Betta chemistry

[Matt724]

Got some new bettas. 2 female (~1in), 1 male (~2in) to put in my 10 gallon tank. Heavily planted, plenty of hiding spaces. Tankmates: 2 ottocinclus catfish and possibly the addition of ~10 ghost shrimp.

Plan: let nature take its course, im not moving anyone unless extreme aggression, but there should be enough hiding places to avoid too much aggression.

Problem: pH registers 7.8. will they breed in this condition? Should I add Indian Almond leaves to reduce pH? Or should I take out the rocks that are causing the raising pH? Will the pH change affect them detrimentally? Will the pH change affect the bacteria colony detrimentally?

Suggestions/comments/criticisms alike all welcome with open arms

 

[knifegill]

I'd remove the rocks gradually. Let the pH drop on its own with water changes. You probably won't need any tricks with these domesticated lines. I had wal-mart bettas way back when and they spawned in hard water in an acrylic drawer with little prompting. You will need to remove the females after the spawning act, they will eat the eggs and fry. Normally I'd bust out with the old 'never keep males with females' bit, but your tank is a frickin' jungle and it could actually work.

 

[Nabbig2]

Having been captively bred for numerous generations, pH doesn't matter much for bettas. If possible though, I would try to lower it just a little.

 

[Matt724]

Thanks for the advice, i think i'm gonna pull out the rocks, do some water changes, and maybe throw in some indian almond leaves at half dose. But anyways, maybe i don't have to as i woke up this morning to these: (see pic below). and one of the females has been interacting with the male all morning. But there's one female who seems like the odd man out, what should I do with her?

 

[Ben268]

Really interested to see how this turns out, always wanted a betta community set up like this. I just assumed they'd rip each other apart regardless of how many hiding places there was.

 

[Matt724]

Really interested to see how this turns out, always wanted a betta community set up like this. I just assumed they'd rip each other apart regardless of how many hiding places there was.

Yeah that was my greatest fear, that they'd just shred eachother up, but so far I've been watching them really carefully for the past 22 or so hours and so far almost no aggression whatsoever. The most is a face to face showdown in which eventually one backs away. No fin nipping, no chasing, etc... Pretty interesting. Also, while feeding them this morning, the bubblenests were destroyed, but in the span of a couple hours, the male has already started forming them back, so it seems pretty reasonable that this guy is bent on reproducing. Also, now he's flirting with both females, which is pretty interesting. I think i'm going to take out the HOB filter because it's causing too much current and they're not as coordinated as I thought, so they always miss the food that is being pushed in circles above their heads.

 

[Nabbig2]

Interesting. I also thought there would be havoc, but I'm glad it's working out okay. I think the male has started a small bubble nest. If he seems to be interacting with one of the females, and she is interested in breeding, I'd remove the lone female.

 

[flamin]

the female are not really to be breed it need more feedin i be more care about female 2 i think she might open a can on that long tail

 

[Matt724]

So yesterday I found a huge bubblenest in the corner of my tank, but i didn't see any eggs or whatnot. I attached some pictures. The male has been getting slightly more aggressive, and one of my female has a chunk missing from her tail, but when i'm watching them, there doesn't seem to be any aggression except when i put a mirror up to the male, then he gets aggressive, flares and starts snapping at the females. How long do you think it will take before i see some eggs in the bubbles because I was going to do a W/C, but i think that would destroy the nest, so I guess I won't.