Help please!

[clarks4ofus]

We did not intend on having babies this quick. We actually just got the fish yesterday. We have a male and female betta. We brought them home and put them together in the same tank cause the lady at the pet store said it was ok. Btw: we have a 10 gallon tank. Anyway, the male immediately becomes aggressive. I thought ok they just need to get use to each other. Well today about lunch. I noticed the female just floating close to the top. I thought he had killed her. I looked closer and noticed that she was moving but barely. So I removed her from the tank. I honestly thought he was killing her.
This evening I am in the kitchen by the tank and the female is in a glass bowl beside the tank and I see her lay eggs.
So here is my question: What do I do now? Please help

[Emmalea]

As far as I know the male needs to fertilize the eggs as the female lays them.
Since your fish were not together when she laid them they are not fertilized and there for will not hatch.
The female will probably just eat the eggs, which is fine.
I would check the 10 gallon and make sure that there are no eggs, if the male has made a bubble nest I would remove it just to be safe.

You got very lucky that the female was not killed, you can never put a male and female together unless you have conditioned them and have a breeding tank set up.

I wouldn't even think about breeding them for a while, you need you learn more about bettas and caring for them first.

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry but the lady at the petstore was wrong. Males and females should never be housed together except for breeding purposes only. That is, intentional breeding. lol Raising fry can be expensive and time consuming. Food needs to be prepared ahead of time. Since this was accidental, it might be best to destroy the nest and eggs before they hatch if you have no way of caring for them. Some of our breeders can give you better advice than me.

[clarks4ofus]

Originally Posted by Emmalea

As far as I know the male needs to fertilize the eggs as the female lays them.
Since your fish were not together when she laid them they are not fertilized and there for will not hatch.
The female will probably just eat the eggs, which is fine.
I would check the 10 gallon and make sure that there are no eggs, if the male has made a bubble nest I would remove it just to be safe.

You got very lucky that the female was not killed, you can never put a male and female together unless you have conditioned them and have a breeding tank set up.

I wouldn't even think about breeding them for a while, you need you learn more about bettas and caring for them first.

Thank you for your response! I dont intend to breed. We just wanted them as pets. Thank you again.

[Staciekarp]

Does your female have any visible wounds or trouble swimming? It's a good thing you took her out!
It's awful that someone told you it was alright to keep them together. :(


One of our forum members has written up a very nice guide for new betta owners; this is it here. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=64078

Welcome to the forum; I hope your girly is alright!

[clarks4ofus]

Originally Posted by Staciekarp

Does your female have any visible wounds or trouble swimming? It's a good thing you took her out!
It's awful that someone told you it was alright to keep them together. :(


One of our forum members has written up a very nice guide for new betta owners; this is it here. http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=64078

Welcome to the forum; I hope your girly is alright!

She is ok. I'm so glad that I went ahead and pulled her out.
There is no bubble nest like some of the other people have described. Thats why I was very surprised that she had eggs. We have had a Betta in the past but we only had one. I have 2 daughters now, so when the idea of getting a fish came up they both had to have one. So we ended up with two cause the lady at the pet store convinced me they would be ok together. I know different now. I have to get another fish tank now. Why didnt I just buy goldfish or something? LOL

[Emmalea]

I`m glad your little fish is doing ok.

Pet store employees really need to do some research, when I got my first betta the lady tried to talk me out of buying him a heater.

If you don't want to buy a second tank you could always divide yours, it would be totally fine in a 10 gallon as long as you make sure that they can get through the divider.

[bettafish15]

Originally Posted by Emmalea

If you don't want to buy a second tank you could always divide yours, it would be totally fine in a 10 gallon as long as you make sure that they can get through the divider.

CAN'T. Make sure they can not get through the divider :P

[dramaqueen]

So none of the eggs were in a nest? I think I misunderstood?

[Emmalea]

Originally Posted by bettafish15

CAN'T. Make sure they can not get through the divider :P

Thanks,
See this is what happens when you post things in a hurry. lol.