I was just suggesting a couple of species that would be good as a first step into wilds.
I'll definitely remember those names, but you really shouldn't encourage me XD I'm going to have to put a lock on my paypal account or something to keep from impluse buying bettas... Petco is having a wicked free shipping sale (even on 29/55 gallon tanks )
Anyway, I'd love to see a spawn log
Sorry for taking up so much of your time, but I'm curious what got you interested in wild types? And have you kept any in larger groups, or had better success with pairs? I imagine availability can be a challenge.
I like the look of wild bettas. Most photos don't show their true colours all that well, and people tend to think they are rather drab and boring. Watching them interact with each other is interesting as well.
I did have my albis all together, so mum, dad and 20 odd fry up until the fry were a few months old. Then the tank had a lot of problems so I moved them into a proper grow-out (lost mum and dad unfortunately).
Some of my coccina complex bettas have lived in groups of around 4 individuals, but they can be particularly nasty at times. Most of mine live in pairs. Excluding my Ideii, which are known to be aggressive towards co-specifics, I've found it's much more peaceful when you have pairs of the opposite sex housed together.
Availability is one of the big factors that stops me having more species. Plus price. It can be as much as $300 a pair for some species, while even common ones such as albis or channiodes start at around $50. I wish more stores sold them here, but there just isn't the market.
I'm wondering if I might have a wild betta of some sort. Or if she is just a plakat. It's hard for me to tell (I really have no idea). She tends to hide, her colours are "drab" for the most, and she has permanent stripes (horizontal not vertical). Having said that she has no issues with food, she will sometimes swim with another girl, and at other times she's happier to try and dig under bits of root and plant.
She's next to impossible to get a good shot of, but this is here, just has the other stripes. When I got her, she was in a tank full of girls (and a few males) like her. The store was clueless they had male plakats in there as well.
That picture is of a Betta imbellis as it says in the link. That's a wild species of betta.
I would say your girl is probably a normal splenden female with wild-type colouring. I think it would be rare for to find a wild betta mislabelled as a splenden since most splendens in fish and pet stores come from large commercial wholesalers.
You're probably right, my biggest clue she wasn't like the rest was her body, long, with short fins. If she's feeling photogenic, I'll see about a picture, if not I'll assume a cute veil.
There's a store about 2.5 hours away from me (in Portland, OR) that sells wilds sometimes, but I haven't visited it yet. I'd love to see them in person, so I think I might just be planning a summer trip to Portland. Let me just break out a travel guide and see if there's anything I can use an excuse...er...opportunity.
That housing situation in the petstore does sound pretty weird Silverfang. I've seen females housed together in petshops-- usually really stressed out females because they have inadequate cover-- but never males in with them. And multiple males at that? My PK attacks the pantyhose that I use to baffle his filter . Someone with more knowledge can correct me if I'm wrong, but something sounds majorly off about that. I'd question them pretty thoroughly the next time you go in!
They probably won't look like much in the LFS tanks. When I get wilds from the LFS, it generally takes them a couple of days to regain their colouring. Unless kept in a species-specific tank, it tends to be a bit stressful.
I hate how they house female bettas here. I've seen tanks full of torn up females with very bad wounds and obvious infections that go untreated for weeks. It sickens me that otherwise immaculate and prominent stores can sell fish in these sort of conditions.
They probably won't look like much in the LFS tanks. When I get wilds from the LFS, it generally takes them a couple of days to regain their colouring. Unless kept in a species-specific tank, it tends to be a bit stressful.
That's good to know. I do generally expect petstore fish to perk up a bit in coloration, but I still like to see them.
Currently, all of my local petstores house the females in the same cups as the boys. I used to have a lfs who housed them in a larger tank, but, as I said, I wasn't a fan of that either because they all seemed really stressed out.
It amazes me that no one seems to have written a (at least in English) print history of the betta fish-- the way these guys have been selectively bred is fascinating. I've been doing a little digging and found quite a few articles, but most print books spend only a chapter or so on their introduction to modern aquaria.
Check out the eBook Betta Fish Care Made Easy
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. Someone with more knowledge can correct me if I'm wrong, but something sounds majorly off about that. I'd question them pretty thoroughly the next time you go in!
