# Fry taken away male depressed?



## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

Question for breeders! 

I'm looking at breeding one of my boys but am a little worried.. 

My friend bred her betta and kept her male in the tank for a few weeks after the fry hatched, she then removed him and claimed he was "depressed" ever since, I visited her and saw him on a number of occasions just lying on the bottom of the tank hardly moving. 
He died about a week ago. 
He wasn't very old maybe a year at most.. 

My friend said she saw it coming because of how "depressed" he was.

I'm concerned this may happen with my betta, will he die from being depressed because he was taken away from his fry? 
Or was my friend anthropomorphising?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

It's not an uncommon thing for the male to become depressed after being taken from his kids. In this case it's actually not real anthropomorphising, they do actually become depressed if taken from their fry too early. Dad's should be kept in as long as possible for best results, it can actually teach the kids to play nicer with each other basically. But some dad's can't handle it and should be taken from the spawn if they're destructive.

It's also common for both parents to die randomly, it's happened to many of us here but it's not set in stone that your parents will or will not die; it's really more random. I've had parents die and the current parents are still living well and ready for another spawn :dunno: didn't do anything different either.


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## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

Oh no!  
I'm not sure if it's a risk I want to take now... :/ I myself would be depressed if one of my boys died!! :S 
Interesting though, I wasn't 100% sure if they did get depressed or not it kind of seemed like they could but I didn't know, so thanks!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I'm not too sure if it's actually depressed but it's the only time I've seen the fish act that way. Perhaps it's a mixture of lethargy (lack of energy from spending it on the fry) and something else idk. But it does seem to fit 'depressed' so yeah...guess that's anthropomorphising lol.


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## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

Lol, yeah possibly, perhaps it's just more the lethargy like you said, hence why there is no motivation to swim around but my friend took it to far and decided to say he was depressed because of the lack of movement presented by him, I have noo idea :S lol


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, most of us label that as depressed as well, it's not just her  I use it too but it's the only emotion I use as an actual term for these fish. Sure I'll say he's "happy" but I don't actually mean it. idk, it's different I guess.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

My wild betta males live with their offspring so they are never removed from their fry. However, I definitely notice that they become very stressed (lose their colouring and frantically swim up and down the glass), when their fry become free-swimming and leave the nest. 

I don't think your friend is anthropomorphising their fish in this case. There is a clear negative response in my males to the sudden absence of their fry. I agree that 'depressed' is probably the best way to describe the behaviour. 

However, being removed from his fry may have no bearing on his subsequent decline in health and eventual death. The two could very well be completely unrelated and the closeness of both events, entirely coincidental.


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## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

So interesting! thanks for that  

It'd been probably a couple of months since he was removed that he passed, not to mention a few others have also died too so I didn't reeeeally thank it was because he'd been depressed, but never knew so thought I'd ask


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

I find that the immune system of both males and females are compromised after spawning. Females should never be put into a sorority after breeding, the extra stress can lead to problems. The last few spawns I took extra steps to help them out by feeding lots of spirulina, mostly in frozen brine shrimp and adding probiotics to the food. This helps rev up the immune system and adds a nutrient boost. I also add a little more aquarium salt to the water than usual to reduce stress and fight bacteria. Good results so far, the fish bounce back quicker and are ready to breed again much sooner.


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## JessikaSky (Sep 6, 2014)

Oh wow, what a great idea! I don't feel 100% ready to breed just yet but I would definitely love to up the track, there is a lot of time needed and I don't have that just yet with working full time which is a such a shame! 

I will however (hopefully be able to) refer back to this thread, that was some really good advice! 

Would blood worms also be a good food to feed?


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