a pair that doesn't want to breed?

[Ana6]

I have a pair that have been together for 3 days. There is some chasing and flaring, but nothing too violent. My question is when to give up?

[bettasusa]

I would remove them both and re-conditon them good. Then after about 5-7 days of good feeding and the female is nice and plump, re-introduce the male to the spawning tank for a day before the female and give him a mirror to fight with so that he can claim his territory. Introduce the female in a vase and see if she gives you some promising signs that she is willing to mate. Continue to give the male the distraction of the mirror every once in a while for up to 30 minutes so that he expends some energy and frustration on himself instead of taking it out on the female. He will surely have made a nice bubblenest by now and be ready to court the female.

If the latter doesnt work, remove both, and give them a week in the dark with some IAL or similar and continue heavy feeding, preferably live foods and water changes daily. In spawn tank once introduced again, heavily plant it with live or fake plants, give more than one area for the nest and keep the water lever to only 3 gallons deep if you are using the standard ten gallon tank.

Hope this helps a bit, and Im sure others will respond as well. These methods have helped me in the past with finicky lovers'

[choob99]

I agree with the lower water level in the spawning tank I have tried full and with only a few inches and I always have better success with less water, however plenty of plants or hiding places is a MUST when you use that type of set up, I also put a well used sponge filter in there to have some insuforia for the fry to eat, its free easy food for them when they are tiny

[Curlyfatbottom]

I went though hundred of pair like that
Longest I will keep them together is a week
If it don't work out
Just replace the male or female after reconditioning them
Or just put a new pair in

[tpocicat]

Curly's right. I'm going through that right now. None of my picks seem to be working for the bettas...just keep conditioning and trying.

[indjo]

When they see each other, do they swim all over the tank luring or following one another. Or is the male approaching head on then the female dashes away.

If they're flirting (the former), give them until a week to do their business. Otherwise take them out and recondition as others have said and try again.

First time females may take a much longer time than veterans, specially if there are lots of hiding places where the male can't see her.

[Ana6]

Thanks everyone. They seem to be flirting, so I'll give them a few more days. They are first-timers too.