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Okay, so I set up the breeding tank. 10 gallon, 5 in of water, corner filter, submersable heater, lights, temp constant 80F, Male built large bubble nest, female vertical stripes and full of eggs. I released the female and kept a close watch on them this morning. I have been checking them off and on throughout the day. An hour ago, everything was okay, female looked really full of eggs though, so I hoped they would get too it soon. Now she was laying on the bottom, wouldent move, fins were slightley more torn than they were when I looked last, but nothing else looked too bad. I got the net so I could put her back in the glass chimney overnight, and went to net her. She didnt swim at all when the net came twards her, and the water movement made her shift so I could see her other side. It was red, not bloody, and her scales are popped out like dropsy, but only around the eggs. It is also only on one side. I put her in some betta max, but it doesent look like she'll make it through the night.
Is she just too full of eggs? I just went to check on her, she's gone. Any idea what happened? I picture the male headbutting her like dolphins do to sharks.

The male beat her to death...

The tank should have been almost full to the top with silk plants on one side, thick enough to hide in, out of sight from the male.

That provides an unready female a place to escape the beating of the male if you're not watching carefully.

The female is then removed from the plants and reintroduced at a more opportune time. Stress kills the female, not necessarily damage.

I prefer 82 degree tank water and filters are never in use when breeding Bettas. Still water is the name of the game.

--garyroland





[span class="edited"][Edited by garyroland 2004-07-17 13:05][/span]

The odd thing was there were plants in the tank. I guess when I leave, she goes in the chimney regaurdless of how they were behaving. Thanks for the insight

The real difficult part of breeding Bettas is not the actual spawning action but the raising of the fry...

--garyroland.