# Male Betta will not pick up babies that have fallen out of the bubble nest?



## Philly (Oct 4, 2017)

Hello all! 

I have bred a pair of bettas, and it is the second day after laying the eggs and they have already hatched. I have fry now that can not seem to stay in the nest, and the male puts them back into the nest when he can, but the ones that fall all the way to the bottom lie there motionless (but still alive), and the male seems to not retrieve them.

I am thinking about attaching a clear Plexiglas strip under the bubble nest so the babies fall onto it, allowing the male to see them better. 

I am just wondering if anyone knows why the male doesn't seem to notice they are dropped and why he doesn't seem to be able to find/retrieve them (there are only 2 fry). Also, if you have encountered this same problem or know how to fix it, please let me know! 

(I have read places that it could be that the bubble nest isn't strong enough, so how can i fix this as a different problem?)


----------



## aussieJJDude (Jun 9, 2012)

Is he in a bare bottom tank? Ive read that bettas breeding in a gravel bottom may miss them, even then its common for males to miss a few here and there. I wouldn't worry too much about it. 

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


----------



## Philly (Oct 4, 2017)

Yes, I took all the gravel out. I heard about this problem as well.


----------



## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

I don’t know a whole lot about the subject matter, but is it possible the ones that he’s not picking up are faulty/defective/unfertilized? Maybe he knows something we don’t?


----------

