Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm trying to begin breeding, and everything seems to be going well...except for one thing. I've got my 10-gallon tank set up with a heater and coral for the female to hide, the male has a styrofoam cup and quite an impressive bubblenest started (and a backup in the corner just in case, lol!), female seems interested and receptive. The problem is, I set up the tank Tuesday, introduced the fish with the female in a chimney on Wednesday, and let her in the tank with the male last night (Thursday). As I watched over the next few hours, the water got more and more cloudy, and by this morning I could barely see the fish! I replaced about 80% of the water, and I hear a water change can stimulate spawning anyway, but why on earth would the water cloud up that way? It's inthe exact same conditions as my 4 other smaller tanks, and none of them cloud up at all. My water is good quality and it's treated with *something*, I forget what, but it's the same as all my other tanks. Any ideas what causes this and how I can avoid it in the future?

Thanks in advance, and nice to meet you all, this is my first post here!

Welcome to the boards, first and foremost.

Could be the ammonia levels spiking due to 2 betas being in the tank compared to one in each of your other ones. It's common in newly setup tanks.

Also, I'd like to inform you that a few people trying to breed betas on the forum here, told me some sad stories about losing one of their betas because they weren't watching. I, too, am attempting to breed my betas, so keep me posted on how you're doing.
Did the water change help at all?
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Actually yes it did, and I got a nice filter yesterday and it seems to be staying that way. I asked on two other forums that focus on breeding, and at the local big fish store, and nobody can tell me what happened. The store offered to test my water if it does it again.

I don't think it's because of having two fish because my other tanks also have two fish each, and they are much smaller. I have two 2-gal betta tanks that are divided but still allow the water to go to both sides, and they never cloud up, and they've got half what these two fishes in the big tank have!

If anyone's trying to breed, email me and I'll direct you to some great information! greymoya@earthlink.net

Hmm. I'm not really sure what could've caused it then. As long as the water is clear now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Good luck with your breeding endeavors though.
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Phishie

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."