HELLPP! Betta spawning female eating eggs before male can get them?

Question

I'm breeding my bettas and everything is going well except the female eats the eggs from the bottom after they spawn and the male doesn't seem to even notice them. Please help! He doesn't even swim down to the bottom of the tank.

Thanks bettachris, it turns out that she is gathering them and putting them in the nest. it's both of their first times and he has no clue what to do. lol. I checked and she was putting them in the nest. I just hope he's figured out how to fertilize them...

Answer 1

chances are she int eatting them, but rather getting them and then adding them to the nest.

i have never had afemale eat the eggs, but i have noticed alot of my females helping with the nesting.

Chances are that she isnt eatting them, and the male should get them soon, just guessing that he is unexperienced.

But dont worry.

Edit: 5 thum,bs down on a right answer, it just shows it wasnt based on fishkeeping skills.

I guarantee you that i have been doing this(breeding bettas) far longer than half of the people there. Im tired of people not understanding that.

Anyway, your welcome, it is a fairly common thing, many books tell people that the females will eat the eggs, but i havent ever seen this in my breeding tanks. Usually the male is more invovled with the nest at first then later on he will move the eggs.

Dont worry they are fertilized during the embrace.

And the male will add his protective coating later as he will constantly move the eggs when they are in the nest.


Edit2: it is quite clear to me that from reading that they arent done breeding....it still just shows that people arent very knowledgeable here.... Thanks for the commet, it helps after having to hear the feedback from others all day... it really helps.. thanks.

It sounds like they are still breeding, im sure that they know to take the female out when done. Besides the female wouldnt eat the eggs after they breed, as a good male wont allow the female to get anywhere close.

again betta basics 101 people.

Answer 2

I've had male bettas eat the eggs, and I've had them eat the fry, too. When this has happened in the past, it's always been on the first spawn for the male. I'm not sure how common it is, but it's happened to me several times. I've also had the males eat all the fry, too. I don't know that there's really any particular reason for it, but possibly it's the stress of picking the eggs up over and over again, he just decides he doesn't want to do it anymore? Or it could be that he doesn't know what to do, because he's young and his instincts haven't kicked in to the fullest extent. Try not to feed the male after the spawning has occurred, until the fry are free-swimming and you can remove him from the tank. As strange as it sounds, when you feed him a little, it distracts him from his fatherly duties, and sometimes it will whet his appetite, and he'll start snacking on the eggs or the fry.

Answer 3

Betta Chris is absolutely right - it's a good thing you're ignoring the thumbs down votes.. I voted thumbs up.
Ridiculous - it just goes to show there's few people who are really knowledgable.
Many females will readily help in the egg collection during spawning. I wouldn't worry too much about the fertilization, if it's both of their first times the experience is what counts right now.

What's important is that after spawning is 100% complete and as soon as all of the eggs are in the bubble nest and being tended by the male you need to remove the female.
At this point he'll start chasing her if she comes near because it's quite possible she will eat them after the euphoria of spawning has subsided :)

Answer 4

First of all you're suppose to take out the female right away after spawning them, since the male takes care of the eggs

It actually sounds more like the male is taking the eggs in the mouth and not the female, you will see that the male will chase the female away from the nest actually

Please read the following, you will also see some great videos on it
http://fishlesscycling.com/articles/breeding_bettas.html


Hope that helps
Good luck


EB


Edit*

I don't know why i got thumbs down, but i guess somebody hates me here
just to let you know BC i gave you neither

Answer 5

You must take the female out of the tank.She can and she will eat the the eggs.Then he will do his job keep him in the tank untill you see the tiny fish.Then take him out of the tank.You can feed the babys greens veggies like lettuce.Make sure that you tear the lettuce in to small bits.Hope that helps thats what i do with my bettas.Also you can use a tank heater to keep the tank at one temp but dont leave it in to long.about 3 mintues per gallon of water is good.

Answer 6

sounds like you have bad first time parents. you should remove the female as soon as possible after she drops the eggs. perhaps because the female has taken interest in making dinner out of the eggs the male won't pay them any attention. it also could be the male didn't figure out how fertilize them.

Answer 7

omFg! Dude don't you know that you're suppose to take the female out almost right away? FOr 2 reasons:
1. He see's her as a threat nd can kill her
2. (obviously) she eats them

Hehehe i know.. bad experience.

Answer 8

Remove the female from the tank.

Answer 9

Fish stores sell little floating enclosures that are made of netting that is large enough for the newborns to get into but too small for the mother so that she cannot get to them and eat them. Same thing for guppies.