betta breeders: my male is attacking my female?

Question

i have a 10 gallon tank.. my male has built bubble nests and my female has vertical stripes on her body but when i put the female in the male seems to be attacking her and actually like biting her fins what could be the problem here? (he's not actually wrapping around her)

Answer 1

I'm guessing the female has no eggs to give the male. He has shown that he is ready by building the nest and displaying for the female, but she will not accompany him under the nest for the actual embrace and egg laying.

The vertical stripes can occur in the females even though they are not full of eggs. Try separating them for a couple weeks and feeding lots of black/red worms and brine shrimp in addition to high protein Betta Min flakes from Tetra during this time.

When you see the female getting fat and a white dot appears under her stomach near her anus, she is ready.

Now float her in a glass jar in the male's tank so he can see her but not get to her. He will build or add to his nest and when it is a good size, you can slowly release the female so you don't mess up his nest. Watch them for a couple hours to make sure the male doesn't kill her. If he still attacks her, you need a new male. Some of them just don't get it....

There is always minor biting and chasing at first, but in the end they will mate if they both know what they are doing.

They do not mate at night.

Answer 2

Well, first of all - Bettas usually breed at night, in my experience. But secondly - males are VERY aggressive and territorial, and even though she may be in breeding condition and he's built bubble nests, if they haven't been introduced previously you could end up with a dead female soon. I bet her started displaying to her intially, right? Then he got frustrated, antzy, and started attacking her? It's a common problem. If you introduce a female in this way to a male - they need to have a MUCH larger tank in order for the female to be able to adequately escape his advances. Also try adding something to the tank where she can hide. Another solution would be to add MULTIPLE females at once - that way he doesn't focus his attention on one female the entire time.
Make sure if they do couple, that you remove the female immediately - the males often turn on the females after the eggs have been laid because they are *very* protective of their nests :)

Answer 3

If this continues much longer you should put her in a separate tank for a little while. Right now she's resisting mating which is why he's attacking her. If she doesn't give in soon he will kill her. I had three females die before I learned this. If you wait it out and only put them together for about a half hour at a time, watching them the whole time then they should soon mate without anymore fin damage or injury.

Answer 4

One or both of your bettas are not ready to spawn despite the outward signs. You need to separate them and conditino them for another 2 weeks or so before trying again.

MM

Answer 5

Your bettas are not conditioned for breeding. You should separate them immediately before one of them gets badly hurt, condition them and then try again in a few weeks.

Answer 6

remember that betta fish have to be attracted to each other before mating or else it wont work

Answer 7

he will do that her fins might b pulled of when they spawn so just leave her in there and it takes about 2 days for them to get used to eachother and they will spawn

-ZACK

Answer 8

Maybe he don't like her sent or maybe you should try another on to see what will happen. Try to find a female that looks just like the male. Cause maybe you don't have a male. Maybe they or both the same sex.

Answer 9

this most likey means the male is not ready to mate yet. did he make a bubble nest? that is one of the signs they are ready.