# My Betta has just laid some eggs, what to do??????



## Fish rookie

Hi,

I just purchased a half moon betta and also a female from IPU a few days ago.

Tonight he wrapped his body around her then used his mouth to put the eggs in the bubbles. I was not home when this happened but my daughter removed the female after this was done and the female is now staying with my other betta. My daughter saw the whole process and is very excited. She saidd she did not disturb the nest when she took out the female. She knew what would happen and what to expect as she has read about it and Angleo from IPU has also explained to her...but seeing it with her eyes certainly was a different story. I wish I could have been there as I have never seen it before.

I have a lot of floating plants in this tank and the bubble nest is made around the leaves of the water sprite in the back between the glass and the leaves. I have turned down the filter so the nest is not disturbed at all. I have changed the water once yesterday so i can leave the tank undisturbed for a while.

So, my question is what should I do now? How long does it take? What should I feed the babies? what to watch out for? what not to do?

Thanks everyone for your help.

This is the half moon, his name is "butterfly"... We got him from IPU for $24.99 just a few days ago.
This is his home. He is now always staying around this flaoting plant, where the eggs are,.


Some of the eggs.

He also made a bunch of bubbles here, not sure if they are eggs.


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## Sploosh

As far as I know, Remove the female, Leave the male with the eggs till they hatch (he will take care of them), after hatched, as soon as the male sees the fry as food, he should be removed asap. Then raise fry with fine foods.
I believe the female needs to be removed as she may eat the eggs, or cause the male to stress and eat the eggs.

My dad recently had a betta pair that spawned twice, unfortunately he was not present when the male decided to turn on the fry 

Good Luck with the betta venture! 

Also: try your best not to spook the male during the process of hatching, my dad's first batch was lost this way.


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## crazy72

I don't know anything about breeding bettas, but I just wanted to say that he's beautiful. Very nice tank, too. I'm sure I would lay eggs too if I lived in such a nice tank. :bigsmile:


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## sunshine_1965

This might help with this venture.

How to Breed Betta Fish: 22 steps (with pictures) - wikiHow


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## Fish rookie

Thanks for all the help guys.
Am I supposed to turn off the filter and leave the light on 24/7 until they hatch? No feedingin th eman time and feed live food once they start free swimming?


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## 118869

that is a very nice tank. the betta must b happy to live in that


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## Sploosh

I wouldn't turn off the filter, just leave it on a low setting. I would continue to feed the male so he doesn't get hungry and eat the eggs. Of course fry will always enjoy live foods 
I am not sure about the light though, will have to look into that. I would leave it on the cycle you have it set to.


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## Fish rookie

okay thanks guys. i willturn the light off at night then. I think I will have lots of algae if I leave it on 24/7. I am leaning toward leaving the filter on since Ihave 2 duplicarus cories in there as well, and I am not going to be doing water change any time soon.

The tank was set up with the wood and some plants kindly given to us by Pamela, who is a member on this forum. John, Pamela, and many others have offered me lots of valuable input on how to set it up so the betta will feel happy. Credit should go to them. 

We had another betta in there originally but have since moved him to another planted tank (25 gallon) becuase my daughter wanted to see if this betta would breed with another very cute female we just got. The female has a white body with red fins and tail. We are curious what their offsprings would look like. 

My daughter moved her to the 25 gallon but I have not been able to take apicture of her yet. I think she has been hiding, may be recovering?


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## Sploosh

I looked into the light, what I found was recommendations to leave on the light cycle as it was, so as not to stress the male. 
The female will probably need a couple days to recover. Sounds like a great pairing, some interesting colour variations I'm sure.

The tank looks great, I'm sure it'll help against predation having such a comfortable place to raise babies in 

Edit;
Added some info and reference 

From:http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/bettafish/breeding.php
"Approximately 36 hours after the spawning really tiny fry will start falling out of the bubble nest and landing on the bottom of the aquarium. At this stage, the fry will look more like a black dot with a tiny tail than a miniature fish. The male will swim down to the bottom, pick up the fry, and place them back inside the bubble nest. As you can see, it is very important to let the male stay with the fry. Do not remove him until the fry is free swimming. In some cases, the male will however start eating the fry that he retrieves from the bottom and if you notice this type of behavior the male should be removed from the aquarium. It is possible for Betta fry to develop even if they have fallen down to the bottom of the aquarium, as long as there are no other fish in the tank that can eat them."

There's more info there about cold air at the water surface and performing water changes (as difficult as it may be with newborn fry in the tank) to keep water quality up during lung development.


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## effox

John & Pamela are both mods here at BCA. I've had the pleasure to meet Pam in person, but not John yet. Both great people, and a wealth of knowledge.

I'm very happy for your spawning, I hope they mature through the tough times!

Cheers,
Chris


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## Fish rookie

Yes, they are...and doing a great job volunteering their time to moderate this forum for us while sharing their knowledgae and helping out others. Great people.
Sploosh, thanks for the link and info.I will leave it on 24/7 for a few days.
I have two duplicarus in there, did not have time to take them out as this is kind of unexpected. I have turned off the filter, hope they will be fine. Fingers crossed they wont eat the juvies...if the eggs do hatch successfully.
My question is what should I feed them fries?
Will live brine shrimps work, or are they too big?


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## Pamela

Thank you for the kind words and congratulations on the spawn! That betta is gorgeous 

There used to be a very good betta breeder on here named Black Mumba. I haven't seen him/her on here for awhile, but here is a link to an informative write up about breeding bettas that Black Mumba wrote a few yeas ago: http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/breeding-spawning-section-15/breeding-bettas-black-mumbas-way-78/


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## Emily

Wow, what a beautiful betta! I would love to see pictures of the female if you decide to take some  Good luck with the spawn, I hope you manage to get some fry. I can imagine your daughter is very excited  I sure would be!


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## InfraredDream

So beautiful, both the betta and the tank!! Just lovely! Good luck with the babies, hope they will survive as their dad is just gorgeous!


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