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Difficult Female Betta

23 11:32:15

Question
A lot of us at work have Betta fish. We have a female we were trying to breed. She is VERY plump and her tube is exposed. We place her in a breeder box in a large tank and then placed a male in there.  He built a good size bubble nest. Once we let her out, she just swims to the bottom head down and stays there. Over the course of 4 weeks she has been through 5 males. One she tore up. Is she just not a female that wants to breed?  She is about to pop!

Answer
Hello,
Please do not try to breed bettas before reading up on them.  They are not an easy fish to breed, and must never be left together in a tank with no supervision.  To breed bettas, you must have at least a five gallon tank with lots of hiding places for the female, never a breeding box.  They should be put together at the same time into this tank.  The spawn may last anywhere from one to four hours.  You must never take your eyes off them, as the male could kill the female in a fraction of a second, which is why she needs lots of hiding places.  Once she the spawn is over, she must be removed quickly.  There are books on breeding bettas, and the web will also give you a good idea on what to do.  It would be much too long for me to write all of this down here.
A female will let her eggs go without the male.  
Right now she must be stressed, so please put her in her tank, and let her be.  More often than not the female will come out of this ripped, and very weak.  It is not worth having her or him ripped apart.
Lynda