All you need to buy before you start breeding betta fish are a pair of male and female fish and a ten-gallon aquarium. After this initial preparation comes conditioning-you need to feed your pair of bettas good food for two weeks straight before you can proceed with the breeding. While you are preparing your fish pair for breeding, it is important that you clean first the tank where they will breed.

When you are cleaning your tank, make sure to wash it with very hot water without using soap. Your aquarium should have at least six inches of water before you are able to add your sponge sifter and tank warmer. Before you put in your betta fish pair, be sure to look up instructions regarding heating, using aquarium bacteria starters and conditioners for best results.

After this, you should already introduce your fish into its new home and give him the chance to become familiar with it. Remember to let the male betta fish in first because it is more important for him to be well-adjusted to his new surroundings for him to breed well. After putting the male fish in, you may now put the female inside but you have to separate them with the use of a divider.

You have to carefully observe the activities of your betta fish pair before you can deem them ready for breeding and let them loose. The male betta fish is ready for breeding if his fins are unstoppable from moving while he makes a move to get to the female fish by forming bubble nests for their future offspring. To know if the female is ready to reproduce, vertical lines should be seen on her body.

If your female betta fish is light-colored, it could be quite difficult for you to find the bars so you have to look closely before you release her to the male. If she is ready for breeding, after a day or two is enough time for her to be released to her male partner. This is the best time for you to release the fish at this stage so that there will be more time for her and the male to get to know each other before they actually begin reproducing.

Once the fish pair meets, they will run around each other and “fight” which is their usual pre-reproduction interaction. The male betta fish will act quite violently by chasing the female’s fins but this is really part of their interaction with each other before mating. After two days, the female betta fish will be ready to reproduce and she will approach the male fish submissively.

The fish pair shouldn’t be bothered while they mate-not even feeding them is necessary because as of this moment, they are busy with each other. Normally, the fish pair will be tired and they will appear motionless which shouldn’t cause you to worry about them. In a short while, the female fish will expel all the eggs and after this, you should separate the fish pair again.