Betta Mating Dance or Is She Teasing?

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DojosWithMojo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2011
57
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Milwaukee
I felt sorry for my male cardinal red crown Betta, so I got him a "girlfriend" the other day. The first day he would puff out his fins and swim after her relentlessly through the plants and all around the tank, but that soon stopped. Today I notice that she swims up to him, and facing him, starts swimming backwards while he follows. After a few seconds, she does an about face, swims a few inches away, and waits for him to pursue her.

Is this an "I like you" or is she just being a tease?

I don't mean to sound dumb, just never had a pair of Bettas before and would love to know what's going on. :)
 
She wants to breed. He will start to make a bubble nest and soon squeeze her in order for the eggs to fall out so that he can place them on the nest. If you want to keep the fry alive, as soon as all the eggs are on the nest, remove the female, or she will eat the eggs. best of luck.
 
is your tank set up to breed?

have you conditioned the parents?

do you have a tank ready for the female?(they cannot be together when not breeding..he will kill her)

and a tank for the fry?.....
 
I have another 10g set up with half a dozen occupants "moving out" tomorrow morning, so separating them won't be a problem at all.

Right now they're just flirting up a storm in a tank with some platys and a pair of the goofiest Kuhli loaches I have ever encountered. Everyone seems to be doing alright, thankfully the tank is in my line of sight the majority of the day.
 
I just did the same thing, but my female killed the male. Could it be possible that the LFS had a young male and mislabeled it as a female? She is very vibrant in color and I always heard females were more drab.
 
She's definitely a little girl- her body's a super dark gray/almost black with the same cardinal red bottom fin and tail tips. Pretty little thing! I didn't know she was so good looking since she came in a cup of blue water =\

Looks like my male is trying to build a bubblenest, but the surface bubbles from the curtain on the other side of the tank is popping them. I'm going to get taller plants and angle the curtain so he can have his quiet little love nest. Who am I to stop sweet romance, right? In the meantime, my little lady has made friends with the platys, just being "part of the group".

If the Betta Baby situation works out, I know a few people who already put in dibs, and I would most certainly sell them to my LFS. I don't think I could handle oodles of these guys, no matter how cute they are.
 
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