Again and again, they locked each other in their arms, or rather their bodies. as passionate as any two lovers can be. Eventually, exhausted, they stopped. Then, with fatherly concern over the safety of the eggs, the male told his lover to move off from the nest, fearful of the now hungry female devouring the eggs. So, he sent her off to a corner of the tank while he continued with the task of picking up every egg at the bottom.
I instantly sprang to the aid of the male as well as the female. For the male, it was to remove the fear that the female may return to eat the eggs. For the female, I removed her to ensure her safety from an angry male parent.
For the next three days, usually without food, the male has to work constantly, 24 hours a day, to make sure that any egg that falls out of its bubble will be cleaned and taken back to the safety of its bubble. And on the third day, the male is rewarded with tiny little fry darting out from their nest in search of food. Once the fry can swim in search of food, the male should be removed for the safety of the fry. However, there have been times when the male left with the fry did not eat or kill them.
While I am writing this, there may be some who know not what a betta is. It is a Siamese fighting fish. What is a Dumbo fighting fish? Well, it is a fighting fish which has giant pectorals. And so, some people call them 'big ears'.
