Some of you may be familiar with this.
You have a daddy, he is taking care of his babies..
You pull him for whatever reason.. and he gets depressed, hanging on the bottom of his whatever, not eating, pale and clampy..
What do you do to beat PTD?
Now, I have a theory, and so far, acting on it, I have not had a single case of PTD.
I think that is many cases, it is less the loosing of the babies, than the loosing of the territory.
Babies get eaten, they wander.. but a male can always make more babies as long as he has territory, so pulling a male from his territory, it is just like he lost it.. and he didn't even fight to lose it.
What I do, most of the time, is move a tending daddy into a tank set up exactly like the tank I pulled him from.
Usually, he swims around, looking for the kids, and sort of shrugs his shoulders, and starts building a new nest.
Even when I can't put the male in to a simialr tank, I give him something that distracts him from thinking too much about what just happened..
A lovely lady to flirt with.
A female does more to keep a daddy from going into PTD than another male, I have found.

Example.
I just pulled Hollywood from his latest spawn.
Because I am taking him to the show.. I couldn't put him in another 10 gallon tank.. He has to get beanie acclimated.
I just plopped him in a 1 gallon long tank... and put a female next to him.
He isn't even thinking about how small his turf just got, he wants the pretty girl, lol.
In a couple days, I'll be putting him in a beanie, without a girl to distract him, and carding him him up..
BUT I will be waiting until I think the chances of PTD has past.
I was just wondering hat some of your thoughts on this was, and what you all do.

bella That is exctly what I do, i spawn in 2.5 gallons and then when Done i move the male to a 2.5 gallon with a female next to him and he goes nuts for the female and soon forgetts about fry . I have never had a depressed male yet. :D

Not all males are the same. Some are monogamy. LOL :OO :OO

Not mine.. they are players, every one of them.

Love em and leave em :Panic :bettafish

Love em, and kick them out of their tanks, more like, lol.

Yeah, that always works for me too.

Don't they make prozac for fishies???

If they do, then they need to make viagra as well.

Speaking of Viagra....
What do you guys all think about using chemical spawning aids? I've never used them with other fish I've spawned, but I'm thinking very serious about trying it with bettas. It might just be that I'm new to breeding bettas but either the guys are horny or the girls are raring to go, but I cant seem to get them on the same rhythm.

I know if I could find it, and afford it, I wouls use it.
Just for the same reason you stated.