[aurielssong]

I have a male betta who was recently bred and had a massive bubble nest built with eggs in it. after initially placing the eggs in the nest he has almost completely ignored it, and now the nest is almost completly gone and I havent seen any of the fry. I fear that they have either been eaten or the eggs succumbed to some sort of fungus. It is a heated ten gallon tank that has been filed halfway and has no substrate on the bottom to make it easier on the male. if someone could help me figure out why he is acting this way. I really wanted to breed him, he is such a beautiful fish, but if he is going to neglect the nest I dont want to keep trying only to fail again. Thanks!

 

[TealHoundogg]

He might've ditched the nest because the eggs either stopped developing or weren't fertile.

I could be wrong though.

Try checking out the other threads and spawn logs here. There's another other member with a similar problem. So, you're not alone.

 

[indjo]

A number of reasons could have caused it.
1. bad eggs - male will eat unfertilized or weak eggs
2. unhealthy male - too tired/weak to tend to eggs/fry
3. lazy male - will only be active (if at all) when with female, but then neglects them (but doesn't eat them)
4. psychotic male - will always eat eggs/fry

If the male is active, glass surfing, after removed from breeding tank, then you could assume he was healthy enough. But you will have to breed him again to determine what kind of father he is. If he does the same thing on the second attempt . . . you'll know for sure.

 

[aurielssong]

Thanks!

Thank you both for the input, I'm giving him a break while I am working on a seperate breeding pair. He is a very well cared for and healthy fish, I'll just have to try again to see if he actually acts like a good father this time.

 

[TealHoundogg]

Go for it, hope it works out next time. I've read some breeders who had males that weren't great Dads so they were given early retirement as pets. But since he's new to parenthood it may take him sometime to get the hang of it.

 

[BlueLacee]

Good luck with him