Female Betta question

[dralarms]

I'll admit it, I'm a newbe. But my female betta had stripes on her side and I put her into the tank with my male. the stripes dissapeared, my daughter had one that was really "poofy" to use her term, looked like she was carrying a bunch of eggs so I took my female out and put her's in, now my female's stripe is back and her's is gone. What does this mean? :?

 

[Terry]

I think you will find that the female is changing to display to the male, The female is quite plain compaired to a male but they still have some nice reds and blue colours on them which they will show to the male when he is about. If there isn't a male about they have no reason to show them.

 

[notmuffy]

Terry, it sounds like she is talking about the opposite. They had stripes UNTIL they were with the male. I don't know about them, but I'll bet Mr. Male Betta is pretty happy!

 

[dralarms]

Actually, got up this morn, and both females were back to having stripes and the bubble nests are gone.

 

[bettacove]

Are they vertical stripes or horizontal stripes?
Are you trying to spawn them?


ashley

 

[dralarms]

they were running front to back, and yes I was. Figured since the bubble nests were gone this morning they wern't ready so I'll try again later.

 

[dralarms]

Just an update, rearranged tank so the 2 males can't see each other as much, put the females back in and now their stripes are running up and down. I'm more confused than ever.

 

[bettacove]

Running front to back are fear/stress stripes. Don't realise your female with the male if she has these.
Bubble nests are not a major part of breeding. if he doesn't have one, then oh well. All that really matters is if the female is ready.

How is your tank set up??? And how big is it? Are you putting 2 females in with the one male? How are you putting in the females? (are they seperated at first or are you just dumping them in?)

ashley

 

[dralarms]

It was a split 10 gal, only one female to each male, tried setting them up and letting them get aquanited first but lost one the first night, she jumped out of the tank. so I've just been dumping them in. I have now got the males in a 1 gal tank each (away from each other). The females are back in the main tank. 2 of them are ok, 1 of them is still showing her "stripes". I'm gonna let them get used to their envoirment, and then put them in a small tank beside the males tank so they can see each other for a day or two and then I'll try it again. No I've got a empty 10 gal, think I'll go buy the red fin sharks I wanted.

 

[bettacove]

How is it split? They won't likely spawn if they can see the other pair.
Here are some spawning tips:
-Only fill the tank with about 5-6 inches/half full of water.
-Don't use a 1gal, use a 5 or 10
-Put the male free in the spawning tank, and then indroduce the female in a clear jar or whatever. Leave her in the jar untill the next day, and if she still has the vertical stripes and is not scared or stressed then release her.
-If you actually want to be able to raise the babies to adulthood, then you will need that 10gal.

good luck with your spawns!
ashley

 

[dralarms]

So only one at a time in the tank. ok. I'll try that. Thanks

 

[dralarms]

Ok, I now have 1 male in the 10 gal tank, seperated by a divider, 2 females on the other side. How will I know which one to put in his side? and Why are my female betta's stressed in my 55 gal tank? do they not like company? the water is the same in the 10 gal, and they are now not showing the "stress stripes".

 

[bettacove]

Just put anyone one in, but seperated.(take the other one out of the divider).
They are probably just getting used to each other and the tank, how long have you had them in there?

ashley

 

[dralarms]

Since this morning, however I was talking about my 55 gal tank. My female betta's stay in the "stressed" mode. only thing I have in there are 2 bala sharks, 2 dalmation mollies?, 2 bleeding hearts, 4 painted somethings, 2 rainbows, and 4 cory cats. Are they afraid of any of these?

 

[bettacove]

Maybe, how long have you had them in there?

ashley

 

[dralarms]

They were put in a week after I got the first batch. Thinking about just putting them in the 1/2 side of the 10 gal, and them just moving 1 of them to the male's side. Would that work?

 

[bettacove]

There probably still just getting used to things, they should be ok after a while. If not you could always just get a few more females or just move them to a different tank.
If you were to put them into the 10gal when trying to spawn the others then they probably wont spawn, cus the pair would be distracted by the other fish. But you never know...

ashley

 

[dralarms]

ok so they are ok to put back in my 55 gal? Good cause all the male does is chase which ever one is closest to the divider. lol Thinking about putting all the females back in the 55 gal, and putting the male back in the 1 gal. and getting me some freshwater sharks. Not the Bala type.

 

[bettacove]

Good luck with your tanks!

ashley

 

[dralarms]

Thanks, but the mating is off for a while, gonna have to put the females back in the main tank, and put the male back in his 1 gal. Found out that my dalmation molly male was eating the babies as they were being born so I had to rescue her from the big tank.