Wild Bettas

[rdebonis]

Is anyone in the club interested in keeping, breeding and acquiring Wild Bettas, whether as part of, or seperate from a Species Maintenance Program? I would be interested in corresponding or meeting with anyone who is interested in Wild Bettas with an eye to acquiring, keeping and breeding them and eventually publishing our experiences in Aquatica. Much has been written about Betta Splendens and it's close relative B. Imbellis, but little is know about the rest of the Bettta family, the Wild Bettas. They are a large and fascinating family of fish ranging from Bubblenest builders to Mouth Brooders and some like the beautiful B. brownorum have been known to spawn both ways. The ability of Wild Bettas to survive in hostile environments is legend. They are found in some of the most hostile areas in the world from oxygen depleted black water swamps to remote backwater drainage areas where few fish can survive. They are found from Myanmar (Burma) in Indochina, where machine gun toting militants add to the normally enviromentally hostile areas they live in, to the remote island of Borneo, where in it's vast and unexplored interior many undiscovered forms of Wild Bettas as well as other species of fish have yet to be found. If you are interested in forming a small group of Wild Betta enthusiasts within BAS, please let me know.

[Nymsley]

I'd like to know how this project is coming along :)

[rdebonis]

I'd like to know how this project is coming along :)

Well...... based on the number of replies to my post on the site, I'd say it isn't coming along. :(

[piaba]

do you have a source of these fish? because they are not easy to come by and not easy to find in stores.

in the past, i bred lots of B. pugnax. these were not a small fish, they were very large, but peaceful in a community tank with other large gouramis and barbs.

but you can never find them anymore. or any other species, or any rare labyrinth fish such as the liquorice or croaking gouramis.

[rdebonis]

do you have a source of these fish? because they are not easy to come by and not easy to find in stores.

in the past, i bred lots of B. pugnax. these were not a small fish, they were very large, but peaceful in a community tank with other large gouramis and barbs.

but you can never find them anymore. or any other species, or any rare labyrinth fish such as the liquorice or croaking gouramis.

You can always find Wild Bettas as well as other "rare labyrinth fish" on AquaBid, the on-line Tropical Fish auction site, http://www.aquabid.com/. If you're just starting with these fish try getting Tank Raised fish. Check with the seller, they will tell you if they are tank raised or wild collected. The tank raised wild Bettas are easier to raise and breed because they have been acclimated to captivity. The wild collected Bettas are generally for the more experienced collectors and breeders, who want a new or larger gene pool or for those who are involved in Species Maintenance Programs. They can be tricky in the first 2 months in captivity. If the wild collected Bettas live past 2 months in captivity they are usually OK. In addition, wild type Bettas raised in captivity are usually parasite free, however to date I have not experienced any obvious parasite problem with wild collected Bettas.

Another good source for Wild Bettas is http://www.anubiasdesign.com (http://www.anubiasdesign.com/). The owner is Mark Denaro who is well known for his expertise in Anabantioids, including Bettas, both B. splendens and the wild Bettas. He has a focus group which you should join, it will hook you up with other hobbyists who collect wild Bettas.

A word of advice, with wild Bettas as well as other of the rarer anabantoids, you will almost never find "bargains", so be prepared to spend a little more money for good quality fish.

You may want to join the International Betta Congress (IBC) http://www.ibcbettas.org/pages/ . Although they are primarily dedicated to Hybridizing Betta splendens, they produce a monthly journal that also has articles on keeping and breeding wild Bettas and they have an excellent Species Maintenance Program group of members who raise and breed wild Bettas. Many of the worlds leading experts on wild Bettas are members of the IBC and they can be reached through the this organization.

Finally, the Anabantoid Association of Great Britain (AAGB) http://www.aagb.org/ is one of the world's leading societies on Anabantid species and has in it's membership most of the worlds leading experts on wild Bettas. Their journal, "Labyrinth" is world class and recently featured "Collecting Betta picta from West Java". In addition, they also occasionally import various anabantoids, including wild Bettas for their members to purchase.

By belonging to the IBC and the AAGB, you can e-mail and keep in touch with people all over the world who have the same interest you do in keeping and breeding wild Bettas. When you get to know this species as I have; the hostile and harsh environments they come from where other fish could never survive, their amazing reproductive methods and their fragile small bodies and beautiful color, you will see why they have fascinated hobbyists all over the world.

As a Postscript make sure you attend the Brooklyn Aquarium Society meeting April 9, 2010. Tony Pinto is the speaker. He will be speaking on Asian Fish, including many wild Bettas. Tony is one of the worlds leading experts and collectors of Asian anabantids, including all the wild Bettas. he will definitely be able to answer all your questions.