Decided to breed my siamese fighter!!

So FINALLY going to take the plunge, been fishkeeping for NEARLY a year now and with 4 tanks and all kinds of fish ive decided to breed my siamese fighters!

As he had already built a bubble nest (i dont know why lol) i put my female betta in a little plastic tank next to his, she then got the white spot (is it a gravid spot or something?) and has gone slightly pale with stripes.

Put her into his tank and he instantly flared up at her. Shes hiding at the min but hes making his bubble nest bigger!!

Will post an update when something happens...i feel like a pervert watching them mate

Really interesting watching him make the bubbles. It looks like he takes a gulp of air, then spits it out into his nest to make more bubbles. Its really cute!

Now shes coming out of hiding and has vertical stripes down her side, instead of horizontal and is swimming after HIM

Now theyre chasing each other around the tank...

Female fighter:


Male Fighter:

Oh thats great phishy, I look forward to reading and seeing how you do

he's still adding to his bubble nest, bless him.

As Rob said, about it best to have no substrate so its easier for male fighter to find the eggs that fall, do you think i should push it to the side and leave the corner where the eggs are with no gravel??

Oh good luck with the breeding, Phishy. Let us know how it goes.

Oooh good luck phishy

oooh Good Luck!

IMO I would push the substrate aside, make it as easy as possible on the lil chappie

Hey,

Good luck on taking the plunge with them. Did you move the substrate? Its not too muhc of a problem but can just make it easier for him to catch the babies when they fall after hatching.

Have fun with them. I know of a woman who breeds microworms to feed the babies if you want her email address?

Robx

The wonderer returns...lol. Long time no speak!!

Yes, i have moved the substrate but hes still building his nest? And the females gone into hiding in the plants at the mo cos he chases her when he sees her. Is this normal??
And yes, email would be great, thanks!

Oh I really look forward to reading how this goes phishy, and seeing some more pics too.

Hiya Phishy,

Yeah its normal for him to chase her around. Bettas have quite rough s*x really. the roughest of any fish ive ever seen. lol

Im guessing by the fact that its been a couple of days that you might have eggs now?

Ill drop you Sue's email through PM and you can see if she still has microworms. She never even charged me for mine lol.

Good Luck with them and ill keep checking in to see how its all going.

Have Fun!

Rob x

Well I dont know whats happening atm to be honest! His bubble nest seemed to have gone down yesterday, now hes built it back up again and shes still hiding in the plants.

So I dont know whether to wait another week again or buy the breeding trap thing to re-introduce her to him and see is her white spot thing returns...any ideas??

phishy07 wrote:

i put my female betta in a little plastic tank next to his, she then got the white spot (is it a gravid spot or something?)

It's called an Ovipositor - as the names suggests, it's where the eggs emerge from.

The first time I noticed it, I panicked thinking she had Ich...

Female fighters inspect the nest of the male before breeding commences. They will then break it apart if they don't think it fit. and he will have to build it again.

I would put her in the breeding trap for a day or two near to the nest so that he can see her and you can tell if she is ready to breed.

Sometimes the combinations dont work and you may need to get another female to try with him.

Have you conditioned the fish? I.e given them live foods for a week or so and plenty of water changes to make them fit and healthy?

Also make sure you are feeding him enough because once the 'thing' does happen he will not eat until the fry are free swimming. So look after him.

Have fun with it. If she doesnt respond in the next couple of days I would remove her, condition and try again in a week's time.

Rob x x

There's quite a lot of preperation needed for this then Rob isnt there. How are all your betta fry getting on by the way - any recent photo's?

Well all my fry became six after the heater disaster and then there were 2 and now there are none.

But ill try again soon.

There is a lot of preparation yeah lol.

Rob x

Did they all die then Rob? Thats such a shame after all your hard work. What do you think the cause was?

Didnt he leave the breeding trap open by accident if i remember rightly and the majority got eaten?? I remember it being a lot of hard work and effort though.

Maybe the nest disappearing and him remaking its a good sign then? If theres nothing by wednesday ill buy the breeding trap and put her in there for a few days.

Yes Rob, I am feeding them bloodworm, thats all im feeding them atm.

Originally I had to put them in the trap cos the heater bust, but the other fish bashed it till the lid came off, then they dived in and ate the babies.

I had six left which then just became two and then my two died randomly. They didnt grow much though so I dunno what the problem was but hey. You learn by experience.

Your girl will be testing his nest no doubt. Remember once they do lay, leave the lights on for a week non stop, that way he can see what hes doing.

Have Fun!

Thanks Rob!

Hello,

To bump the thread and also to find out whats going on. Have you got round to breeding yet phishy? Did you have any luck?

Rob x