Betta spawning questions

[Megan9mm]

I'm trying to spawn my bettas . . .

Today I introduced the female to the male, first in a little cup floating in the tank. She seemed to dig him; she became agitated and displayed incredible barring; she was moving like she was trying to get at him. Meanwhile, the male is furiously building his bubble nest, alternating building with swimming around her and sort of undulating his hindquarters . . . so I let her into the tank and he goes back to building the nest, she swims right over to him, underneath the nest, looking like she's ready to go . . .

And that's where I think it went wrong, because when the male finally responded to her, he was brutal. And I know that that's how it happens with bettas, but he had her cowering in a corner in a bunch of plants, gasping for breath. And it didn't look like she was about to give up any eggs. He was trying to entice her, it looks, because he was kind of nipping at her pelvic area, but she was dead still, I actually thought she was dead for a minute, but then she took a breath. In the course of the chases, the nest was completely destroyed. They were together in the tank for about a half hour, but then I scooped her out because I didn't want to leave them unsupervised while I came up to write this . . .

So, to make a long story short (too late), I don't know what went wrong, if indeed anything did go wrong at all. Should I put the female back in the tank? Is that level of brutality (made me cringe) normal? The female looks like she's swollen with eggs, but I haven't done anything extraordinary to get her that way. I've been feeding everybody brine shrimps, frozen mysis, and their regular Betta Min to try and condition them . . . both fish can see each other, but they haven't been in the same tank until today. Spawning tank is a 10 gallon with about 7 gallons of water in it, pH around 7.0, temp 82 degrees, no filter, with a whole mess of floating plants, some real, some fake. 20% daily water changes (trying to keep damage to nest at a minimum, but inevitably male has to rebuild), cracks in hood, holes for filter, etc. have been Saran wrapped for max humidity.

Keep in mind this is my first attempt to try and get anything to spawn, ever, with the exception of guppies . . .

[Roland]

OK. Your water parameters sound fine, but a ph of 6.5 would be perfect (although I doubt that is the problem)

Like people, temperment and aggresion differs from fish to fish. It sounds like your male is particularly voracious.

I think your best bet would be (presuming you have a spare tank) to take the male out of the breeding tank and put the female in. Condition her for a few days and make sure if she had any injuries that she has recovered. If you havent already, densley plant your breeding tank. Now add the male and just watch.

if hes OK initially, just keep an eye on him and hopefully he will build his nest. Regardless of these precautions, mating is likley to be a rough affair. A good indication of things going well is when the female begins attacking the male back (much less violently!). Ive found this means breeding is immenent.

If its all too much for the female again, take her out of course, and maybe see if a shop will swop him for another male, who may (hopefully!) be less violent.

Dont give up though, these were the first fish I bred and found the whole thing amazing.

Andy;)

[Megan9mm]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm going to switch the male and the female and try again in a few days. I just looked her over, and aside from a split caudal fin, she seems OK. She's already getting feisty again, so I'm not worried. But I've got a new question: Can I put a fungus preventative in the spawning tank when the eggs are finally laid? I'm thinking some methylene blue as a prophylactic for the eggs.

Another question: I read that intense lighting can harm the eggs. I switched my fluorescent fixture for an old incandescent, one with two small light bulbs. That's not too much, is it?

[Roland]

Hi. Your lighting sounds fine (subdued lighting is best for breeding bettas anyway) but if you think it is still too much, try some floating plants (ie Riccia).

I dont know anything about fungal preventatives, but personally I wouldnt add any chemical treatment to the breeding tank.

Also, have you thought about using a tank divider? This way the male can see the female - encouraging him to build his nest - but he cant get to her untill hes finished, and then you can remove the divider.

[wetmanNY]

A trick from the late Al Castro: Put the female in a large mayonnaise jar (whatever) filled to half an inch of the brim and fill the tank to match. Let him build his bubblenest, but leave her in the jar. When she's ready, she'll jump the rim.

I think dense floating plants covering the surface (Water Sprite) gives her more escape routes. Plus: out of sight, out of mind.

I didn't see how big the tank is. Too crowded a set up can make things more intense.

Methylene blue would be okay if the eggs were unattended. But you'd have to change it out before they hatched: the fry would be sensitive to the dye. I don't think you want to fuss with it.

[Megan9mm]

Thanks for all the hints; I do have a bunch of floating plants in the tank, even though most of them are plastic. I switched the female and the male --I've been too cheap to buy a five dollar divider (mostly because I know I have one stashed somewhere and I just can't find it) but I think I might cave. She looks brand new, it's really weird; her caudal fin looks like it's already halfway fused together again. I didn't realize she could heal that quickly. Today I was feeding her frozen shrimp with tweezers, and I was dangling them maybe three quarters of an inch out of the water, and she was jumping for them. Pretty cool. Anyhow, she looks fabulous, and very full of eggs. I think Monday might be the big day, because I work all day tomorrow and I want to be around to supervise them during the Big Event.
I can't believe I've never tried this before. It's really fun.

[Rava]

Ooooh! I'd love to try breeding mine! My females a bit young methinks, and I haven't done all the research yet, but maybe someday. :)

Do let us know how it goes, and how many babies you get! I'm excited for you! :)

[Roland]

Good stuff! Remember and tell us if all goes well!