Wild Species Bettas

[PitGurl]

My guitar smaragdina spawned today . I don't think I can get the female out because of all the hiding places, I would destroy the nest trying. Hopefully she'll stay hidden and I can remove her and him once they fry are free swimming.

[Setsuna]

Originally Posted by PitGurl

My guitar smaragdina spawned today . I don't think I can get the female out because of all the hiding places, I would destroy the nest trying. Hopefully she'll stay hidden and I can remove her and him once they fry are free swimming.

Epic! Show us pictures and videos?

[PitGurl]

They spawned while I was at work. I'm trying not to disturb them, I'm worried the male may eat the eggs if he gets freaked out. I'll get photos as soon as he's out of the tank though.

[babystarz]

Yay, congrats Pitgurl! That is fantastic news :)

The only spawning happening for me is the guppies in the living room XD I bought them for that tank because people never saw the betta when he was in there. I can see two fry.

I think the bettas are just too young still to do it right!

[babystarz]

Originally Posted by Hallyx

Ohhh...That's really a shame. I like that type a lot. I have such a hard time when losing just a single fish. Maybe because I only keep a few individuals as pets.

Are there different color phase smarigdina? I've seen the bluish ones like Babystarz's. There's the tan/turquoise ones like mine. and there's this brown/gold kind (these are two different fish):

I've been thinking about this and reviewing the literature I've come across, and one note about ocellata made me wonder. Specimens caught in low pH environments and blackwater tend to have yellow coloration. Those caught in streams and clear pools with water moving through them have blue coloration. I wonder if this explanation holds true for other species? It's hard to tell with smaragdina and imbellis here because goodness knows how many generations removed they are from being born in the wild or how mixed they've become with other populations that never would have interacted in the wild without human intervention. But as far as being a source of variation, it makes sense. We know multiple species span habitats with varying water conditions.

[LittleBettaFish]

Took some photos of my unimaculata fry now they are getting big enough for my camera to focus on (the biggest is maybe 2-2.5cm). Think I have at least two males in there as they were sparring after a water change and feed and showed some faint male colouration.









Also these are my two biggest persephone fry having a face-off. As you can see they can darken up quite dramatically from their normal juvenile colouration.

Would have had more photos but my photobucket refuses to load on either FF, IE or Chrome and Tinypic is a pain in the butt.

[dragon tamer]

I have read that discus and some angels will carry the same hues in the same conditions ie Black water brings out reds. It doesn't seem that would be adaptive as the blues are reflective colors and therefore should be easier seen in dark stained water. Iron was also a big indicator of color if i remember correctly.

Re: formalin I am reading 11.2 % formalin on the medication I have by Kordon with zinc free chloride salt of malachite green (no concentration given) dosed at a rate of 5ml/27.8 L(10gal) or 10drops/gal
I have used it a twice the dosing ate for a week and kept the fish alive and she is now velvet free tomorrow she gets fresh untreated water so we'll see if it stays away. It has always been an effective treatment for velvet for me. Now will she produce viable eggs?? also CA has banned formalin from what I have heard because formaldehyde is carcinogenic. Now if they can just ban the cars they'll be doing great. I've been elbow deep in it for 30 years- I'm waiting for them to mutate into flashy pectoral fins.
I won't touch copper based meds because of my marine background.There wAS A MERCURY PRODUCT CALLED DIPEX i HAVE USED WITH GREAT SUCCESS IN THE PAAST BUT IT'S A CURE EM OR KILLEM TACTIC.oops caps sorry

the temp increase is critical.

[dragon tamer]

and regarding wilds and water quality My pugnax and my pi had no concerns about water quality. I can see why pi never got popular but pugnax were so easy to color up and made such nice display animals I just don't get it .

[PitGurl]

Wigglers !

[babystarz]

SQUEE!!!! The ocellata are here :) My first hint of their personalities came when they were still in their bags. They weren't freaking out, in fact they seemed quite calm. Once they were able to explore the tank they didn't hide right away either. I have a feeling they'll quickly learn to ham it up for treats when I'm in the room

Camera battery is charging.

Edit: Scratch that, one is being timid. I think it's the female. I know Cody sent me 1 female and 2 males, but he didn't mention what sex the extra one was XD It could be a small male so I can't tell.