Q: A wrote,
I have a male and female betta in a 10 gal tank. I purchased both of them at the same time and introduced them both to the tank at the same time as well as to not have one dominate over the other. They have cohabited fine for about 5-6 months with no problems. Until last week, I came home to find the male “floating” at the top of the tank on his side looking dead. I went to remove him from the tank to find out he was alive but having trouble swimming and seeming off balance. So I removed him from the tank and put him in a separate container and saw that his top longer fin seems to have been torn mostly off causing him to have difficulty swimming. I then noticed the female seems to have a bulge in her belly. I assumed she was pregnant and that the male must have attempted to mate with her and she attacked him causing the fin issue. I kept the male and female separate for a few days until he was swimming normal again. And then reintroduced the male back to the tank with the female. The male then started a bubble nest and all seemed well. Yet the female never laid any eggs and her tummy is still swollen, yet she seems just fine. Yesterday he was fine when I came home but 3 hours later he was laying in the bottom of the tank not moving. I have since put him into a mesh net box that sits inside his tank but he’s laying on his side in sort of a funny position sort of laying on his face and his body all curved funny. He wont eat and doesn’t move unless I move the mesh box. His fins look bad and I really don’t know what else to do. The water temp is at 80 the conditions from what I can tell are all fine and I keep the tank clean.
Keeping him in the mesh box or in a separate hospital tank is the best thing you can do. Your betta may also benefit by putting a plant in the mesh box at or near the surface so he can easily stick his head out to breathe. Remember, while bettas do get some oxygen from the water, they need to breathe from the surface as well. If you don’t already, you may want to run an air stone in your aquarium to help your betta breathe easier while he is healing. You will also need to keep your water as clean as possible. If you have water test kits available, check to make sure there is no
If your betta pulls through this you will need to set up a separate tank for him or continue to keep him in the mesh box, if it is large enough to act as a comfortable home.
View Comments (8)
Get a divider with holes beyween the two fish.
just leave them apart if you want to breed first try a more timid female and get them preped with live food and warm water temperatures
No Offence But You Should Have Learned Your Lesson The 1st Time. Leave Breeding Up To The Perfessionals.
Honestly here We are Forcing These Poor Fish To Do What We Want Them To Do.
I Have Many Bettas All In Seperate Little Container Tanks, and I Somtimes Put Them Together for Supervised Visits.
Hope you learned well from this betta breeding experience.
best regards,
-Pecassin
nice try but both of ur fish ar screwed now i have breed betta fish before and is starting to breed some other bettas a solid black halpmoon and a solid blue female they are relay prety
I recently encountered this problem. I had a male who was happy, blowing a bubble nest, ready to mate. Also had a female showing tiger stripes. After displaying her and watching the reaction I put her in with him. They were civil at first, she wagged her body at him and flared, a good sign. He flared his gills and chased. (I thought this was good from reading info.) Day or two later, same thing, his fins all torn up, her chasing him sometimes even latched on to his tail and catching a wild ride. Removed her, built a sorority (group of females), displayed them he built another nest. Finally let him decide on one and after 3 days they mated. I observed him carefully he would go to her flared but turn about an inch before her and dance then go back to the nest. Only occasionally he would chase and nip. This fish has orange light orange fins and body with no markings, but could clearly see eggs. I let them stay together for about 2 days, she would stay in the corner first letting him display and build. Towards the end she will flare and follow him under the nest and dance with him. After a few times of this they will finally “embrace” and lay eggs. I missed the embrace while I was at work :/ and came home to white specs among the bubble nest(eggs!!) This is coming three years late, but will be helpful to anyone who comes across this in the future. If you have a male and female ready to mate and either constantly chases or constantly runs, its a bad match. Find new mates. I have a minimalist set up:
5-females (5.5g tank, heater, plants both silk and real) owned 1-3 months
1-male (2.5g tank, heater) owned 8 months
Ill post again on fry development.
I put my beta fishes together In a tank, and then I had to separated because he was attacking . She all of a sudden looks pregnant, I think, priced when I was cleaning their tNks(separate tanks)cleaned up the tank and I think the male beta made that nest but I threw it out so now what? I tried to put them back together but he was attacking her again so I seperated them again.
Betta Fish lay eggs, so she's not pregnant (Asia). As for OP, I'm glad you've come for advise, but you sound rather naive and immature to keep trying to force them to live together. You're not ready to breed fish if you won't read the signs that they're not doing well. Stop ignoring it before your fish dies. You're stressing them out and it's not fair. Fish that are territorial need to be supervised 100% while together and live separately.
Time for a spare tank to be used properly, so your Betta male can recovery and STAY away from the female permanently. Breeding is for responsive, knowledgeable professionals, not the average experienced or inexperienced owner. If animals are fighting, you separate them from then on; you don't keep reintroducing them in the hope it will change. It sets a precedent that they've already fought and will never be totally okay with each other again.
Thank you for seeking help, OP, but please don't keep trying to put them together.