# First Time Breeding question



## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

I introduced my Black Plaket Male to my breeding tank ( a large sweater bin with 5 inches of water, heavily planted, lots of hiding spots) for about a week. I put the girl in a a clear container in his enclosure for a few hours. The entire time she was very set on escaping out of the cup. After about 3 hours i released her. 

The pair danced and chased with very little aggression for another 3 hours. Then they seemed very uninterested in one another. I left them over night and they were happily ignoring each other the next morning. I returned home from work 8 hours later and the male had a decent bubble nest he was fiercely guarding (even attacking pieces of floating plant that came his way). The female was trying to hide in a plant, so I removed her. He guarded his nest well throughout the night. 

When I checked him this morning, it seems like he has dismantled part of the nest, but it still looks ok. 

Do you think there are eggs or should I try to reintroduce the girl? She has a few small tears in her fins that I am treating with a medicated bath, but overall she seems happy.

Any info would be great!!!


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## Betty (May 31, 2011)

Hi m00n, if you leave the bubble nest for a couple of days you will find out if the eggs are in there, if not then try again but it is definitely better for the female to be able to rest for a few days as she may get over stressed and die if you reintroduce them too soon, another thing is that if you put the female back in too soon and there are eggs in the nest the female may start to eat them and then you would have to go through the whole breeding process again and that would not be good for anyone!!!if there are no eggs then when you put fish together again it would be better to do it at a time when you can watch over them because it can turn nasty and a dead female would be no good.

Hope this helped and that your breeding was successful, let us know what happens over the next few days!!!


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Moon- You could also look inside the nest from underneath it (if possible) to check for eggs. They stand out from the bubbles (they look like the color of rice) and are usually clumped together. Hope that helps!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

If he is guarding/tending the nest and looks to be mouthing something under the nest...you most likely have eggs....look closely and you might see eggs drop and depending on water temp= in 24-32h you should be able to see tiny tails hanging and little wigglers bouncing around and the male chasing, gathering and placing them back in the nest......and then in another 2-3 days some of the wiggles will start the free swimming stage...darting all over the tank and with the live plants they will be hunting and eating the microorganism/infusoria produced......

Eggs don't all hatch at the same time...you can have varied degrees of growth and development in the fry...since eggs are not dropped at the same time...some can vary in age/size....... an hour difference of age in the fish world can be a big difference......

If it was a failed spawn.....he usually will leave the nest site only occasionally working/tending.....

If both had been properly pre-conditioned....generally the female will be ready to spawn again in 3 days...this is for a healthy well conditioned breeding age female.....

What kind of cultures do you have ready for fry food.....

Look forward to pic......


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

Hello
Thanks everyone for all your wonderful advice. I am hopeful that the nest has at least a few eggs as he will not leave it and is working hard at tending it. I will keep updating and post pics soon. Thanks!!


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

I have brine shrimp eggs that are ready to go as soon as I need them.


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

*We got Babies!!!!*








This is by Breeding Bin. Dad & babies are under the styro cup.


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

*We Have Babies*








This is the underside of cup, top of the nest. 6/21/2011 Dad was very busy picking eggs up off the ground and putting them in the nest.


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

*Finally Babies*








So, today I check on dad and to my surprise, he is tending a large brood of little fry. I was soo excited. He seems to be doing a good job.

The bubble nest is very small and tattered. When should I remove the male???

Thanks for all the wonderful advice.


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

I haven't started the brine shrimp yet, I will do it tonight, anyone have any advice on feeding them in the meantime?


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

They should feed off their own egg sack that's still attached to them for a couple of days. When they reach the free-swimming stage, this means that they are looking for food. If you have live plants (which it seems you do) the fry will eat the microscopic creatures that live on/near it for a while. I'd feed them BBS a couple days after they become free-swimming (2-3) at about a week old. 
Congrats on the fry!!


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

Thanks so much for the help. When did you remove your male?


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

M00n said:


> Thanks so much for the help. When did you remove your male?


No problem! I actually kept my male in there, but all of the fry died due to unknown causes. I have about 30-40 fry right now that I had to artificially hatch cuz the dad was eating the eggs. So I didn't have the dad with them at all. But my first spawn I kept the male in there until the fry were able to swim on their own.


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

Thank you for your help. This is my first spawning and I am so nervous that I will loose them. It took so much effort to get this far. I'll post more pics in a few days.


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## youlovegnats (Feb 23, 2011)

Yaaayyy pictures!


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

*Update*









Dad & babies still doing good. They are much bigger and have visible tails now. They are still just sticking to everything, so I haven't fed them yet. Dad is trying soo hard to keep them in the nest. He puts one back in and 10 fall out. It's very amusing.

Hoping tonight they will be free swimming and I can feed them.

Let me know what everyone thinks. this is my first spawning of Bettas. I am open to suggestions and criticism.

Thank you!!!!


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

*White Male Plakat Male with eggs*









This is my other male who spawned with a black plakat female. It took them 2x as long to spawn as my black to black plakat spawning. Hope he is as good a dad as the black.

I'm terrible at naming, I am open to suggestions??????!!!!!!


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## HD4life (Jun 4, 2011)

I'm just wondering what on earth all the tubes are for. Ive never seen that in a spawn tank and dont really think its practical. Other than that I think your doing well, I usually leave my daddy's in with the fry until the day after the free swiming stage, since as was mentioned not all fry develop at the same rate, unless of course the fathers eat the fry. BBS is a good first food but I like to include micro worms too for variety and I think most fry accept it just as easy, and honestly I hate that BBS only lives for a day or two and has to be recultures every few days, while micro worms are cultures once and last forever and can survive in the tank up to 3 days before being eaten :-D


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

I put in the tubes so the female had places to hide. I work during the day and was afraid that the female would be harmed or killed while I was away. 
It actually worked really well at protecting the female. 

I have a culture of bbs started, it should be ready about the same time the fry are free swimming ( i hope I timed it right). I also have a cultures of micro worms that a friend gave me, but i don't think I have enough yet. I do have some bottled fry food, but I hear that it's not ideal, so I am holding off and using that as a last resort.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Good luck with your spawn.


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## M00n (Jun 15, 2011)

Thank You!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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