Betta not blowing bubble nest

**jonc711** · 9th Feb 2012, 16:19

Hi everyone,

Recently I am conditioning my pair to breed. I put them into the breeding tank yesterday but the male have not built even a tiny bubblenest. It used to built huge bubble nests when the water level was lower. Anyone can help?

**Emokidz** · 9th Feb 2012, 20:31

It's probably not ready or hasn't settled into the new tank. Just give it more time.

**square_87** · 11th Feb 2012, 19:27

what is your setup for the spawning tank? do you use water from the male's tank?

for my spawning tank,i add all the water from the male's previous tank so it can acclimatize quicker.

or you can also place a small leaf of ketapang to calm him down.

**stormhawk** · 12th Feb 2012, 06:24

You can get him to start building the bubblenest earlier by placing him in the breeder tank a few days or a week before the planned introduction of the female. Place the half-cut styrofoam cup at one side of the tank so he can have support for his nest. Place the female in a jar and put it in the tank, making sure that she cannot escape into the tank, or place her jar or tank beside his so he can flare at her. Add a piece of ketapang leaf or use some peat in a bag. It helps to get him in the "mood".

When his bubblenest is ready, you can introduce the female to the male. If all goes well they will spawn within a few hours upon introduction, if both has been conditioned well beforehand. Make sure there's a hiding spot for the female, because the male is capable of killing her.

However, in some cases, there are males which are total failures at making bubblenests, no matter what you do.

**jonc711** · 12th Feb 2012, 08:40

Hmm, I think I will try adding ktp. The thing for my male is that its bubbles always burst within a short time and the bubblenest grows very slowly.

**stormhawk** · 13th Feb 2012, 00:32

Your male probably needs a "boost" to get him into the mood. The use of KTP should work but watch as the leaf decomposes in the water. It is vital that the water is still with little to no disturbance along the water surface. Some of the fancy bettas are very bad at making nests.

**jonc711** · 25th Feb 2012, 07:30

There has not been much progress... Should I lower the water level to about 5cm and add more ktp??

**stormhawk** · 26th Feb 2012, 07:41

You can try, but watch the pH. Too acidic and it may not be conducive for the fish.

**darylets** · 12th Apr 2012, 17:24

Using KTP water could help your betta build the nest better as it helps to prevent the bubbles from bursting that easily. As for me I switched from using styrofoam cups to cutting small pieces of those plastic bags you get when you buy tubiflex from LFS, then sticking it with a masking tape onto a corner of the tank, this way, its easier for your betta to build the nest undernearth and also makes life easier for you when you need to check if there are eggs laid. Let me see if i can take some pictures and upload here.

**Leonjcxf** · 15th Apr 2012, 20:41

Is your betta a newly spawned one? Sometimes old age might affect their form. Did you also age your water before adding him in? Aging with anti-chlorine and some aquarium salt with ketapang will help the betta to acclimatise better. Is he feeding well? If he isn't, then that is a sign that it he isn't doing too well.

**eeping06** · 9th Apr 2013, 23:39

I am worried mine will not build nest too, as I have never seen him build nest before. Some males likes to build nest some don't. I have read somewhere that some males build nest only when the female is ready and laying eggs. He will be very busy build nest + picking up eggs...

**Shi Xuan** · 10th Apr 2013, 09:00

Have a female within sight of the male and provide a piece of styrofoam or anything that floats for him to build a nest. Still, there are males which will not build any nest until a female is placed in the same tank. Chances are, they make good breeders just as other more vigorous nest building males but needs a little bit more motivation to do so.