Betta breeding

[Dwarfs]

Could I remove my betta from is nest after I breed them? I have heard that the male will become depressed and more susceptible to disease if they are separated from their babies. I have also heard that first time fathers A.K.A mine will be more likely to eat their eggs. I don't know what to do and can't start breeding them with out knowing. I don't want my male getting sick and I don't want the fry to get eaten. Help me!!!

 

[dark_tyger]

Are you talking about removing the nest before the eggs hatch? I wouldn't recommend that, because the male gaurds the nest and places any falling eggs back into it. Once they hatch the father will have nothing to do with the fry, and the old nest can be removed, but until then, I would just leave it. Also, some males can eat the eggs, while others don't. It's really just a luck of the draw. Just make sure you betta is well fed when the time comes

 

[wuvmybetta]

Well, you can't be sure that he's eating the eggs until you actually see him do it. then he's guilty as charged

I have a male whom I believe is a notorious egg eater so I always remove him and then lower the water to maybe 3" max. The fry will be fine without him and he'll be a little mad at you for taking him out, but he'll get over it in a week or two.

Don't feed him during his time with the eggs, some believe this kicks in their appetite, others disagree. From my experience, it doesn't really matter. If he's going to eat the eggs,nothing can stop him (except you ). I've caught my orange male wolfing them down and I yank him out so fast his head spins, I've never given him the chance to father his young and he could very well be eating unfertilized eggs for all I know, I just felt it was too risky because of his past history. I've left him alone,undisturbed only to wake up and find his nest gone, not an egg in sight.

 

[Marty]

But if you remove the male, then what happens to the falling eggs? I never knew this was possible.

 

[wuvmybetta]

That's why you lower the water to about 3".You won't have as high of a survival rate,but a lot of the fallen eggs will hatch.The fry will instinctively dart to the top and wiggle their heads into the nest, grab on or stick to the walls of the glass. It's a stressful couple of days until they're free-swimming, the lower the water,the better. It's best to just give dad a few chances to test him out. Some males don't get it until their 3rd or 4th spawn.

 

[Marty]

Cool, I'll bear that in mind. My male might be a bit of a dunce

 

[LIZZIEBE59]

the male i used was a first time dad and he did a fantastic job,
i know people have different opinions but i fed mine, i looked on it as to curb his appetite so as not to be tempted to eat the eggs and that worked for me.
he worked day and night blowing the eggs up into the nest.
it is best to remove the male once the fry become free swimming, as some dads over do it, and when they are trying to swim out for food he`ll drag them back to the nest and they could eventually starve to death
wuvmy betta has given you the correct way of rearing the eggs without either parent though, so if you see the male start to eat the eggs, just whip him out quick.
i love the fighters, and im really envious we never seem to get the unusual colours as you do in the states over here

sian

 

[shrks1fan]

I'll tell you my experience as a first time breeder with young fish who had never spawned before. The first 2 times I spawned the ~5 month old male to his sisters (once each sister), during the spawns only the female collected the eggs and put them in the nest, the father did nothing but wait for the next embrace. Then after the spawn he slowly but surely ate all the eggs. The 3rd time though (back with the 1st sister), it was a picture perfect spawn, both collected the eggs and then the father guarded the nest until they hatched then worked his butt off keeping them in the nest until they started to become free swimming, then it appeared he was starting to eat them, so I took him out. The babies are doing fine now, I have well over 100 at 6 days old. Now, what all this told me was, the first 2 spawns he didn't fertilize the eggs (and he knew it, that's why he wasn't interested in collecting them, and then eventually ate them, as they are suppose to eat the unfertilized eggs to protect the good ones from getting fungus). But once he knew he was fertilizing the eggs he did his job of collecting them and taking care of them.

So, definetly let him have his chance, if he eats all the eggs the first or second time it may be because he didn't fertilize him (if he's young and inexperienced, it's a good possiblility), don't just take him out because you're afraid he MAY eat them. You need to learn about your own fish. And don't take him out right after the eggs hatch, that is actually the most important time for him to be there as that's when the babies really start to fall out. If possible you want/need to keep him in there until they are free swimming, THEN you take him out. Of course if you have a confirmed egg eater like Wuv, then that changes, but you need to confirm it first, hence why I say let him stay the whole time for a couple tries, so you can learn how he'll be.

Phew, that was much more long winded than I had planned.

Linda

 

[Dwarfs]

My male isn't young but he is a first timer. The female is young