Betta Help

[black molly3]

i got myself a male betta yday and noticed he looked lonley as he was the first fish in the tank after 2 weeks of cycling. so i went out today to get him a female. DISASTER. i was only planning on having a male and a female in the tank see if they would breed and live happily ect. i noticed as soon as i put the bag in the water to float the male showed off his fins high and hansom and then he flared his gills at her. i dont know if that was a good thing or a show off thing. anyway i let her out and occationaly he chasses her around the tank rather aggressivly. is this normal breeding behaviour. some fins were ripped but i have read that this is normal and now the female is lifeless on the floor or on the top.
is this normal behaviour.
thanks
black molly3

 

[SJ2K]

Can be fairly normal, if your going to keep them together make sure there are plenty of hiding places alot of people keep them seperatly untill its time for them to spawn! Good luck

 

[Kaz1814]

Most people would say don't keep them together. I would not take the risk of one of them being seriously injured.

 

[black molly3]

i have just came up with a great idea and i have just put it into my tank. a plastic cup filled with the gravel so it sinks to the bottom. then cover the cup with plants. it looks a realy cool hideou. as we speak he has just gave her another chase. i hope she finds the lovely new home i have made her she will most deffinately be safe in there.
thanks for your help. any one elce experiencing what i am plz post
thanks again

 

[dwarfgourami]

Yes, this is absolutely normal behaviour and keeping male and female bettas together is not recommended (nor keeping two males). Males are intensely territorial (apart from a few laidback individuals that crop up here and there) and will chase any other bettas out of their territory- unless the female shows she is ready to breed. This she will only do when she has been conditioned on special foods, and they have been gently introduced to each other.

 

[black molly3]

woke up this morning only to find he has made a bubble nest. i dont think the female is yet ready for breding so im going to feed them things like brine bloodworm ect to get them into condition. what elce could i feed her to get her into condition
thanks

 

[dmarie04]

If you are not ready to breed, don't do it! It takes a lot of time and research to be ready to breed bettas. It also takes money and a lot of things, which I'm not sure that you have on hand. If you really want to breed then do some research on it (a LOT of research on it, get your things ready, and then go for it). BTW Males and females should not be housed together except when breeding, and then for only a short time before the female is removed. Keep them together when they aren't conditioned to breed and you're going to end up with a dead fish....or 400 babies that you don't have homes for!!

 

[devon_charm]

If you are not ready to breed, don't do it! It takes a lot of time and research to be ready to breed bettas. It also takes money and a lot of things, which I'm not sure that you have on hand. If you really want to breed then do some research on it (a LOT of research on it, get your things ready, and then go for it). BTW Males and females should not be housed together except when breeding, and then for only a short time before the female is removed. Keep them together when they aren't conditioned to breed and you're going to end up with a dead fish....or 400 babies that you don't have homes for!!

I second that - you are asking for trouble. Reserch it then get envery thing you need together like 100 + jars to house the male fry in when they are ready to split, spawning tank grow out tank. Once you have that and all the other stuff you will ne start to condition your pair for 2 weeks but keep the seperate. Then add he to the spawning tank But make sure she is either behind a divider in in a glass chimny until he has built his nest and she has barred up and got fat with eggs only then do you put the two together and as soon as all eggs are laid remover her other wise he will kill her

 

[black molly3]

got 50 jars so far routed through the house lool. got my small 28 liter tank out and filled it up just under half way and filled it up with some of the tank water being careful not 2 break his bubble nest. i nocked a bit off but he started building again. my question is will he keep his bubble nest in tackt while the female is away.
thanks for any replies

 

[devon_charm]

Once you reintroduce her in the chimney he will rebuld it if he needs to that will give her time to bar up ready for you to let her out. Have a read of the FAQ's on here there is one all about spawning its a great help. Please at least read it through before you go to far

 

[afishdude]

what are you planning on feeding the fry?

you need to feed the fry microworm or vineager eels for the first 2 weeks, then live brineshrimp for the next 2 months.

 

[black molly3]

i was planning on feeding them BBS and vinegar eels if i can get my hands on them. then go on to feed them some live brine and some finely chopped boiled egg yolk. so i have got the female in a seperate tank shes pretty messed up im going to give her a week or 2 to heal and get in condition as this is the average time it takes for them to get in condition.
any more help would be lovely.
thanks again

 

[black molly3]

my female has been in a quarantine tank for almost a week and is showing amazing signs of recovery. you would be supprised how hardy they are haha. as it was an emergency i got my 28 liter tank out filled it with sand as some sort of subtrate and used about 5 liters of the tank water and put the female in there. each day i have been putting 2 liters of declorinated water in the tank to give her more room to menover and relax to get into condition. she is rather plump now but i think im going to give her another few days. when re entering her into the main tank i have got a small container and wrapped some twine around it and tied it in a blood knot leaveing 2 parts of twine coming from the top to duck tape on to the hood when i am floating her. i have read that you can float them for 24 hours aslong as they have got access to air. is this true. also i got a bunch of floating plant from my cousin for the female for hiding which has grew rather quickly. it has some snail eggs on it. do bettas or betta fry like to eat these when they hatch. just a question
thanks. also how much is the average price i should pay for vinegar eels.
thanks again

 

[black molly3]

anyone???

 

[devon_charm]

I found that a really good site for live cultures was willieswhiteworm.com i got my VE's from him he also has good instructions on how to keep them and harvest them