been known to sit there and just watch him for quite some time, he's by far my favorite fish and I want more and more to watch. Hence the intrest in breeding.
Sorry for the not so short short story following my not so short post LOL. I'll let you get back to your normal day now, if you made it all the way through this, I owe you a betta when I get up and going LOL.
I know that much Pure, I was actually just looking at the jars, I found a couple really good wholesale places.
As far as my projects, well, most of them will be done before I'm ready to breed the bettas (since I don't even have the bettas yet and the supplies will take me a while to accumulate) so I should be fine. I am home all the time, so I will have the time to do all the water changes and such. For now I only plan on having 1 spawn at a time, but once we have our buisness up and going, we'll have people that we trust working for us to help do the waterchanges and clean out the snake enclosures and such, THEN and ONLY THEN will I even consider spawning more than 1 pair at a time.
Animals are full time for me, I don't have a job because my animals coulden't go a few hours a day without me here. When we have our petstore, I won't be looking foward to getting off of work and going home, there will be no real work, just me taking care of my animals from the time I wake up, till the time I go to bed, and of course, like children, all the midnight emergency care (like when my tank sprung a leak last week and we didn't get to bed untill 6am LOL).
It's not the investment I'm interested in, just want to make enough money from the animals to be able to afford to keep them happy and healthy. The Ball Pythons are very similar to bettas, even though some of these snakes sell for $5,000 - $100,000 a piece, there is really no money to be made after feeding the snakes, feeding/raising/breeding the rodents, reinvesting in new snakes, rack systems, thermostats, thermometers, hydrometers, incubators, etc... But it's worth it to be able to walk into a room and see all of the awesome creatures in all of the different patterns and colors and know that I am helping others have the same joy.
The reason I got interested in breeding bettas .... well let me tell you a short (in a nut shell) version of how I ended up where I am...
As a kid we had fish, of course being a kid, I loved them. When I was about 7 we got rid of the fish. As a teen I always HATED fish, my main argument was "There no fun, they just sit in a box and you can't play with them."
One random day while picking up feeder rats for the snakes I got cought stairing at the fancy guppies and hubby says "What you want fish now?", I responded with "No not really.... why, do you?" LOL, needless to say that day we went home with some random small fish (neons, guppies, and I think a platty or something) and since I had a tank, filter, heater, etc... at home from a friend, I figured I'd just take them home and set them up. Of course we didn't cycle and all that, but they all did OK and made it through. Since then I learned A LOT, upgraded and added to the collection and even put in a huge pond. I'm officially addicted to fish... so I still don't see why anyone would buy a betta, sure there pretty, but all they do is lay in the bottom of these bowls like there dead, who would want that?! Well Then I FINALLY find a fish forum worth joining (of course, here) after like 2 years of researching fish and joining forums that have like 1 post a week LOL. All you guys here talked about bettas like they were the best fish in the world. After getting tired of hearing how fun they are to own I decide there not so bad and I start the search. Took me a few weeks to find the perfect one, but i did. Since I've had Brilla I've been obsessed, I have him right next to my spot in the livingroom and I have been known to sit there and just watch him for quite some time, he's by far my favorite fish and I want more and more to watch. Hence the intrest in breeding.
Sorry for the not so short short story following my not so short post LOL. I'll let you get back to your normal day now, if you made it all the way through this, I owe you a betta when I get up and going LOL.
Is that poo! egads! Ihad to re look at the picture I posted and i was ill..lol
Your welcome for the information I just typed in "betta cups" and all this stuff came up and I found that link and that was that.
I have earth worms in my back yard I have thought about giving my bettas a treat but not sure.
Your welcome for the information I just typed in "betta cups" and all this stuff came up and I found that link and that was that.
I have earth worms in my back yard I have thought about giving my bettas a treat but not sure.