How long betta eggs hatch

Bettas lay eggs and spawn on a very unique and interesting way. Getting a succesful spawn is the beginning of your betta breeding adventure, so a good preparation pays off. Betta fish eggs are small 1mm big and white balls. The eggs are not all fully round, but an oval unequal form.

Eggs of mouthbrooding betta fish are bigger, around mm big and take longer to hatch. During the development of the eggs, they will swallow a little and turn more yellow. The hatching time of the eggs depends on numerous factors. On average, it takes around days for eggs to hatch. The eggs of mouthbrooder bettas take much longer, up to a month.

After this, the fry will start eating from their yolk sack and are still completely dependent on the care of their father. After another days the fry can swim and becom independant. How fast precisily your eggs hatch depends on various factors, such as:. Because the eggs develop fully in the water, they are dependent on the environment they develop in to hatch properly.

Because the metabolism is higher and digestion goes faster in higher temperatures, it has a big effect on how fast your eggs will hatch. In a recent study about the link between water temperature and the hatching rate of eggs of Channa striata, the results were pretty clear.

The higher the temperature went, the faster the hatching process went. It also had a big impact on the survival and hatching rate of the fry and eggs. This way you have fast growth and a high survival rate. It is pretty obvious that the water quality has a drastic effect on how fast your betta eggs hatch, and a drastic effect on the hatch rate. A bad water quality could result in a part of your eggs or fry dying off fast, or in extreme cases they could all die.

Apart from ammonia there are various other harmful substances and metals. Make sure to always do a water change before spawning, put some catappa leaves and maybe a sponge filter in your tank. This way the risk of harmful chemicals being released is reduced. Different Betta species have different hatching times for the eggs. Bubble-nesting betta fish eggs hatch very fast compared to other mouthbrooding species. For some betta species such as Betta macrostoma eggs can take longer than a month to hatch and free-swim!

The average time for most mouthbrooding species is around days. If your egg is slightly growing and showing gray spots, you can be certain the egg is fertile. Close to hatching you could also see a small fish in the egg, with a white yolk sack. It is rare that all eggs in a spawn are fertilized and in some cases no eggs are fertilized at all.

This is most likely a sign that one or both of the parents are infertile. The male will eat infertile or damages eggs and only care for fertile fry. In some cases, inexperienced males can eat all eggs which is normal. At this point in time she is to be taken out of the tank or else the male can kill her. The male will then pick up the eggs and 'blow' them into the nest and thereafter he will guard them until they hatch. Mouth-brooding bettas come from waters where the surface is not still, like streams, making it impossible to build a nest.

To breed them, clear clean water and substrate ranging from mud to gravel is needed depending on the Betta species. Dense vegetation should be planted into the aquarium. Their water temperature should be cool, say between 65 and 75 degrees F. Flowing streams coming from the highlands have cooler water. At 80 degrees Fahrenheit and above the fish will be visibly stressed. To tell the difference between male and female, as in most Bettas, the female has a smaller head, she is duller in color and smaller in body size.

They should be fed bloodworms , frozen daphnia and most meaty foods. Like the bubble nest building bettas, the male and female fish should be separated, for a week at the least. Occasionally a pair of mouth brooding bettas may 'dance' and the female having her fins flared out may dance around the male to attract his attention during the courtship. With the mouth brooding Betta species, it is the female who starts the spawning. Spawning will generally take place inside a plant pot, with the same procedure of most anabantids, the male "embracing" the female.

After spawning the male will gather the eggs in his mouth or the female may pick the eggs up into her mouth and spit them to him.

The process can take up to quite a few hours. After they have completely eaten their yolk sack, which for some fry takes up to five days, the male parent should be removed to avoid any fighting with the fry. Somewhere between three and six weeks of age the young Betta fish will develop labyrinth organs which allow them to breath at the water surface. It is also at this stage that most of your Betta fish will have to be separated from each other due to them sexually maturing and attempting to fight other siblings.

After three months old the Betta fish has reached adult hood and will not be able to kept in the same tank as another Betta fish or multiple other species of fish. Referred to as an adult once they have reached sexual maturity generally just after three months old. Takes place underneath the bubble nest the male Betta has created. The male and female curl their bodies together embrace so that their reproductive organs meet where the female will then release eggs which are fertilised by the male using his milt.

The term used for baby fish. Betta fish are known as fry up until approximately six weeks of age. A special organ the Betta fish possesses which allows it to breath air from above the waters surface in conjunction with their gills. Betta fish reach sexual maturity at three months old which is when you will also see a change in behaviour towards other fish. Moreover, they usually lay less than 20 eggs at a time. That sums up all the information we had to share on betta fish eggs. And we hope this helps you in your Betta fish breeding journey.

Getting to watch small white balls within the bubble-like nest means that the pair has spawned successfully. But always keep in mind that Bettas can produce up to even eggs at once.

Feel free to share your breeding experiences in the comment section down below! What Should I Do Next? My father was a huge fan of tropical fish and our childhood home had a huge aquarium which he tended and kept hundreds of species of fish over the years. I was always fascinated by our fish tank and would spend hours staring at the fish.

They seemed to all have different personalities and would interact differently with one another. Here, you can find out everything you need to know about keeping fish and aquarium maintenance. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

As an aquarist, watching your betta fish spawn is probably the most exciting gift of nature. Table of Contents show. Recommended Reads :.