Betta splendens - atypical male spawning behaviour?

[Derek]

I have just come up from my fishroom where I have been watching a pair of Siamese fighters attempt to spawn. The male has made no attempt to create a bubble-nest (I don't think he has even strung two bubbles together). It is the heavily gravid female which is initiating spawning. She and not the male has chased the other females in the tank into hiding and it is she which approaches and entices the male to the surface. Although the male is encircling her to fertilise the eggs as they are shed, he makes absolutely no attempt to retrieve the eggs and carry them to the surface. The eggs are dead white and appear to me to be unfertilizable.

I assume the eggs are in this condition because they have been in the female to long and I would expect future batches to be OK.

It is the males behaviour that worries me. If this continues he will never raise any fry. Is this because he may be too young and inexperienced? Peter, you may be able to answer this question. These are the fish that you gave to Cees.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

They are in a 60x30x30cm bare bottomed tank, 27C, DH ~3, pH 7.2 There is some driftwood with attached Java fern as well as some Indian fern and riccia floating in a clump on the surface. There is also a plastic lid floating on the surface in case the male preferred a more solid platform to build his nest under.

[Peter McLeod]

I have just come up from my fishroom where I have been watching a pair of Siamese fighters attempt to spawn. The male has made no attempt to create a bubble-nest (I don't think he has even strung two bubbles together). It is the heavily gravid female which is initiating spawning. She and not the male has chased the other females in the tank into hiding and it is she which approaches and entices the male to the surface. Although the male is encircling her to fertilise the eggs as they are shed, he makes absolutely no attempt to retrieve the eggs and carry them to the surface. The eggs are dead white and appear to me to be unfertilizable.

I assume the eggs are in this condition because they have been in the female to long and I would expect future batches to be OK.

It is the males behaviour that worries me. If this continues he will never

raise any fry. Is this because he may be too young and inexperienced?

Peter, you may be able to answer this question. These are the fish that

you gave to Cees.

Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?

They are in a 60x30x30cm bare bottomed tank, 27C, DH ~3, pH 7.2 There is some driftwood with attached Java fern as well as some Indian fern and riccia floating in a clump on the surface. There is also a plastic lid floating on the surface in case the male preferred a more solid platform to build his nest under.

Is the female larger than the male?

If the male is young it may take him a bit of practice before he gets it right.I have had males not interested in building a nest mating with a female as soon as I release her into his aquarium, and he just builds the nest as he goes.

Probably the most important thing is that the male and female sould be

about the same size.The male needs to be able to wrap himself around the female so he catches and fertilises the eggs in his bottom fin, he then rolls over releasing the female and the eggs drop towards the bottom of the tank.

The male needs to be in the best condition posible, even more so than the female i beleive, he has alot of work to do.Try separating them for a few days and let them recover.Feed them on some live food if you can find it or frozen bloodworms.Live mosquito and midge lavae(bloodworms) I have read they contain something that enduces them to spawn, may just be the live food (chase) I don't know but they do work.Don't worry about the female droping her eggs, she will be capable of makeng eggs in just a few hours if she is interested and well fed.The water should be about 50% from an established Aquarium and 50% aged or rain water.Fish that have not spawned for me often respond to a decent water change.I also use a peice of polystyrene or a poly cup cut in half for the male to build his nest around.You can also try using a different female, or male.

Is your fishroom heated.If not it may be better to wait until wamer weather as you can't have the pump going or it will disturb the nest and if their is nothing circulating the water the hot and cold will separate.The air above the water should at least be warm while the male is tending the nest.I find a few drops of Methyl blue good for prventing fugus on any un-fertilised eggs which can infect good eggs near-by.If you have an attentive male he will usually find and eat these eggs.

Hope this helps

Don't hesitate to email me if you have problems.I have plenty more fighters that you are welcome to if these ones don't get it right.

Peter

[cees]

Is the female larger than the male?

I checked my notes, these fish that Derek talks about are the ones you gave me Peter and yes, you told me the male was a bit younger than the females

[Derek]

Thanks for the comments Peter. I will try out your suggestions. The male has started to build a nest, although he is not putting all his effort into it as yet. I guess he is still a little immature and probably just needs some time to get his timing right.

[Peter McLeod]

Thanks for the comments Peter. I will try out your suggestions. The male has started to build a nest, although he is not putting all his effort into it as yet. I guess he is still a little immature and probably just needs some time to get his timing right.

You could also try floating a container or livebearer trap in the tank with the female inside.This is usually for the protection of the female, but may aid getting the male interested if he can see the female but she cannot disturb him.

You will know when they are ready, the male will keep approaching the container and flairing his gills and fins at the female, and then return to his position below the nest waiting for the female to follow, the female will have dark vertical stripes and she will angle head down slightly but will not try to hide or evade the male.The virticale stripes may not show up as much on the green bodied females so don't use this as a golden rule.

Goodluck

Peter