Wild Species Bettas

[LittleBettaFish]

Yeah I have my rutilans in hospital in a bare-bottom tank and they completely freaked about it. They lay clamped under the IALs and inside the PVC pipe I put in. One used to wedge itself upside down in the groove of the sponge filter until I put a few pieces of goldvine in.

I think it wouldn't be so bad if the bottom was spray painted black. I think the reflection off the bottom confuses them.

Hopefully they settle in soon.

[PitGurl]

My male...

[babystarz]

Wow PitGurl, he's gorgeous!!

[Hallyx]

....

[LittleBettaFish]

What's his current set-up like?

Wild bettas, even aquarium bred ones, can still be very shy. Some of the adults I own that I have raised myself, still get skittish if I move too quickly or do something to spook them.

Is your water very tannin stained or is the lighting bright over his tank? Are you using substrate and providing lots of cover?

When I first got my rutilans pair I didn't see them (not even at feedings) for two months or so. I eventually tore their tank apart thinking they had both jumped out. Now they are some of my friendliest fish. It can often take them some time to acclimatise to a new environment.

[Hallyx]

Sorry, I didn't mean to post that. Well, I had some comments that I deleted, but I couldn't delete the pic. If you know how to delete it, please do.

Thank you.

[LittleBettaFish]

I don't understand? What's so bad about you posting about your shy smaragdina male? Wild bettas aren't for everyone and some people do have problems with their sometimes incessant hiding.

[babystarz]

I have updates! I took some great pics last night of the imbellis but my camera won't connect to my computer suddenly :(

The imbellis are really fun to watch, they think everything in their tank is fascinating. And the like to come stare at my fingers if I put them up against the tank.

The smaragdina are still not sure if I'm going to eat them but the male is a little less timid, he's come out to look at me and show off, and he's coloring up too. His fins are red and his body looks more greenish so far. The female is terribly shy, I didn't see her at all yesterday and started freaking out a bit, but last night she stuck her head out of a huge tuft of java moss and I realize she's been hiding in the moss ball this whole time :P I'm glad she found a spot that completely hides her, I think that security is really helpful for her. She is a master of disguise :)

I'm really glad no one died over night, I've heard so many horror stories about new bettas up and dying when they arrive even in good water conditions, and I was especially worried about the smaragdina trying to jump and hurting themselves. But everyone is doing just fine, I'm thawing some bloodworms. I don't know how they feel about pellets; I put a few in the imbellis tank last night and it looks like they were eaten up. I did not try to feed the smaragdina yet because I figured they would be too skittish to accept it yet. I'm trying to see if my grindal worm culture is salvageable (oops, forgot to feed them for a week!) because their fat and protein content are higher than for bloodworms. And they're alive, which might make them more enticing. There are a lot of fantastic local fish shops here so if the fish don't like what I already have I can always pick up more live foods.

Anthony at the Wet Spot only has 6 betta albimarginata (geez that's hard to spell!) left so I decided to go ahead and order 4. I'm having him hold off on shipping until next Wednesday so I have a week to prepare their tank to satisfaction. I have decided to buy 2 more 20 long tanks as part of Petco's $1/gal sale. My shelves are the perfect size for those tanks and I think they're the best tanks for bettas because they don't have too much vertical space, and the horizontal space is doubled.

I used up the last of my IAL last night dividing it between the two wild tanks, I noticed that the imbellis LOVE the one I weighted down with a rock to mimic their natural habitat. The smaragdina also like the added cover. I've got another huge order coming from Amy, I just hope it arrives soon!

The imbellis are impossible for me to sex at this point. If I'd kept some before I might be able to, but so far of the 6 there is only one I can tell for sure is a male. He's the most gregarious of the bunch. I am excited to see them grow a bit and hopefully I have at least 3 females :P That way I can keep everyone in the tank. I have made 3 isolated areas with little ceramic pots covered up with plants for them, so if they start getting territorial they can stake them out.

I think my sorority girls might be jealous of all the attention I'm giving to the new fish :P

[LittleBettaFish]

My wild bettas love having a leaf litter to hide in. I put lots of IALs in my tanks and then let them sink to the bottom where they slowly break down. This not only provides lots of tannins but also encourages the growth of infusoria and other microorganisms that wild betta fry can subsist on in between regular feedings.

Be aware that albimarginata are prolific breeders once they get into it. Reverse trios (two males to one female) are recommended as females can breed a male soon after he has released fry and I believe some males have starved to death because of it (they don't eat obviously while holding). You can separate out any females after a male has released fry to ensure that he has at least one to two weeks of rest.

Other than that albimarginata are really cute and personable fish. Only reason I got rid of mine was they bred like guppies and I couldn't be bothered raising so many fry on a constant basis.

[RichardA]