Is this normal?

[MrNand]

I heard that betta's make bubbles... but are these the bubbles that they make... and are these too much bubbles?

[Alex09]

Yes, Its normal. Thats a bubblenest.

[MrNand]

oh ok lol... i was just worried that there was something going on with him... especially since i've been having trouble with the ammonia level which keeps on rising...

[Adastra]

Have you researched the nitrogen cycle yet? If your tank is filtered, the ammonia will continue to spike until you have cultivated enough beneficial bacteria in your filter to convert the ammonia into nitrite, nitrite is just as harmful as ammonia, so you need to keep that in control until you cultivate enough bacteria in your filter to convert the nitrite into less harmful nitrate. If you're doing this using the fish-in-tank method, you have no choice but to test the water every day and do water changes accordingly. You want the ammonia or nitrite to stay around .25ppm, and if it starts creeping up, do a partial water change until it's back to around .25ppm.

[Posaune]

Another thing that would help with the ammonia is live plants. I noticed that you only have fake in there, right? Maybe try and get some live ones :)

[MrNand]

yeah i have fake plants and have been thinking of getting live ones... any suggestions on which plants would be good? another thing about the ammonia... how often do you need to wash the whole tank? or is a bad idea to be washing it?

[Posaune]

Never use soap, but I don't know exactly when or if to wash a tank. I have a floating plant in my tank, called water hyacinth and some frogbit (but that was an accident :P). They float on the surface and apparently reproduce fairly quickly. I've also got an amazon sword? I think, java moss, and a lucky bamboo. I've heard that the floating plants (like duckweed, water hyacinth, and frogbit) are really easy to keep, basically weeds that benefit the tank :P