Has anyone ever heard of these 'peaceful bettas'?

I saw this article today, apparently a species of betta which is truly peaceful with other bettas - yes, even other males.



Has anyone ever heard of these 'peaceful bettas'? And why aren't they more popular and sold everywhere? ???

Be interested to hear FL community thoughts on this.

Lea

 

I'm not sure anyone has them now but I know in the past some members have kept them.
From what I've read, their attitude is quite different than the Betta splendens we see in the stores.

I can't believe that article says "They can be placed in bottles but for better aesthetic."

 

Dang, Jaysee was trying to talk Betta/Horse Lover into breeding a peaceful species of betta, and apparently they already exist. Is no idea original anymore?!?!?!?! Fish hobbyists are suffering from the same problem as Hollywood.

 

Haha meenu, very true!! No situation is too strange these days, remember those creepy see-through guppies yesterday? Ewww!

Never heard of these, would be wary at first, but how cool would a tank full of male bettas be?!

 

This thread reminded me of Jaysee's sig. lol

 

Betta Imbelis "peaceful betta" is a species.

They aren't more popular because they are not available in the color and finnage range as our betta splendens.

It is found in Malaysia.

Yes, it can be kept in groups and in community tanks.

They are well known as jumpers and will often just leave your tank.

I have seen them for sale on Aquabid

 

There are LOTS of species of bettas that are peaceful and can even be housed together in pairs or trios. I'm keeping betta rutilans right now, and although my male disappeared, I'm picking up another pair so I can house them together as a trio. It's pretty much just betta splendens that gives us all the trouble for stocking our tanks! LOL.

 

Ah lol, crazy splendens!! Don't like the idea that they may just leave the tank but I have hoods on mines.

They are lovely fish too though, colour does not always mean a good personality!

 

Ha I knew about those when I first got my first Betta.

 

I saw the name but did not know they are classified as peaceful...

Imbellis & Rutilans I am aware of but know nothing about.

 

I know you're in Scotland and can't really use Aquabid, but at least you can see some pics of some of the wild bettas. They are so much different than splendens, lol.

 

The colour in the article was still pretty spectacular, easily as good or better than lot of other usually tropicals I know of hich are commonly sold. I am interested to see if I can find them in oz...

I was aware of many varieties of betta before, but given the great personas, I am really amazed I haven't heard of these until now and that more LFS don't stock them!!

Yes, bad article, 'kept in bottles for better aesthetic' indeed >

Wow, check out the colours on a google search for these fish! I need to start lobbying the LFS for these.

can you imagine a tank full of these males? drool

 

can you imagine a tank full of these males? drool

That would be so cool !!!

 

If I am not mistaken, many of the wild varieties of betta are peaceful. It is pretty much Betta Splendens that are the trouble makers.

 

Why is it always the pretty ones that are trouble?

 

I've kept a few wild betta species, including imbellis, and wouldn't so much call them 'peaceful' as semi-aggressive. You definitely wouldn't want too many males in too small a tank with nowhere to get away from one another... they are still territorial, will still guard a nest, just unlike splendens are content with driving the other fish off from their immediate nest area rather than wanting to pursue them to fight... plus another male approaching someone else's nest usually has the sense to get away when flared at! Males and females can definitely coexist long term though, and breed successfully that way! Most of the mouthbrooders are even more peaceful, with the females being slightly more dominant and aggressive and the ones to keep an eye on. Still will always get a few flare ups and little battles but rarely even a nicked fin from them, it's mostly for show. Some of the larger mouthbrooders are really impressive too, can get 6" and the mouth on them is huuuge! Wild bettas are just awesome fish imo, and a lot are suitable for smaller tanks too.
Edit: by smaller tank, meaning 5 gal for a pair of small bubblenesters, bigger if keeping more than 2, and much bigger for some of the very large mouthbrooders of course!

 

Cool. Maybe there's a type of Oscar that won't eat smaller fish too!

 

Oooh, thanks for that link, I'm off to drool at some fish lol!!

 

My pleasure tigerfishy

pandora - thanks for the great info, I would have assumed they'd still guard their nests but wonderful to hear you barely get a nipped fin in flareups! I must chase some of these down if my husband ever lets me go further with my MTS

 

I want one!Maybe some day there show up in my LPS!

 

Try asking at your lfs if you really want to find some... the store I work at has various wilds available sometimes but we rarely order them in, since some can have a bit more particular care requirements, they tend to be expensive, don't look too exciting when out of breeding colours (which they normally will be in a store), and most people don't know what they are so aren't exactly eager to spent 100$ for a pair of brown fish! Only since I've been enthusing about wild bettas have we started carrying a few, and it's still a small fraction of what is available to us... but it's easy enough to order in fish if someone expresses an interest! I'm sure a lot of other stores are similar in possibly having species available to order but not necessarily having them in the store, either through a lack of customer interest or a lack of staff knowledge that they might be sought after.
For anyone looking to get into wilds, any of the splendens complex (including imbellis), pugnax complex (larger mouthbrooders) and simplex complex (smaller mouthbrooders) tend to be good for beginners as they are generally easy to care for and tolerant of most water conditions, more often available, and usually cheaper than some of the other species.

 

I've seen them at my LFS... this was when I was new... and as pandoras said, I couldn't understand why they were so expensive...

 

Good advice pandora - I'll see what I can find and start off with the simpler ones first... after I do my research of course

And if I can talk my better half into another tank...