How long does it take Bettas to spawn and can you see breeding strips on white female

[freshwaterfishies]

How long does it normally take for Bettas to spawn. I've had mine in a tank together for two days now and nothing other then some chasing and flaring once in a blue moon, most of the time they ignore each other. The female belly is huge with a white dot ,and the male keeps working on his bubble nest. Also is it true that you cant see breeding lines on a white female.

[Fabian]

Yup,white females don't have breeding stripes.
You could leave them there for a longer time,my bettas spawn about 3-5 days.
Did you condition them well?
Does the female look beaten up a lot and her fins are clamped?
Sometimes the pair is incompatible and will not spawn.

[indjo]

Though courtship may take hours to a week, your pair sounds like their not in breeding mode ("most of the time they ignore each other"). I suggest you separate and recondition them. Keep both in total solitary until the full conditioning period. Then let them see each other and watch their behavior - are they swimming all over the tank in an "S" pattern or are they holding their position. The former indicates breeding mode while the later fighting mode.

If they're not in breeding mode, you can't breed them - isolate them further. Flare them to the same sex daily (10 - 15 minutes) and keep conditioning them. If after a week they're still not willing to breed, flare them for a longer time. Put 2 tanks side by side with a divider. Lift the divider about 1" and let them be for 30 - 60 minutes. Rest them for a day or two, then let them see each other.

Some use a "shock" method - not doing water changes until a certain limit. Then move them into more suitable water. Personally I haven't really tried this intentionally. But sometimes I do take pairs from water due for changing. I'm not sure whether they (mine) spawned due to the "shock" or because mine are almost always ready to breed.