What do I do?

[Nuttygal! :0)]

A few days ago I put one of my females with one of my crowntail males. They have been conditioned for 2 weeks and were both looking great. So the male built a small-ish bubble nest and the female barred up and make herself look all pretty. They were getting along great, but then the female seemed to lose interest and decided to check out the tank. The male still kept flaring at her, but she didn't want to know. Well, I made sure and they definatley were not hurting eachother, and as I know it can take a couple of days for them to spawn, I left them.
Well, yesterday when I fed them I noticed that the male was wrapped round the female, but she looked so strange I thought she was dead! But she was realeasing eggs. He kept collecting the eggs, at first putting them in the bubble nest, but then he started eating them! Arrgh! The female would swim around with him, then they would embrace again, she would release eggs, and he would eat them!
Would should I do? They still keep embracing etc etc but he's eating most of the eggs! He only actually put about 2 in the nest!
Thanks

Edited to add: the female is getting fatter and fatter every day!

 

[jacquelyn01]

you would be supprised how many eggs are actually really in the nest. I thought that all or most of my eggs were eaten too, but I ended up w/lots of babies! Just give it time.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Really? Great! Yay, so my bettas really are going to be parents!

 

[mandi]

Sometimes I believe they'll also eat the "bad" eggs that don't get fertilized.

Good luck.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Wow - Jacquelyn and Mandi, you were right! They got babies! So sweet, I was just watching a DVD then I saw Tiam (that's his name! ) collecting things in his mouth. Looking closer, I realised - THEY WERE BABIES! He kept on picking them up in his mouth and again I thought he was eating them but he took them up and put them back in the nest!
How long will it be before they are free-swimming?
When do I take the male out?
When do I have to seperate them and put them all in jars?
When can I start selling them?
The bubble nest is quite big so I reckon there's gonna be lots of bubbas!
P.S - oh, one more thing, when can I do a water change? I don't want to destroy the bubble nest, but the last time I did a 50% water change was 3 days ago. What should I do?
Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

He seems as though he a little bit distressed now - he's swimming round frantically, but still looking after the babies. When shall I take him out? And I fed him some more flake and some bloodworm and he ate it, but I'm still kinda worried....

 

[Joby]

Take a look at the pinned topic Wuv did on Breeding Bettas as there is very good information in there. Also you can try using the search facility on recent spawns breeders have done as these are also very useful and what I used a lot when I had my spawn.

Good luck with your spawn

Edited for poor spelling )

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Thanks Joby I'll check them out!

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Can anyone help me???
Yesterday the fry were falling out of the nest and the male was picking them up in his mouth and then taking them back to the nest.
Today, I have not seen any fry at all. Does this mean they're all died or something?
I'm really worried and I don't know what to do. Also, the male has made another bubble nest and I am thinking of putting the female back in his tank so they can spawn again if there are no more babies? Could I do this? After the fry start falling out of the nest, how many days is it after that before they are actually free-swimming?
I'm so worried...

 

[coconutman39]

if there are plants in the tank i can almost guarentee that they are hiding in them. Don't put the female back in for sure, she isnt conditioned.

You should remove the dad about 4 days after you removed the female, or about 2 after you notice fry.

What is the temp of the tank?

 

[Idolz]

Your female might need some more time to recoop and form more eggs.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

The temp of the tank is about 75.
...and OMG I had a couple of plastic plants but I took them out about an hour ago because I thought if any more fry were falling out of the nest then the male might not see them...so they may have been fry in the plants? I'm going to kick myself... doh! doh! doh!



........ouch.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Oh, and how long will the female take to form more eggs then?
Oh, I'm sooo stupid.

 

[Nuttygal! :0)]

Ok I know that it's kinda dumb that I'm adding replies to my own posts, but....who cares. Anyway, I have three females and 1 male, and I also have a 10gal tank with 5 harliquins. I think I'm gonna buy another male crowntail betta and put him in that tank when I buy the 3 pigmy cories tomorrow. And then I can try spawning him. Coz I'm really confuzed, and I want a spawn! Ok, so that attempt didn't quite work out, and it is a shame because Tiam was being really great about looking after his bubbas, but I'll have to try again.
Whaddya think guys? Shall I try and spawn the new male, or try spawning this male and female again?

EDIT: Shall I move the harliquins if I buy a new betta? They wouldn't nip his fins, would they?

 

[hozb]

Ive been told harliquins are ok with bettas but i cant say anything from experience