Of bettas and bubble nests

[HeathB]

Just wanted to get some opinions on this as I've seen people say different things. My buddy Alfred the betta started building his nest yesterday (very bubbly). I've seen some people say that this means he's happy (or at least generally satisfied with his living arrangement) and I've seen others say its just something they will do regardless of whether they are satisfied or not. What do you guys think?

Btw, he still gets all riled up whenever he sees a bubble escaping the diy co2 bell. I think he might be jealous he can't make them as big. XD

 

[BigJim]

Breeding behavior means he's healthy and happy. Fish generally won't breed (livebearers excepted) if they aren't in good condition.

 

[taylorodw]

Play some Marvin Gaye and put a picture of a female Betta close to the tank... your fishy guy is in the mood

 

[logansmomma1228]

lol ^. so they literally make a nest out of bubbles? sounds interesting...

 

[HeathB]

lol ^. so they literally make a nest out of bubbles? sounds interesting...

Yeah, it just looks like a bit of foamed up water in the corner of the tank.

 

[HeathB]

play some marvin gaye and put a picture of a female betta close to the tank... Your fishy guy is in the mood

+10,000,000

 

[An t-iasg]

I agree with BigJim. Some of my bettas made small bubble nests, and others made huge nests that mounded up out of the water. When I did a water change, I took as much of the nest out as I could with a plastic spoon and put it in a plastic cup with some water in the bottom. When I was done I put the nest back in. They usually rebuilt around the edges anyway so trying to save it probably wasn't necessary. As my bettas got older, they gradually stopped building/repairing the nests.

 

[corrado33]

My betta never builds a nest? Does that mean he's not happy? Then again I do have a small pump that would probably wash away any bubbles. I'm sad now... I mean he has a nice tank. (4.5 gallons, big enough for a betta). I can't NOT have a pump because the tank is a fluval edge copy, so it's hard to get gas exchange. I hope he's happy.

 

[HeathB]

My betta never builds a nest? Does that mean he's not happy? Then again I do have a small pump that would probably wash away any bubbles. I'm sad now... I mean he has a nice tank. (4.5 gallons, big enough for a betta). I can't NOT have a pump because the tank is a fluval edge copy, so it's hard to get gas exchange. I hope he's happy.

I've heard there are some ways you can reduce the amount of agitation your filter does to the water by putting something around the outtake, but another thing I noticed which may be related or not, was that my betta didn't do it till the water level was actually a bit below the filter.

My aquarium is a aqueon mini-bow 5.

 

[dkpate]

lol ^. so they literally make a nest out of bubbles? sounds interesting...

They make the nest, the female gets the eggs squeezed out of her by the male, he picks them up and puts them in the bubbles. He then takes care of the eggs until they hatch. If an egg falls out, he will zoom over and scoop it up in his mouth and put it back.

My bettas are sporadic in their nest building. Their tank cleaning schedule and play time is the same every week, as well as feeding, so I think it is more with spawning time.

 

[DragonFish71]

None of our bettas do that. But, they are face to face every minute of the day. Probably bored with each other *lol*