Foam Bubbles At The Water Surface?!?!

I finally got my Betta and everything was going wel until I noticed some "foaming" looking bubbles at the surface. I did a water change right away but the next day they were back again! I'm not sure what it is and I'd like some opinions. Does this mean my Betta is sick?

 

Wow... I've never seen that in a tank, let alone a betta tank. Hope someone with a litttle more expertise can help you out. Just me, but I might move the betta, just in case.

 

It is just making a bubblenest.
Have a google on that

 

That's like no bubblenest that I've ever seen. It looks like baking soda floating on the water.

 

It's a bubble nest, this is a natural behaviour and actually strongly indicates a healthy & happy betta

 

My god. I was looking at the substrate thinking it was the water. I feel SO stupid...

 

That's like no bubblenest that I've ever seen. It looks like baking soda floating on the water.

Could be cause there is no "buildingmaterial" on the surface maybe?

 

That's surely a bubble nest and there is no reason to worry about. This shows that your betta is ready for eggs ie if you have a female as well..

 

Lucky you! Your fish is super happy. He's happy enough that he wants a girlfriend lol

I've not gotten a bubble nest ever. Trying to remedy that at the moment by fixing up Finnley's tank.

My god. I was looking at the substrate thinking it was the water. I feel SO stupid...

It took me a minute to figure what I was looking at also. The white sand is a little deceiving to tell depth with.

 

My female betta makes bubble nests, but they aren't this impressive.

 

Definitely bubble nest.

They're naturally "sticky" so the bubbles pile up like that, because (of breeding) the male will push all the eggs up there until they hatch.

 

On another note, that plant you have that's leaves are both lime green and a darker green is not truly aquatic. It's a dracaena. It may live like that for a bit but will ultimately melt.
The other plant you have is an Anubius and is a true aquatic but you want to make sure that it's rhizome (the stick like bit that the leaves grow out of) is not underneath your substrate or it will also melt.

 

On another note, that plant you have that's leaves are both lime green and a darker green is not truly aquatic. It's a dracaena. It may live like that for a bit but will ultimately melt.
The other plant you have is an Anubius and is a true aquatic but you want to make sure that it's rhizome (the stick like bit that the leaves grow out of) is not underneath your substrate or it will also melt.

Thanks! I just got a combo from petco so I thought they'd be fine. But thanks for that tip!

Lucky you! Your fish is super happy. He's happy enough that he wants a girlfriend lol

I've not gotten a bubble nest ever. Trying to remedy that at the moment by fixing up Finnley's tank.



It took me a minute to figure what I was looking at also. The white sand is a little deceiving to tell depth with.

Lol now I feel terrible because I sucked up his other one thinking it was bad and needed a water change Yes I see how the white sand can be confusing To depth. Thanks! Now I can be worry free!

My female betta makes bubble nests, but they aren't this impressive.

I feel terrible now that people are telling me it's his nest! I sucked up his first nest with the siphon thinking the tank needed a water change lol thanks for your help!

 

Don't feel terrible! He'll make another one. It will keep him occupied!

Actually, I had a bunch of bubbles like that the day after I added some moss balls and 2 days after I put in an Indian Almond leaf. Haven't seen any bubbles since last water change so I'm not 100% positive it was a nest (usually you can see them making it at some point).

FYI, there is some debate as to whether a bubble nest is actually a sign that a betta is happy. I'm not sure one way or the other - I guess to err on the side of caution, don't presume that it is, or don't feel bad if you never see one.

 

Don't feel terrible! He'll make another one. It will keep him occupied!

Actually, I had a bunch of bubbles like that the day after I added some moss balls and 2 days after I put in an Indian Almond leaf. Haven't seen any bubbles since last water change so I'm not 100% positive it was a nest (usually you can see them making it at some point).

FYI, there is some debate as to whether a bubble nest is actually a sign that a betta is happy. I'm not sure one way or the other - I guess to err on the side of caution, don't presume that it is, or don't feel bad if you never see one.

I also just noticed this. I'm not sure if you can see it. I have them circled but it looks like wedbbing inside one of the rocks and between to plant roots.

 

To me, that looks like stray roots

 

To me, that looks like stray roots

Not the stray roots, if you look closely it looks like white webbing inside the rock

 

Does he have tank mates that could be decorating?

I can't pull it in clearly on my phone but someone else can see better to help

 

Looks like the same thing that covered my driftwood when I first put it in my tank, but I can't see it too clearly. Is it like a kind of fuzzy, fluffy, smokey look?

If it is, I believe it's just a little bacteria bloom/thing and completely harmless. I fished my wood out and wiped it off and haven't seen it since.

In other news: that speckled grey tunnel... have you felt inside it? We have things like that over here that are really sharp inside, so I never got one after all cause I didn't want my bettas ripping their fins on them.
Just something to watch for.

 

Looks like the same thing that covered my driftwood when I first put it in my tank, but I can't see it too clearly. Is it like a kind of fuzzy, fluffy, smokey look?

If it is, I believe it's just a little bacteria bloom/thing and completely harmless. I fished my wood out and wiped it off and haven't seen it since.

In other news: that speckled grey tunnel... have you felt inside it? We have things like that over here that are really sharp inside, so I never got one after all cause I didn't want my bettas ripping their fins on them.
Just something to watch for.

Yes it's smokey looking. The rock hiding place feels like smaller rocks all glued together. I haven't had any issues so far with fin ripping but I will look into replacing it

 

Does he have tank mates that could be decorating?

I can't pull it in clearly on my phone but someone else can see better to help

Nope, it's just him. I tried to get as closely as possible and get the best lighting but that's as good as it gets lol it just looks kind of smokey soft webbing. It reminds me of when you twist a spiderweb into a ball?

 

It could be fungal in nature

Some things go through a period of rot when submerged

Try scrubbing it and re-add it

You may need to repeat a few times over a couple of weeks

 

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank set up with a couple miscellaneous fish in it. It came with a top fin 75 filter and I decided to add another filter to the other side of the tank. I also added a couple new plants to the tank at the same time. A couple hours after setup I noticed small bubbles accumulating on the surface of the water. The bubbles were small and difficult to pop so I scooped them up with a net. Any ideas why these bubbles would start now that there's better filtration than before?

 

Bubbles will form if you have a lot of aeration i.e. bubblers and little surface agitation. Or if you have washed your hands with soap recently and then put your hands back into the water, as even a tiny bit of soap will cause foam to form. If this is possible, remove fish asap to a temporary tank and drain/refill it. A little bit of soap will kill a tank, ive made that mistake when I began fishkeeping and know all to well. Could be other reasons but these are most plausible.

 

What all are the fish as some fish(like Bettas and Gouramis) breed by making bubble nest and then putting the eggs in the nest.

 

Are you able to post a photo?

 

I don't have any current photos yet. I have 2 angel fish, 2 Madagascar rainbows, 10 tetras, 3 clown loaches, couple plecos, and an albino rainbow shark.

 

You have some stocking issues if you want to discuss them.

 

You have some stocking issues if you want to discuss them.

It's the rainbow shark huh? Lol

 

It's the rainbow shark huh? Lol

I'm not sure about the shark but the clown loaches will get way too big for this tank. What kind of pleco do you have?

Now about the bubbles, if plants are damaged they can also produce tiny bubbles at the damaged part. Healthy plants can do something called pearling, which is when they give off lots of small bubbles too. Where the bubbles jelly like at all? Perhaps you got some hitchhiker snails on your new plants which laid eggs, bladder/pond snails lay small jelly bubble like eggs.

 

I'm not sure about the shark but the clown loaches will get way too big for this tank. What kind of pleco do you have?

Now about the bubbles, if plants are damaged they can also produce tiny bubbles at the damaged part. Healthy plants can do something called pearling, which is when they give off lots of small bubbles too. Where the bubbles jelly like at all? Perhaps you got some hitchhiker snails on your new plants which laid eggs, bladder/pond snails lay small jelly bubble like eggs.

Yeah I found out about the loaches weeks after I had got them. Theres a local fish store that says they will take them when they get bigger. I have a regular pleco(I know it'll get pretty big as well) and a baby bristlenose.

I'm not sure about the bubbles being jelly like. Since I scooped out the bubbles they haven't returned. So they could have been eggs and I got rid of them.




There's a picture of the plants I have

 

The stock looks good except for the loaches and that the Rainbows need a school of 6+. All of your fish are egg layers and the eggs are laid either on the ground or glass, I would say they were either soap foam or from the water movement.

 

The stock looks good except for the loaches and that the Rainbows need a school of 6+. All of your fish are egg layers and the eggs are laid either on the ground or glass, I would say they were either soap foam or from the water movement.

I need more money before I can get the rainbows I do want more though! I usually make sure to get all the soap off my hands and condition my hands before sticking them in the tank like that. Thanks for the help guys and girls

 

the Rainbows need a school of 6+

Just to totally clarify this, because it made me double-take: the Madagascar rainbows need higher numbers. The rainbow shark should be the one and only

 

Yes

Just to totally clarify this, because it made me double-take: the Madagascar rainbows need higher numbers. The rainbow shark should be the one and only

Yes that's what I meant haha.

 

bubbles in my experience have never been bad. It will go away soon enough.