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How old is too old when it comes to breeding bettas? I love one of my girls to death, but it seems she's getting old... I've had her for about a year and a half, but she was pretty big when I got her from the LFS, so I don't know how old she is. She's got a slight clouding to her eyes and doesn't see as well anymore. I don't want to lose her (already lost her near-twin sister), but I don't want to hurt her by breeding if it's going to strain her too much.

Same goes for the males... I've got a male that I've had for two years (my eldest). Another case of "I don't want to loose my favorite boy!" He's been with me through thick and thin, and has survived even when I didn't know what I was doing. He doesn't show his age as much as the girl seems to.

What are the odds that an old pair like this would have a successful spawn? Neither has ever been spawned to my knowledge. I tried an "emergency" spawning with the male when one of my other girls was REALLY huge and eggbound. He didn't seem to know what was going on, but then, she wasn't exactly acting normal, as she was effected by SBD due to the size of her belly.

I guess I'm just going over the logistics of this...

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

umm. it would be ok to breed healthy old bettas. for the younger ones i have bred some when they are only 3- 3.5 months old. most breeders will only breed them until 6 months, but if you have older bettas then it should be ok, but they do have to be really healthy b/c both of them have to deal with post-spawn conditions, so a healthy betta is required.