I have put up a thread last time about eggs. Every time I breed my bettas they have eggs, but then sometimes the male doesn't want to take care of them. Or he'll take care of the first batch, but as soon as the female has a second, he loses interest and the female takes care of them until he chases her away. Then, the eggs just sit at the bottom of the tank, and he goes around and eats them.
I find it hard getting males that are interested in taking care of the eggs. I was going to try this time that as soon as the female produces the first batch, and the male begins to take care of them to just take her out so he won't be distracted. Because although I don't have female-egg-eaters, they will do the male's job for him, I find the females to be a distraction.
So, I got a male king betta now. The last males I tried to breed that were failures was one crowntail and one red veiltail. The king betta is a little frightening to try because he tore the stomach out of one of my females even though he had made a bubble nest and was ready for her. I tried to condition him and another female again for two weeks (yes, I kept them separate with her in a tube in the tank for two weeks). I kept the water clean. I put them together some moments ago and watched, and he chased her around nipped her lightly (normal behavior), but as soon as I saw him grasp her belly in his mouth and tug, I took her out. I don't want what happened to my last female to be a repeat.
It was horrific glancing over at the tank and seeing the last female I tried to breed him with (crowntail), floating around with her insides all over the bottom of the tank. I feel that the King Bettas are an entirely different fish that can't be breed like normal male bettas. Maybe he's too strong and he needs a king female even though I heard of crowntail and veiltail females having been successfully breed with one. My female is doing better after I saved her. She wasn't hurt, but yeah, I don't want to put her back in if belly-ripping is all he likes to do.
When you condition the bettas you don't keep them in the same aquarium, even if they were separate. Conditioning is a process where you make sure they are healthy and give them lots of nutritious foods to prepare for breeding. Two weeks is too long to keep the female in with the male. The two weeks are spent separate, then they are put together once conditioned.
Either your female is very small or your king is huge because no king I've ever seen could take that big of a chunk out of a fish. In any event I would not attempt breeding a fish that aggressive. Maybe you should look for a pair from a breeder.
Bettafish15 is right. This is a friendly family forum, I suggest removing it. Not trying to be rude but that photo could be traumatizing to some people.
Yeah, if you can, remove it. Im going to have a mod do so. We have young ones on here :c Next time, do not post the pic directly at the least, instead opt to have it on a hosting site and warn them strictly. Even then, though...
Im sorry this happened. Please reconsider breeding...
If your king did that with one bite, your female must be very small. He doesn't sound mean/vicious but male bettas do bite females and one bite from a gigantic male can do a lot of damage to the female. Make sure your female is fully grown.
Large type bettas are known to be .... piggy (?). They would eat, eat and always eat. Though males usually fast during breeding, feed your king (to be on the safe side).
If he is vicious, either exercise him for a long time (don't use one sparring partner because it might stress them out - or use a mirror) OR float some females in the tank (not the one you want to breed). When he has calmed down then float the female you wanna breed (make sure she wants to breed). After an hour or so, take out the others in intervals of 10 - 20 minutes. Observe their behavior after the breeding pair is alone. Then release the female once you think they are ready. The whole process may take a week. But it's safer for the female.
turtle10: Oh, because when I read on other sites they always said to put the female in a hurricane lamp in the same tank as the male so he can always see her. Then, he will make a bubble nest, and it said something like keep them like that for two weeks, but thanks for clarifying.
1fish2fish: She was pretty small, but not "very" small. The second female I put with him is full-grown, but I was afraid he would have killed her the same way.
turtle10: Hikari Tropical - First Bites - it was recommended by Pet Smart.
bettafish15: Sorry, I forgot children hang on the Internet. I grew up at a time before the internet existed and so I fancy kids would be out playing and elsewhere. I wasn't on the Internet until I was about 8th grade and beginning high school.
turtle10: Again sorry.
PewPewPew: Now that I know that graphic pics of dead fish isn't acceptable, it won't happen again, but I was just proving that I wasn't lying about my King Betta taking a chunk out of the female.
indjo: Well, since my female is full-grown, she's the biggest female I got and has successfully breed with a crowntail male (though as I stated, he wouldn't take care of the eggs), I'll give her another try. If she lives, I'll have some good news to share. If she dies, then I I'll let you know. As I said, I won't post pics of dead fish ever again. But yeah, I'll try again even though it bothers me to think about it. I don't want to have to flush another fish! ><"
You definitely need to do more research, and not listen to petco. I can pretty much guarantee that if you try to raise them on first bites they will die.
Betta fry need live infusoria, live baby brine shrimp, live worms (micro, white, etc), and other live foods. They won't eat the first bites anyways.
Please do not breed them again until you know what you are doing. I suggest researching for a few more months and then trying.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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