# Male Torn to pieces!!!



## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

I've ben trying to breed these two for about 2 weeks. I left my male in the 10 gallon set-up for about 4 days before introducing the female in a plastic 1 gallon jug. They seemed to be doing great so I let her go after 2 days in the jug. I released her last Saturday and noticed normal behavior all day. I went to bed thinking I would see eggs but woke to the male torn to pieces. Here are photos of the before and after. I'm trying again after another week of conditioning but what do you think?

Temp on 1st attempt was 77.9









































2nd Attempt taking it slow with Temp @ 82.8

























I'm freaking out. This is one of my favorite pairs.


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

I don't think you should breed them until the male has recovered more. Put him in a quarantine tank and give him some aquarium/espom salt, 1 tsp/gal, treat for 10 days at the most. This will help to help encourage fin growth. 

If he has no other damage and can still swim just fine, you could breed him like you are again now. I personally wouldn't, but so long as he doesn't recieve any more harm I guess it's okay.


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

Do you think his fins will grow back?


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## effy (Sep 21, 2010)

they will grow back eventually, but might not colour up the same.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I've seen females ruining male's fins before, but not that bad. Your male must be too ...... gentle (?). IMO let your male get better and breed him to a different female. OR, this may sound cruel; make your male aggressive before breeding him to that female.

Hope all goes well.


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## Martinismommy (Dec 2, 2010)

Wow! She really did a number on him.......I hope she didn't break his spirit......I've had this happen a couple times through the years but the male never spawned after he got beat up.....

His fins will grow back in time but they will never be the same as before the beating.....

Poor guy!


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

I know... I am so devastated. I can't imagine how the little guy feels. I'll keep this thread updated on progress but I am taking it slow.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I agree.. take him out and work on recovery.

Believe it or not but I've seen a fish worse than that at one of the GABBA meetings.. the poor male had almost no fin left at all.. but he made it and his fins re-grew, albeit no where near as pretty as they were originally.

Next time I would add a lot more plants to your set up. IME they'll lose each other and you'll get less damage. With that female it might be a good idea to put her next to the male for the entire process (conditioning and spawning) that way she's used to his presence.


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## TaylorW (Sep 4, 2010)

Your poor boy!! I am sorry for the failed attempt... 

I agree with everyone else, let him recover and add more hiding spots in the breeding tank... Hopefully he'll get his fins back and maybe you could breed him with a different female.

*I'm not a betta breeder, just an avid pet owner


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

I pulled both of them out. I'm a little bummed. I'll update this pair/thread once I have news. I started conditioning my platinum pair and will start a thread on the spawning process soon.


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## TaylorW (Sep 4, 2010)

Sorry this pair didn't work out for you, but I would love to see your platinums!


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## Lamia (Sep 11, 2010)

Poor guy! His fins were so pretty too! Aw. He looks how I feel after a bad relationship.


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## Dragonlady (Nov 29, 2010)

The platinums are likely to be less aggressive toward one another, but you never know. They are animals with unique personalities. If they are both very ready, they often spawn very quickly after a few chases back and forth of hide and seek. By the way, it makes me really sad to see a pretty betta than has been definned from attempted breeding. IMO, it is best to watch for at least the first hour of introduction when you introduce a pair without barriers.


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

Dragonlady said:


> The platinums are likely to be less aggressive toward one another, but you never know. They are animals with unique personalities. If they are both very ready, they often spawn very quickly after a few chases back and forth of hide and seek. By the way, it makes me really sad to see a pretty betta than has been definned from attempted breeding. IMO, it is best to watch for at least the first hour of introduction when you introduce a pair without barriers.


Yes, I watched these guys all day after releasing them. I thought everything was going awesome but woke up to that.



TaylorW said:


> Sorry this pair didn't work out for you, but I would love to see your platinums!


I'm stopping by the LFS to buy some plants to completely fill the spawning tank and will update as soon as I get home.


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

Okay, the results are in! Here is the link to my platinum white halfmoon spawning:

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=537706#post537706


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

I began conditioning my little torn up male with my black dragon female yesterday. I released her for about an hour but placed her back in her refuge bowl because they're obviously not ready. The male was being very aggressive. I noticed they weren't showing interest in the beginning but I see fireworks after releasing and placing her back. I'm hoping they'll be ready soon but the male hasn't even begun a nest.

I'm using see through plastic tubs because my old spawning tank is being used as a grow-out. I'll upload photos soon but will start a new thread.


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

Started this pair again two days ago... I'm going to take it super slow this time. This is my favorite pair and I want more=)


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Good luck!


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## nOOb iHACK (Nov 11, 2010)

Okay... I tried the female with my copper/White BF male. They spawned almost instantly yesterday evening. I couldn't believe how many eggs were expelled after each embrace. I'm looking at the male tend the nest but no signs of fry. I'll post a thread once I have fry living for more than a week.

The original male (devil dragon) is an omega. This female (devil dragon) is definitely an Alpha. Maybe I'll try one of the female fry from these with my sissy male in the future.


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