# Are there any wild bettas that could be kept in a pair in a 5 gallon?



## DanielleFish1 (Sep 1, 2017)

While I'm not new to keeping B. Splendens, I've never really gotten into wild betta keeping and have become fascinated by it. I don't have the space for anything but a 5 gallon tank right now, and was wondering if there were any species of wild bettas that could be kept together in that space. 
Thanks! 

And as a P.S. could I keep two wild-type males together? or two females together? Or is it like with the Splendens where you can really only keep one at a time unless you attempt a sorority? 

Thanks again! :smile2:


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I always recommend B. channoides or B. albimarginata (not much difference between the two) for newcomers to the wild betta hobby. They are pretty forgiving, and not as sensitive as some of the other species. 

I _do_ keep mixed sex groups of wild bettas, but they are often related fish that have grown out alongside each other. There is still fighting, it's just rare (but not completely unheard of) for it to result in serious injury or death. Some species are much more aggressive than others, and the aggression levels of individual fish can vary wildly, which is why I recommend the above two species. They are extremely peaceful, and as you only have a 5 gallon tank, there's not going to be the space for the fish to get away from each other.

Two males is likely going to result in one being bullied and dominated by the other. A 5 gallon could easily house a male/female pair of B. channoides or B. albimarginata.


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## DanielleFish1 (Sep 1, 2017)

Cool, thank you. But I've got one question about the male/female pair: would they breed prolifically? and if so, what to do with the babies? 

Another question: what to feed them? Because I've heard that they won't accept flake or pellet foods and it's hard to get them to accept freeze-dried things. And since my mom has an aversion to live foods and I am unfamiliar to feeding frozen foods information would be appreciated. 

Thanks! :0)


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Most wild betta species will breed like rabbits if conditions are right, so you will likely find fry in your tank if neither fish eats the eggs or fry and there is enough cover for the fry to hide from the adults. If you have only a couple of fry and a plenty of microorganisms for them to graze on, they will often raise themselves to a size where they can take adult foods. However, for best results they will need supplementary feeding with foods such as freshly hatched brine shrimp, particularly if there are a large number of fry. 

If you don't want your wild bettas to breed, I'd recommend just purchasing a single splendens complex male. There's a handful of species from this complex (a group of closely related species) to choose from, and they are all strikingly beautiful fish. The challenge can be in finding high-quality, pure stock. It seems like lately the market has been flooded with hybrids, and the labelling is not always clear and can be confusing if you don't know what to look for. 

Feeding can be tricky. Some wild bettas will eat anything. Others will literally starve themselves to death rather than eat pellets or flake food. It's not necessarily a matter of wild-caught versus captive bred either. One of the fussiest fish I had was actually one I'd bred and raised right here in my fish room. Because of this, I do now try to wean young fish onto flake food as many hobbyists don't want to deal with the hassle of feeding live/frozen. 

I do recommend at least feeding some frozen foods. I think you can tell a difference between fish that are only given dried foods, and fix that are fed live and frozen. Feeding frozen foods isn't difficult and I actually use it as a way to get shy fish comfortable with my presence. 

My method is such. I have a pair of long tweezers that I use to pick up the thawed bloodworms, brine shrimp etc. with. I then _gently_ tap on the tank, and place the food near the fish. Over time the fish associates the tap with food, and food with your presence, and eventually if you want your fish to come to the front of the tank, all you need to do is tap on the glass. 

Another option is gel foods, such as those made by Repashy. I've been trying to get my wild bettas used to taking the Grub Pie variety, and they are actually taking to it better than I anticipated. At first they weren't keen, but I held it in my fingers and got them to nibble at it, and once they realised it was food they were right into it.


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