Breeding betta splendens

[goldfish_is_orange]

I'm trying to get some betta babies, but with no luck.

I conditioned the male and female in separate tanks for 2 weeks. Then I put the tanks side by side, so they see each other for a few hours a day. I put a cover in between after 4 hours of introduction. Did that for 3 days. After the 3rd day, I didn't take the cover for 24 hrs. I added the female to the tank the next day and they went on with business-- a bit of flaring/flirting, chasing, female checking the bubble nest, male showing off, the dance, the embrace.

First attempt: the male and female ate all the eggs. didn't even put them in the bubble nest at all. After a while, I took the female out for recovery. I think I may have taken her out too soon. I don't know their exact age, but maybe the female was quite old and she didn't have viable eggs.

Second attempt: it's a smaller female, a crowntail. the male scooped the eggs up and put them in the nest. the female helped with putting the eggs in the nest, too. when the female started hiding, I took her out into a recovery tank. minutes after that, the male started taking the eggs from the nest..I though he was moving them to another nest, so I said, cool. An hour later, I come back to check up on him, he's fat as heck and the eggs are nowhere to be found...

I have 2 more females I can try to get him to mate with, the two youngest of the female bunch.. but is it possible that there's something wrong with my male?

 

[EllRog]

I'm trying to get some betta babies, but with no luck.

I conditioned the male and female in separate tanks for 2 weeks. Then I put the tanks side by side, so they see each other for a few hours a day. I put a cover in between after 4 hours of introduction. Did that for 3 days. After the 3rd day, I didn't take the cover for 24 hrs. I added the female to the tank the next day and they went on with business-- a bit of flaring/flirting, chasing, female checking the bubble nest, male showing off, the dance, the embrace.

First attempt: the male and female ate all the eggs. didn't even put them in the bubble nest at all. After a while, I took the female out for recovery. I think I may have taken her out too soon. I don't know their exact age, but maybe the female was quite old and she didn't have viable eggs.

Second attempt: it's a smaller female, a crowntail. the male scooped the eggs up and put them in the nest. the female helped with putting the eggs in the nest, too. when the female started hiding, I took her out into a recovery tank. minutes after that, the male started taking the eggs from the nest..I though he was moving them to another nest, so I said, cool. An hour later, I come back to check up on him, he's fat as heck and the eggs are nowhere to be found...

I have 2 more females I can try to get him to mate with, the two youngest of the female bunch.. but is it possible that there's something wrong with my male?

Sometimes the males do just eat the eggs, you can persist in the hope he'll get the hang of it, but after multiple failed attempts, I'd have tried a different male. I hope it works out for you though, i know how frustrating unsuccessful spawning attempts are! Best of luck

 

[goldfish_is_orange]

Sometimes the males do just eat the eggs, you can persist in the hope he'll get the hang of it, but after multiple failed attempts, I'd have tried a different male. I hope it works out for you though, i know how frustrating unsuccessful spawning attempts are! Best of luck

Thanks! I'll try one more time with this guy. If it fails, I'll just let him be .
At the moment my only other male is an imbellis..not sure if he's ready to spawn yet and I don't have any imbellis females.

Something interesting happened in the recovery tank.. this morning when I checked on the female crowntail, I see a lot of bubbles like she was building her own nest. I didn't have anything floating for the bubbles to latch on, but they've covered the perimeter of the tank!

 

[itiwhetu]

Once they finish laying take both out, and just leave the eggs in the tank they will be fine by themselves

 

[goldfish_is_orange]

Once they finish laying take both out, and just leave the eggs in the tank they will be fine by themselves

The guide I'm following said leave the male in until the fry are free-swimming, that's why I didn't take the male out right away. I'll try your suggestion on the next attempt. thanks!

 

[itiwhetu]

The male performs a very small role with the eggs in an aquarium. In the wild he protects his young, in an aquarium he doesn't need to do that as there are no predators, so it is safe to remove him.

 

[goldfish_is_orange]

The male performs a very small role with the eggs in an aquarium. In the wild he protects his young, in an aquarium he doesn't need to do that as there are no predators, so it is safe to remove him.

That makes sense. But if they can't swim yet, they can't go to the surface. When the fry fall off, I thought the male would put them back in to the nest so that they're on the surface and can gulp some air? It was not explained in the guide why they said leave the male for a while, so this was my guess.

 

[itiwhetu]

That makes sense. But if they can't swim yet, they can't go to the surface. When the fry fall off, I thought the male would put them back in to the nest so that they're on the surface and can gulp some air? It was not explained in the guide why they said leave the male for a while, so this was my guess.

The Fry naturally float to the surface until they are free swimming. Remember these are some of the smallest fry around. After about 48 hours you can tap the nest and you will see them drop down and then drift back to the nest.

 

[goldfish_is_orange]

The Fry naturally float to the surface until they are free swimming. Remember these are some of the smallest fry around. After about 48 hours you can tap the nest and you will see them drop down and then drift back to the nest.

OK. thanks for the tips. I will try this method soon.