Day 7 of Betta Conditioning for Breeding

Betta (Fireball) and our 5 Neon Tetras with a small plecostomus.

Hey Everyone,

So here is Fireball. He is doing well. I got some advice from a professional and now I know how to do everything for the breeding process. So I'm feeding both Fireball (male) and Shiva (female) high protein betta bits and also bloodworms once a day for each. They are doing really well. Shiva is already showing signs of wanting to breed, but last time I had them near one another and Fireball wouldn't start a bubble nest. I'm going to put him in a tank with zero surface tension in the water and also with an almond leaf (promotes breeding in their natural habitat) and maybe I can get him to blow a nest. If he does not I'm going to be purchasing another male and breeding him with Shiva.

So, I have a 10 gallon that is going to get an almond leaf, half filled with water, a heater (80F), a small oasis to one side and the male betta to begin with. I'll let him get used to it then introduce Shiva into the tank with a Hurricane glass and we'll see what happens. I know she wants to breed, but he HAS to blow the nest or none of the fry will hatch or survive. I'll keep updating, but it's going to be a little bit of a slow process. The heater and leaves should be here this week along with a book on bettas.

Other Tank:

So, the community tank is doing well! After I'm done with the heater for the betta breeding, it's going into their tank. Looks like my red swordtail female either had her babies in the middle of the night and they were all eaten or she aborted them due to stress (I don't know what have caused that). Their gestation period is about a month and I have a male so I can expect baby swordtails around the 1st of next month, I'll post pics if I get any!

3 Gallon:

We introduced 5 neon tetras into our male bettas 3 gallon to help with the cycling of the tank and such. I added a picture of them (they swim fast, sorry it's blurry!) They also act like pirahanas when I feed them which is slightly unnerving. They are very pretty though. Once I get some plants growing well, I'll add one to the betta tank to keep the water cycling well.

Plant bulbs:

They are sprouting! Finally! After two weeks almost they are starting to sprout! Yay!

In other news...not much going on. The senior show is going great, made a bit of money off it and I'm really happy to have tomorrow off of classes. Sleeping in!

Ben