That's certainly mating behavior, no doubt about it. When he has a bubble nest ready they are ready, but are you ready? Here's some ideas about what you need to be ready to do.
Breeding tank: A 10 gallon makes a good breeding tank for bettas. Place in on a dark surface and set it up with no gravel or decorations. Use a small sponge filter and a heater. maintain the heat at 78-82, the temerature is not really that critical. Using a hood is a good idea to hold in heat and moisture.
Conditioning: Condition the male in the breeding tank. Condition the female in a seperate tank and be sure they cannot see each other. Feed well on frozen or live foods alternating with flakes or pellets for at least a week. The female should be plump with eggs and the male should be flaring and showing his best color, maybe even building a bubble nest.
Spawning: Drop the water level in the breeding tank to about 5" deep. Place the female in a bowl or other container next to the breeding tank so that the male can see her. As soon as there is a good bubble nest in the breeding tank add the female. Check for eggs in the bubble nest every few hours. You know they are finished when the female is hiding from the male and he no longer leaves the nest to chase her down. He will also not be trying to attract her to the nest. At this time remove the female from the breeding tank. If they fail to breed within a few hours go back and repeat the conditioning steps for a week.
Eggs and fry: The eggs will hatch in 2 days. At first the male will collect the babies and return them to the bubble nest, this is normal. Once you see that the babes are able to swim in a normal fashion, remove the male. Now is the time to start feeding the babies. Feed them newly hatched brine shrimp, micro worms or vinegar eels. Feed several times a day for the first week to 10 days. At that time you can start addig some powdered flake food to their diet and begin increasing the water level in the tank.
Care: The babies need very clean water. Do a 50% or more water change every day and be sure to remove any uneaten food or dead babies that you see. Keeping the water clean and changed very often is one of the major keys to sucess. Be sure you cull the brood. Culling is to remove unwanted fish. Remove any deformed fish right away and destroy them.
Rearing and selection: Eventually you will need to split the batch as they will over crowd the 10 gallon. Removing the females to another tank is the best way. The males can stay together without a problem. Continue to feed quality foods of increasing size working your way up to frozen or adult brine shrimp and continue to do large daily water changes. Once they begin to develop color, you should cull based on color. Keep the color you like and remove the rest. Even if you started with two reds you will get a few that are not red or are not evenly colored. If they are near adult size a shop should buy them from you or at least give you some store credit. Be ruthless, keep only the very best to breed with next time around.
The males can stay together basically for their entire lives as long as you never seperate them. Once seperated even for a day they will begin to fight so keep that in mind.
Best of luck and stick with it, you'll have baby betta before you know it!
2007-02-06 12:52:49
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answer #1
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answered by magicman116 7
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Me777's right - it's both. And it can kill your female betta and probably will if they're together too long.
The problem isn't having the two of them together in the same tank/bowl - it's knowing when to introduce them and when to separate them that's important. If they're together too long before or after mating, he will eventually kill her. He has to because he's going to be a "mother" and she's a threat. Plus, they're just territorial to begin with.
Try to keep them separated but in the same tank where he can see her but not touch her. Seeing her but not being able to reach her does two things: 1. it stimulates his nesting instinct (to do the "bubbling"), and 2. she'll produce eggs (although, I'm not sure if she would do this regardless of his presence). Once her belly becomes swollen (full of eggs), then you can release her. If they don't mate within a few hours, put her back and try again the next time she produces new eggs. Regardless of whether they actually mate, you should put her back within a few hours.
If you want more information on breeding and rearing bettas, go to http://www.bettatalk.com/. More specifically, go to http://www.bettatalk.com/breeding_bettas.htm and http://www.bettatalk.com/rearing_the_fry.htm and click on any of the options on the left side of the page. It'll tell you everything you need to know (including how to separate them but so that they can still each other). Good luck!
2007-02-06 13:17:00
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answer #2
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answered by TrippingJudy 4
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Keep in mind aggression, and mating aren't exclusive. Often a male will beat up a female before mating. (Certainly he will after mating, and may even kill her to defend his nest.) The behavior you describe is classic mating behavior. See betta porn link below.
PS- It sounds like you don't know a lot about breed betta. You might want to read the article(s) at the last 2 links. If you aren't prepared things will end in tears.
2007-02-06 13:05:29
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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This is what betta's do. They flare at each other. I have 8 bettas and every single one of them flare. And as far as the 'S' dance as I call it, it's something that the males do in order to make themselves look more threatening to others bettas. It makes them appear bigger and tougher, even though they look kinda goofy when they're doing that.
2007-02-07 07:58:33
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answer #4
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answered by Lauren S 2
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Betta fishes are extremely territorial. The female is probably trying to scare off the male. If you want to keep betta fish in the same tank, they have to be the same gender and put in the tank all at the same time
2016-03-29 08:41:16
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answer #5
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answered by Anonymous
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Both , most likely mating ,he will squeeze her and she will fall towards the bottom knocked out for about 3 sec. He will gather the eggs in his mouth and blow them in a bubble . It is so COOL! Then take her out in about two days or the next day the male takes care of the babies .What ever you do when you take her out do not use a net it will absorb the bubbles and the babies will die .
2007-02-06 12:46:41
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answer #6
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answered by Me777 5
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Its springtime, he more than likely wants to mate. be careful though mating between bettas can be like humans sometimes....it can get a little rough.
2007-02-06 12:43:33
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answer #7
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answered by ryansdad_661 2
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Don't put two beta fish together. They are very taratorial. One of them will probably eventuall kill the other. You need a large, VERY large amount of space to have two in the same place.
2007-02-06 12:47:27
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answer #8
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answered by wildthing365 2
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you have just witnessed a sexual dance by the Beta
hope the kids werent watching
2007-02-06 12:46:08
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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he's ready for some underwater fun.
he will also get some rough stuff in before mating.
2007-02-06 14:26:19
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answer #10
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answered by robrr03 2
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