betweenbreathing
New member
My first time breeding bettas, but I've done about six months of research beforehand and felt I was ready. I have a blue butterfly HM male and a pink marble CT female, I wanted to produce HalfSuns. Theyve both been conditioned for two weeks on bloodworms, warm water, almond leaves, etc. I had put their tanks in sight, and the male built a beautiful bubble nest.
And the males been in the breeding tank for a few days. Its set up great. 84 degrees, six inches of water, nice and humid, live amazon sword plant, almond leaf, sponge filter, hiding places, etc.
So after a couple more days I placed the female inside a plasted seperator inside the tank to get them acclimated. Their body language was fantastic. He flared brilliantly at her, she flared back, he danced in zigzags and darted back and forth between her and the nest. She had lowered her head, and eventually looked eager to get out of the bottle. In fact, she did! My plan was to leave them seperated overnight for about another day so I was sure they were used to one anothers company. Well the female, now named houdini, lept over (quite high, in fact) the bottle and directly into the breeding tank. Which I've heard that most breeders allow their females to do, since it shows the fish is ready on their terms.
Well no breeding had taken place, and nothing was really happening except a little small chases by the male. So I seperated the, let the female recover in her quarantine tank for about 24 hours, and then placed her back into the bottle. Again, the body language looked great. So I let her into the tank only after about a couple hours this time. Well the male danced around her, and she calmly swam over to the bubble nest and began inspecting it. He paused, and then aggresively chased her away!
The poor female was as confused as I was. He leads her over to his nest, flirts and dances, then chases her away. Finally the fed up female pretty much refused to go to that corner of the tank, and then the male was just relentlessly tormenting her. So I felt bad and removed her.
What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently? Please Pleeeeease help, I've put so much effort into this. I do have another conditioned female waiting on the bench, but he's my only male to breed.
And the males been in the breeding tank for a few days. Its set up great. 84 degrees, six inches of water, nice and humid, live amazon sword plant, almond leaf, sponge filter, hiding places, etc.
So after a couple more days I placed the female inside a plasted seperator inside the tank to get them acclimated. Their body language was fantastic. He flared brilliantly at her, she flared back, he danced in zigzags and darted back and forth between her and the nest. She had lowered her head, and eventually looked eager to get out of the bottle. In fact, she did! My plan was to leave them seperated overnight for about another day so I was sure they were used to one anothers company. Well the female, now named houdini, lept over (quite high, in fact) the bottle and directly into the breeding tank. Which I've heard that most breeders allow their females to do, since it shows the fish is ready on their terms.
Well no breeding had taken place, and nothing was really happening except a little small chases by the male. So I seperated the, let the female recover in her quarantine tank for about 24 hours, and then placed her back into the bottle. Again, the body language looked great. So I let her into the tank only after about a couple hours this time. Well the male danced around her, and she calmly swam over to the bubble nest and began inspecting it. He paused, and then aggresively chased her away!
The poor female was as confused as I was. He leads her over to his nest, flirts and dances, then chases her away. Finally the fed up female pretty much refused to go to that corner of the tank, and then the male was just relentlessly tormenting her. So I felt bad and removed her.
What am I doing wrong? What can I do differently? Please Pleeeeease help, I've put so much effort into this. I do have another conditioned female waiting on the bench, but he's my only male to breed.