How to Breed Betta Fish? [Step-by-Step Guide] 2024

Breeding your beloved betta companions during their keeping journey enhances the joy and aquarium hobby to the next level.

I have personally experienced this several times while breeding betta fish.

Today, we’re going to share how you can breed your betta fish at home easily with a maximum success rate.

So, take a seat and get ready to note down every point, as one careless miss could lead to the death or damage of your betta fish.

Let’s begin now.

Choosing the perfect parent betta

Choosing the perfect betta for breeding is the first and foremost step to achieving breeding success without any hectic situations. You can choose any type of betta, but the breeding procedure is the same for all.

When I say “perfect,” that involves considering various variables such as size, age, and so on.

Also, ensure that you have a betta pair, not male-male or female-female. Always make sure you have correctly identified the genders

Perfect age for Breeding:

Like us (humans), betta fishes also have an adult age. Therefore, it is essential to choose the perfect adult betta for successful breeding.

If, in case, you miss this step, the chances of conflicts between the two bettas are high, and the weaker one will get injured badly.

Consider the table below for choosing the ideal age of male and female bettas for the breeding process.

Gender	Age
Male	Minimum 6-7 months old
Female	minimum 4 months old

Perfect Size for Breeding

You know that betta fishes are aggressive and territorial, so the breeding of these fishes starts with some fights before they accept each other.

If you opt for the wrong size of betta fish for breeding, it will lead to failure and injure the betta fish badly.

In some rare cases, some breedings can happen; however, it’s like one in a thousand. So, the recommended size of male and female betta fish is tabulated below:

Gender	Size
Male betta	Moderate size
Female betta	Half of the size of a male

Healthy parent bettas:

Also, ensure that both male and female bettas are healthy and don’t have any diseases such as pop eyes, stress, white spots, or fin rot.

Ensure that both fishes are eating food as normal and actively swimming around the tank

Read More: Best season to breed betta fish at home

Breeding Tank Setup

Here comes the tank setup for the feasible and smooth breeding of Betta splendens. Several variables such as tank size, tank water parameters, decorations, and water levels can directly affect betta breeding.

Place a transparent jar inside an aquarium tank, matching up the water levels

The most suitable conditions for a breeding tank are listed below.

Tank size:

Opt for a lower quantity water tank setup as it is in the best condition. The recommended quantity is 3-4 gallons (approx 13-15 liters).

Water parameters:

It is highly recommended to use aged and conditioned water for the breeding tank setup.

Ensure that the heater and filtration system are working fine. Use low-flow filters or canister filters to minimize water leakage, so the bubble nest of bettas won’t be disturbed.

If you don’t have one, then do not use filters but ensure the water is conditioned and suitable for bettas.

Water level:

These are special tips for betta breeding; professional breeders prefer to have low water levels since that can accelerate the egg collection and breeding process. Preferably, having a water level height between 12 to 15 cm is good.

Tank light:

There are no advantages to having separate lights for the breeding tank, so if you don’t have one, don’t bother. Personally, I prefer to breed betta fish in natural sunlight

Tank Decors:

Having tank decors such as hideouts, tunnels, caves, live plants and gravel will definitely help the female betta hide during the aggressive fight phase with the male betta, reducing the damage on the female’s side.

However, having gravel or aquarium soils can reduce the egg collection by the male, as they may fall or be missed during the egg-laying process.

Female and Male Introduction (Day 1)

From here, the breeding day count starts. So, on day 1, introduce both parent bettas in the tank.

• Add the female betta to the placed jar.
• Drop the male betta into the main aquarium tank.
• Make sure that you have closed the jar, as the chances of jumping out or in are high.
• Ensure that the tank is not airtight.
• Place small plastic sheets in the corner of the tank, such as bubble wrap or plastic wrap that can float.
• Close the aquarium with a tank top or any covers

Once you’re done with the above steps, you can see the flaring of the male and female betta inside the tank. It is a good sign that both parents are ready to go.

The male betta will patrol the tank, and start to build a bubble nest. It depends on the betta; sometimes, it can build a nest under the placed wrap or sometimes on bare water surfaces. It doesn’t matter whether it’s under the wrap or not; if you see the male building a nest, it is a good-to-go sign only.

Also, during this process, do not disturb the tank by opening it or filming it, as it may delay or disrupt the breeding.

So, this is all about betta breeding day 1. This means, that once you’ve placed the two fishes, you need to give them 24 hours of flaring and building nest time.

Let’s move on to day 2.

Bubble nest (Day 2)

So, at the start of day 2, the nest building should have been completed (it’s not a matter of size or area of the nest; even a small nest is okay).

If you don’t find one, you can still proceed with the day 2 guide, as bettas can build the nest quickly if day 2 proceeds well.

• Carefully drop the female betta into the main tank (meaning take out the female and drop her outside of the jar).
• During this step, make sure you drop her without shaking or breaking the nest (it’s certain that water will shake; however, try to do it smoothly).
• If the male built the nest within the boundaries of the jar, don’t worry; you can still drop the female betta into the main tank, and the male can quickly rebuild the nest.
• After that, close the aquarium again and do not disturb the breeding pair.

That’s it, that’s all about day 2 of breeding. Now, it all depends on the moods of the male and female betta.

So, give the pair at least 24 hours. During this time, the male will engage in some fighting with the female betta; don’t worry, it’s all part of the betta mating process.

Having some hideouts will help, as mentioned earlier. Leave them undisturbed for 24 hours

Egg laying (Day 3)

During day 3 or sometimes on day 2.5, the mating of the male and female betta might occur. The female betta will display vertical stripes on her body, indicating that she is ready.

This mating sign, bending together, happens after a lot of chasing and fighting with the female betta. Once the male and female betta are convinced, they start building or reconstructing the bubble nest together to spawn the eggs.

The mating may happen on day 3 or the previous day (day 2); it completely depends on the betta’s mood.

Sometimes, mating can even occur on day 4. You don’t need to watch out for the mating process, as it can happen during the night as well. The things you should look out for on day 3 are listed below:

1. look at the stomach of the female; any significant drop in size indicates successful mating.
2. Inspect the bubble nest; if there are any white spherical spots inside the nest, it means mating and egg-laying are completed.

Sometimes, when you look at the tank, you might catch it in the middle of the mating process. The eggs from the female’s stomach will start to drop when the male and female bend together, as shown in the image. If that’s the case, slowly leave the tank without disturbing it.

Come back after 2 or 3 hours later. If the female fish is separately swimming or standing in the corner of the tank, it indicates the completion of the mating process.

If you observe this situation, take out the female betta fish to a separate tank with conditioned water and feed her some pellets, as her job of egg-laying is completed, and now it’s the daddy’s duty.

This is all about breeding day 3. If your female and male don’t mate until day 3, give them one more day. But ensure that the female looks fine and healthy. If there are any signs of too many injuries, it is advisable to remove and abort the breeding process.

Brooding duty (Day 4)

So, this is the brooding day. If all goes well, it should be day 4, or in some cases, it might be day 5 if the mating day is delayed.

This is a calm day as the daddy (male betta) will take care of the brooding eggs to give birth. Usually, it takes around 24-36 hours for the eggs to hatch, sometimes up to 48 hours.

The duration depends on the area you live in and the water temperature. Don’t try to add any heaters in between to decrease the brooding duration.

If you disturb the tank, the male betta may eat the eggs, as he might perceive it as an unsafe environment for brooding, leading to the entire breeding collapsing at its climax. Just don’t disturb anything; leave the tank and give a peaceful day for the daddy betta.

Whenever the eggs fall from the bubble nest due to gravity, the male betta will collect them and set them up in the bubble nest.

Also, the male betta will regularly change the location of the egg cluster as it aims to provide a good oxygen supply. Don’t bother; just trust the process and the male betta.

When the eggs are infertile (showing no signs of life) or infected by fungi, the male betta will eat the eggs. So, don’t worry; the male betta is trying to save the other life-containing eggs.

Don’t complain about him; he is the best father for his babies (fries)

Egg Hatching (Day 5)

So, this is the climax of the breeding procedure; at the end of the brooding, the eggs start to hatch one by one.

The fries will have some difficulties in swimming, so the father will collect the fries and drop them in the bubble nest most of the time.

If you keep the water level short, it will help the fries to reach the top easily.

The difficult decision on day 5 is whether to keep the father betta with the fries or not. Everyone will have this concern, including me during my early days as a betta breeder.

Our suggestion is to separate the male betta from the breeding tank place him in a separate tank and feed him.

Ensure that he does not pick up some of his fries in his mouth, so once he drops the fries, shift them back to the original tank using small spoons.

The hatched betta fries will be tiny; they require food smaller than their mouth size. So, this is all about the egg-hatching day.

Wrapping up

Breeding betta fish is not as difficult as you might think. When you follow the correct method and step-by-step process, it is very rare to go wrong.

As mentioned earlier, choosing the correct and perfect parent bettas, setting up the tank perfectly, and following the day-by-day breeding procedure will yield good results in betta breeding.

Many betta breeders follow this method, as it produces positive outcomes, a high success rate, and reduces the risk of female injuries.

I hope this blog post assists you well in breeding your beloved betta mate. Feel free to add any clarifications or questions regarding betta breeding; we are pleased to assist you.

Thank you all, take care of yourself and your angryfish. Signing off, Thaha

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Image Credits:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1QVtOcdUak&list=LL&index=13&t=239s&ab_channel=KeepingFishSimple
• Pinterest