my betta is acting a bit different now. when i first got him, he made tons of bubble nests. he moved around a lot and seemed fairly well adjusted to the tank. i did a 50% water change after about a week and a half and then tested his water for ammonia. it was thru the roof! i did another 50% change and left it for a day or so...then i noticed that he was bottom sitting and clamping. so i tested the water and ammonia was thru the roof again! so did another 50% change. he's not bottom sitting anymore and he's not clamping but he's not making bubble nests...is that just an occasional thing or do i need to be worried about him? after my last betta disaster, i dont want anything to happen to him!

btw, just did another ammonia test and its not sky high but its at about .60 or so...im going to do another 50% change today to get the ammonia levels down...but i really think that all these water changes are whats causing him so much distress...how do i balance this so he's not swimming in pure ammonia but he's not stressed from all the water changes?

during the last 50% change i moved his tank to an area where he gets a little more natural sunlight...maybe he's got seasonal affective disorder too . just a bit of medical humor there...sorry.

How big is the tank he's in? (sorry if you have mentioned this before)

yes the size of his tank does matter. and if he has filtration or not. If he is in a anything that is 3 gallons of water or less and it is unfiltered, then you need to change his water every couple days or so. If it is a 3 gallons or less tank with filtration every few days will do. if it is a tiny container then daily water changes need to be done untill you get him a bigger container.I also would use prime as your water condition which is good at nullifying amonia.Might want to test your tap water too with your test kit to see if you have amonia normally in your water. I once had 1 Percent of amonia in the tap water where I used to live. How big of a tank is he in? Also what temp is his water at? If it is below 72 degrees it will also make him listless. I would also get a thermometer in his container as well to make sure he has constant water temps. Also his tank new or cycled? makes different with the amonia level. you are going to have to probably do daily water changes to keep the amonia down if it is not cycled. Did you say in another post you had a 5 gallon. also if you have access to getting some indian almond leave extract -Attisons Betta Spa it might encourage him to start rebuilding his bubble nest because the ial leave extract is used when they breed to encourage breeding. Sounds as if he is having problems with the amonia though

hmm...i did forget all the important information...sorry. he's in a 5.5g filter-in-hood style tank. it has not been cycled since he is one of my first fish. i'm working on doing daily water changes but he's pretty stressed from all the disturbance so i'm trying to do as much as i can at a time and then waiting it out for a while...i just installed an in-water thermometer and his temp is right at 75-77 degrees. i'm not really trying to encourage him to build bubble nest (i dont have a female for him, so it'd be like leading the poor guy on!) but i was just concerned since he made them when he first moved in and now he's not making them anymore.

souns like a good set up for him and that your are taking very good care of him. It is probably because the tank is still cycling you are getting such high amonia levels. how much a water change are you doing each time? how long have you been cycling your tank? It is not mean to encourage them to blow bubble nests. They do it even when they are not breeding. It just means they are happy

i try and do at least a 50% water change each time so i dont have to change it as often. ive had him for about three weeks now and his tank was bleached out before he moved in, so there wouldnt have been any bacteria in the tank.

HE'S MAKING BUBBLE NESTS AGAIN!!! i just checked his tank because he was MIA for a bit. i found him behind the intake tube for the filter making bubbles. something must be going better. i think a combo of the tank in an area w/ more natural light and a better heating system has made him a happy camper. still have to work on his water quality but at least something is going right!

that is cool that means you doing thing right and he is happy