spawning embrace, and the defense of the nest by the male. Consider now if the male was in an environment where his nest would not stay together because the water flowed. This would seem the reason why the fish took the eggs into the mouth and incubated them there.
Mouthbrooding is a more advanced method of breeding so Jess eggs are laid, producing less fry, but those that are produced are more robust.
The incubation period varies from species to species, but is usually between 12-24 days. The fry are then released, and have a head start on bubblenester fry. The bubblenester fry are basically helpless for the first couple of weeks. Firstly they hang tail downward in the froth of the nest for 2-5 days, then free swim. At this time they are reliant on finding copious amounts of tiny living food for their first nutrition. Mouthbrooding species are released when they are already 'street wise.' Looking at the fry when they are released you would see that they are already small fish, with finnage, although small. Upon their release they immediately look for cover, and from there hunt for food. They have no need for such a small diet and can start to hunt for much coarser foods.
Small: B. picta, B. enisae, B. edithae
This is of great advantage to us. If the process of getting young, small fry up to a size where they can take coarse foods is eliminated, then so much the better. It does away with the need for infusoria in most cases. Saying that, some of us feed shrimp as a first food in any event. It is worth noting at this point, that the young are released from the parent and then left alone. Unlike many Cichlids, (I'm told) the parents do not take the young back into their mouth, only as food, so be aware of this later. Species to look for. An easy fish to spawn may well exist, and indeed many of the mouthbrooding bettas will readily spawn given the correct conditions. There are many hurdles to overcome before you can consider a breeding project a success though. Even then, a species may be easy for you to spawn, but for the next person it remains a problem. So I don't think that there is a really easy mouthbrooder to breed, until the first brood is released there is likely to be more frustration than elation, in the early going. So, as with the bubblenesters, you would like a fish that will spawn quite readily, and that will not produce more young than you can handle comfortably. Another advantage with mouthbrooders is the fact that the fish do not need to lay hundreds of eggs, producing hundreds of fry to give a few a select chance of survival. 16
Species Table
Medium: B. dimidiata, B. pugnax (group), B. pulchra Large: B.akarensis (group), B. waseri (group), Betta unimaculata
These are just a few of the many species of mouthbrooders. The species above are often for sale in numbers at AAGB auctions, and you can learn a lot from talking to the breeders to ascertain the best conditions for keeping them (and propagating them). In addition to the above there is a group of very colorful species, which cannot really be described as suitable for anyone starting out with mouthbrooders for the first time. For instance, there are members of the Betta foerschi group, which have different requirements to the above, much more acidic and soft water for example. Water composition and quality Many of the species of bubblenesters, especially the small wine red species of the Betta coccina group, need soft, very acidic water conditions in which to thrive. This isn't the case of many of the mouthbrooders. Once again this would be a relief for those of us, like me, who live in a hard tap water area similar to Northeast Essex. It is much easier to maintain water quality if you need not rely totally on rainfall. There is a correlation between water quality and welfare, and water quality and successful breeding. Many of the species will live relatively long lives in softer acidic water, (and some wild caught fish are actually found there) but do not seem so keen to spawn unless the pH is higher and the water a little harder. This was the case with the Betta unimaculata I had some time ago, no sign of spawning until I raised the pH. So to keep a happy medium, my recipe is two-thirds rainwater, to one-third tap water. This comes out at roughly pH 6.5-7, and somewhere in the region of 10DGH. This may seem a little vague, but in the past I've found it not to be as critical as with some fish.
October 2001
Modern Aquarium - Greater City A.S. (NY)