# Plants that are native to our Betta's



## mcmurraypa15317 (Dec 9, 2014)

Hi All, I am setting up a new tank with a divider(10 Gal.) for two males and would like it to be as natural as possible,are there any plants you could suggest that are available that come from there natural environment in S.E.Asia? Just wondering if there are laws prohibiting the import of them if they are indiginess ( spelling )or something, It might not be possible. Also what substrate would you suggest? Gravel, sand or something else or a combination of both. Thanks in advance. Jeff Little


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## MichelleyBetta (Aug 26, 2014)

I use black gravel, just try to find a similar substrate to their living environment @ SE Asia. I don't really know any plants over there, but I have hornwort, duckweed, etc (beginner plants).


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## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

I attempted a South East Asian biotope. 
In this tank my substrate is this http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+9805+4870&pcatid=4870

For plants I have Java Moss, Tiger Lotus and a crypt, these are South East Asian. 

I also have Java Fern and Vallisneria in that tank, but these two are not South East Asian. My plan is to remove these once I have the right plants to replace them with.

Here are some SEA plant suggestions:
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/plants/stats_plants4d.html
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/plants/stats_plants8f.html
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/plants/stats_plants3d.html
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/plants/stats_plants5b.html
http://www.badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/plants/stats_plants8e.html


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

I have a proper list somewhere, but can I find it? 

The ones I can remember (yes, this is appalling that I have memorised this many....)

Crinium thaianum - Thai Onion; Thai
Hygrophilia corymbosa 'siamensis' - Temple plant; Thai 
Vallisneria spiralis - Straight Vallis; S.E. Asian
Vallisneria tortifolia - Twisted Vallis; S.E. Asian
Aponogeton crispus - Crinkled Aponogeton
Rotala wallichii; S.E. Asian
Rotala rotundifolia; S.E. Asian
Hygrophilia augustifolia; S.E. Asian (assumed)
Cyrptocoryne lucens; Sri Lankan
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'brown' or 'green'; S.E. Asian
(Most crypts are in the right biotope tbh. Very few would nitpick.)
Hygrophilia difformis - Water wisteria; S.E.Asian.
Microsorum pteropus - java fern; S.E. Asian
Barclaya longifolia - Orchid Lily; Trop. Asia.
Pogostemon helferi - Downoi/Little Star Plant; S.E. Asian
Taxiphyllium barberi - Java moss; S.E.Asian

Seriously. This is my mental shopping list whenever I pass a LFS with plants... I'm awful and will shh now.

ETA


Netti said:


> I also have Java Fern and Vallisneria in that tank, but these two are not South East Asian. My plan is to remove these once I have the right plants to replace them with.


I had to check those then! They are listed as S.E. Asian on the sources I have checked into. Valls are basically an international pest, from New Zealand to Iceland, but are listed as originating in S.E. Asia.


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## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

Ohhhh, great list....I added these to mine!
Yeah, about the Vallis, I think that's why I did not want to have it in my biotope, since it is not specific for SEA, in my head it was on the list for non SEA plants.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Netti said:


> Ohhhh, great list....I added these to mine!
> Yeah, about the Vallis, I think that's why I did not want to have it in my biotope, since it is not specific for SEA, in my head it was on the list for non SEA plants.


Yeah, its a pest. Pretty sure Cabomba caroliniana is on a lot of lists for the same reasons. Takes over wherever it is put. XD I really must dig out my full list. Gping to write to teh Natural History museum and see if they cant point me in teh direction of a better resource. I know there have been several trips to Thailand by researchers over the last ten years as the flora and fauna has not been well catalogued. The discovered so many in this short trip. but that link is with the research... urgh! D:

I say not well documented. There is just a load they are still discovering. Like an entierly new species of oak. Thats a pretty big thing to be hiding all this time XD


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## Netti (Apr 25, 2014)

Cabomba did not work in my tanks. Maybe the lighting wasn't enough, it just disintegrated in time, leaving all these fine needle-like leaves messing up the water and clogging up my filter. 

Something else I wanted to add to my biotope is a mangrove root. They are not available to us here in Canada it seems. 

I hope I'm not hi-jacking the thread, if I am, I apologize!


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## mcmurraypa15317 (Dec 9, 2014)

Wow!! What a great response!! Thank you to everyone!!! Now I guess the next question should be were is the best place to get these plants? Most of the ones listed don't sound familiar. Thanks for all of the great reply's!  Jeff


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

What about rice? Not Krispies or a Roni but actual rice? Has anyone on the forum ever attempted it? I guess it would be a semi-aquatic plant. Is it do-able? Bettas have been living in it for about 10,000 years, seems like it would be pretty cool to attempt a rice paddy biotope.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I've seen it done on another forum. I think the owner of the tank was Japanese and had medaka or something like that in there. They got a bowl of rice at the end of their experiment, but I think it was a sort of complicated process.


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## MikeG14 (May 31, 2014)

LittleBettaFish said:


> I've seen it done on another forum. I think the owner of the tank was Japanese and had medaka or something like that in there. They got a bowl of rice at the end of their experiment, but I think it was a sort of complicated process.


It seems complicated. I just realized I have no idea how rice is actually grown other than from what I saw in Akira Kurosawa movies.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

MikeG14 said:


> What about rice? Not Krispies or a Roni but actual rice? Has anyone on the forum ever attempted it? I guess it would be a semi-aquatic plant. Is it do-able? Bettas have been living in it for about 10,000 years, seems like it would be pretty cool to attempt a rice paddy biotope.


I so want to. No reason why it shouldn't be possible, but I think it would need suspended lighting, rather than hood lighting.


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