# Spawning attempt not going so well



## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Ok I have a pair in the spawning tank as I type this, they have been in there together for about 48 hours (maybe less, can't remember exactly when I released her) and so far the male has built a pitiful excuse for a bubble nest which was around the heater and there wasn't enough room for them to embrace, so I moved the heater and disturbed his nest a little....now I know I shouldn't have done that but come on....there wasn't room...he was trying to embrace but with no luck I felt I had to help the guy out! Now every time she sees him eg at feeding time she flares and bars up...he chases her and flares but nothing else happens...so I feel I can safely say they are still interested. He hasn't gotten back to his bubble nest making yet either.... I suppose what I am asking is if anyone with a few more successful spawns under their belt thinks I should leave them or remove her and try again in a few days? None of my other spawns were like this. The males went to making elaborate nests right away and they spawned within 48 hours. Oh and also water temp is around 80-81F, there is floating elodea, half a Styrofoam cup and a little cave for hiding in the tank.

Any suggestions are appreciated


Thanks.

PS She was the one swimming around him with her head down and tail in the air when the heater was in the way but he couldn't get himself around her. She seems to be the pushy one to get the spawn happening and he seems a little dopey, a bit like the guy who bought him  (he is my partner's fish! hehe)


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Pull them. Recondition for a week (not sure why you feed them during spawning time. Defeats the purpose of conditioning them), and try again. If food is on their mind, spawning may not be.


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Ty Damon, did that already this morning when I saw that he still hadn't made a nest. Will keep you all up dated on the progress when I try again


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Ok I said I'd keep you updated when I tried again, and I have . We got another male over the weekend and before everyone jumps down my throat for spawning him so soon please don't. I know for a fact that he was already well conditioned, they feed all their Bettas a mixture of live food (blackworms) and pellets twice a day and all my fish get the same so they are all in conditioned state constantly. 

I already had the spawning tank still set up from the failed attempt so all I did was siphon out the crap at the bottom and did a 50% water change and placed our new male into it, where he was to live until my ex builds our 6 chamber barracks (each section should hold between 1.3ga-1.7ga). A few hours later my ex came over and was curious to see if the purply/aqua female we tried to spawn last time liked our new male, so we floated her in the tank just to see and she bared up immediately and he started the courting dance of flaring and fin waving so I gave him half a foam cup and left her in there over night. By morning he'd covered the entire underside of the cup with a bubblenest so I released her that afternoon and at 9:45am yesterday they began to embrace. It took him a few attempts (like 6-10) to actually begin to get eggs out of her but once he got the hang of it he was getting 8-12 out of her at a time. Now it's been almost 24 hours since they spawned and I'm waiting to see when the eggs will hatch. The temp in the tank is around 80.6F so it shouldn't be too much longer! He's being a really good Dad too, Hasn't left the underside of his nest for more than 30 seconds in all this time and there are absolutely no eggs to be seen on the floor of the tank so he's keeping them all up there really well.

I can't wait to see what colours they will all be when they get older. I hope they will all be purple as both their parents (Dad in avatar) are purple in colour.
Now my next challenge is getting them to maturity inside of 4 months. I have an abundance of food for them...vinegar eels, walter worms, microworms and bbs.
I will post photo's when the fry get big enough.

Wish me luck all!


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Sounds good. Lets hope the eggs were fertilized!!!


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

UPDATE!!!! The eggs have hatched! I've got a bunch of little black things with tails hanging down from the nest and Braedan (the father) is being a really good dad still..making sure any that get loose are put straight back where they should be. I'll probably take him out tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how soon the fry become free swimming.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Always wait till at least 75% are free swimming............or until he starts to eat them or neglect the nest. Vinegar eels are great first food. Better them mw because they swim and live for up to 24 hrs in your fry tank. I found it hard to feed them though. Let me know your method.


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## shade2dope (Jan 21, 2007)

Is there any way you can post a pic of your female thanks and good luck


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## anasfire23 (Jan 19, 2005)

Picture of the female as requested. Enjoy 

Edit: Damon, you asked my method for feeding vinegar eels.. I strain the liquid through a small coffee filter paper (returning the strained liquid back to the culture) then pull apart the filter at it's seams and rinse it in a jug of treated water, wring it out and then disperse the water through the tank evenly. I get quite a few with this method. My culture is resting for 2 weeks at the moment, thank god I've got 2 packs of frozen bbs in the freezer, old dying elodea in the tank (for infusoria or how ever it's spelt) and a microworm culture that will be ready in a few days or else I'd be royally screwed.


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