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Introducing
the breeding pair can be done many ways. I will describe the way that
works best for me and results in the least amount of damage on the pair.
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| 1) With
the tank setup, I remove the conditioned male from his tank and place him
in a small cup of his own water and begin to float him in the tank. I
acclimate him to his new water, temperature and quality, for about 15
minutes. Halfway through I add some of the tank water to his cup. Unlike
normal acclimation, I dump him and his water straight in the tank when he
is accustomed to it. Since the water did not come from a pet store or a
foreign source, I do not worry about it contaminating the breeding tank.
This is the case especially if I have kept his bowl extra clean (like I
should!) So after 15 minutes, and after adding in some tank water halfway
through, I add him to the tank. While he is swimming around, checking out
his new surroundings, I then begin getting the female ready. First, I
place the lantern chimney (picture
reference) in the breeding tank, near the Styrofoam cup, but not
touching it. I then acclimate her in the same way as I did the male. The
only difference is I use a lid on her cup so the male will not knock the
cup over and tip her out in his excitement. After she is used to the tank,
I gently pour her into the lantern. |
| 2) Now
comes the very important part of breeding bettas : PATIENCE! You
truly need to exercise this virtue during this time. If you release the
female to early, all you will do is cause her unnecessary damage. I have
rarely released the female on the first day. Wait and watch. Let the male
start working on a nest. Some males don't even bother with nests,
but most will. Even an experienced breeder male who has built great nests
in the past, may decide not to build one, it happens. At least give him
one day to build it if he is going to. You will know when the female is
ready by a couple different signs. Not ALL the signs may happen, but when
a female is ready beyond a shadow of a doubt, most all of these signs will
be present. Just so you know, they will not always, and in fact rarely,
spawn the first time she is released so don't worry!! Just be patient and
keep working with them. |
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2a) SIGN #1: The
female does not try to evade the male. Even when she is in the lantern,
she will try to get away from him when he comes to her. When she is
getting ready to breed, she will stop trying to run, sometimes will flare
back and will swim 'with' him in the lantern. |
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2b) SIGN #2: The
female's abdomen will get increasingly larger. She is getting full
of eggs. Females contain eggs all the time but when they are ready to
breed, they increase in number and get larger. (picture) |
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2c) SIGN #3: The
female will get vertical stripes. Bettas get 2 different kinds of stripes
: vertical and horizontal. Vertical stripes indicate a readiness to breed.
They may also indicate dominance as I have observed with sparring females.
Horizontal stripes indicate fear or submission. I have actually observed a
breeding female looking plaid. She had vertical stripes expressing that
she was ready to breed, and she also had horizontal stripes expressing her
fear of the overly-aggressive male. It was quite an interesting site.
Anyway, vertical stripes are a very good indicator, but it should be
combined with signs#1 or #4 . Vertical stripes are not visible in
light bodied females such as opaque whites, possible yellows or any other
pale bodied betta. (picture) |
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2d) SIGN #4: The
'Head Down' dance. This is a better sign than sign #1 for readiness. The
female almost always exhibits the vertical stripes while doing this. When
the male approaches her, she will begin to wiggle, head down at him. I
have added the closest picture I had of a female doing this. (picture) |
| 3) Once
you have determined that the female is ready, and hopefully the
male has a sturdy nest built, gently lift the lantern chimney enough for
her to swim out. Leave the lantern chimney in there so you can re-cage her
during the night if they do not spawn. |
| 4) Once
released, there will be some aggression. The male will most likely
chase and bite her. If the female is truly ready, she will not run much
unless the male is overly aggressive. Even if she is ready, she may still
run and hide. Be patient again here. Do not remove her unless she is
*very* beaten up and gasping hard for air. They will get torn up, they
will breathe heavy, this is normal. It is not pleasant to see, but it
happens. Keep an eye on them throughout the day. If you have released her
at the right time, they will spawn within the day. Don't get discouraged
if they don't, even I cannot get them to spawn on cue. If you have an
overly aggressive male, it will take longer. Before you go to bed, I find
it wise to stick the female back under her lantern during the night. If
you feel your pair are about to breed at any time, you can go ahead and
leave her loose. I have had females get revenge on males during the night.
Waking up to find your beautiful male with barely any fins left, is not
the best way to wake up, in my opinion. Release her every morning until
they spawn. If they do not exhibit the desire to spawn after a few days,
trying slowly adding in some fresh, cooler water or using Black
Water Extract per the bottles instructions. |
| 5) Spawning
is a very neat experience to watch. The male will continue to approach
the female until he finally coaxes her to his nest. If the nest does not
meet her standards, she may leave and go back to the other side of the
tank, or she may jump up and bite the nest, destroying what he has worked
so hard on. Once he has built a nest good enough for her, and has lured
her under it, they will begin. She will begin her 'head down' dance again
and the male will wrap himself around her, placing her upside down. They
will roll and 'lock' into place. You will notice this 'lock' when you see
it. This is when the eggs are released and fertilized. Sometimes during
the first many embraces, you will not see any eggs. It may take some time
for the female to begin releasing them, so don't worry. Once the male
releases the female after an embrace, she will be in a shocked state and
float to the top, motionless. Do not freak out (I nearly did the first
time) this is very normal. (picture) |
| 6) When
eggs start being released, the will gently fall after each embrace. (picture)
Anywhere from 5-30+ eggs can be released during one embrace. This depends
on the age, size and condition of the female. As the eggs fall, the male
will usually start gathering them before they even hit bottom. This is
while the female remains stunned, floating at the top. He may miss some,
that is ok. The female will snap out of it and instantly begin looking
around the bottom for eggs. She may eat them or she may place them in the
nest along with the male. In the beginning, some males may eat the eggs as
well. Give him time, he may figure it out and start placing them in the
nest. Remember, they are virgins most of the time and have to learn these
things on their own. There is no instructional video we can have them
watch :) They can embrace like this from 1-12 hours, possibly more. I have
had them go at it all day long before, I have also had them start and
finish within the hour. You will know they are finished when the male
chases the female away from the nest and you find her hiding in the
plants. Remove her and gently remove the lantern chimney. Remember to
acclimate her to her bowl and treat her with aquarium salt as a
precautionary treatment against fungus. Make sure and keep her covered
(you should do this with all of your bettas) it seems after spawning there
is an increase in suicide attempts (this is just a figure of speech, I
don't think they are actually trying to commit suicide). Treat her like
you are conditioning her for breeding and she will be back to her old self
in no time. |
| 7) At this
point you can move on to Daddy Duties :) |
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