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This is just a crazy idea of mine....

While a pair of bettas were spawning, would it be possible to put some other kind of fish's eggs in the bubble nest? Then there would be all the betta eggs, and a few, say, killifish eggs. Would the betta be able to tell the difference between his eggs and those of another species? Or would he take care of them as if they were his own?

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They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

well, killifish eggs look a lot different than betta eggs, so i'd suspect they could tell the difference

and he might try to put them in his bubble nest and that might kill them. or he might eat them. They just spawn so differently its hard to tell

the air of a bubble might stress the eggs if he even did accept them as his own.

But what if you put a different betta's eggs into the nest?

Aren't there fish that do this? They stick their eggs in another fish's nest so the other species takes care of them? I think Synos get cichlids to mouthbrood for them, something like that (could be wrong, just seems like something I read somewhere ... and certainly would explain Syno prices!) Anyway, it could work, sure. Bettas are smart but working out the difference between eggs? Doubt it. However, some eggs perhaps couldn't handle the conditions - close to the surface, messed about by betta mouths, etc. And adding them might be a trial. But all in all, not impossible, I think.

-Molly
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Putting another bettas eggs would be fine. He'll just pick em up and stick them with the others.

ashley