#anepict

i-is

is she dating her warhammer 

Hi, there! :)

I haven’t, except for Betta albimarginata, which I have right here!

Basic Betta Albimarginata Care Sheet

The thing is, there are so many species, and they all have different requirements. You can get the big babes, like Betta macrostoma, and the wee babes, like Betta api api. It’s kind of tricky, too, because most people seem to keep wilds purely for breeding, so the fish often get shoved, in my opinion, into tanks that are too small for them.

With wilds, you really need to watch your water chemistry, too, especially when it comes to the pH. For example, you can get bettas that need water as soft as 4.0 pH, like Betta coccina, and bettas that do better in harder water, like Betta mahachaiensis. Then there’s been some observations that iron supplements benefit Betta channoides, for example.

Also, there are mouthbrooders that do better in groups and bubblenesters that still need to be watched more closely. When breeding bubblenesters, like Betta smaragdina, one must also be prepared for large batches of fry. However, mouthbrooders, such as Betta pallifina, tend to have much smaller clutches.

And, honestly, not enough people in the hobby bother to keep wild bettas as pets to really observe them, so the info you find is often very limited. I still only know a handful of people that keep wild bettas. (I’m hoping to get some more species in the new year.)

But here are some decent wild betta sources to get people started:

International Betta Congress

FishBase

SeriouslyFish