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Betta Breeding Question


Baos
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I've got a large betta male and female. I'm not seeing much on the female in way of breeding colors. And when I did see it, she may have been too dark for the male to notice. I have them in a 10g tank separated by a screen. The male also has shown no interest in making a nest. Advice to get them more interested in each other?

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Have you done any conditioning?

http://nippyfish.net/2011/03/09/conditioning-bettas-for-breeding/

It's also worth noting that some betta simply won't breed when presented a potential mate, they can be picky especially if they are older. It's very possible that they just aren't a good match or one is over the hill (looking at the male with no bubbles). One might also be too young, males only mature after 6 months and stores often sell them much younger. Sometimes you just need to try conditioning for an extended period and be patient and things will happen.

Never can tell what's going through their little minds.

Edited by Mirage
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X2 on the conditioning. I used to feed them live blackworms for about a week, while in their seperate containers,seperated by a peice of paper. But frozen food works too if you don't have access to live food. I usually remove the paper after feeding for 10 mins to slowly introduce. Once you see the female showing signs of ready to breed (most females will color up when excited, but ensure that she is carrying a lot of eggs as this will increase your success rate). Once I think she is ready, I set up a breeding area (I usually use clay pots that are a bit bigger than ice cream pails, I find that it helps as a glass tank does not give them the privacy they need. I also put some cardboard covering 2/3 of the pots to reduce air draft. I usually have the water level at 10" to not overexert the male with his task. I used only a heater and no filter(you want the least amount of disturbance on the surface if possible). I would introduce the male in the tank for about half a day, then float the female in a smaller clear container until the male starts bluiding a nest. Once he has built a nest that you think is big enough, you can introduce the female in, try to do this without disturbing the surface area. She will take a beating so make sure you have lots of plants in there for hiding (live plants is recommended cabomba or hornwort is what I used as it provides support for the fry before they are able to swim. If the female gets too beat up or if they haven't bred within 4 days or so, I remove them and try again in a couple weeks once the female recovers. Almond leaves works really well too as it conditions the water and sometimes provides a structure for males to build the nest under.

Hope that helps!

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