Betta Livida breeding is about putting a male and a female in the same tank, and typically the male will chase and hit the female. Then the male will busy himself looking for possible site to build nest. If the pair is happy with each other, soon the female would come close to the nest.
"Yes, lets get on with it"...., would probably be the words whispered by the female, to the lucky male.
The 8 day rule
day1 - male surveying the new territory . Male will chase and hit female occasionally resulting in torn fins.
day2 - male starts to build nest, while female is hiding.
day3 - Very early in the morning, female come close to nest and surrender, with head somewhat pointing downward. They waste no time, and go straight into mating rituals. There is also dry runs, before the real circling and bending. Each wrap, few eggs will be released, picked by male to be placed at the nest. Many wraps will happen, lasting a few hours. When there is no more eggs to be released, male will chase female away.
"Go away, from now on I will look after the eggs and fries". The male could have shouted that. Female will go into hiding.
day4 - male attending to the nest, picking and putting back fallen eggs
day5 - male is working full time, really busy with falling fries
day6 - male is working full time, really busy with falling fries
day7 - male is working full time, but of lesser degree. Male manage to seek live food at the other corner. Female also come out from hiding and enjoy the live food, and she quickly dashes into hiding the moment male appears. Male notably switches place for fallen fries, he pick them up and place nearer to the tank sides. One or two fries seems to be floating and drifting a few cm away from the nest.
day8 - Time to say "bye, take care" to the little fries, as they begin to flex the tiny muscles. They are now at free swimming stage. Both Dad and Mom are taken out.
Observations
That's what I had seen over the eight days since 11th of November 2020. The most interesting part is the male is extremely busy once all eggs are deposited, running up and down to pick dislodged eggs and 24 hours later picking the fallen fries. He doesn't venture to the feeding side during 3rd to 6th day. Only on the 7th day, he manages to squeeze for a quick snack. Female also seem to be fasting from 3rd to 6th day, just like the male.
Water at the depth of 3 inches looks alright, but upon witnessing the non stop heavy chores of picking eggs and later fries, the depth can still be further reduced to perhaps 2.75 inches for the next breeding project.
I use water pegaga plants (centella asiatica) as possible nesting site, but the stems seem to restrict movements of male as he search for eggs and fries. I should assemble pegaga plants in way that would be less restrictive, for the next breeding project.
I am able to observe their behaviour throughout the 8 days, because the breeding tank is clear acrylic and placed on a rack a meter away from the dining table. The pair had been with us for 2 months, so they don't mind our presence, and especially me for the regular non stop peeps at their activities.
The 8 days rule may not hold, if the pair is hesitant about the whole breeding affairs, could easily be 9 days, or 10 days.
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| pic 1: breeding tank set up for 11/11/2020 - betta livida |
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| pic 2: breeding tank set up for11/11/2020- betta livida view at night |
The pair LM1si and LF1si had done quite well. The fry totaled 20 are beginning to venture and bite live food other than infusoria.
Seri Iskandar Perak
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