I Want My Males To Make Me Bubblenests!

[trojannemo]

i've had several different males so far...and none of them have ever made me a bubble nest

my main "betta tank" is a 10G divided into three partitions like so:

in the middle partition (~ 2G) is the heater and 20G bio-wheel filter. with the dividers i made the fish dont go across and the current doesn't disturb the water in either side.
because the water isnt disturbed, i added air stones to each side with a gang control valve thing to reduce the bubbles to as fine as possible but still moving the water surface, as I don't want the water to get that gunk on the top.
my temperature is at 76-78F but i just got a better heater i'm putting in tonight which lets me set the temperature.

1) what's the best temperature to keep the two males at? i'm thinking 80-82F? they'll be in there by themselves for now,
later on with some shrimp, so no higher than 82F would be ideal.

2) if i completely remove the bubbles, the water gets that gunky film on top. if i have the bubbles, the water doesnt get the film but then they dont make nests...how do i go about this part?

i'm off to get a shower and when i get back I'm going to try to fix up their tank so your input is highly appreciated!

thanks!

 

[Amunet]

First up, is that real bamboo in the middle?
If so, take them out of the water. If you completely submerge them, they'll rot. They are NOT aquatic plants. You can have part of the bottom of them in water, but the top half needs to be out of the water.

I would get them both tall plants. Something that will reach to the surface. 1, b/c bettas love it and 2, both of their sides look SO barren.
A really REALLY easy plant that grows like a weed and looks great is hornwort. It grows SUPER fast. You can leave it floating or you can plant some in the gravel.
My betta Raj (RIP) never made a bubblenest. He also had an airstone on his side of the tank, and just never showed an interest in making a bubblenest until one day when I put a wide leaf sag plant in to his side of the tank temporarily. The leaves of the plant reached to the surface and before I knew it, his lil butt was making his first bubblenest under one of the leaves.

You could also try taking a styrofoam cup. Cut it in half and float that in the tank.

This trick worked in my 3 gallon and in my 10gallon.
Rex never built a bubblenest either until I put it in to his tank.
Just make sure that the big opening in the cup is against the glass. It will help to keep it in place and prevent the current the air stones are making from reaching the water within.
Your guys might not use them at first, but hopefully they will.

 

[wackystarfish]

I just cut a triangle from polystyrene and floated it in. I also floated a plastic leaf that when face down in the water looked like This ^ He chose the leaf funnily enough but it wasnt stable so i took it out, he sulked, then made a HUGE nest under the polystyrene! One way to make him nest is add a girl in the middle partition, just for a while. This will make them go crazy!

 

[trojannemo]

First up, is that real bamboo in the middle?
If so, take them out of the water. If you completely submerge them, they'll rot. They are NOT aquatic plants. You can have part of the bottom of them in water, but the top half needs to be out of the water.

I'm getting a bit pissed at PetCo...that's the second time they sell me something semi-aquatic or non-aquatic at all as an aquatic plant. I bought both of the bamboos from them, as well as some sort of palm I had on my 38G for months before I was told it wasn't aquatic.
i've had the bamboo sticks in there for a while now, they've gotten bigger, greener, and set deep roots...take them out huh? darn it. what sucks is that I love the look, I envisioned that middle partition exactly like I have it now...now I need to re-imagine how i want it to look

I would get them both tall plants. Something that will reach to the surface. 1, b/c bettas love it and 2, both of their sides look SO barren.

I should have said it's a work-in-progress. i'm aware of the barren-ness of the situation. even worse now, I removed the moss ball thing from the white side of the tank because it looked like crap, another PetCo purchase.
I had already thought of adding the bigger plants, just that my closest LFS hasn't had anything good lately...hopefully today or tomorrow I can pass by somewhere better for the plants.
I also wanted to buy them each some sort of cave or hiding space as I was told they'd enjoy that...should I? or should I just add plants and nothing else?

thanks for the help

 

[Honeythorn]

I'd recommend Cabomba and Elodia for nice soft leaved tall plants. They grow very easily, look attractive in clumps and thickets, and are easy to propogate if you want more ( they put roots off to the sides, you just pinch off the plant just below the side roots and plant that bit , the rest keeps growing ) . Hygrophillia Polysperma is also a very attractive plant that grows easily and is also good to propogate.

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
The temps are pretty much ok at 76-78. 78/80 would be better though. I cant see a thermometer? If your just using the temp scale on the heater you'll probably find the water is a completely different temp. The heater scale is never accurate.

 

[Amunet]

The bamboo might be ok for a while. But I would still think about trying to raise them up more so that their tops are out of the water.

And a cave for them both would be great. Doesn't have to be anything fancy Alot of people here use those small clay planting pots that you can get for a dollar or something.

Cabomba is a really nice plant. One of my favs, but I always have trouble keeping it alive for some reason. It'll grow fantastic for a while and then thppppt... all of it will die *shrugs*. It grows really well and looks fantastic though, plus bettas just absolutely LOVE swimming in and out of the leaf areas.

 

[trojannemo]

Hi
The temps are pretty much ok at 76-78. 78/80 would be better though. I cant see a thermometer? If your just using the temp scale on the heater you'll probably find the water is a completely different temp. The heater scale is never accurate.

i have a thermometer that I use for all my tanks. i've left it on each tank for long enough to feel comfortable with the temperatures. anyways, i changed to a marineland stealth heater i had before that's very reliable and let's me choose the temp, it's at 81F right now

The bamboo might be ok for a while. But I would still think about trying to raise them up more so that their tops are out of the water.

And a cave for them both would be great. Doesn't have to be anything fancy Alot of people here use those small clay planting pots that you can get for a dollar or something.

Cabomba is a really nice plant. One of my favs, but I always have trouble keeping it alive for some reason. It'll grow fantastic for a while and then thppppt... all of it will die *shrugs*. It grows really well and looks fantastic though, plus bettas just absolutely LOVE swimming in and out of the leaf areas.

already got rid of the bamboo and added the following plants:
2x green cabomba
2x anacharis
1x moneywort

coupled with the existing banana plant, small java fern, and the bronce wendtii in the middle partition, it's planted well for now i think.

i'm just missing to get some sort of small sword to put where the bamboo sticks were and the "decor" for each guy. unfortunately I do not like fake decor in my fish tanks. what i'll be adding is a niece rock for the white partition and a piece of bog wood to the black partition. from my experience with both the fish will like them. i've had bettas with both before and they've enjoyed them

thanks for the help guys. i'll update the thread with a pic once i get the remaining things (hopefully soon!)