What causes bubble nests? :D are they truely a sign of happiness

[asukabetta]

After the death of my rescue I have been sulking a little, then my veiltail Cheshire got ICH to make things worse.

However he has now recovered and is blowing bubble nests every other day in his 2 gallon bowl lol.

I've been feeling bad of destroying them everytime I perform a water change since he is still being medicated. Is it bad? He defends them with so much ferociousity-- flaring at me and all.

He hardly flares, not even to his relfection so I've been wondering... Also how is he making nests when the water is medicated XD Is beyond me.

What pushes bettas to do bubble nests anyways XD?

Some people say it's a sign of happiness, but then again there are betta's that hardly ever do bubble nests or never and live in perfect conditions.

Then I seen bettas do bubble nests in those small cups they come in.

So thus, there's the question XD

[LeoTheLakerBetta]

I have never seen a bubble nest in a cup lol. They usually mean that your betta is healthy although not necessarily all the time. I think it's more of bettas natural instinct. To ask why it's their instinct would be sort of pointlesss. I mean you could explain the science of it but at some level it could mean almost nothing. For instance, its like asking why humans learn or why we sleep. It's sort of already there and although science can explain it, it really doesn't tie up all the loose ends. I believe that it is the same thing for bettas; that bubble nesting ability is inside of them already :)

In a somewhat sciency way of putting it, bettas are usually make a bubblenest for that breeding instinct. In a nutshell anyways...

[LebronTheBetta]

Here's my thread on it.

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=112600

[sainthogan]

Bubble nests really just indicate that your male is ready to breed. That certainly doesn't mean he has to though, just that he's ready.

[aokashi]

it's definitely not an indication of happiness, mine doesnt make bubble nests, since he really cant in his environment because it gets destroyed by me all the time. he's happy though :)

[Oldfishlady]

Nest building is Instinct driven...nothing more.....It is encoded in the genetic makeup.

You can stimulate triggers to encourage nest building for spawning.

Fish in general are driven by instinct for nearly everything-They don't have the wiring in the brain to perceive things the way we do.

The urge/instinct to reproduce is their main focus in life-they want to pass their genes on to future generations

[registereduser]

Even sick fish in pet store cups make bubble nests, probably a last ditch effort to breed before dying