[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Hi, I know that the wilds section isn’t active but hopefully some lurkers or future viewers find this interesting!

I currently have 4 betta edithae, all sourced from a local fish store. 1 is female & 3 are male, all living in a 20L, along with some sparkling gouramis. I don’t know what the recommended sex ratio is but with them being mouthbrooders and peaceful, this ratio has worked for me so far. For reference here is a photo of the tank, there are lots of java ferns & anubias plants, along with driftwood. I plan on adding some pots so there will be more hides but I haven’t gotten around to it quite yet.

I’ve had them for a little bit (started with 2 males, finally got a female as well) and I love these fish so much. It is so interesting to watch them show off and interact. Here’s one of the males displaying:

I only got the female about a week or so ago and day before yesterday, I noticed she was a little round. Well, nature took its course and I guess she found a male up to her standards! When I checked on them today, she was guarding a male who had a veryyyy full mouth. Honestly, I think she looks rather proud of herself, lol. Here is her and her boy, she is the stripey one.

I am expecting him to swallow the eggs but I will try to update this thread if anything happens! Kind of hoping they won’t be be TOO successful of parents because I don’t know if there is a huge market for these guys because they are not as flashy but time will tell.

Thanks for reading and I hope it peaked your interest!

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Gallons! Sorry, I meant 20 gallon long.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I will absolutely provide updates as possible, I love talking about these bettas! And that’s too bad that they aren’t in Greece 😩 The female is absolutely precious, it’s been so cute watching her keep watch over him.

As for the wood, a lot of the thinner sticks are manzanita wood that I was blue to find locally! I was also able to find alder cones, some good leaves, all sorts of nice things. I just made sure to boil them so they would be safe. Being able to forage for some stuff definitely opens up the possibilities!

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I love that you have mouthbrooders!!!

Is this a blackwater set up? Can you post some details about temp, ph, gh, kh and the like?

It is really hard to find any bettas in my area except betta splendens, and I hate the thought of spending a ton of money to order fish through the mail from somewhere like California. Do you have a local breeder that you got them from?

I hope you don't mind all of the questions!!!!

Hi, I don’t mind the questions at all! It’s definitely not as tannin-rich as some tanks but yes, it is my attempt at a black water set up!!I’m not at home right now but I’ll post the water parameters when I can test the water. That being said, the Edith’s seem to be one of the more forgiving species when it comes to the parameters.

And as for where I got them, a LFS carried them! I hate the thought of ordering fish online too (too many “what if’s” for me!) so I jumped at the opportunity, especially with them being mouthbrooders; there is just something so charming about their giant heads. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask your LFSs if they ever consider wilds or would consider doing so.

Thanks for the questions!

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Good luck!! I just have one question if you don’t mind me asking: the stripes on betta splendens are bad meaning they are stressed. Is it the same for Betta Edithae?

It depends on the species but with Edith’s the stripes are a good sign and their version of colored up— when colored down, they’re just a light brown.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

So I checked on them today and when I fed them, the male that is currently holding did not feed so I guess he might be a decent father ! He might end up swallowing but so far, so good. I know that I could take him out and put him in a breeding tank but since breeding them wasn’t the goal (just got lucky), I’m leaving him in.

Here he is holding the eggs today, I apologize for the bad photo.

And it seems like the female is eggy again. Oh boy. And she is following another male around and chasing away the sparkling gouramis… I fear that I may be overrun with Edith’s Bettas soon… I really hope people locally enjoy blackwater tanks and wild bettas otherwise it may be time for me to learn how to ship fish 😅

Here’s a photo of the female watching me and daring me to get any closer to the male she wants to be baby daddy #2 🙄

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I think I’m going to need to upgrade the tank… time to look for room for that, oops. Hopefully that will give the males more room to escape her. Thankfully they all seem content, though I have a spare 10 that I might set up to keep her away from the boys for a bit so she doesn’t heckle them and make them go from brood to brood.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Yeah, exactly! Someone else online (speaking from experience with other fish, not this species) recommended more females than males but from I read the females initiate mating & the males are stuck with the eggs so I went with my gut and I’m glad I did. It’s funny how different species work. If this changes at all, I’ll update for the sake of other future edithae owners.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Your Edith‘s are so precious😍! I‘m keeping my fingers crossed for the boys not swallowing the eggs🤗.

P.S.: I will help you reviving the wild section soon as I will get 4-5 Betta uberis "Kubu" end of next week😊.

Thank you! I can’t wait to see your wilds! 🥰

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Well, she did pursue her second boyfriend so she has spawned twice in a week’s time (maybe 8-9 days, I was away for a few days and came back to her guarding her mate). Phew! I’m surprised she isn’t tired. I guess it is time to get a BBS hatchery & start trying to figure out if I can upgrade that tank + maybe put feelers out to see if anyone locally is interested in the species.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I found fry in the tank!!!!!!! They are so tiny, aaaa!!! The male was still holding some so I’m curious to see how many fry I end up with. On that note, I’m thinking a “recovery” tank might be good for the male— he hasn’t been able to eat for a week and I don’t need him being heckled by his girlfriend or the other boys

After work I need to get stuff to try to grow BBS, fingers crossed that the fry are doing OK. I also think I’ll remove the sparkling gouramis since they were (understandably) eyeing the fry and darting after them. I’m not keeping them specifically to breed them but I really hope I can get the fry to live, I haven’t tried raising bettas before— I’ve only raised corydoras and guppies and neither of those are tricky. Fingers crossed some of them make it! Aaaaand that I can find a good home for them 😅

Photos are of the female & male she bred with today (she is passing him an egg if you look closely+ a photo of a fry being tiny.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Great pictures!
If you manage to hatch BBS and they‘re doing well, maybe you have a specialist‘s platform in the U.S. for advertising them?
We do in Germany and it‘s also accompanied by a very good forum. So interested people have a good source of information together with a great opportunity to get fishes directly from breeders.

That sounds like a great idea, though I’m not sure if we have something like that here. I’m thinking that if they do well, I can take some of them into the local aquarium club… hopefully there are people who like wild bettas!

The fry are doing well and growing nicely from what I can tell, despite being slow on getting the BBS. I should be able to get the hatchery all finished tomorrow, hopefully the babies will enjoy the new food source!

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Here’s the female begging for food, I need to add more tannins to the water.

And a bad photo of one of the bigger fry:

Aaand one of the newer fry, I think some of the snail poops are bigger than it is! The newborn fry have an interesting striping or spotting to them that they seem to lose within the first week:

And more photos of the adults! Here is a brooding male (left) alongside a male not currently brooding. I love this photo personally, they are such pretty fish:

And another photo of that brooding male showing off his very square jaw, full of eggs!:

These guys are so much fun to watch and I’m really hoping that I can upgrade them to a bigger tank. And oh— I did remove the sparkling gouramis, just to avoid them preying on the fry and stressing everyone out.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I really think they’re amazing fish. They are a bit shy, especially now that they’re busy being parents but they’re a lot of fun. The occasional display between males, the female following a male and vice versa, them darting after food and darting into the shadows, etc. I’m really enjoying them a lot. I have such a weak spot for bettas and as someone who studied animal behavior for a period of time, it’s a lot of fun!

Now the REAL question is if anyone local will be interested— shipping fish is something I don’t want to experience quite yet 🥲

PS: have a funny edit of the female begging for food that I made during my break at work… I might have a problem, lol.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Adorable😍! She‘ll definitely need some worms if she keeps on producing eggs like before - and she knows you know that as well😅.

They really are little stinkers and are determined to stay on live food and live food only; I’m sure that them getting to chase after worms has helped keep them especially willing to breed. I’m hoping she tires herself out 😅

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

They are doing well! I don’t have new photos yet but you can that they are growing well.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I finally have more photos!
To start off, here is one of the boys.

And some of the bigger fry!! They’re starting to look more betta-y. Unfortunately, some of them have itch or a fungal infection but I read that this would be likely to happen. I’m working on treating it, for now they seem to be eating well and growing strong! I don’t have an idea of how many have made it to this larger stage because they’re in the main tank so that will be something I’ll get to see when they’re even bigger.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I managed to get more photos of the adults today, no new fry photos but I saw less of the spots I mentioned previously. They seem to be doing well 🥰 Have I mentioned that I find these fish to be incredible? They are so interesting looking and I love their personalities and watching how they interact all together. These fish are vastly underrated.

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

Snagged some photos of the largest babies! You can’t tell really but they are SO much bigger now! They look a lot like the adults too!

 

[NoodleTheMysteryBetta]

I was feeding black worms last night and one of the babies ate some worms!! Never doubt a betta’s ability to eat, especially the wilds.

Here is the mom being pretty.

And I got a photo showing how big the baby is in comparison to the adults

And lastly, the baby betta’s close up. So cute!