# Any experience in Wild Type Bettas?



## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

I've been looking around, and would really like to know if anyone here has bred any Wild Bettas, particularly Betta Uberis and Betta Edithae. 
I'm years from actually breeding, but everything has pointed to wild-type bettas possibly being even hardier and easier to breed than Betta Splendens. What do you guys think?


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

Technically it is wild species not wild type fish keepers only domesticated B.Splendens also the Betta species you listed likes really soft water Betta imbellas is easier to care for. Betta Uberis likes PH of 4 to 6. Betta Smarginia is a close relative and domesticated it has been hybridised with B.imbellas B.splenden B.smarginia.


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## VictorP (Jun 5, 2012)

I used to breed smaragdina and those wedge very easy not sure about the uberis and edithae


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I breed wilds. I have breed rutilans, channoides, albimarginata, persephone, uberis, tussyae and brownorum (forgot to add strohi to my list!). I have around 11 species currently, most from the coccina complex.

If you get the conditions right, wild bettas are much much easier than splendens to spawn. Because pairs are usually able to be kept in the same tank together you do not have to worry so much about them killing each other during the courtship period. Also, the coccina complex bettas I have do not eat their fry, so you are able to grow them out alongside mum and dad. 

Hardest thing with mouthbrooders is getting them to hold to term. Some are especially skittish when holding and can swallow for no reason whatsoever. However, I had a channoides male who I chased around with a net and transferred into a brand new tank who never swallowed. He was a very determined dad haha.

Ideally you want soft, low pH water to be able to successfully spawn wilds. Tank should have a lot of cover (I use java moss and pipes/pots), and they will really show off their most natural behaviour and colouration in water that is tannin stained and only dimly lit.

Wild bettas can be finicky with food. I feed mine on predominately live and frozen foods. However, while the adults begrudgingly take pellets, the juveniles and adults I've raised have no issue with scoffing it down. 

The best method of getting fry is to keep only one pair in a tank. Bettas from the coccina complex can be notoriously difficult to sex, and their spawns tend to be very gender-ratio skewed. 

Hopefully that helps. While wilds are in general easier to maintain and breed than splendens in my opinion, to see them at their best, you really need a natural type set-up and one that is centered solely around the species you are keeping.


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

Thank you for the great information! It was exactly what I was hoping for 

What daydreaming I've done about Wilds definitely centers around the goal of having a naturally aquascaped 30gal to house a size-able group of wild betta. I really have an appreciation for the more modest breeds of the Betta family :]

A couple of questions:

In terms of breeding, do you breed to sell? If so, how marketable have you found wild betta to be? Is there a type you've bred that was particularly desirable? (This way, should I get wilds and should I breed them, I'll know the ones I don't want will have homes waiting :] )

Do you have any housed in large groups? If so, how big are the groups/tanks they're in? Is the maintenance required any more or less than what would be considered the average? 

Of the wilds you've bred, which is your favorite? I haven't really gotten to read anyone's opinion on them in a personal/emotional context, and I'd love to hear what you have to say!

And of course, any pictures you might have lying around would be greatly appreciated 

Thanks again for replying, sorry if my curiosity is a little demanding ^^;


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I breed for my own personal collection. Wild bettas of sexable male/female pairs are hard to get in and not many LFS stock them. My goal is to have a sustainable number of my own home-bred fish that I can then introduce new blood into by purchasing a few spare pairs. 

Wild bettas are sort of a niche market, similar to killifish or apistogramma. Because only a certain pool of people are interested in them, they can be harder to sell. However, they do seem to be gaining in popularity, particularly since the behaviour of aquarium-bred wild bettas is essentially identical to that of splendens. All except my recent wild-caught purchases hand-feed from tweezers, and usually maul my fingers if I stick them in there. 

You can house them in larger groups, but I have found any non-spawning fish will tend to eat the fry of your breeding pair. Also, although most wild species are not as aggresive as domesticated splendens, they will still fight, particularly the males.

My rutilans live in a large family group and because they are nearly at maturity and are due to move into a bigger tank, they are constantly sparring. The main pair (mum and dad) have just resumed spawning but I am going to separate them from their juvenile and adult offspring as I believe they are cannibalising the newborn fry. 

Biggest tank I house my wilds in, is 10 gallons. I keep mostly smaller species, but I do have one adult female ideii who is roughly the same size as a macrostoma, and a trio of young unimaculata living in 10 gallon tanks and they do fine. Because our tapwater is perfect for wild bettas and because the low pH of the water in my tanks make it near impossible to hold a stable cycle, I just do 25% water changes every two days. This system has worked well for me, even in tanks where they have been growing fry. 

Probably my holy grail of wilds is Betta persephone. They are almost extinct in the wild but thankfully seem to be doing well in captivity. However, my Betta rutilans will always hold a soft spot for me as they were my first foray into wilds and have just been a dream to own. Although for the first two months I never saw them and thought they had either jumped out or died haha. 

Oddly enough my brownorum and rutilans males mouthbrood rather than bubblenest. It is not unknown for these species to do that, but I have yet to figure out why they chose to breed this way when my other coccina complex bettas have always bubblenested.

I have tons and tons of pictures of my wilds. Here is my persephone pair in better days. My male is extremely sick at present and so I am hoping he pulls through.




































(persephone fry in quarantine/hospital tank due to an outbreak of ich)










My unimaculata. I would never recommend this species to anyone. All mine do all day is try and figure out ways to commit suicide through jumping. They have to have a towel and two glass lids over their tank at all times.



















Tussyae juvies. Unfortunately poor mum upped and died so I am trying to find a replacement for her as my juvies both look very male.




























My rutilans family being turds. I think there is 9-11 fish in that tank. 


















Tussyae spawning









Brownorum when I first got them and they were about 1/3 of the size they are now haha









Livida male who has never unfortunately had a partner and who lives as a bachelor with my tussyae males



















Strohi juvies before I sold them to Aus (a member on here)









Hope that is enough info for you to process haha


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## KevinPham123 (Jul 24, 2012)

Dayum nice fish. I wanted to get myself some smaragdina before but they are commonly kept here in my country.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I'm in Australia too and I don't quite understand what you meant. Did you mean they _aren't_ commonly kept here? Jodi-Lea up in QLD is where I get my wild bettas from as all mine have arrived in breeding condition from her store. 

Smaragdina are nice, but I'm not quite so into that complex of wilds. Although I was deliberating getting this pair of mahachai that have been sitting at my LFS for about half a year now.


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## KevinPham123 (Jul 24, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> I'm in Australia too and I don't quite understand what you meant. Did you mean they _aren't_ commonly kept here? Jodi-Lea up in QLD is where I get my wild bettas from as all mine have arrived in breeding condition from her store.
> 
> Smaragdina are nice, but I'm not quite so into that complex of wilds. Although I was deliberating getting this pair of mahachai that have been sitting at my LFS for about half a year now.



Sorry lol. I was meant to say aren't. Mahachai bettas are pretty cool as well. You should get them if you have the time/space/money :lol:


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## TheShadyBird (Jun 29, 2012)

Thank you so much! You've been so helpful! They are definitely firmly seated on my "GONNA HAVE" list :]
Your Betta Persephone are gorgeous, I can tell why they're your holy grail  

Another question I forgot is: About how many fry do you get on average from your spawns?

Thanks again!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Yeah persephone are stunning. Unfortunately I lost my male this morning so I am crossing my fingers that I can grow out a male to maturation and pair him up with the female. 

My wild spawns are not usually massive. They tend to average around 50 fry at most from those fish that bubblenest and around 10 or so for those that mouthbrood.


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