Black Orchid Crown Tail Betta pair spawning.

[pk333]

I released my female Black Orchid CT female in with the male last night, and woke up to find them spawning. There are a lot of eggs in the nest and the female is now seperated from the male.

The bubble nest is right over one of the sponges on the filter, so most of the eggs fall on to the top of the sponge.

Wrapping under the bubble nest.

Picking up eggs.

Putting eggs in to the nest.

[pk333]

http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd105/pk3333/Platinum%20Blue%20Dragon%20HM/?action=view&current=BlackOrchidCTspawning002.mp4

Edited June 24, 2012 by pk333

[Daharkazangel]

Thats awsome!! Hope you get some fry

[sarah1234]

Great job. Always awesome to have a good betta spawn.

[Inkozana]

Were those eggs falling down? Did he eat them? #Idon'tknowanythingaboutbettas

[pk333]

Yes they were eggs falling down. No, the male collects the eggs as they fall and then puts them in the bubble nest.

If you watch the video, the male wraps his body around the female under the bubble nest. As she releases eggs, the male fertilizes them, and then swims down to catch them. Then he swims up to place them in the bubble nest. The female floats in a comatose state for a few seconds after wrapping, then comes to and swims down to see if there are any eggs the male missed. If she finds some, she'll pick them up and put them in the nest herself.

The female will release anywhere from three to a dozen eggs per wrap and they will wrap as many times as it takes for the female to release all her eggs. This pair spawned for over three hours, but I have no idea how many eggs are in the nest. Tomorrow I should see tails and Wednesday there should be free swimming fry.