So after I have my spawning tank all set up, I introduce the male and he starts making bubble nests all over the place. Then I put the female in a jar, keep her there for a while and end up introducing her to the tank as well. He was flaring like crazy and showing off for her, and she was showing her breeding stripes and trying to get out of her jar as soon as possible. And... nothing. I left them alone for a while (checking back on them periodically, of course) and all I have to show is my male (a beautiful HM with a section of his tail missing) without a bubble nest and my female no worse than before. What did I do wrong? They were both showing signs of attraction, but when push came to shove, no spawning happened.
I kept them in for about 6 hours, I'd say. I put her back in the jar because I didn't want any problems during the night. I conditioned them, feed them great food, and they seemed to go for it - any suggestions of what I could do? Should I keep them together longer? Is a cm chunk of his tail missing a super bad thing, or to be expected?
I just really want a successful spawn. :(
As I write this, he's flaring at her in the jar again and she is covered in breeding stripes. What gives?
The male and female will rip each other up, usually it's mostly the female that takes it, but it's a normal part of the breeding process.
6 hours is probably too short. Usually there's a period of him flaring and chasing the female, and then eventually once he's confident she knows he's the master of his domain he may let her approach the nest and breeding can begin. Usually for me spawning is around the 12 - 18 hour mark.
Alot of fish like to spawn early morning, just after the sun starts to come up, and storms tend to help too.
Also females will sometimes destroy a pre-existing nest, and often a nest will get destroyed the courtship.
The male and female will rip each other up, usually it's mostly the female that takes it, but it's a normal part of the breeding process.
6 hours is probably too short. Usually there's a period of him flaring and chasing the female, and then eventually once he's confident she knows he's the master of his domain he may let her approach the nest and breeding can begin. Usually for me spawning is around the 12 - 18 hour mark.
Alot of fish like to spawn early morning, just after the sun starts to come up, and storms tend to help too.
Also females will sometimes destroy a pre-existing nest, and often a nest will get destroyed the courtship.
My male seemed to be more beat-up than her - she's only missing a little bit of her fins.
Okay, so I should leave them alone from pretty much the whole day, aside from checking on them once in a while to make sure they aren't too injured? Should I release her back into the tank? I just didn't want something bad to happen while I was sleeping...
it's one of the risks of breeding is it killing your fish. If you're set on breeding that's a risk you have to take. The courtship process, especially the early chasing phases are very intense. Just make sure there are places for the female to hide and rest here and there.
Also these are a big part of the reason for conditioning the fish so they have the best possible chance to survive this. If you already conditioned them go ahead and put her back.
From my own experience, breeding usually takes more than a few hours, several days is more like it. I've only had one time were as soon as I introduced the female, they swam the S curve dance, and started spawning. Patience is the key to the whole spawning thing. Even when you do everything right, sometimes the bettas just won't cooperate!
From my own experience, breeding usually takes more than a few hours, several days is more like it. I've only had one time were as soon as I introduced the female, they swam the S curve dance, and started spawning. Patience is the key to the whole spawning thing. Even when you do everything right, sometimes the bettas just won't cooperate!
Well my bettas seem to be doing better now - she is going right up to him and he's curling over her and shaking. No eggs yet, but she's still got her stripes and he's building another nest as fast as he can, looks like. Here's to hoping the mating might happen (properly) soon!
you should have eggs soon (if not already) time to watch the female closely. usually after a few egg drops she loses interest and goes into hide mode, or he'll start chasing her off. That's your cue to remove her.
you should have eggs soon (if not already) time to watch the female closely. usually after a few egg drops she loses interest and goes into hide mode, or he'll start chasing her off. That's your cue to remove her.
Yup, you were correct! Daddy is now guarding his eggs. :)
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