So What's In Your Water?

[Leela]

Hi again

I'm probably being slightly paranoid again, but I'm still worried about why over half my bettas don't blow bubblenests.

Even one that was blowing a nest last week has stopped this week, what am I doing wrong?

I was jsut wondering what everyone else uses in their water, like ager etc..

I do a 50% change once a week on all my boys, then once a month a full cleanout of gravel etc.

I add salt (1tsp to 20L), Stress Coat, pH balancer to 7.0, and Melafix to recommended dose. The water sits for about half a day before use.

Am I doing anything wrong in there? They all seem quite happy, eating and going crazy everytime I walk by, but I just don't like the lack of nest building, considering even the pet shop bettas in the most filthy water all seem to blow nests! http://ausaqua.net/forum/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif

Any help appreciated!

Cheers

L :)

[Figure_8]

I use water ager.. just the stock standard dechlorinator & heavy metal removal stuff, and in the tanks I either use ketapang extract or a tiny piece of IAL melafix tends to make bubbles go pop so that could be part of the reason. Older water tends to hold the bubbles/nests better than new too and as a general rule I have no nests for about 3 days after a wc. I also find that live foods will spark nest building in my fish. Not all fish will build a bubblenest though. I've had some males that will only build one when in a spawning tank with the female and even then I've had one of those build it on the fly between spawning. I'm sure he thought at first he could keep the eggs up by sheer will power alone :)

[sharkey]

A few days ago I did a water change on my SUthasine Red/Gold boy and for the last couple of days he has been blowing the biggest bubblenest I have ever seen and it is still growing. Poor thing is working furiously but I don't have a female for him as she died a long time ago. When he was in the fish room I never had a nest from him but I have moved him to a different room and he has started making them. Only thing in the water is Aqua Plus.

[Chuckie]

I would skip the melafix as IMO there's no need for it unless you have an illness present. I do know there have been nasty water issues in QLD recently though so maybe I should just shut up! Um ok, my water is old, always aged for more than a day either in a tub with plants, aeration and activated carbon OR in my 4' planted tank. I usually add peat and/or Indian Almond leaf and/or banana leaf to the bottles and tanks. The peat doesn't make the water slimy like the IAL and banana leaf do, though. That seems to be the secret. I think most bettas do nest but the bubbles pop due to the water nor being sticky enough. Lids help keep the humidity in, too. The salt may harden the water, which may also contribute to the nests not holding. I stopped salting my bettas years ago, just because I ran out of salt or something, and they still stayed as healthy so I figured why add it? I'm not against it, just lazy (sel-proclaimed, lol).

[quokka]

I'm with you Lili on the skipping of melafix or any other similar product... If you really MUST add something for that purpose I would use a bit of salt... but gee I am the slackest-laziest water person I know and my fish thrive on just plain water with sure-start/dechlorinator or similar added...and nothing else! other than that the tubs of water sit around waiting to be used, aging naturally...