# Breeding - how rough is too rough?



## Mew_chan (Jan 28, 2009)

Ok so I eneded my first attempt at breeding after the female had a slight accident while running from the male. see post 8 in link for details:

http://www.fishforums.com/forum/bettas/23671-ripped-fins-before-breeding-male-treatment.html

My boyfriend just made an attempt with his own pair... but the male was pretty aggressive atacking her straight away from the word go... it was the second time we had put them in together...he female was showing a fat belly with eggs and verticle stripes he had left her floating in a breeding box for 3 days before the 2nd attempt.

The first time he put her in signs were promising but in the end they just started to fight and it didnt look like it was going to go anywhere... and totally trashed the bubble nest....so we took them out before we went to bed after they had been in together for about 1 hour... 

The second time he chased her as soon as she was released. At one point grabbing her by the tail and shakking her like a dog and not letting go... he also chased her so she got pinned under a fake log I had in ther for her to hide in and attacked her while she was stuck ther.. we had to move it to get her out...I finally made him take her out when he grabbed her gill and shook her. I wanted to take her out almost straight away when he savaged her tail and wouldnt leave her alone... but I dunno...

In his tank the only place the female can get completely out of sight is on top of the filter which is shrouded by some plants but he pretty soon learnt that was her hidding spot and would seek her out and attack her even there. it is a 5gal tank. almost the exact same set up as in the link I posted above minus the drift wood.

Should we get lots more plants for her to hide? 
is it normal for him to chase her straight away as soon as releasing her?
Is it bad for the male to pay no attention to the bubble nest and focus on attacking her once she is released?
why did both males get really aggressive the second time (the same thing happened with my pair) the female was placed in with him? even though signs were so promising the first time... she checked out the nest and they even made some attempts at coupling

Any other tips would be good...


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I've never done this myself, but I've done some reading. It says to float the female in an open cup or trap and let her jump out when she is ready to return the males advances. Hopefully she will be able to tell when he is courting from when he is threatening. They are naturally aggressive fish that have been selectively bred for fighting for centuries. The legacy of this is that males often kill females and occasionally vice versa.


----------



## AmberH (Dec 23, 2008)

I don't know about letting her jump out... I've never heard that. But, if your female is dark she will show vertical lines when she's ready to spawn.


----------



## Mew_chan (Jan 28, 2009)

Yeh she was showing vertical, not horizontal lines both times, it was really just the male being a bully.


----------

