Bubble Nests

[NottsFishy]

Hi guys and gals

Quick question for you all i am going to attempt to breed my first bettas but i have a question.

My male pk who will be the breeder boy builds some great bubble nests but he tends to do them in the middle of the tank so they float around and break up so he goes and has a strop and doesnt build another for a couple of days

Is there anything that will help him build a nest in a safe place where they wont float around and break up i have tried growing some floating plants in the breeding tank but no success yet as they keep going brown and dyeing off.

Cheers for any advise

 

[MaddieJ]

Heya, I only have experience with one recent spawn, so I'm sure lots of other experienced people will be able to add suggestions too but..

I used silk plants in my spawning tank, which worked out great for my boys bubblenest. He built a lot of nests around the middle and extended them under the plants to the back left corner where they ended up spawning. Once I'd taken her out, he worked on expanding right out across the majority of the tank! I arranged the plants so that their base where at the sides of the tank with the leaves in towards the middle and he pushed some bubblewrap around to where he wanted it, here is a pick of what I mean..

Although it changed a teeny tiny bit (by me just rearranging the leaves so the floated in a different way, this is what it looked like from above before introducing them

The nest did break up over time anyway, but the boys work really hard in making new bubbles while tending to the nest so I wouldn't worrk too much

x

 

[newfishy]

a styrofoam cup cut in half taped to the side of the tank(way above the water line) and floated in the water.

 

[wilsonnw8]

yeah just floating plants or some people do use the up side down cup idea, you could buy indian almond leaf from ebay, Netty told me it helps keep the nest together and there are meant to be good properties to the leaf itself.

 

[NottsFishy]

Bubble wrap ?? havnt heard of that before i have heard of the styro cup thing but wasnt sure might have to have a go with it though.
The indian almond leaf is a good idea but the main problem i have with him is he just builds nests in open water where after a while they break up i think the almond leaf would work but i would prefer it if he nested somewhere where the nest isnt goin to move

 

[Netty]

Bubblewrap works really well in our experience, along with floating plants and a square of polystyrene. We had one male that moved his eggs and fry about 6 times a day, so you never knew where they were going to be from hour to hour lol As long as there are plenty of options for him, I'm sure he'll sort himself out