Ok so i attempted to spawn my marbles and The female is a little bigger then the male, there trying, but he is having no luck staying wrapped around her they have been at it for atleast 10 hours plus there both very gentle to each,he keeps attempting to wrap her and then he slips off and stays stunned untill he falls to the ground and then bounces back up, she just stares at him, like lets try again small guy.its both there first times. but How long is to long to keep them in there, should I pull her and find a different male, I have his marble sister i can spawn him to, I just wanted Miss Priss to spawn since i love her. and she has that 180 caudal i love . so what should i do. also she has no damage and did not nip at him at all, there both perfect. is it not going to work, or should I leave them a little longer?

so in any case I learned alot about them, there both going to be great breeders. his bubble nest is huge. she has been amazing text book perfect female, she knows whats she's doing, and does not hurt the female just chased her around for hours but did not nip at her. so there both amazing fish.

I'd leave them be..There's no harm in it to leave them another day or so.

You're lucky they are so good, it doesn't happen that often. Usually if it isn't going to work one or the other of them will get frustrated and then they might get more aggressive. So I'd be sure to keep an eye on them. But, giving them a bit more time to see if he can get it down won't hurt. However, I must say, if he simply cannot wrap her, more time isn't going to help.

Thanks both of you for your responses, if anyone else wants to chime in please do, but i fed them about an hour a go and they quickly ate and went right back to trying, it's breaking my heart he can't get a good wrap on her, she is about to explode with eggs, she is HUGE.i think its making it harder for him, but as of know there both still friendly and in love its actually so cute to see them kiss each other and she nudges him, then he trys to hug her and slips off, then he stuns himself and she looks so confused watching him fall to the ground like a upside down U :verysurprise .. i hav a show to do now, so when I get back tonight and ther are no eggs i will pull her,. But like i said she will be Awesome if I get a big male. so Not all is lost, and i can still enjoy is beautiful finnage since its still perfect :Y

If they are not betting on each other let them be for now. They may figure it out.



RC

Hey guys, so I got back from my show and there still at it, but now she is just dumping eggs at the slightest touch so the bottom of the tank is full of eggs I don't really care if they eat them , Becuase I'm sure there not fertile, there eggs in the nest but i doubt there fertile, time will time. I'm chalking this spawn up to a great "get to now your new fishes breeding abilities" , she was just to round for the little guy, but I'm super excited about future spawns, he is gentle only flares and chases no biting,builds huge thick bubblenest and i know she won't tear up a gorgous male if I find one for her, Bums me out becuase I did not want to buy anymore fish, i just wanted to raise my own for the year :( , but i love shopping for fish :WOU so overall it wasn't a total loss. and i know I have great fish :D

It would seem if he is attempting to wrap her, and she is dropping eggs then those may be fertilized. I would keep a close eye on them and see if they don't have tails in about 3 days.
Good luck with it!

Lisa

Hey upstate, i never really saw him wrap her with eggs falling out it was more of them nudgeing each other and eggs would just fall, But like i said there are eggs at the bottom of the tank that the female kept eating and there are eggs in the nest that noone ate so maybe the ones in the nest are fertilized somehow :please2 be, and its been about 12 hours and those eggs are still in the nest, and he is tending them so I know he's not an egg eater, again valuable information fo the future. If there fertile that would be awesome looks to be a nice clutch he is taking care of. :T

The ones that were on the tank botom still could have been fertized.
When the male was stunning himself, he was letting milt into the water, and so the eggs are all where they could possibly be fertilized.
And it is possible, that once she began to drop some of her eggs, she became small enough for him to make a good wrap with her.
Time will tell for sure, and good luck.
Leave the nest alone, lol.

Thanks Labella good info for the future. I left him in there with the eggs and prince eventually ate them all, and then i spawned him 2 day later to fiona and well you all know how that is going :Y , so they must of all just been bad eggs, It bums me out suagrpie my green/black/white marble is so big , she is my favorite fish and i wanted her to spawn so badly but she is way to big, and especially next to my Batta pals fish she is a giant, :LOL: and with two tanks of Juvies and my newest spawn being over a 100 fry, I'm not spawning anything for months. But i am going to keep my eye for a large marble male but he will have to be perfect, and large for her.

If you have a 5 or 10 tank, put just the male in it, feed him several times a day, and at least 25% water change a day, and he will shoot up, and get some size on him, might make him large enough to handle Miss Priss.

Really I did not know that labella, good to for future, i'm learning alot from you today :ROCK :Thank:
Also I've decided only a perfect fish can be with Suagar pie, :LOL: she is my baby, I'm on a mission to find the perfect marble for her...price is no Object...and of course he would have to survive a RC critique with Flying colors. -_-