New To Forum And Have A Few Questions About Breeding...

[emeleeliggett]

Hi all,

I've been reading through other threads on this site as well as many others gaining more knowledge on the subject and I'm once again trying to breed my betta.

I have a lovely half-moon male White Beauty (we call him Parachute Boy) I found at a LFS about a month ago and was so in love I had to buy him The picture does not do him justice at all!

Since I knew I wanted to breed him I put him in the ten-gallon tank with some java moss and java fern and a piece of drift wood to let him get ready for the big day. I waited to mate him because I wanted to make sure he was healthy and active. For the last two weeks I've been conditioning him for spawning with blood worms, live white worms, and brine shrimp flakes. He made the nest and I introduced a female I've had for two months who was showing vertical stripes and a full belly. Almost immediately they went under the nest and he embraced her. He was a little awkward and I assumed he was just trying to get it right.

The problem that occurred was NO eggs came out of her! They did this at least ten times and still nothing. Neither had a scratch on them at this point and I had considered myself lucky. Then female began to get frustrated and nipped a huge chunk out of my boy's bottom fin. After this he grew very rough and began chasing her relentlessly around the tank. I pulled her out and let them both recondition for four days.

Now I've let them back together and the female is completely ready to mate. She's even more aggressively trying to get him to embrace with her. She's even staying under his nest even though he's nipping at her. He wiggles back against her then decides to bite and chase her away. Why? He doesn't even accept her when she's being submissive with her head down. I'm so confused!

Thanks for any help.

 

[Netty]

It can take some males quite a while of wrapping until the eggs are released. We've had one pair that were wrapping for an hour before the first eggs started appearing.

Aggressive behaviour is all part of their mating ritual and some females will end up with more damage than others. Obviously if she getting very beaten up then it's best to remove her.

We tend to release our females for a couple of hours in the evening and then put her back in the chimney overnight and release again the next day.

Do you have a picture of your female?

 

[wilsonnw8]

did you put her in a chimney in his tank before releasing her? she needs to be in a chimney in his tank for at least 2 days before she can be released. Im assuming your conditioning her as well? before putting them together she should be "fat" with eggs how does she look? does she look eggy?

 

[emeleeliggett]

Whoa thanks for the fast reply! I literally just took these pictures!

This is Lilly, she looks quite fat and has definite vertical stripes. Also her egg spot is visible in one of the pictures, she has been conditioned the same as him except more live white worms. I treated her with aquarium salt and a slime coat medicine to help her get back in shape. She certainly seemed ready to go...

The first time I introduced the pair she was in her "betta barrack" for almost a day and I released her at night. That's when they immediately began to embrace. I just got worried because she got so frustrated and I thought she would seriously hurt him.

This second time I had her in the barracks over night then released her at 2:00 pm the next day. He had overnight built his bubblenest and appeared interested in her.

Thanks!

 

[Netty]

The pics aren't showing.

How is you tank set up for spawning. Some more info might be helpful to find out what may be going wrong.

Size of tank
Depth of water
Decor
Temp

 

[emeleeliggett]

All right, I think I got the pictures to work right. They work for me at least...

-Ten gallon tank (standard)
-Water temp 80 degrees F
-pH is 7.4
-Height of water about 7-8 inches
-java moss, java fern, three large rocks for Lilly to hide in, a piece of driftwood to make the water softer
-a corner filter turned off for now
-plastic wrap over half of tank under hood to keep in humidity
-light has been ON in the tank since introducing Lilly
-I have not taken out the betta barrack because I don't want to disturb the water
-anchored cork with java moss on it for male to make bubblenest (he would have nothing to do with the Styrofoam cup)

Thanks!

 

[Netty]

Sounds like you have everything set up correctly but having looked at her pics, she looks suspiciously male to me. Does she have a full flare that you've noticed at all?

 

[wilsonnw8]

Sounds like you have everything set up correctly but having looked at her pics, she looks suspiciously male to me. Does she have a full flare that you've noticed at all?

She doesnt look in fantastic Nick have you been conditioning her? Any unusual marks on her or damage? How old is she did you buy her from your LFS?
I would say perhaps male but with the Ovi and having had the male wrap her already with her displaying "nose down" she could be like Mim a bit masculine but female.

 

[Netty]

That's true Tilly.....I forgot that he said that they'd been wrapping so maybe a very butch female and doesn't look to be that eggy.

 

[emeleeliggett]

She flares but does not have the "beard" that comes down like my males. I'm almost positive she's a female! She has the very pronounced egg spot and allowed the male to wrap around her and she went upside down. She rarely flares at the male just is very excited to get over to him.

She's not as fat as some other betta females I've seen (I have another one who looks ready to pop but she's too big for my half-moon). I did condition her but I was afraid the white worms would make her super bloated because I've heard they are fatty. Maybe she's just not eggy enough?

 

[wilsonnw8]

Thanks Netty, By the looks of her Im tempted to say age is the issue, perhaps she's a bit elderly for breeding also her gill looks to be cut so if you were going to try again Id give it a couple of weeks. Blood worm and hikari pellets are good for conditioning and if your worried about bloat you can always use pea treatment

 

[emeleeliggett]

Ok, you guys have been great help!

If by the end of today they haven't done anything I'll put her back in her quarantine tank until she's real fat. She's only about 1.5 inches and I got her when she was only 1 inch so I'm pretty sure she's young enough to mate.

Oh, and don't worry about the gill, that's from the flash on my camera. She's only torn on the bottom fin and the tail.

Thanks so much!!

 

[wilsonnw8]

Ok good stuff if nothing happens give her a while longer on blood worm and hikari good luck

 

[Netty]

Good luck with them. We feed bloodworm and Atisons Betta Pro for conditioning and usually feed 3 times a day for 2 weeks.

There is also a breeding section on our website that you might find useful

 

[emeleeliggett]

Thanks again, you have been more than helpful.

I will defiantly look up that breeding section. I am going to get this right!