Breeding Bettas

[rocknurworld2006]

Hi i was wondering if anyone could help me im trying to breed my betta fish and the male is very aggressive and i keep having to remove the female. He has built several big bubble nests and the female is ripe with eggs. Can anyone help on any ideas on how to breed them as the male attacks the female the minute i put her in with him!

 

[devon_charm]

He will chase her round and rip her up a bit, thats all part of it, and more often than not you end up with a very tatty female. Just make sure there are lots of places for her to hide. Did you introduce her in a glass chimney or some things first?

 

[jrh]

After they breed, do you remove the female to a small QT tank to recover? Should the water be dosed with any meds to help prevent infections, or just kept clean?

 

[nakomis90]

After they breed, do you remove the female to a small QT tank to recover? Should the water be dosed with any meds to help prevent infections, or just kept clean?

Im puttong mine in a QT tank to recover!

 

[Amerce]

The female needs to be put into a QT tank to recover for a couple of days, a small amount of salt and maybe Melafix or whatever you have available in the US to repair damaged fins will be of help in recovering, make sure that the QT tank is the same tank as the breeding tank to avoid shocking her system.

You say that the female is ripe with eggs, how are you judging that ?

Females can be quite chubby but it doesn't mean that she is ready to mate, you have to introduce her to the male in a safe container like a glass chimney or clear glass container, this will ensure that the male can view her and display and prepare her body to produce eggs --- this may take a day or two before she is truely ready, to ensure you understand when she is ready she will be submissive by dipping her nose down in the tank and her fins will be folded, she will have vertical stripes and not horizontal stripes -


Vertical ]]]]]]]] this equates to breeding

Horizontal ------------ equates to stress

 

[rocknurworld2006]

i have a divider in the tank male on one side and female on the other they ve been their for about week , they can see each other through the divider clearly. she has vertical stripes and a white dot at the end of her egg tube which is clearly visible.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

i have a divider in the tank male on one side and female on the other they ve been their for about week , they can see each other through the divider clearly. she has vertical stripes and a white dot at the end of her egg tube which is clearly visible.

what extent would you say of aggressiveness from the male to the female would i have to remove her what things should watch for when i put them together to the point that she is in danger??

 

[nakomis90]

i have a divider in the tank male on one side and female on the other they ve been their for about week , they can see each other through the divider clearly. she has vertical stripes and a white dot at the end of her egg tube which is clearly visible.

what extent would you say of aggressiveness from the male to the female would i have to remove her what things should watch for when i put them together to the point that she is in danger??

when theyve bred, and he has the eggs and begins chasing her awayfro, the nest is when our supposed to take them out unless shes reeaaally stressed....

 

[Amerce]

A divided tank is OK initially to introduce the male to female but you will have to move her once they have mated as any potential fry are going to be snacks for her once they become free swimming.

As for potential dangers basically as long as there are some plant cover or such like she should be OK, but really it is a matter of seeing how aggressive the male is and how much he nips her, so you have to keep an eye on them from a relatively close distance without disturbing them with a lot of movement.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

A divided tank is OK initially to introduce the male to female but you will have to move her once they have mated as any potential fry are going to be snacks for her once they become free swimming.

As for potential dangers basically as long as there are some plant cover or such like she should be OK, but really it is a matter of seeing how aggressive the male is and how much he nips her, so you have to keep an eye on them from a relatively close distance without disturbing them with a lot of movement.

thanks for the help, and what would the extent of aggressiveness to the point id have to move her?? last time i tried putting her in with him she was bouncing around the tank trying to get away from him and ended up breaking up nest. even with plants in and a ornament to hide in he followed her everywhere!

 

[Amerce]

A divided tank is OK initially to introduce the male to female but you will have to move her once they have mated as any potential fry are going to be snacks for her once they become free swimming.

As for potential dangers basically as long as there are some plant cover or such like she should be OK, but really it is a matter of seeing how aggressive the male is and how much he nips her, so you have to keep an eye on them from a relatively close distance without disturbing them with a lot of movement.

thanks for the help, and what would the extent of aggressiveness to the point id have to move her?? last time i tried putting her in with him she was bouncing around the tank trying to get away from him and ended up breaking up nest. even with plants in and a ornament to hide in he followed her everywhere!

To some extent this is normal, you just have to decide yourself if the amount of damage she is getting is excessive (how much can you tolerate her fins getting ripped and has he damaged her scales too much).

All breeding sessions are different from one male to another, I have found that VT's love performing in the tank and rarely damage the female in anyway.

I recently bred a male SD with a HM female and she only had a few nips on her tail and other than that she was OK.

Tried her again a few weeks later on down the liine with a PKHM male and he was lovely, he danced around the tank and took ages before he was willing to settle down to breeding, but not a nip out of him towards her.

She is now resting in a QT tank to recover from this session and I'll put her back in with the females tomorrow.

As I say every session is different and you will need to decide how far to allow aggression to go on.

Good luck