# What am I doing wrong???



## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Ok I moved my spawning tank into my garage where it's warmer and my betta's won't be disturbed. I put the male into the tank and the female in her tank next to it so they could see each other. The following night I put the female into the spawning tank and the male made a bubble nest withinh 24 hours and there was a small storm here that night so I was hopeful that they would spawn but when i went to feed them this morning I noticed that the bubble nset has pretty much all but disapeared . The female looks thinner too so I think they may have spawned but eaten the eggs? I don't know what to do. I used to have them in the kitchen and they didn't even look like they were going to spawn in there, not private enough perhaps, so I moved them to the garage where a) the water temp wld be higher and b) they would have privacy. I am at my wits end with this. It's my 9th attepmt at spawning and I don't know what more I can do.

Any advice would be appreciated


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## thatsfishy (Jan 18, 2005)

You keep forgetting to play a tape of Barry White! lol ...j/k

Sometimes the problem is not you, but with the fish, they may just not "click" ... especially if you're attempts have always been with the same pair. If not, do you condition the fish prior to spawning? How long and how? 

Is your water temperature constant at 80F (~27C)?
Did you try NOT letting the pair see each other before putting them together?
Have you tried adding the pair by separating the female with a hurricane lamp in the tank?
How long do you usually leave them together before you decide the pair isn't going to spawn?
Have you tried the "jealousy method"? -> Putting another male or female (depends on who seems unwilling) in visible range next to the spawn tank.
Have you tried the "drop and run" method? -> Adding both fish at the same time to the tank w/o separation or bubblenest (provide good hiding places if you do that).

Other then that, I wish I could give you a more definite answer, but there just isn't a right or wrong method when it comes to spawning. It depends on what your comfortable with and in the end ... the fish. If they don't wanna spawn together, they just don't. 

And yes, sometimes you do get a fish that's an egg eater. Not much you can do about that but to watch them like a hawk and take both out and raise the eggs artificially.


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## maire (Jan 18, 2005)

You might also want to check out this website ... www.bettatalk.com/ That is where I found a method that works well with my bettas.


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## kideafish (Jan 20, 2005)

I have been a successful Betta breeder for a few years now and I can confirm for definite that some Bettas will not spawn with certain other bettas.

I have some beautiful males that I have tried spawning with beautiful females to get new colours but soemtimes they just do not want to know. Especially the older males, they are pickier than the younger ones.
Some females just will not spawn with certain males either. Then some go mad for others and some will go with any male/female.
The females tend to be the picky ones, she may just not appreciate his bubblenest yet !! 

Good Luck with them


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

Cover all but one side of the tank so you don't disturb them as much. Don't give up. I've been working with Bettas since 1992 and I still have times where my fish don't want to spawn. 


RC


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## lovdiscus (Jan 24, 2005)

Good morning! I read your post and thought maybe I could offer some advice. For starters, I thought it was cute that you gave them privacy..I have bred bettas successfully for many years...and trust me, they dont need privacy. I always sat right in front of the tank and watched them breed. Amazing to watch. At night, I would use a flashlight to check them out to make sure all was progressing smoothly. It is very true that some bettas just dont seem to like each other. What I finally did and it worked well, was to put the male in a 10 gallon tank (make sure all parameters are met-I am assuming you know these allready) then I would put in lots of plants towards the back of the tank (I prefer fake plants with weights on the bottom) Then, all at once, I add in 3 of my best gravid females. Yes, all three at the same time. There will be alot of chasing, and you have to watch closely to make sure none get hurt. I have never had any get hurt as there are 4 in the tank, the aggression is pretty evenly distributed. You will notice pretty quickly, that one female will be interested in the male (she will have her stripes showing). She will start going after the other females too. Now you know which one you want to leave in there and you can now remove the other two. Now, let nature take its course. He will have start building his bubble nest by now and she will have allready made several passes thru. When they are ready, they will spawn. 
This method worked great for me. I used it every time, with success. I am no longer breeding fish, it became way too much work for me and I didnt have enough room. I had bettas all over the place.
Make sure if you breed them, you understand that each little baby will eventually need his own jar (except the females) and you will be responsible for finding him/her a good home. 
Donna


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

That method does sound like a good one, I was planning to get some more females a few weeks ago but my aquarium shop dind't have any in stock. I am going to have a look when I get paid next. I have 2 males and the female I have is a cambodian red so she doesn't bar up when she's ready to spawn so i'm pretty much flying blind. I've had my blue male and the female in the spawning tank for aobut 10days now and still nothing has happened. I think i might remove the blue male, do a water change and put the red male in there. I'll keep you all updated if I have success or not. Thanks to everyone for the advice.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

ok, I decided to change the breed pair and put the female in with my red male. I put them next to each other for just over 24hrs in which time they both began to make bubble nests. I put the female in with him last night before I went to bed and when I went to feed them this morning I found the male laying sullenly on the tank floor with all his fins tattered and whiteish spots on his head. He looks asthough he's been in a fight with another male. I have no idea what happened. I took the male out immediatly and put him in his own little tank with some betta fix. He isn't interested in eating either. I think they may have spawned as the female seems to be guarding the bubble nest. I don't know how to tell if there are eggs in it or not. I was thinking that maybe the female was actually a juvenile male as she started out a creamy colour with red fins that have a fleck of neon green through them but now she has red continuing through her body and almost half of her is red now. I suppose i'll leave her in the spawning tank for a day or two and see if any eggs hatch if not I'm going to buy another female and try again with the red male when he is on the mend. If anyone has any advice or any idea what might have happened or want to ask more questions please don't hesitate to.


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## MB75 (Jan 24, 2005)

What if your female is not a female at all but a short-finned male? Does "she" have the ovipositor, little white thing visible between her fins below the tummy? Females always have it visible.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I think you might be onto something there. I've jsut noticed tonight that this fish's fins have gone from neon green to blue. I can't see anything between it's fins at all. and it is stedily still changing colour. Perhaps it is finally maturing. I'm going to take it to an aquarium shop or try to find someone locally that is a betta expert to take a look. Either way I'm going to purchase 2 new females tomorrow, hopefully they really will be females this time. I've atached some pictures so you can see him/her. If anyone can distinguish what sex it is from the pics please let me know.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I went to my aquarium this arvo and had a look at the 'female' betta's but all except 2 looked to me asthough they were really short finned males. Females are considerably smaller than the males aren't they? I wasn't sure if I was going to get a female or not and I didn't want to risk nearly losing another male so didn't get any.Anyone who breeds betta's and feels like taking pity on me and wants to send me a female free of charge so I can finally start breeding feel free to email me...hahahhaha. I won't hold my breath though.


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## Lisachromis (Jan 19, 2005)

anasfire23 @ Thu Feb 03 said:


> I went to my aquarium this arvo and had a look at the 'female' betta's but all except 2 looked to me asthough they were really short finned males. Females are considerably smaller than the males aren't they? I wasn't sure if I was going to get a female or not and I didn't want to risk nearly losing another male so didn't get any.Anyone who breeds betta's and feels like taking pity on me and wants to send me a female free of charge so I can finally start breeding feel free to email me...hahahhaha. I won't hold my breath though.


Just look for the little white 'dot' underneath the female's belly. If there isn't a dot, then it's a male shortfin betta.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Well I coulnd't see any kinds of dot's under their bellies. I didn't look all that hard really. Was in a hurry to get to the grocery store before they shut. I get paid again in 2 weeks so I'm gonna go to a differnt aquarium and look there


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

Females are not smaller then males. Some of the biggest bodied Bettas I have seen where females.


RC


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Woo I got a female. She's a little strange. She changes colours depending on the light and pretty much at will. When I bought her she was a dark blue/green then when I got her home she had changed to a light brown with 2 horizontal stripes along her body and a few spots about. I've noticed she's more the darker colour at night or when she's calm and she changes to the other colour when startled or stressed. I'll be interesting to see the fry produced from her. I can't wait. I have her in her tank next to my male in the spawning tank. He seems very interested in her flaring up at her and he's even started to build a bubble nest so providing he's built a substantial one by tomorrow night i'll release her into the tank with him and cross my fingers. Wish me luck all.


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## thatsfishy (Jan 18, 2005)

The "color change" you're noticing is a normal reaction to stress from the transport and adjustment to different water conditions. I would not put her in the spawn tank until she has fully adjusted to her new environment. Give her a little longer, condition her for a week or two, then try her. Be patient, don't push her.


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

She sounds like a normal female Betta. The other color pattern is her stress pattern. Most dark color females do the same thing.


RC


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

I put her into the spawning tank with my short fin male after conditioning them for 3 days and they immediatly got into a fight. they grabbed each other by the mouth and wrestled. I'm not proud to say I got a little sqeemish and removed her. They seemed to be really beating each other up. I think I'll leave her in her tank next to the spawning tank until the male has made a larger bubble nest. He went to making one as soon as I put him in there and he saw the female. Anyway lets hope this time I really do have a female and will have a successful spawn... cross fingers


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## thatsfishy (Jan 18, 2005)

Stick her in a hurricane glass or cut-off coke bottle INSIDE the spawn tank instead of dumping her immediately. Add some extra floating plants for her to hide and you should be fine.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

WOOHOO I finally got a successful spawn. And it was with that betta I bought as a female but turned out to be male. He's tending to the eggs and nest now. I noticed the eggs yesterday coz i was going to give up and jsut clean the spawning tank but as i went to remove the male ( after i removed the female) I noticed lil white specks around the nest and realized they must be eggs.. Did a major happy dance and then sat and watched him tending to them for about 2 hrs...it was great. Anyhoo.. i'll keep ya'll posted on the fry...might even post a pic when they are big enough to be photographed.


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## kidbetta (Feb 2, 2005)

:fun: Congratulations!!!!!!!! :shock:


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

yeah i do thanks
Yay for me. They are all eating BBs easily and swimming around like nutcases.

Happy days!


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## satornbetta (Feb 27, 2005)

this case i will take male to keep in jar of almond leave water, around 5 days and try to breed again ..

don't make your male fish scare .... u should put male and female to breed at evening and feed them before night, don't feed them as breeding ..

Nui


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## satornbetta (Feb 27, 2005)

this case i will take male to keep in jar of almond leave water, around 5 days and try to breed again ..

don't make your male fish scare .... u should put male and female to breed at evening and feed them before night, don't feed them as breeding ..

Nui


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Your post didn't make much sense sorry, I don't really need any advice about what to and not to do at the moment seeing as I've already had a sucessful spawn, but thanks for your input anyway. What I did obviously worked well enough to get them to spawn. Each to their own I say, what ever method works for you stick to it. 

I got them to spawn without a heater in the tank aswell, so it goes to prove you don't need one if you live in a warm climate (the temperature here in the middle of summer keeps the water at the perfect temp for spawning between 80 and 82F)


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

If your water in the tank is cool the fry will grow much slower and come down with velvet or Ick easier.


RC


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

The water in the tank is always between 75-82 F I have a themomitor set up in the tank and it's still really hot here so I think they'll be fine. They've grown heaps in the past week it's amazing. I've transfered them all into a smaller plastic strage container coz the spawning tanks seems to get dirty too easy and it's harder to catch the fry to clean it out. I've done an initial count of how many I have and i got to 81 before i felt like I was counting some twice (they kept moving). I'm having major problems keeping my bbs alive at the moment. The fry had to go without food for 24 hrs coz all the bbs died and I hadda hatch some more. I did feed the bbs but they still died. I'm still going to buy a heater when I get paid this week, so hopefully that will help keep the water temp a little more constant and they can grow faster.


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## (RC) (Jan 18, 2005)

You need to run two BBS hatcherys so you have fresh BBS everyday. Use one hatchery of BBS today while the other one is hatching. Tomorrow use the other one while the one you used today is hatching. YOu have to change the water and add fresh eggs after each day.


RC


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