Betta nest "coaxing"

[Andyroo]

Sage folk,
Is there a way to coax a male to make a nest?
I've got him in a 3gal low tray with floating plants, and periodically drain-add 50% water from the tank where the two girls are.
He'll do a half-assed nest, then give-up by lunchtime.

When I add a girl he gets beat-up; they're both bigger than him. He may need to mature/grow.
Fed on pellets, ostracods/scuds & mozzie larvae, and he nibbles on the duckweed. Girls get about the same.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Funny, but sorry, Andy, can't help you as this is way outside of my experience.

 

[Andyroo]

Not exactly a MONSTER species, I suppose.
In re-reading the usual pages I see that the boy is supposed to SEE the girl, not just smell her (in the water), so I'll have to cut a plexi partition. I've not much experience either, but have also never known a male that didn't build & maintain a nest even when on his own for months~years. So it goes, he likely needs to mature.

 

[Alexandboi]

Male being smaller than female often times do not work out. I've always fasted females for 2 days before adding her to the spawning tank. She'll be fine if she was conditioned well. Helps reduce her girth in preparation for spawning. Males don't always build a nest. I've always released the female after 24 hours whether the male built a nest or not. Sometimes they don't build until they are spawning. Sometimes not until after. Even had some males not build a nest. Just a few bubbles and clump of eggs.

 

[Fishman Dave]

Would suggest he likely needs to mature if he is substantially smaller than the girls. That said I have had best results when the female was in the same tank but partitioned 50/50 with finer egg crate. If the plants are not too dense just remember to provide lots of places (pipes, rocks, caves- anything out of sight) for her to retreat to afterwards (if you don’t want to be immediately getting your net in and disturbing everything).