My bettas are mating ??!!!

[boothbrave]

Came home and what do ya know? My male and female bettas are mating !? I had a gate that separated them but she must've jumped over and well......


Anyways. Total newbie here. Got some q's.

They've been mating for quite some time. When will they stop or when should I take her (or/and him) out?


There's hardly a bubble nest but he's collecting the eggs. It's hard to tell if he's placing the eggs back in the nest or just eating them.

Will the beta fish be hungry after I'v separated them ? Or are they still in the "mood"? 8O


Any other advice is welcome !

Thanks !

 

[Menagerie]

Goodness, sounds like quite a scene!!
As for who to remove, I'm not sure. Christmasfish is on vacation (her daughter breeds bettas). If An t-iasg doesn't come on, send a PM.
They will probably both be hungry--won't you ??

How long have you had these fish housed together with a divider?

 

[bunebop]

You'll wanna remove the female betta once they're done and then leave the male in there, he does the "mommy stuff". Once they hatch you'll have to separate all the males into different jars otherwise they'll kill eachother. Females are ok togeter though. You'll also need liquid food for the babies, available at most pet stores, put a couple drops in a couple times a day.

 

[TankGirl]

Right - definitely remove the female when things settle down, sometimes it gets ugly. It might not work out this time, since they are newbies too, so don't be discouraged, but breeding bettas is a huge undertaking, and involves hundreds (yes, hundreds) of jars to accomplish, so you have to google it and decide if this is what you want to do.

 

[boothbrave]

Okay....so they're still mating after about 6 hours !? 8O

I don't plan on raising so many but to maybe raise a few (6-12)?

Should I separate the female now to cut down on the potential of a hundred offspring?


What's amazing about all this is that it's just a 2.5 gallon tank !!

There's a very tiny nest but I see eggs within the bubbles !

Here's a sneak peak at this amorous couple but be warned it's a bit graphic ! 8O

 

[krap101]

sry i cant really make it out. is that a blur or the other beta?

but yeah take the female out as soon as their done doing their thing. when the eggs hatch or (i forgot when) you take out the dad. then you take out and put into jars the aggressive bettas in the tank

gl and hf

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi Boothbrave,
Your bettas look exactly like pictures I've seen of bettas spawning! Congrats!

I don't breed bettas, but here are a few sites that I thought were pretty good:

http://www.geocities.com/dynarb/mybettapage.html Click on "How I Breed My Bettas" (you'll probably want to scroll halfway down, since you don't need to know how to get them to breed ). Also try clicking on "Growing Betta Babies".

http://www.bettasrus.com/bcorner/index.htm Look over on the right, and you'll see topics like "Daddy's Duties" and "Feeding Your Fry".

Some quick things that I saw -- leave the male in with the fry and the bubble nest until the fry are free-swimming, about 3 days after hatching, since the male makes sure all the eggs stay in the nest, and he may also move them around the nest periodically so as to avoid fungus. I've also read that he will move his pectoral fins (the ones behind his gills) to move some water over the eggs. Individually jar them at about two - two and a half months, and then start introducing them to adult food. Of course, this depends on how fast they grow. They should be ready to sell or be in their own tank at 4 months.

 

[boothbrave]

Thanks for the replys !

I've been doing some research on the net and this is just one hurdle on raising baby bettas. 8O

One hurdle that's already on my mind is that in two months I'm also on vacation. What to do about a few baby bettas ? hhmmmmm?

Right now I've taken the female out. She just rested to the side and didn't seem interested anymore. Before that it was cool as they worked together to search/collect the eggs and place them in the bubble nest. 8)
I'm just hopin they were fertilized.


Here's a second pic of the two !

 

[krap101]

oh now i see it. yeah it does look like it

 

[lreilly]

I belive the male is coating the eggs with his saliva when he takes them in his mouth this all so helps aid in avoiding fungus.