ugh picky females...need help :(

[Larsa]

so i have everything set up. The natural tank with sponge filter, the glass vase, a male who established territory to the tank, the food cultures, and 3 conditioned females. All my bettas are about 6-7 months exept my dragonscale male. So I add the female in the glass vase with sits in the breeding tank. I actually tried each one every 3 hrs or so and rotated. Kasumi presents horizontal lines, and Amaya just darts away. She flares but is not interested in breeding. Sakura made vertical lines but when I released her in the tank all she did was flare at the male and chased him around. He was really scared of her and shes a tiny lil thing! XD She took dominance over the tank so I had to put her back in her home tank. So I later tried another male who is too doppy to care about breeding he is focused on the live plants. No males will make a nest. All females are loaded with eggs, very fat and well conditioned with live- frozen foods. Luckily no one got nipped or bit. Do I need to buy more females or males? what can I do? @_@ crazy chick bettas...

[Nymmers]

What's the temperature in the tank, what foods did you condition them with? I'm pretty sure you should still use high-protein pellets a lot with frozen foods. The flirting could take longer than 3 hours, they might not just be ready yet, and how long have you been conditioning?

[Larsa]

breeding tank temp is 80 F and the conditioning was for 2.5 weeks. I used daphnia, bloodworms, NLS pellets, and beefheart. I dont get their deal... maybe they dont think that my CT male is "hot" XD hahaha maybe they think hes a jerk. Poor Ryu... unloved by the ladies. Hes not even violent around the girls, he just flares and shimmies.

[indjo]

Was the female really chasing the male or were they doing the prespawn ritual where one follows the other? How were they swimming? Did the male dart off to hiding or were they just flirt swimming in an "s" pattern?

You're explanation - the male much bigger than the female, The male flaring at first... it's unusual for the male to suddenly swim away without a fight unless he was flirting with her.

[Larsa]

The female kept flaring nonstop and shaking at the male and she chased the male. He looked scared cuz she would flare and dart torwards him and he would try to avoid her by zipping fast to the other side of the tank. XD Ryu tried to flirt with her at first by flaring and showing off but she didnt like it. No s patterns or bubblenests from him yet. He has been in the tank 3 days now with a mirror and occassionally is shown a female. My bettas are crazy...

[indjo]

I'm confused; are they still in the breeding tank or are they in their own separate tanks? If they're in the breeding tank, you shouldn't show him a mirror or another female.

I'd say start over and separate them in the dark. The following day ( if the male is stressed, keep him in the dark for at least 2 days), flare him to anything for a longer time ( 15 min should do - I usually do it for about +/- 1 hr (but I regularly exercise for 15 - 30 min) - Make sure he flares the whole time. If he doesn't, it can be signs of stress or health issues..... occasional rest is normal. Then rest him again. Show him a female the following day and see if he flirts.... I hope this makes sense.

[Larsa]

my girls have their own individual tanks. :) they are spoiled rotten! XD I dont add them in the breeding tank all at once, I add a female and leave it in there with the male for about 3-5 hrs and if it fails, I take her out and switch with another female the next day. I will try your advice and also get some black-out eclipse curtains :)