Grandma's House

Over at Sondra K's site, I read this post about the mating rituals of lobsters. It reminded me of a passion I had for a while and would like to resume one day: breeding betas. Betas are those beautiful finned fighting fish from Southeast Asian waters. They are difficult to breed, but it was, to me at least, a lot of fun. The strange thing is, the water has to be brackish and the right temperature or forget it. But if you get those right, the male, who is separate from the female but can see her, will build a nest of bubbles. Then, when the female is introduced to that side of the tank, he will wrap himself around her and squeeze the eggs from her body. Then, as she sinks to the bottom of the tank, he will grab the eggs and spit them into the bubble nest. By that time, she has revived and they start all over again. It is a fascinating process to watch. I do plan to start up again one day, after Mugley gets his degree and a job and we can afford the setups.