Downsize?

[xWendyx]

Hullo,

I have 2 Siamese, Blue and Purple (that's what happens when you let little kids name fish ). When we first purchased Blue, in October 04, he was in 1.2 litres (a little over a quarter of a gallon). He bubblenested like crazy, but his water had to be changed every day otherwise it would go brown and icky.

All the water changes were cheesing me off, so I did a little research, oops, maybe he needs a bigger tank?

So Blue gets moved into 17 litre (4.5 gallon) tank. All is good, water quality is much better (once weekly 100% changes - I don't cycle because he loathes having a filter in the tank - we tried 3 different sorts) and he swims around merrily, BUT no bubblenesting anymore. During excessively rainy periods he'll nest, but otherwise there's only a few (maybe 10) bubbles in his tank.

Purple has been with us since January. He lives in a 4.6 litre (a gallon and a quarter) tank and bubblenests like CRAZY. Once (*bad fish owner moment*) I didn't change his water for two weeks and he was still building huge nests (his water never goes brown, or even yellow... a 'cleaner' fish than his counterpart, I guess).

So I'm thinking maybe I should try downsizing Blue into a smaller container? He's too big for 1/4 gallon now, but another 4.6 - 8 litre tank may work. Do you think this is worth trying for the sake of a nest, or is it possible he's just old and cynical and has realised that his chances of making babies are slim to nil and thus can't be stuffed?

Both fish are veiltail mutts and I've never had any finrot, fungus, or other nasties (there was, once, Red, who did a suicide leap but I'm not going to dwell on that encounter) with my Siamese. And they both hate me, and flare crazily at me, although they have no issues with my partner or our son. Stupid male bonding

 

[Joby]

Hmmm, this is a tricky one

Although its a sign that the betta is healthy and happy if it blows a bubblenest it can complicate things by moving them around in tanks if they are settled.

Bettamomma had a very bad experience upgrading one of her boys so I'm not sure how they would react to downsizing.

Any other opinions

 

[FishyLoveBug]

Hmmm if he other wise seems happy I dont think a move would be called for. Maybe add some plants, caves, a marble or shiny rock? My boys love it when I just move their plants around a bit. They love it even more when I put a brightly colored object next to the tank, they are so curious. Recently my Leo "fell in love" with a notebook. Whenever I put it by his tank he would bubble nest like no tommorow. Maybe he just needs to be inspired a bit.

 

[BettaMomma]

Hi
Just because he isn't making a bubblenest doesn't mean he's not really happy.
I would leave him just as he is. If he's swimming around actively, and does not have clamped fins and is eating normally, don't change a thing.

I currently have 7 betta boys, and right now only 2 (well 1 since I moved Charlie to my co-worker's desk) make bubblenests for me.
Harvey once in a while makes nests too, but it depends.
Some of my fish I have had for months and still have yet to see a nest.

Sometimes bettas, even though they seem hardy and nothing can kill them really, can become EXTREMELY stressed (like in the case of my boy Amos, who DIED from an environment change - moved him to a 5G tank w/filter and he hated it) and become ill or worse when you upset their comfortable living quarters. I am a HUGE advocate of getting a betta to his final place of residence when he first comes to live with you, if at all possible.