Female Betta nest and eggs,

Hi All

I'm attempting to breed Siamese Fighters for the first time. Now i have had the male and female in a small tank for a few days to "condition" them for breeding they can see each other and the male has built a bubble nest.

This afternoon however i came across a nest in the female compartment with what looks to be eggs. See pic! Is this what i think it is? Is this normal. Would the female build her own nest and then do the laying herself without the male.

If so can i stop the separation now and allow them to breed?

I hunch is they may have breed while still in the bigger tank and she is ready to lay and just did a DIY nest. Could that be possible. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as this is my first attempt.

Many thanks

 

@Saudiq

You are correct in thinking that the female built her own nest and laying her eggs.

What happened here is that the female saw the male and started to produce eggs, she couldn't hold any longer and laid them. These eggs will be infertile.
I wouldn't place her with the male at this stage, seeing as she already laid some eggs.

I would however give it a two week break and also try to position the two fishes out of sight from one another so that your female can actually first benefit from the conditioning. You could also place her with the male now depending on how big his nest is but your batch will be smaller as the female already started to lay eggs. Choice is yours.

You could also siphon the eggs out with an airline tubing or remove the eggs in her tank with a spoon. The male cannot fertilize the eggs in their current state either, fertilization happens when the male squeezes the eggs out of the female.

Should you need more advise please let me know I will be happy to share more information regarding the breeding setup, etc.


Oh I forgot to mention:

It is not uncommon for female betta's to build bubble nests. In your case this is a first I have seen where the female actually laid the eggs and try to care for them. I know someone on the forum here actually managed to leave the female with the male in one tank, she tended to some eggs in the one corner and the male tended to the remainder of eggs in the other corner.

Betta females have two choices from the research I did when I started out breeding them. They can either lay the eggs, try to care for them and then later eat them out of frustration or the fish's body absorbs the eggs.

 

Thanks hein

i'd actually be happier with a smaller brood so I'm taking your second option. This is my first time and the reason for breeding is to experience the whole process. A smaller batch of fry is perfect in case I mess it. Thanks again for the advice. Much appreciated.