What would keep a male from being able to sucessfully blow a bubble nest?

[RayneForhest]

My male TRIES and tries to blow a bubble nest and they just pop.

Why is this?


AND... is a male ONCE an EGG eater always an egg eater?

[laughing]

Try putting in Styrofoam or something and see if they stick. Sometimes they just need practice!

And not always. Sometimes they will when young and grow out of it... but not always.

[RayneForhest]

I felt bad for my fish... so I let them pair up with no intention of allowing the eggs to hatch. I dont want to do the irresponsible thing and create lives without being able to provide for them.

I suspect the male I have is very young.

(they ended up eating all the eggs anyway... no need for me to dispose of anything)

[MrVampire181]

I find humidity and almond leaf help. I never have nests stay when in a typical 10 gallon set up with styrofoam but in 4 gallon tubs with a tight lid and IAL I get huge thick nests that only get bigger as the eggs and fry develop.

[laughing]

Humidity does help, definitely.

[indjo]

Originally Posted by RayneForhest

My male TRIES and tries to blow a bubble nest and they just pop.
Why is this?

AND... is a male ONCE an EGG eater always an egg eater?

I used to think so. But I recently succeeded spawning 4 previously egg eaters (one of which never left any for me to artificially hatch). The trick..... in my case anyway, was to give them at least one month rest in a new environment - the ones in previously planted tanks were in bare tanks, the ones I often flare were given almost total rest, the ones in a 1g were placed in a 40g and vise versa ...... and so on.

I bred them in a small plastic container (the Thai way - previously they were bred in large deep ice boxes). So far 2 out of 4 of the spawn are strong enough to make it through the first month, 1 has reached the 6 week mark and 1 never passed the first week.

At the moment I conclude that they had a good reason to eat their eggs - bad eggs mainly because the males weren't as healthy as I thought they were (only one or two hatched artificially - indicating that they were bad eggs). And it's sometimes better to slim a fat male .... but not drastically and make him lose energy/become lethargic.

Just keep in mind that most egg eaters will more often eat eggs than care for them. So if that "special" male you want babies from is an egg eater ..... you have to be extra patient, and try new setups. Oh and don't forget to pray that the babies are more like the mother (egg lover) .... Lol.

[RayneForhest]

Ok...... So I put some Styrofoam in the tank and he went right to it, creating a bubble nest beneath it...
The bubbles have become ONE LARGE bubble... with only a few TINY individual bubbles.
IS THIS NORMAL? AND is it conducive to a successful bubble nest

[leeb62]

Why don't you try those almond leaf extract bottle from a local pet store, they work pretty good and will make your betta build bigger more stable bubblenest. Make sure you fish tank has a tight cover on too. Good luck.