# Help! daddy doesn't care about the babies



## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

It was 4 days until my male and female betta's agreed to hug each other. Last night, when I was taking a picture with my tetra tank, I've noticed my betta tank and they were embracing each other and when I look closely here's what I've noticed:
-The eggs were on the ground (10+ eggs). 
-After they hug each other, I don't see daddy betta is placing the eggs on the bubble nest but instead he gasp for air and makes more bubble nest.
-I saw daddy betta eat some eggs (I think 3 of them) while falling to ground.

what does this means? They are on a 5 gallon tank with live plants and a heater set to 80degrees F. Right now mommy betta is still on the tank and I'm afraid to remove her 'cause daddy betta might get angry and cause him to eat the eggs (if there are some).


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

You should ALWAYS remove the female after they spawn. If not the male will see her as a threat and may attack her.

What is your setup like? You have three separate tanks right? And a bigger tank for when the fry get big?

What foods do you have for the fry?


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks turtle10 for quick response.

Okay I'll remove the female as soon as I got home.
Yes, I have a reserved tanks for the fry.
I have brine eggs and will hatch as soon as I see a fry. I also have a frozen blood worm but some says brine shrimp is the best compare to blood worms.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

drkeni9ma said:


> Thanks turtle10 for quick response.
> 
> Okay I'll remove the female as soon as I got home.
> Yes, I have a reserved tanks for the fry.
> I have brine eggs and will hatch as soon as I see a fry. I also have a frozen blood worm but some says brine shrimp is the best compare to blood worms.


For the fry I recommend newly hatched baby brine shrimp, microworms, daphnia, vinegar eels and stuff like that. They probably won't develop very well with only one type of live food. There is a thread in the breeding section that lists all sorts of fry food.


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks for the tip Turtle10.

It keeps bugging my mind. Why does daddy betta doesn't care about the ones on the ground? I've read some articles that "it mustn't been a good egg thats why he left them" but my daddy betta didn't even sniff on the egg (I think he might not saw it). And why he's not catching the egg while falling to the ground he just keeps embracing the mommy betta and doesn't care for the eggs after all. Is my daddy betta isn't a good father? or He's too young? How can I spot whether my betta is a full grown betta?


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

He probably could just sense somehow that the eggs were bad. Maybe they didn't fertilize right. Was it their first time?


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

Yes, its their first time.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

That may be why.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I agree with Turtle. The eggs may be infertile.


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

Too bad for me.. what should I do?


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## ChelseaK (Oct 23, 2010)

WEll you could put an airstone under the nest (or close to the eggs) to keep mold off, take daddy, out, and see if anything starts free swimming. For sure take dad and mom out, they won't do anything but eat the eggs at this point I think.


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

airstone? Do I also have to connect it to an airpump? or I'm missing what you have just mean?


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## Panthera (Nov 2, 2010)

This may come off as rude to some, but why in the world are you spawning bettas if you have no idea if the female should be taken out or not? You sound quite young from how you talk, so after this spawn, if any survive, I would suggest doing a lot more researching before breeding again. 

Just some advice.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

I am going to have to agree with Panthera. As well intentioned as you are, you don't seem like you have done the weeks of necessary research.


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## ChelseaK (Oct 23, 2010)

Yes, you connect an airstone to an air pump. 

Let's not jump on this person too.... Everyone has a first spawn.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Lol we weren't trying to jump on anyone, just trying to make sure they have the right info


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## Panthera (Nov 2, 2010)

I haven't even breed bettas yet, but I still attempt to learn everything about spawning them as possible, before doing so. Just because its a first time spawn doesn't mean you should just go in with no idea how to do it, just for the practice. 

Your creating lives, that should mean something.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

Panthera said:


> I haven't even breed bettas yet, but I still attempt to learn everything about spawning them as possible, before doing so. Just because its a first time spawn doesn't mean you should just go in with no idea how to do it, just for the practice.
> 
> Your creating lives, that should mean something.


+1

Just because it is your first time doesn't mean shortcuts can be taken, even if you're just breeding for fun and not to show.


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

Thanks ChelseaK..

for everyone.. I've been doing some research and I know that female betta must be removed after spawn.. but I found my female betta and male betta happy and not fighting each other.. strange isn't it? so I go to work.. but don't worry I will remove her as soon as I got home..

It's an offending advice from Panthera but thanks. I'll research more about breeding betta fish and I'm not like you afraid of something your not good at.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

drkeni9ma said:


> Thanks ChelseaK..
> 
> for everyone.. I've been doing some research and I know that female betta must be removed after spawn.. but I found my female betta and male betta happy and not fighting each other.. strange isn't it? so I go to work.. but don't worry I will remove her as soon as I got home..
> 
> It's an offending advice from Panthera but thanks. I'll research more about breeding betta fish and *I'm not like you afraid of something your not good at.*


This was very rude. Panthera is not scared or ever even implied that she/he was. Panthera is choosing not to breed because she doesn't want to right now. Breeding isn't about being good at it, it is about the responsibility of having to care for possibly hundreds of lives.


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

How can you be good at something if you don't practice? I'm sure every first timers have a question.. even for the experienced one.. If I found myself being not a good breeder then I can tell I must stop breeding..

@turtle
How are you going to react if someone tells you to stop what you are doing? or your a child don't mess up with us.. or maybe your a beginner do it yourself, don't seek for help if you don't know what you are doing.. how?


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## leeb62 (Oct 22, 2010)

Put the airstone under the bubblenest and take out the dad if he isn't doing anything. Doesn't matter if the bubblenest get destory the eggs will still hatch are fertile. Make sure your tank is at 80 degree and if you don't have a cover maybe use a plastic bag cut it in half and cover your tank to keep the heat in.


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## drkeni9ma (Jan 24, 2011)

I've already removed the female betta from the tank. I've mess up the bubble nest.. hope they live..

@leeb62
Thanks! I have a heater set to 80 degrees.


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## leeb62 (Oct 22, 2010)

Damn dude your rude as hell. Don't ask for any help anymore. No wonder they were hounding your ass.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

People, please, be civil. This is a forum where we share our common hobby. There's no need to get nasty over some misunderstanding. :sad: I'm sure everyone means well........

*@drkeni9ma*; this is a forum made of betta lovers and will always be against irresponsible actions towards bettas. Please try to understand that and not get easily offended by their assumptions. 

If you feel they've misunderstood, simply explain. Please, no provocative comments...... Panthera did say "*This may come off as rude to some,...*" And Turtle said "*Lol we weren't trying to jump on anyone, just trying to make sure they have the right info *". To me this implies that Panthera was trying to make an offensive statement polite and turtle was trying to confirm their good intentions.

*@To others*; try to understand an OP's position (not just drkeni9ma) as a beginner. There are many aspects that articles don't explain. You can read all you like, but you will never know how it really is until you've tried. So please don't jump into negative conclusions. And obviously drkeni9ma was confused because he/she experienced something different to what was explained in articles (the problem might have been that he/she didn't state all the specific confusions earlier - male and female getting along after spawning). How can a newbie know what possibilities to expect and they must read of such aspects. Or how could they know if they've read enough or not. It's our job to explain these things (without judging/provocative accusations) so they would know what info to look for. 

Sorry for all this. I simply don't like such disputes in a forum where we all should be like a family, always helping one another - betta loving family.


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## Panthera (Nov 2, 2010)

So because I would like to learn as much as I can before breeding bettas, that means I'm scared of doing it because I'll be bad at it? Tell me where that logic fits in. Anywhere. 

I try and learn as much as I can because I know I will be creating lives, and don't want a stupid mistake on my part, to be the reason that those lives die. Yes this is a learning experience and first time spawns usually don't go that well, but why not know as much as possible about taking care of them before you actually have fry? 

It sounds like your just defensive because you know we're, in a way, right about this. But they're your fish, do what you want.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

+1 indjo

Drken, so it's day two, if the eggs were fertilized and you tried to self hatch, they might start to hatch today or tomorrow. If by Sunday they haven't hatched, toss the batch.


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## turtle10 (Dec 30, 2010)

drkeni9ma said:


> How can you be good at something if you don't practice? I'm sure every first timers have a question.. even for the experienced one.. If I found myself being not a good breeder then I can tell I must stop breeding..
> 
> @turtle
> How are you going to react if someone tells you to stop what you are doing?* or your a child don't mess up with us.. or maybe your a beginner do it yourself, don't seek for help if you don't know what you are doing*.. how?



No one said this to you on this thread. If someone told me to stop I would ask why. No one has a problem with a beginner breeder, we just want to make sure you have all the necessary information, which you didn't.


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

The reason that critisism occurs often amoungst the breeding threads is this. You can make mistakes about owning Bettas, keep them in a smaller tank, feed a little too much, etc. And people will be polite and if you listen people are all nice.

But breedng Bettas is way different. It's a very hard task, and it's not something you make mistakes on. It's one of those things where if you don't research completely, EVERYTHING, before hand, then you've just potentially killed hundreds of Bettas. Breeding it's not okay to make some of these mistakes, so that's why people are getting a little angry.

But, let's just all drop this arguement and try to help this member. Good luck with the eggs, and so long as you did your research (which you said you did) I hope they were properly fertalized and hatch.


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## ChelseaK (Oct 23, 2010)

People, can't we all just get along???!!!???


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## baylee767 (Nov 5, 2010)

Why can't we be friends? Why can't we be friends? Why can't we-

Oh, right, that's a song.

How are the eggs doing?


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