Not only is the popularity of keeping betta fish as pets sky rocketing right now but the number of people trying their hand at actually breeding betta fish is also on the increase too as more and more people look to breed their bettas in the hope of being able to product fry with rare colors and patterns to sell them for a profit.
Although the prices of these rare betta fish have came down over the last year or so, if you get the right combinations, you are still usually able to turn a profit on a breeding session but it is definitely getting harder and we would never recommend that our readers only breed betta fish in the hope of making a profit.
Still, each month we see more and more people asking questions about breeding betta fish and this number just keeps on growing with one of the more common questions that we have recently seen being what do betta eggs look like.
With so many people reaching out and asking about this, we have decided to publish our own dedicated article going over the appearance of betta fish eggs in the hope that we will be able to help our readers better identify whats actually going on in their betta tanks.
With so many people asking questions about breeding betta fish, we also have the articles listed below online answering other common questions that we see from the community that you may find helpful to:-
- Can Female Betta Fish Lay Eggs Without A Male?
- 5 Tips For Keeping A Betta Harem Aquarium!
- How To Help A Female Betta That Is Full Of Eggs!
- How To Make A Female Betta Produce Eggs!
- When To Remove A Male Betta From His Fry!
- Everything You Need To Know About Feeding Betta Fry!
Unlike some other fish species, betta fish eggs do tend to be relatively easy to notice, especially since they will usually be kept in the bubble nest that the male betta fish will make helping to keep them all in one place for easy identification.
Still, we have added a table of contents below going over the three main areas of betta fish eggs that we see people having issues with so you can quickly navigate the article.
What Colour Are Betta Eggs?
Betta fish eggs are all white when they are first spawned from the female betta almost looking like a clutch of tiny little pearl white marbles.
When the male betta fish fertilizes the eggs there will be a tiny little black dot in the centre of the egg showing the fertilized embryo that will then start to grow at a rapid pace giving the impression that the egg is turning black.
If the egg remains white and turns fuzzy then it is not fertilized and is probably infertile and most male betta fish will eat these eggs.
We have another article online going over how to tell if betta fish eggs are fertilized that goes into more detail on this if you are interested in trying to seriously breed betta fish.
As we mentioned above, it is very common for a male betta fish to eat the eggs in the clutch he has in his bubble nest that are infertile or not growing correctly so there is no need to worry if you see your male betta fish specifically eating the white fuzzy eggs from the clutch as they have problems and won’t hatch anyway.
Some people reach out worried that their betta fish eggs are turning from white to black thinking that there is something wrong but this is totally normal for betta fish eggs and is nothing to worry about.
The black color taking over the egg is just the betta embryo growing and turning into a betta fry ready to leave the egg and it is a totally natural process that is to be expected.
What Do Betta Eggs Look Like?
Betta fish eggs will look like tiny little white pearls when they are first spawned but it can be difficult to get a good look at them due to the betta bubble nest that they are housed in obscuring the view.
You will generally notice that the eggs start to turn into a black mass but this is just due to the bubble nest obscuring the view and bending the light to make it look like it is a single mass rather than a clutch on individual fertilized eggs growing.,
We would highly recommend that you pick up a cheap 10 gallon breeding tank if you are wanting to seriously breed betta fish with high survival rates.
Other fish will try to eat the betta eggs, even if they are in the bubble nest and although your male betta will protect the bubble nest, this will result in a loss of eggs.
That fierce parental instinct that the male betta fish displays while gearing his eggs quickly disappears when the actual fry emerge too with it being common for both parents to eat their own fry so most people will remove the fish from the tank once the fry emerges from their eggs.
The female can usually be removed from the breeding tank as soon as she has spawned her eggs but we usually recommend that you leave the male in there until the fry start to emerge from the eggs.
This will make your life much easier as the male betta will maintain the bubble nest to keep the eggs safe as well as return any of the eggs that fall out back to the nest while also eating the damaged or problematic eggs to keep the nest safe.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over what do betta eggs look like to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you better understand the various stages of betta fish eggs and what is considered healthy when caring for betta eggs. All betta fish eggs start out white and then either end up fertilized with a tiny black dot that will grow as the embryo develops or as an unfertilized egg that ends up as a white fuzzy egg that will often be eaten by the male betta fish.
