In my experience, breeding betta fish is much easier than keeping fry alive and growing them healthy. I listed common mistakes betta breeders make during fry growth and how to avoid them. I have explained many tips and tricks throughout this post, so watch till the end. Hope this will help you successfully raise a betta fry on your next breeding attempt.
1. Keep the tank temperature right
Betta fry require a slightly different temperature than adult fish, or they may get sick. Betta fry tank temperature is one of the key reasons for breeding failure. These small creatures are very susceptible to cold water. I would personally keep them at 82 to 85°F for a better survival rate. Also make sure there is not much fluctuation in the temperature. It is easy to maintain the temperature of grow-out tanks under direct sunlight, by covering the top, but of course it is based on the weather conditions where you live.
2. Do not feed them for 3 days.
I can’t stress this enough. Don’t feed your adult or fries until the fry are 3 days old. Usually, betta fry will get enough protein and nutrients from the egg layer itself which is good enough for them to survive for the first few days. After all fry have started swimming freely, which is usually on the fourth day, you can start feeding them.
3. Move adult fish at the right time.
As soon as all my fries have started swimming, I always move my male betta fish. It usually takes 3-4 days from breeding day. Although some of my male betta fish in the past took care of fry very well, I do not risk keeping male betta fish in my tank after 4 days. I found the easiest way to remove male betta fish is to use my kitchen spoon. In this way, the male can be removed without disturbing the fries or tank conditions. This is very critical step on breeding. In reality, male betta can eat their frys for various reasons. Actually, few of them part of breeding process. So don’t panic if your betta male eating few of the frys, more detail can be found in this post. Why Betta male eating their eggs and frys?
Separating the male fish is also crucial for his recovery. You can start feeding him high protein food as he will be very hungry after 4-5 days of not eating. I will also add aquarium salt and almond leaves to his tank to help him recover from breeding stress.
4. Make sure they get the best food.
On the fourth day, I feed infusoria to betta fries. Always make sure their belly is rounded and full, this is key to their growth rate. I will introduce them to baby brine shrimps, micro-worms, and later to bloodworms after they get used to the initial food source. Micro-worms, Banana Worms, Brine Shrimps, Vinegar eels, and Grindal Worms are all great fry food sources for betta fries. But rinse them in tap water well before feeding them. It’s a critical step to avoid water contamination.
I personally feed 3-4 times a day for the first week in small portions and increase the quantity by the 2nd week. It’s better to prepare infusoria and baby brine shrimp cultures well in advance to ensure they are ready to feed by the 4th day of your betta fry. If you have no access to live-food, egg yolks can be a temporary alternative food source.
5. Separate the fries by size
It is very common to see some fries from the same spawn being much bigger than other fries. In contrast, some will be very small. It’s critical to separate them based on size, otherwise bigger fry will grow even faster as they can fight for food better. This makes the weaker fry weaker. At some point, your bigger fry will start seeing the weaker ones as a food source and eat them. So, it’s always better to check them every 2-3 days for a few weeks and separate them by size.
6. Condition your grow-out tank.
Picking the right size of grow-out tank and moving the betta fries at the right time is critical. I typically move them to a grow-out tank around 2-3 weeks based on individual spawn rates. There is no hard and fast rule here, but this works much better for me than moving them early. Grow-out tanks must be at least 20 gallons, but bigger is better. I usually prepare my grow-out tank atleast 3-4 days in advance by adding almond leaves, a few drops of water conditioner and methylene blue. In addition, I usually add some plants as possible. Float the original spawning tank inside the grow-out tank for 10-15 minutes and slowly mix the water. Be careful when acclimating as these fry are highly sensitive to sudden water parameter changes.
7. Do not overfeed
I can’t stress this point enough. Overfeeding them will spoil the tank condition and infect your fries. Easy way is to feed small portions multiple times a day for the first 2 weeks until you move them to a grow-out tank. I usually feed them 3 times a day for the first 2 weeks and reduce it to 2 times a day after that by increasing the quantity. Also clean up waste and excess food every day. Specially, if you feed egg yolk or grained pellets, make sure to do a partial water change and clean-up. Once they are moved to the grow-out tank I usually add a few shrimp to the tank to clean excess food waste.
8. Introduce pellets
You can introduce pellets to your betta fry when they are 4 to 5 weeks old. You can crush the pellets smaller and feed them to your fish. If you don’t feed pellets to your fry when they are young, there is a chance they don’t like the taste of pellets once they are fully grown, which often causes confusion with your buyers and compliant that betta fish is not eating. I feed them pellets in the morning when they are really hungry, so they will intend to try and get used to them.
9. Change the water frequently
Water quality is one of the most critical things to a successful spawn and fast growth. I usually perform 20% water changes every 2-3 days in my breeding tank for the first 2-3 weeks until I move them to their grow-out tank. I also remove dead fry and waste using a turkey baster during these water changes. This method works well because it doesn’t disturb tank conditions and also cleans up the tank well, but it requires some patience.
Contaminated water is one of the highest risks to Betta fry; this is one of the most common reasons for betta fish to die. Once I move them to the grow-out tank I will perform 50% water changes every 3-4 days for the next few weeks until they fully grow. I will still continue my cleaning process using a siphon filter during my water changes.
10. Never change 100% of the water
I don’t water change for the first few days, perform minimal water changes at 20% for the first 2-3 weeks till I move them to a grow-out tank. I would never change full water recycle in my grow-out tank for the first 2 months unless my fries are infected, which requires treating water immediately to save them. Please add medicine and almond leaves to water every time you change a portion of water.
11. Keep safe from disease
Betta fry are most susceptible to white spot, fungus, and velvet diseases. It’s difficult to notice these infections on these tiny fry with normal eyes. When you look closer you may see white dots on your fry. You should be aware that white spot disease is contagious and will kill your entire spawn if you don’t address it quickly. It’s basically a parasite infection that absorbs nutrients from your fry that cause them to die due to poor health. Do 100% water-change every day for the next few days and treat with methylene blue.
Example, feeding egg yoke is one of the ways to feed your fries for the people who don’t have access to live food, but it has the risk of easily overfeeding them or polluting the water quickly which can introduce other issues to your fries. Betta fry attack and hunt naturally consume moving objects, which is why infusoria, Miona ??or baby brine shrimp are better than egg yolks for them.
12. Remove waste and excess food daily
I strongly suggest removing excess food and waste daily. I use the turkey baster to slowly siphon the waste from the bottom without disturbing the fries. In my experience, it worked well for cleaning the breeding tank. You can start using an airline tube or siphon vacuum to suck up wastes once you move them to the grow-out tank to speed up the process.
13. Keep a proper light source
Light is definitely needed for the fry grow-out tank. Warm light with a covered tank works better. It can even be direct sunlight as long as your weather supports it. Also, it’s fine to keep the lights off at night. I keep my grow-out tanks outside during the summer months which greatly helps with fry growth. You can check out the lights I use in my description and first comment if you’re interested. More betta breeding insights are listed in 8 Mistakes to avoid on Betta Breeding post.
14. Need a filter.
A grow-out tank must have a filter to supply oxygen and clean the water. But don’t add a filter to the breeding tank before the fries start swimming. This is because any water current on the breeding setup may easily disturb the bubble-nest and stress your male. After the first 4-5 days of hatching I will add a filter to my breeding tank. But I always keep the grow-out tank filter running until they fully mature.
15. Jarring at the right time
As you know there will be aggression within the fry tank as they grow, eventually aggressive males will need to be separated. So remember to always have multiple containers on hand to be ready for jarring.
In my experience, there is no specific age to jar fry. Spawning growth varies depending on genetics, water changes, and food. In general, fry start showing colors around 8 to 9 weeks old. It’s at this point that they begin their nippy behaviors. You can tell they are ready when the males have longer fins, stronger colors! They will flare at each other and try to tear each other’s fins. You don’t need to jar all the fries at once. It is best to start by moving the most colorful and aggressive males to jars first. As you take out some, others will take their place and become dominant. By 3 months all males will be out of the grow-out tank.
You’ll need a container for each male, whether it’s a jar, bottle, cup or whatever. It’s also fine to move females into jars, but if there’s not enough space, they can be kept in a tank together. In general, females can live together in a community tank. Avoiding these common mistakes will likely increase your betta fries’ survival and keep them healthy. The video version of this post can be found in our youtube channel with my fish tanks and breeding setups.
