# One of my females' Ovipositor is extremely engoraged



## Tinthalas Tigris (Jan 28, 2010)

I decided to play god a little bit todya and put one of the younger females from my sorority into the tank with the male who has been building a bubble nest (I had only read bits and pieces about the mating ritual).

He chased her into camoflauge, and she turned into stone as close as she could to immovable objects. 

The horizontal stripe on her side vanished, and vertical stripes appeared in a matter of minutes. She would come out to breathe for air about once every half hour, but she was a stone at the bottom of the substrate.

I decided to pick her up out of the aquarium (she wouldn't let me net het, but she let me take her out with my hands) and put her back in her sorority tank, and noticed that her ovipositor was absolutely SWOLLEN.

Should I have left her in with the male? Is there anything I shoudl do for her? She is still acting like that stone, and only coming up for air, and then hiding immediately after again. And her ovipositor remains swollen.

I would like yoru immediate advice! Thank you!


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## Firefly (Apr 9, 2010)

Well if your prepared to handle the fry and have food and for them and space, and if you know what u are going to do with the fry when they are a bit older then id say put her back in with the male they both sounds ready to spawn! maybe she was in a bit of shock thats why shes lying at the bottom, but if shes not hurt then all is well


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## Tinthalas Tigris (Jan 28, 2010)

she's since gone back to her normal color size and behaviour.. a little bit skittish, but all in all the same as she normally is. 

I'm going to talk to my LFS before attempting this again, and see if they have any interest in displaying some of my fry after they have matured, just in case.

I'm going to need many little containers for them as well, so I am going to invest in all that first. I was just so ecstatic to learn that my long-finned female was actually a boy as soon as he made his bubble nest that I decided to see how he would react to my female's presence.


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

That usually means she's ready to release eggs.

But, I don't suggest breeding them quite yet. Do more reading so you KNOW what to do! That is extremely important for all the fish involved, even the babies.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

doggyhog said:


> That usually means she's ready to release eggs.
> 
> But, I don't suggest breeding them quite yet. Do more reading so you KNOW what to do! That is extremely important for all the fish involved, even the babies.


I agree with doggyhog.


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## Tinthalas Tigris (Jan 28, 2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwe_DRSNO-k

His twitterpated dance. 

___

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input. I've decided I'm not going to do this for at least another 2 weeks. I'm going to power feed them both with blood worms. Establish an alternate aquarium, and get plenty of containers to house the fry after 2 weeks.

Thank you again.


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## SweetnSpicy (Sep 3, 2009)

I agree with doggyhog and dramaqueen, you need to spend a lot of time, and I am talking about hours, not skimming through articles, of research, because there is a lot to risk in the game of love and war 

Just because he/she made a bubble nest, doesn't make it a male. I have had a few girls that made pretty impressive bubble nests before, and my one girl now makes them when she is by males haha


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## Tinthalas Tigris (Jan 28, 2010)

I never considered that SweetNSpicy. Very Interesting. Well. I guess it coudl still be a female. But he/she became sooooo distinctly twitterpated with that female around, and she went from horizontal stripes to vertical in minutes. 

My brother (a doctorate of zoology, not ichthyology mind you) was telling me that plenty of fish and amphibian species otherwise not considered and ruled out as so, have proven to astound researchers with displays of sequential hermaphroditism; that is, the permanent change of male birth to female adult or vice versa. 

I'm not ruling anything out, but I'm pretty darn convinced at this point that this fellow is in fact a male. . . . at least now, anyway. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermaphrodite#Sequential_hermaphrodites


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

IMO, it's defiantly a male. Girls can make nests, but they don't have the same saliva glands as males, so their bubbles aren't as strong or big.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

IMO It sounds like you need to do a LOT more research. You need to not only look into the breeding process but into genetics and what you are looking for in the fry. What tail types are you breeding? Are you willing to house fry that may not find homes? Are you willing to euthanize fish that have deformities? What process will you use to cull the ones that aren't selling worthy but may be able to be adopted out?

IMO if your going to breed you should be doing it for a reason.. not just to see what happens. Also you said you would be willing to let your fry go to a pet store? How do they treat their bettas? What sort of care do they advocate for bettas to their customers? You don't want to be bringing more fish in the world then giving them to a store where they might end up in a "betta vase" or something worse.

There are lots of things to consider before deciding to bring new life into the world.. even if its just tiny fish.


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