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my female bettas has mated with my male will not release her eggs?
I watched her and the male mate more than a half dozen times yesterday. She still has eggs! I've only seen about five in the nest. When will she release her eggs? Is it normal for her to hold them after mating? Should i leave them together for another day or separate them? I've even pulled her out and massaged her and she still wouldn't release any more eggs. ideas, suggestons?
He guards the nest for a few seconds, chases her around, then they go right back to flirting/mating. How long will they be "going at it"? I was very gentle, mostly i just let her swim between my fingers. He's still eating and messes with the nest for a while, usually while they're resting.
she still looks pretty swollen and i can see a small white spot between her bottom fins. Just to be clear i attempted to mate them only because she was egg bound (just so i dont get the lecture on breeding).
2 Answers
- ?Lv 71 decade agoFavourite answer
If you saw five eggs and the male is guarding the nest, there are probably a lot more eggs than you think in that nest. Fertile eggs are almost impossible to see mixed in with the bubbles. The infertile eggs would turn opaque and those are the ones that are easy to spot.
A male will not invest his time in egg and fry care if there are only a handful of eggs.
Take her out.
Then once the eggs begin to hatch or the male looks disinterested, move him out too, leaving the eggs or fry on their own.in the tank.
Pulling her out and massaging her is an almost sure way to internally injure a small fish. I hope you were very careful and gentle. Even large goldfish, koi, and trout that have been treated this way for artificial breeding have a mortality rate that depends on the skill and past experience of the aquarist or hatchery personnel.
If she had more eggs, massaging would have released them, and then without the male's milt the eggs would have been useless in seconds. There is a very small window of opportunity for fertilization.
Source(s): I have bred bettas as well as many other fish species, marine and freshwater invertebrates, and grown pond and aquarium plants.
