Should I release my female?

[1stAquarium]

I have my betta breeding tank set up, culture ready for fry and the male in the tank and female in a glass bowl in the tank. The male has built a large bubble nest and is going mad trying to get to the female. My female is white so I can't see her stripes but she is showing the white egg releasing tube and seems fairly interested in the male plus she is very fat. When should I release her? They have been together about a day.

[doggyhog]

Knowing the right time to release the female can be tricky! I think you could release her, but remember to keep a VERY VERY close eye on them!!! Especially in the first few hours!!!!! Check on them at least every hour.

[oXsonriksXo]

Umm. Some people say you should encase the female on a floating container filled with water on your larger aquarium. That way the female would be conditioned, it would get a an instinct to breed after some time (1-2 weeks i think) instead of fight, same for the male.

But. I think the instinct kicks in right away. You should try to be weary, look at your fishy if you do release it, you might see nipped fins, but thats no problem unless she gets terribly bitten.

[1stAquarium]

Yeah I have the female floating in a large glass bowl in the tank. I left them for a couple of hours and when I came back the male has at least doubled the size of the bubble nest! The female was flaring at him earlier and following him around from inside her bowl. How much time should I set aside to watch them? Obviously it will have to be sometime when I am home so I can supervise them.

[doggyhog]

Well, sounds like HE is ready!!! Flaring from the female is completely normal. One of my girls was flaring at the male while they were spawning!! LOL! She's an aggressive little bugger!

I'd set aside an hour or two. Just to see how they do. There probably WILL be some chasing and nipping. Don't worry unless it's getting REALLY aggressive. Get a book or something and just take some time to read while you monitor them. :)

[1stAquarium]

Thank you! :)
Yeah he's definitely ready, as soon as I put her in he started on his nest and has been splitting his time ever since between making his nest perfect and flaring and showing off to her! Very entertaining to watch, this is the first time I've attempted to breed my bettas and I'm very impressed!
On a side note, I have an infusoria culture (I hope) but is there anything else I can buy from the pet shop which my fry will eat straight away once they are free swimming? Any live foods or even liquifry? Just as a back up plan.

[doggyhog]

You can run to your LFS and see if they have brine shrimp eggs. Those are great for feeding fry.

[1stAquarium]

Live ones?

[doggyhog]

Well you get the eggs then once they hatch you feed them to the fry.

[1stAquarium]

Ok thanks! What about liquifry, I know you have to feed the babies live food but isn't liquifry some sort of bacteria?