Bettas breeding better in spring?

Do bettas breed better in spring than in winter?
Last year all winter I`ve strugged to get my bettas to breed. They don`t want to. But as soon as it was October to January they bred like mad. When i put them in the breeding tank, within three days they bred. The males made nest and flare at the females and so they happily bred. But when it start to get cold again they seem to stopped breeding (even though they were in heated tanks) I am so trying to get them to breed but they just don`t want to breed. If a male made a nest the female is not interested. If the female is interested the male does not made a nest. Or both wants to breed and when i release the female she looses interest. Or both the male and female decides to start fighting with each other. I just don`t understand that. WIll they start to breed again when the days are getting hotter?

 

You sound a bit despondent!

You've been working very hard at this, why not give yourself and the fish some time off till it's a bit warmer and then give it a go again?

That is unfortunately the most constructive advice I have to offer, sorry! Hope you will have some flying success in the near future!

 

@Dinky
Maybe I should do just that. My one white male made a nest, the female wanted to breed but as soon she was out of her holder she run. So I put her back. But within 12 hours the nest was gone and the male was loosing interest. :frown:
But now i have another pair set up. If that does not work I will took the pair out and try again in about two weeks. If that still does not work I will get another pair ( and actually I am now looking for another nice pair)
But thanks for the advice.

 

Their tanks might be warm, but is the ambient temperature of the air they breathe warm and humid too? I think it definitely is a cyclical event, and most fish breed in warmer months in nature.

 

No! Bettas will breed around the clock, as long as you give them the right stuff, water temp food and a good female. I have bred my bettas right thru the year, including jhb winters. You aint doing it right full stop!

 

thanks for all the info!

 

Just been wondering does the fish age affect breeding too? I read that bettas are in their prime for breeding when 6-12 months old. When they past that time will it become more and more difficult for them to breed?

 

@Rooivlerkie

I don't have any personal experience, reading about your fatalities have put me off even contemplating breeding, but from what I have read while I still had an interest in breading them, yes, their age do affect their spawning. The age average out between 4 months and 14 months for optimum results.

Don't know if you've been to this site yet, but it's very informative - and made me drool over all the photos of beautiful bettas! Some of it gets a bit technical for my taste for someone that's got a clue I think it will give a lot of useful information

http://www.bettaterritory.nl/BT-AABselectivebreeding.htm

 

So my one female betta (AND I KNOW SHE`S A FEMALE, SHE SPAWNED AND PRODUCE EGGS THAT HATCH) went to one of my plakats and flare at him. He flare back spread his fins. It look more like they wanted to fight than they want to spawn. And some later they bite and nip each other. The funny thing is she only want to fight with my plakats. With the long finned males she don`t want to fight.
Why? @HennieRoux?

 

@Rooivlerkie its the females preference, it looks like she prefers the long finned betta males as compared to the plakats and in this case she would most likely only spawn with long finned males. You should try and just pair her up with only the long finned males and it should work out better for you
Goodluck:top:

 

@Titan
Once she bred with a longfinned male. She def. does not like the plakats... Of coarse all the times she challange them, then the male flare at her. They circle each other fins wide open. Then they start nipping in turns. But it does not look like she`s goning to breed with a plakat male soon (if ever!) I`ll try to breed her with long finned males. She prefer them. Maybe I`ll post a picture so you can she how she challange them.

 

Currently in the breeding tank is a white round tail male with a red crown tail female. The female was nipped a few weeks ago by another male and she almost died... But luckily I removed her and she survived. Anyway these two seem eager to breed. The male`s 'bubble nest' is about a teaspoon of bubbles under the bubble wrap. I realese the female and the male flare and try to lure her under his 'beautiful' bubble nest. She was happy to see him but made no move to go and see his 'perfect' nest. Luckily he did not chase her and she was not scared. SO I am hoping these two spawn soon!!! I wrapped glad wrap over the tank to keep the air humid.

 

The male is busy adding bubbles to his nest and then every minute he is back to flare at the female. I really hope these two spawn.

 

Dominance is what ticks bettas, if she feels she can dominate a male she will, if not she will not, finnages is not an issue here. Bettas is all about dominance regardless male or female, males will give females slack and sonetimes other way around, they will not distingueshe on finnage.

 

Thanks @HennieRoux
She def trief tries to dominate a male. After flare and puffing themselves out for about a minute the nipping begins. Usually she loos despite all her effort. Then she goes and hide far away from the male. When she thinks its 'safe' she goes out and challange the male again! And the same story happens all over again. I removed her because I don`t want bettas with torns fins that may result in fin rot or even worse bettas with open wounds!

 

Good news!
Today my red crown tail female decides to breed with my white round tail male! There are not much eggs I guess around 30 but will have to wait and see if they hatch. This male bred before with another female.

 

Fry hatch this morning.

 

Fry is freeswimming. Fed them microworms.

 

Well done on the fry.
But your question on age. I will not breed a male past 1 year old, they seem to loose interest very quickly. I sell my breeding males after a year old and replace them with either their sons or new fish depending on what im trying to achieve. I wouldn't worry to much about your females and the PK's. Chasing is not a bad thing, but pay attention, chasing and nipping can be playful aswell as aggressive. Also some pairs just do not like each other and will never breed. I have had a female breed with 2 other males, but the 3rd she hated and refused to do anything.
With breeding in winter, the air temp they breathing may affect them, but also remeber that they want some humidity to breed with. Put cling wrap over the tank to help humidity and air temp rise. This should help you. Also if you are breeding these fish regularly give them as much time as you can inbetween breeding attempts and ensure conditioning was good. It will stress them out to be bred again and again with little break and or conditioning. Dont know how long you wait to try them again.

I hear what you are saying with not wanting ripped fins, but this will happen in mating. I always have nips in both male anf emale after mating. It is normal for them to do this, dont take it as a sign they dont want to mate. Again there is aggression and there is flirting. I do not keep my breeders as show fish so im not fussed about the ripped fins after breeding. But i do wait till they have healed well before putting them in again.

 

@HelligBettas Will the cling wrap not make drops and destroy the nest?