Spawn Log, Leo And Lily

[lilfishie]

Gave them both there normal BW meal this morning, Lily was all barred up so let her out, they ignored each other at fisrt, stayed at opposite sides of the tank
Then he started flareing and showing off then running back to his nest, she checked it out a few times
Now he is attacking her, not actually done any damage cause she is too quick, should i leave them together still?
i'm off to work at 2 and don't know whether to leave them together or not?

a piccy of there first meeting

Lily after being chased around

She'll sit in the corner for a minute or two then swim straight up to him and it happens all over agian, is it normal breeding behaviour? i know it can be aggressive but unsure

 

[newfishy]

as long as there is not major fin damage it is normal, as long as one fish is not swimming circles of death around the tank its ok.

the only thing I do is provide a massive amount of cover for the fish, then spawnings dont seem to be as rough.

 

[ibbledibble]

personally i would put her back into her jar/trap/net so they can still see each other and put them back together again tomorrow. i have had great success with the add - remove, add - remove, add method usually the second or third time the female is let out she swims straight under the nest and they get started. the one time i left them out together overnight. i came down in the morning to a dead and munched upon female! and they were not even all that aggressive before i went to bed.

i think for peace of mind, i just prefer to be there in case it does get super aggressive.

 

[lilfishie]

Both are fine, not fin damage but will seperate overnight just to be safe

 

[modaz]

Both are fine, not fin damage but will seperate overnight just to be safe

to be honest your water level is too high, it needs to be about 6 inches deep for a successful spawn, also she doesnt look eggy to me, she may need condtioning up again.

 

[wilsonnw8]

6 inches eh? thats interesting and useful information for me! why is that modaz?

 

[modaz]

6 inches eh? thats interesting and useful information for me! why is that modaz?

The lower the water level, but not too low, the best chance of eggs being collected by the male, to far to swim down and he will leave them as most are lazy swines , over the 3 days that he will be looking after the eggs they will be falling out of the nest and also the newly hatched fry fall from the nest so reducing the water level helps the poor guy out as he will need to collect them. Also the male releases sperm and whats not used falls on the base of the tank, and then any unfertilzed eggs will also get fertlized, if the height of the water is too high there is less chance that the sperm and eggs landing in one area thus not so many fry produced, this is also another reason why you shouldnt spawn with a water flow, hope that makes sense, im tired so not explaining myself to well.

 

[azulfire24]

yep and ;ower water levels mean the ait at surface level isnt rith at the top of the tank where it gets chilled quicker, new born fry need very humid air to breath the first 3 weeks of life too cold and it can kill them or get them sick, somthing about the still developing anrobic air breathing thing

 

[wilsonnw8]

cool thanks guys! Im still waiting for my perfect pair but Im glad I know that for the future!

 

[ezrock]

Yep, definitely lower the water level. I even spawn in about 4" Another member of the betta breeders canada group has had success with just 1.5" of water!

I always leave the female in unless there's significant fin damage. I hear all the time of people taking out a non-damaged female just because they didn't spawn the first day. Once I suggest they leave females in (unless they're getting really torn up) they are able to spawn them quickly

 

[constantine03]

I agree she doesn't look eggy. The low water level isn't to help the labyrinth organ develop...that's what the heater and covered top are for. The low water level is so the male doesn't get too tired going down to the bottom and bringing the eggs/babies back to the top and just stop doing it, resulting in unhatched eggs/drowned fry. Remember, he doesn't get to munch on anything for a long time, and that much focussed work is really tedious for the little guy. You want to make it as easy as possible on him!

 

[lilfishie]

Well there both in there seperate tanks now, Leo destroyed his own nest then didn't build another one Lily's egg spot was protuding (sp?) which made me think she was ready, now its not, so will recondition them both and redo the tank so the water is shallower, i don't know whether to try Leo again or use Lancelot as he is always nice and fat, mite try Lily in Lancelots tank for conditioning (not with him of course) as he gets cory food too which he loves, think it will help fatten her up a bit, thanks all for the help