advice please...

[Titania]

I have a problem with my male betta. this is the first time he will be breeding and he just wont make a decent nest. he makes a decent start, then seems to lose interest and spend all his time flaring at the female (who is in a chimney in his tank) instead of making the nest!!! is there anything you can recomend?

[BettaLu&Meg]

Hey T,
Im a breeder and i know how your feeling. First i just want to say i know how u feel about this because it happens. Some things cant be rushed....BUT CAN BE HELP
Try a couple of these thing to get him going again.
For breeding potential u want the water to be set at 80F. there natrual enviroment is usually 74-82degrees F, but 80F is what i always keep my breeding tank at and had numerous spawning.
Next, you don't want her chimney to be to close to him or the nest, u want to set it somewhat in the middle of the tank. I have a 10 gallon tank as my breeding tank and i place her in the middle.
Next, since bettas natural matting environment is usualy in brown water, u can do this if possible. Whats in the water that produces that matting mood is something called tannins. To get this in your water and to make is a little brown is a leaf or leaves u can purchase on line call Indian Almond Leaves, now if this is hard to obtain, i was taught in my begining breeding stages by a betta breeder from thailand, u can us a tea bag to brown the water and to produce the tannins. now its has to be reg. tea not anything flavor for the fact that bettas don't drink tea! but in seriousness regular tea is needed for the producing tannins. the leave on the other hand had great benefits to it. while it browning the water it releases these tannins, and also produces a place to makes nests, and give the bettas antioxidants and improves health, immune system, and gives them the neccesary mood to mate.
You also want to cut a styrafoam cup in half, from top to bottom not center-around, and place it on top of your water. heres a link to give u an idea [Registered users only can see links. ] [Registered users only can see links. ]
Then tape with scotch or clear tape to the wall to secure it from floating around. bettas like to make sure there nest will always be in the same place at all times for security!
This will be your Nests home, and it will also prevent your bubbles from seperating.
Next, You dont want your filter to cause tremendous amounts of currents if you have a out of tank filter try to block the water being thrown back into the tank violently. if u have this problem what i did is take a 2litter bottle and carefully cut out the part where u pour your drink from to the size of a fist. then poke and cut very small holes Big enough to get water through and so the water doesn't fill up and pour over the top and small enough so your bettas don't get thru them. Also to promote matting since bettas live in shallow water it sometimes helps to take out water and leave about 6-8 inches of water. doin this though will delete your chance of using the filter, the best filter to have is [Registered users only can see links. ] this type or a spong filter like this! doin all this will better your chances.
Also, believe it or not every betta and fish has its own personality and own taste. i own 10 and breed but only one viel tail will mate with a crowntail male and visa-versa. so if nothing happens after a couple of weeks consider another female. Let me know how it goes and your outcome, i will always want to help to feel free and don't hesitate to ask. i have fry of my own and its one of my crown males and my normal viel female. and are 2-3 weeks old.