Betta Mahachaiensis

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-08T21:49:05-0400

Hi, I don’t know if I’ve talked about this yet but I’ve been eagerly working on a Betta mahachaiensis set up after talking with a local breeder. I just added the botanicals in recently & the tank was all good to go! The tank is a 29 gallon that is not completely full so likely ~25 gallons. Here’s a photo of my set up.

Plant Plant community Organism Wood Terrestrial plant

I got a trio and I’m hoping they all get along, though I have available tanks if I need to separate them out for whatever reason.

And now, here are some photos of them! They’re young and still coloring up right now so they don’t look like much quite yet but when they grow up, they’ll be beautiful.

So far, 2 of them are very explorative and having a great time harassing the snails (yes, even when a lot of the snails are essentially the same size as them). The other one is pretty shy but hopefully she’ll be happy.

Thanks for reading & hopefully I can post some nice photos of them with their adult coloration soon!

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-09T16:24:28-0400

Some more photos of them now that they are getting settled. I’m so excited to see their adult coloration!

Eye Reptile Plant Wood Terrestrial plant

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-13T17:44:27-0400

🥰

betta4ever! · 2022-04-14T09:07:19-0400

Such beautiful colors!!

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-14T22:00:17-0400

Thank you! The male is coloring up so nice even though he’s still super young, the breeder thinks that he seems very happy and I’m inclined to agree! The females seem happy too, one is more colored up than the other but hopefully the other one will settle down. The male was huffily swimming around the tank and he’s now working on a bubble nest; he is quite a character.

KatieMR · 2022-04-15T09:57:39-0400

I love looking at your wild bettas! They are so cool looking! That male is stunning!

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-16T16:37:39-0400

Thanks! I was worried about keeping a species from the splendens complex in a harem setting but so far, so good! The females are coloring up, I saw some chasing and breeding stripes (seems to be breeding behavior rather than aggression), and they’re getting comfy. It’s a lot of fun watching them.

Here’s one of the females looking especially colorful.

Underwater Fin Fish Marine biology Electric blue

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-18T21:39:53-0400

Snake Underwater Scaled reptile Fluid Marine biology

Plant Vertebrate Terrestrial plant Wood Fish supply

These guys are definitely more jumpy and harder to photograph than my other wild species so I apologize for the bad photos. But they’re so pretty and fun to watch 🥰

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-21T13:24:05-0400

Underwater Plant Fish Terrestrial plant Marine biology

More photos! I just realized I ended up with 2 males and 1 female so I removed one male and the remaining pair is actively spawning, lol. I guess it is time for a spawn log 😅

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-04-21T16:52:09-0400

Phew! Today was my day off so I was able to meet with the breeder and swap the fish. I now have a huge female who I hope will settle in nicely.

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-05-02T22:12:13-0400

Plant Tints and shades Grass Sky Lens flare

Water Fin Fish Underwater Macrocystis pyrifera

They’re doing really well! I still like the mouthbrooding species a little bit more but these guys are fun too. He’s being a super dad too; I think I’ll be overrun with babies soon!

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-05-08T20:35:21-0400

Fin Underwater Fish Terrestrial plant Water

Really loving the contrast between the blue and the deep brown. He’s growing really nicely 🥰

KatieMR · 2022-05-09T14:04:18-0400

He is so pretty! I love these pictures!

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-05-09T14:50:35-0400

Thank you! I just got some more photos of everyone enjoying BBS.

Water Underwater Fin Fish Marine biology

NoodleTheMysteryBetta · 2022-06-28T18:35:21-0400

In case anyone is following this thread because they want to keep some mahachaiensis in the future: one of my females was seeming withdrawn and colored down. When I was going to pull her to put her in a separate tank she was already gone. I suspect that she was being bullied (by the male, possibly the other female as well, I’m not sure) so in the future I’ll stick to just a pair. There weren’t any nipped fins, just a shift in her behavior so you need to be very watchful. I think the male is nicer when there is just one of the females, oddly enough.

That being said, the pair that I have now seem extremely happy together now and hang out around each other quite a bit. The female even flares at the male on occasion so she doesn’t take any of his nonsense, lol. I would be curious to set up a “sorority” of mahachaiensis and see how they get on, if they do just fine or if they have many of the same issues as domestic sororities.

Here are some photos since it’s been a while!