Breeding Bettas

[Nippyfish]

For you folks that have bred bettas, do you seperate them overnight? My
male and female are showing strong interest in each other. The female
has her vertical stripes and the male is chasing her around. She is
getting sort of beat up with some rips in her fins and I don't feel
comfortable going to bed with them together. (This is the female that
killed my last male when she jumped the tank divider)

Will separating them overnight set the whole process back when I put
them together again tomorrow? No embrase has taken place up to this
point. Just a lot of showing off.

 

[RandomWiktor]

I would not leave them overnight. A fatal attack can occur any time during a spawn, so unless the fish are being watched dilligently, they should not be left alone. I know many people on this forum and others who left the room for just 30min to come back and find the male or female dead. Perhaps you could put her back in the glass chimmeny for the night, so they can still see one another, but not come into contact? Maybe by tomorrow, they'll be ready and will embrace.

 

[lisie]

In my past spawn attempts I've left my pairs in the spawn tank together overnight, but only because they were super gentle to each other, and I ended up waking up every couple hours to check on them anyway because I couldn't sleep either from excitement or nervousness. A few nips are normal, but if your pair is especially brutal, than putting the female back in the vase is probably a good idea.

 

[bUcky]

i usually lave mine overnight, they spawn most of the time at night. but im not saying thats for everyone.

 

[e11cloud]

Every pair is different. I'd leave her in the glass chimney overnight if you're concerned. That will give him more time to build up the nest even more, she can rest a bit, and that might be a little bit of a "tease" for them. It might even help.

 

[tank212]

Here's my thoughts on this. I attempted breeding bettas about 4 or 5 times before I got a succesful spawn. I was very nervous for my female taking a beating. I would watch them closely and within the first few hours the female would either be swimming away frantically or be getting nipped like crazy. I would always give in and take them out at this point which was a BIG mistake. So on my last spawn what I did was condition them of course and covered them up with a blanket and ignored basically. I would come back every couple hours or so just to check what was going on. I left them overnight and the next morning there were eggs in the nest, the female was fine with some tears that healed up with a little medicine. So after saying all that. My advice to you would be to make sure they are very well conditioned. Make sure there are plenty of hiding spaces and just leave them alone to do their thing. Also it has helped me alot if I cover the tank with something so they don't get distracted.
Good luck hope this helps

 

[Joby]

I keep them in overnight, in fact usually release female early evening and generally have eggs by morning You obviously need to check them before you leave them to make sure its not hate at first sight

 

[OohFeeshy]

If you're worried, stick in some more fake plants to hide in.