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Breeding Betta Anonymous
Hey /An/
Im a fairly novice fish keeper and am trying to breed my Betta's. Iv got a tank set up 1x.5x.5 roughly with no filtration running and 2 pvc hides on the bottom of the tank. The male is living in the tank at the moment and the female is in a small breeding cage inside the tank. every time i put them in together he is overly aggressive towards her and i have to break them up once it becomes clear she could get seriously hurt. He is bubble nesting and she has shown interest in it. Any advice? Im gonna try with more hides including a floating one and possibly trying to get the female in the tank alone to see if she will lay eggs in the bubblenest without the male around
>> Bitter Anon !!WJLRQ1cwCyZ
Uh, I don't know a whole lot about fish breeding.. but I'm pretty sure that if she lays eggs without him around, you wont get any baby fishes.

http://bettatalk.com/breeding_bettas.htm
>> Anonymous
You need them both to breed. even though he is overly aggressive you have to remember thats how betas do it. After they do it one takes the egg up into the nest and the process repeats for a long fucking time. After they're done remove the female and i think the male takes care of them after they are little dudes swimming around remove the male.
>> Anonymous
It's harder than you think...

http://www.fishforums.net/content/Bettas/37944/Breeding-and-rearing-betta-fry/
>> Anonymous
Not gonna work, anon. The way it works: the male 'embraces' the female under the nest, that is, curls his body around her, which stimulates her to release the eggs. And after she's released the eggs, he fertilizes them and then collects them in his mouth and spits them into the nest. You can see how putting her in alone isn't going to work--female bettas don't just lay eggs with no stimulation or provocation to do so.

It's natural for the male to be somewhat aggressive towards the female; she may very well get some ripped fins and he may chase her. You have to give this whole process time. The female may well not be fertile, might be too old or too young or might not be ready to lay eggs at all. I'd suggest feeding her frozen or live food for a while, fatten her up and make sure she's ready to lay. You'll also be able to tell she's receptive to the male's advances when she is, if she changes color slightly to show horizontal stripes when he displays for her. Don't release her into the tank with him until he displays at her through the glass and she responds favorably. Like I say, you can't rush this process.

If all else fails, try a different female.

(And short-finned male bettas do exist; it's not likely, but I suppose you do know for certain that this -is- a female? Check to see if she has an egg spot at her vent.)