thanks for all of the great advice seems my bn need a few extras in their diet. i never did any further research into it because they seemed to be doing fine. xD
i isolated the bettas anyway because if they were really determined they could get into where the male is guarding his eggs. thankfully noone's having a hissy fit and stopped eating (or started tail chewing).
i'll post pictures when/if i can get them xD my bristlenoses i'm fairly sure actually are bristlenoses, they're just lacking their bristles. :D