The Half Moon

White opaque Halfmoon male

Steel blue Halfmoon female

Juvenile Halfmoon (2 months old)

The Half Moon (or Halfmoon, or HM) is the hottest tail form going today, and with good reason. These guys look great even when not flaring, and when the do flare the effect is astounding; a huge tail that spreads straight up and straight down, full dorsal, and symmetrical anal fin. They are quite an accomplishment in betta form.

Specifically, a halfmoon betta must have a caudal where both ends are exactly 180 degrees apart or more, spreading towards the front. Caudal edges have to be straight or curving outwards, and not bending inwards.

There are a few important things to strive for when breeding for a Halfmoon betta:


1.) Symmetry - the body line that cuts and seperates the caudal into half.

2.) Balance - the ability to draw an arc that begins from the caudal and encompasses the dorsal and anal without hitting a snag.

3.) 180 degree caudal with straight and crisp edges.

Few people disagree with the above statements. The only area of disagreement, or rather a difference in opinion exists in the 'proportion',i.e. the caudal/body ratio.

When caudal/body is less than 1, you get an 'oval shape'(OS). But when caudal=body or caudal/body is 1, you have a 'circle'(CS). The OS Halfmoons are good, but the CS Halfmoons are truly exceptional, and an excellent model to aspire to.

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The Super Delta Tail

Turquoise Super Delta male

This form is also sometimes called "Super Delta", "SDT", or "HMx". It is basically an enhanced version of the standard Delta Tail, and some are just shy of being full HM. This is a very beautiful tail, and often more pleasant to have than HM, since there are not as many worries about the tail collapsing, or the fish having difficulty in swimming and spawning, or blowing fins. They are also available much more reasonably than true HM, and will usually produce some HM offspring if they come from a HM spawn.

It should be kept in mind that for show purposes, the 180 degree HM caudal is still the standard.

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The Delta Tail

Delta Tail is a term often misused to describe any single-tailed non-HM betta. The true Delta tail has straight caudal edges like a HM or SDT, but they extend outwards from the back of the fish and don't arch straight up into HM. It is basically a reduced form of the HM caudal, and common in HM spawns. 

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The Roundtail

The term "roundtail" is most usually used to describe a single tailed betta with rounded caudal edges. Although many of these can look very symmetrical, they would not place well in IBC sanctioned showing, which favors the 180 degree angle and straight edges of the "HM" variety.

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The Doubletail

Blue Doubletail male (DTM)

The Double Tail betta is also known as DT or DTM (doubletail male), and DTF (doubletail female). They are a cultivated mutation that gives the fish a dorsal fin equal in length to the anal fin, and two distinct caudal lobes. Often it also produces a thicker-bodied fish with a wider backside, or deformities such as crooked spines.

Breeding DT into regular ST or HM lines is widely practiced because of the advantages the gene brings, such as wider dorsals and better branching. It is always recommended to cross DT to a single-tailed type only, since DT x DT often produces deformed fish.

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The Spade Tail

Spade Tail red betta

You just don't see Spade Tail bettas very much anymore, though they were more easily found when I first got started in bettas in the early '90s.

This tail form is pretty basic; the caudal has a wide base that narrows to a delicate point, like a spade. Having never bred Spade Tail to Spade Tail, I can't say for certain whether the trait even breeds true. I can only give you the results of my experiments breeding spade to other tail types (like DT or delta) and can report about 30 - 50% spade tails from those spawns.

I think it can be safely said that most "spade tails" are simply a variation of the Veiltail, and pretty commonly seen on females and juvenile VTs whose finnage hasn't reached full weight and length.

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The Veil Tail

White veil tail betta

The most widely-available longfin form in bettas is unarguably the Veil Tail betta (or VT). This is the natural form the fins take when they are artificially lengthened from the wild shortfin form with selective breeding. This is the type of finnage usually seen in Pet Stores. Though attractive in its own right, it is generally considered undesirable among those breeding for show-quality form. In fact, the IBC (International Betta Congress) doesn't even have classes for Veil Tails any longer, and it has become a sentiment of negativity to describe any high-bred betta of 'going veil-ish'.

The Veil Tail betta has a caudal that tends to arch and then slope downward, like a wedding veil. 

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Betta Simplex, Care and Breeding

Betta simplex - male

Betta simplex - female

Betta simplex - 1 month old

Betta simplex
simple fighting fish / Krabi-fighting fish
first description: Kottelat,1994

This beautiful fighting fish type is, unfortunately, maintained much too rarely in our aquariums. Betta simplex was found in Thailand in the proximity of Krabi. There they inhabit a source pot waters with tuerkis resplendent clear water. Betta simplex can reach lengths of 5 cm, and are mouthbrooders who are currently endangered and are therefore listed on the red list of the IUCN.

Betta simplex live in alkaline and very hard water, and is therefore relatively tolerant of hard and basic tap water. Since this betta lives all year round in harder water around 8-12 KH, it is not only tolerant against hard and cool water, but needs it to be healthy and reproduce readily. The animals are altogether docile in temperament, and therefore are well suited as an aquarium fish.

You can differentiate the males very easy from the females. The female Betta simplex are rather simply brown colored with small black and white points in tail and backfin. Only the anal fin is colored at the ends, easily bluish. The males are more intensely colored in comparison. The body is rather red-brown and on the gill is intensely green-blue. The anal and tail fin pull through two intensely radiant blue and black 'ribbons'. The fin points shine remarkably white. Also the head, as typical for mouthbrooder fighting fishes, is more powerful with the male than with the female.

For the care of 2 pairs, an aquarium of 60 cm length will suffice perfectly. The males do not form territories like the more aggressive types such as Betta splendens. The aquarium should be well-planted, offer sufficient protection, and have a water temperature from 22 to 24°C. To high water temperatures shorten the life span of the animals substantially. Also some current should be present. Floating plants at the water surface absorb light and offer young fish adequate hiding places. Pay attention to use a completely closed aquarium cover since this kind of betta can jump very well.

The breeding of Betta simplex is quite uncomplicated, since the male animal takes over the majority of the work. If the water quality, the aquarium organization, and the nutrition are correct, the fish pair themselves quite fast. After the mating the male takes the eggs in his mouth and/or gets them from the female. The male places the eggs in a safe hiding place after carrying them in his mouth for the first day. The territory is defended during this time by the female. However this takes place only by means of chasing or pushing the other fish; I never observed any biting or wounding. After 3 days the larvae slip and must be caught by their father, which can sometimes overwhelm and irritate younger males and cause them to eat their brood or spit them out early. If a male spits its brood out, then it dismisses the young fish with a size of approx. 4 mm of length after 14 days. With the dismissal date the young fish are on their own and no longer tended by the parent fish.

Altogether, Betta simplex is a very interesting fighting fish type which shows very many different behaviors, and possesses a gentle temperament without being shy.

Sebastian Letsch, Dresden/Germany

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Care and Breeding of Betta falx

Female (R) and Male (L) Betta falx (G. Griffin)

Circling for the embrace (G. Griffin)

Embracing on the bottom of the tank (G. Griffin)

Betta falx is a relatively new mouthbrooding species out of Jambi, Indonesia. The name falx means scythe, alluding to the continuous curved shape of the broad anal and caudal distal margins of a male in display. It is a member of the Picta complex and is relatively hardy species. Falx is normally a drab fish that may have three line or they may show no lines at all. Falx can also go through dramatic color changes depending upon its mood. During confrontations both males and females can color up to a nice brick red color. Both sexes have a line on the anal fin however the males are much more pronounced being very dark red to black. The males can also be identified do to their larger heads which are used to facilitate the brooding of eggs and fry.

Housing

Betta falx being a relatively small species, about two inches and a pair can easily be housed in ten gallon aquaria. Falx can be kept in pairs or in communities (species tanks). Males can be territorial so in a twenty gallon aquarium I would not have more then two or three pairs. Housing of wild bettas has gone through some changes since I first started keeping them. In the days of old aquarists would use gravel and plants thinking they were giving their fishes a natural environment. Most of the wild bettas come from peat swamps, flood plains, or rivers. Most of the mouthbrooders come from rivers that have mud bases and a deep pile of leaf litter. Waters tend to be soft and acidic. To accommodate the wild bettas many aquarists use oak leaves as a substrate. The tannins acidify the water and the wild fish have a substrate that is natural. For some of the more difficult species I would recommend this however falx is an easy species to keep and will thrive in almost any conditions as long as the water is slightly soft and slightly acidic. In the wild falx live in waters that range from 4.7 to 6.8 pH. In the aquaria I use peat filtered water with a pH of around 6.0 to 6.4.

Feeding

Betta falx is not picky about food and will eat both live and prepared foods. I feed frozen blood worms, baby brine shrimp, and hikari cichlid gold baby pellet. The females are more aggressive feeders then the males.

Spawning

Breeding Betta falx is also easy. In this species the females initiate spawning and will pick an appropriate male who will either respond positively or negatively. When the male responds appropriately the pair will go through a number of pre spawn embraces, almost like they are trying each other out. These pre spawn embraces may last for hours. When the pair finally does spawn the female will release eggs and then maneuver to pick up these eggs in her mouth and will then spit them at the male for him to hold in his mouth. This process will repeat until the female has been depleted of eggs. Falx eggs are relatively large and thus have smaller broods. The female guards the territory during spawning and her main target is rival females that may try to spawn with her male. The female will also chase away rogue males who enter the territory as well. Falx are best spawned in pairs and the female removed after a few days. If the female is not removed she may fill with eggs and reinitiate spawning before the male has released which will ruin the spawn. I did have a case of this but instead of swallowing all of the babies the male released a few and they spent most of their time hidden in the tank and did not reveal themselves until the male was pulled from the tank after releasing his second batch. The young are large and readily eat baby brine shrimp. The young can reach over a half inch in length in less than a month after release.

Since I received my first few pairs from the "fish wizards" Tony and David, my falx have been spawning non stop. I have to keep the sexes separated to prevent spawning. I have a couple spawns that will be distributed to those joining the Species Maintenance Program when they are old enough in the spring. With their hardiness and ease of breeding Betta falx would do well in any Bettaphyls collection.

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Betta smaragdina, Part II

The purpose of this article is to present one more strain of Betta smaragdina; call the "Guitar". They are living in clean and clear running stream water. The same specie that living in the difference environment tend to have difference characteristic in details. An ordinary Betta smaragdina that I have been discussed in the previous chapters, the fish living in the shallow rice paddy still water and muddy environment. The fish has tiny long body with a patch of metallic green color. The tail ray is spreading green line and shiny red color on the anal fin. An anal fin, pelvic fin and caudal fin are short but good proportion to its body structure. Because of the tiny shallow space with the massy wild grass has form its structure to best survive in that environment. The long fin would trouble them in that environment, and enemy may easily bite any part of its the long fin. But Betta smaragdina Guitar type is something special and difference. You will immediate impressed only the first glance and you would feel it is difference from the ordinary Betta smaragdina that you were acquainted. But what is the Guitar difference from the ordinary Betta smaragdina you may not able to give an answer. The only thing you can tell is the feeling of difference and impressive.

The Guitar impressed me when I first saw in the small aquarium shop at Jatujak market in Bangkok 5 years ago. The fish look very charming, active and playful with the shining scale and artistic waving tail. Its price of course is higher than an ordinary Betta smaragdina 10 times. I try to asked many things about the source and the place that Guitar available. But it seem that a seller did not want to talk about it.  Though he did confirm me that he has caught the fish from the natural habitat. By developing friendship slowly, he became understood my real intension that I do not want to disturb his business. And I have also promised to him that whenever I want Betta smaragdina I will order from him. (I am his constant customer over 2 years). Finally he contact his partner and made appointment for me in the next day. He said that there is only one area that Guitar can be found. That area is covered two districts "Sega" and "Bung Khong Lhong" of Nhong khai province in upper Northeast of Thailand. The province that connected to Lao and the Khong River is a border lines. I did prepare myself only a few hours and I saw myself waiting for the first class bus in the Northern bus terminal in the evening the same day. That day was 25th August 2005.


What is Guitar?

"Guitar" or in short "Tar" is a unique strain of Betta smaragdina that difference from the popular ordinary Betta smaragdina. The first and the most charming of Guitar is the long pelvic fin that shaking when it is flaring, (people name Guitar because of shaking the pelvic fin like scratch the guitar string) (movie clip), anal fin, caudal, dorsal fin and tail also longer flow. Another distinguished characteristic of Guitar is the ray of the tail which has vertical spot and also crystal scale shining green whereas an ordinary smaragdina has crystal green patch scale and the ray of the tail is ordinary pattern. The body structure of Guitar is considered longer and round form whereas an ordinary Betta smaragdina has shorter body structure. If Betta smaragdina is a soldier I think the Guitar could be the knight and an ordinary Betta smaragdina should be the lay soldier.

The living environment of Guitar also difference from the ordinary Betta smaragdina. Guitar lives in clear clean running water. With this habitat, the Guitar has crystal scale and the long flow fin which make it much more charming than an ordinary Betta smaragdina. Whereas ordinary smaragdina lives in the low land still muddy water, most of them lives in the free space beside the rice field. The Guitar lives in the more wild forest that far disturb from human.


The significance of Guitar in the aquarium world.

There are two significance roles of Guitar in contributing to the Betta world. One is the localized role of Guitar in the fighting fish activity in the Northeast of Thailand. Another is an international role of Guitar in the fancy Betta show quality .

The role of Guitar in the world of fighting fish in the Northeast.The feeling to reserve Betta smaragdina as a fighter in Northeast of Thailand very strong. When I visit many breeding house I never see a single of captive Betta splendens that so popular in other part of the country. The fighting fish they use is the hybrid fighter strain that crosses bred between captive Betta splendens and captive Betta smaragdina. By long term breeding process the splendens bloodlines possibly resided in the smaragdina fighter about 10 percent. Right now the Betta smaragdina as a fighting fish is a complex bloodlines. The captive cross breeds just doing 10 years ago. The main objective was to create the fighter to be more tough heart, tough scale and good fighting style. The tough heart is resided in captive Betta splendens but the good fighting style is resided in the Guitar. 

In the time there was nobody bred Betta smaragdina for fighting. The player simply got the fighter from the rice field. The source of Guitar always kept in private and secret. The owner of ordinary Betta smaragdina did not happy to match with the Guitar. Because he knows that his fighter was disadvantage in fighting style. The Guitar fight on the top of water whereas the ordinary Betta smaragdina prefer to fighting in the middle of water. So the Guitar can control the game. The fins and the body structure longer means the swimming faster and attacking tactic is full of artistic skill (movie clip) (WARNING: Depicts two males fighting - vp). This movie clip show that one fighter try to convince another fighter go to fight on the water surface level. But once he goes up for challenge he found a flash attacked from above at once. We can presumed that in the present time all over Northeast fighter at least the breeder has introduced the Guitar as an essential bloodlines to his fighter.


The role of Guitar in the world of Fancy Betta.

The Guitar playing in the very importance role in filling up what the modern fancy captive Betta splendens both long fin and short fin have been lost. They are the shining scale and the nature of enticement of the fish in which I consider is the most impressive creature. The modern fancy hybrid that selling in aquabid has filled up the Guitar bloodlines more or less. The injection of wild Betta to the modern fancy Betta is something like return the true nature of this lovely creature after it has been spoiled by human over a hundred years.


The Guitar natural habitat.

My friend claims that there is only one place that the Guitar can be found in the Northeast of Thailand. The area are presenting two difference geographical habitat, one is the lake side forest and another is small stream water in the high land rain climate forest. The fish live in the messy wild glass beside the clear slow stream water. May be because of stream water make the Guitar developed the long flow fin and clear water make the Guitar developed the crystal scale. 

The ecological pattern of the Guitar look like this:

Or we may map above ecological pattern into the real composite picture:

The area is cover two districts call "Sega" and "Bung Khong Lhong".  Both are close to Khong river, the Thai/Lao border. The Sega district is the highland flooded land that keep rain water for local agriculture use. The dam dike in Sega play the importance role to supply an overflow water to "Bung Khong Lhong lake". People say that the Guitar swim against the water stream and reach the high land above the dam dike, the distance around 30 kilometers. So the same strain of Guitar can be found in both districts and I would like to infer an origin of Guitar should be in the Bung Khong Lhong lake which itself is a separator Guitar from an ordinary Betta smaragdina.

Catching Guitar in highland flooded land area in Sega district was some what fun and adventures. We did wade through the mass of high wild grass. The professional catcher just simply survey around and did random trial catch to see an estimate population of the Guitar in the area. We were crossing a little stream water to another side and this time we have a lot of Guitar. But the purpose of this trip was not really to caught the Guitar, but for my research. So we were decided to leave this impressive place and lovely wild flower to another Guitar habitat, a peaceful Bung Khong Lhong lake side.

Catching Guitar in Bung Khong Lhong lake side was far difference from the Sega's experiences. In Sega we were in the mid of high wild grass with a fun adventure in the reddish mud in the slow stream water that came from the dam dike. In Bung Khong Lhong lake we found another fantastic experiences. The fish lives in the very clear still water. The short wild grass on the lake side allow us to capture the splendid smaragdina with full sight. A pleasure environment does allow us gently use our palm of hand to hold the fighter up. We were also able to explore the picture in the past, the primary selection of the good fighter by the farmer. He did put one fighter to another fighter and watching the way they fight (movie clip) (WARNING: Depicts betta males fighting in the wild. - vp) then catch the winner back home. The background screen of high mountain and peaceful lake make us feel walking in the paradise garden.


The Guitar structure form.

The Guitar have three structure form types and slightly difference on two colors. Previously I always think that all wild caught Betta has only one structure form call "Channa" form type. That it has round and long structure body. However my friend told me that there are three structure form type for Betta smaragdina for the specific, Guitar.

Channa Striata Bloch Form Type
Anabas Testudineus Form Type
Chitala Ornata Form Type

Although I think that a difference of each structure form is not clear cut like the captive Betta splendens that I have been discuss in http://www.plakatthai.com/plakatthai.html.  However, it is still show a trace of structure form that has been mentioned. 

There are two colors in Guitar that can be found in the same location, one is green another is black. Both have crystal green dot on its scale. Of course both colors has the colors pattern  difference from an ordinary Betta smaragdina that were found in the rice field dice.


Four methods of catching Guitar.

Since the water level in the stream water is rather high about 50 cm comparing to the Betta living in the rice field that about 10 cm. So using the palm hand is not possible in the high water level. There are 4 methods to catching the Guitar from its environments.

Palm hand in case a fish lives in the small level water in the animal foot print.  The catcher does slowly survey around and searching for the bubble nest of the fish. Then he does gently open the wild grass and use his hand scoop up the fish beneath the bubble nest. (movie clip).  This method the catcher may get  the healthy male fighter in a few numbers of fishes. Also this method is the most secure of preserving the Betta habitat and its population.

"Ta kheng". Using local fisheries instrument call "Ta kheng". "Ta Kheng" is the basic fisheries instrument of the local people for catching the various type of fishes in the flooded land. The catcher place the instrument in front of him then he step his feet  to chasing the fish swimming into the "Ta kheng" .  Using "Ta kheng" both male and female were caught for the large quantity. The scale's size of "Ta kheng" indicate the size of fish that fisherman want.

Bamboo tube. or small tin can placed on the surface of water on the mass of weeds. The catcher will come back to check each bamboo tube after 2 or 3 days. This will get the big size or an aggressive fish and also disturb less to the wild environment. Most of the time the catcher would get the couple of the fish, male and female. In this method there is a trick that may mention here, the catcher may walk through the wild grass. This will open the space and the water moving provoke the Betta come to find the new place to settle up the bubble nest.

Decoy trap. This method is some more fun and also using for getting the wild bird, by place a male Betta smaragdina in clear plastic bag at the corner that the catcher expecting to have other male. After a few hours the catcher will come back to see whether another wild male Betta smaragdina come to approach the fish in the clear plastic bag as an intruder. (movie clip).  He will show his authority and protect his territory by put his whole life and spirit jump to fight an intruder. The decoy trap method similar to the finding bubble nest method but it is more effective. The fighter that may hide itself in the mid of wild plant would show itself immediately when presenting an intruder.


Breeding Betta smaragdina.

Now people in the Northeast breed Betta smaragdina for fighting. They are complex captive fighter bloodlines. I found that the breeding policy is the same development pattern that happen in Betta splendens selective fighter. Both have the same variable factors of development.

Five years ago, the first trip on 2000, many players did not admitted that their fighters were the complex bloodlines, though they were secretly cross bred with the splendens. Most of them claim theirs fighters caught from the natural habitat or pure wild caught Betta smaragdina fighter. This means that in the past the breeding selective smaragdina fighter was not generally accepted. The majority practice were still caught from the wild to fight in the ring. But in this trip (25 August 2005) all players were accepted that theirs fighter came from breeding complex bloodlines!!

The first emergence of breeding policy may be just 10 years ago which was slowly spread over to the players. However the fighting of Betta smaragdina can lead back over hundred years, but no one can tell the specific year that farmer start to play this game. I think it should start in the same period of splendens fighter. This may be the answer why the splendens fighter can not intruding into the Northeast fighting fish empire. A question from the last trip that I got the answer from this trip was "how did the player know which male has the good fighting talent if they caught from the wild". Because what I know was not all male of wild caught Betta willing to fight. Some were really aggressive but some simply play a flare up and runaway.

In the primary stage of selection, the farmer simply catch one fighter and put it to another fighter. They did simply watch them fight to each other for fun . Then they took the winner home and kept the fish as a pet and for challenging other people to fight. To improve the fighting talent, the breeders introduce captive Betta splendens bloodlines and the Guitar bloodlines to the selective Betta smaragdina fighting fish.  The purpose of breeding are; develop the better scale, better heart, better fighting style, commercial oriented and most of all try to control the standard of fighting quality. In fact, all these variable factors same as the development of captive Betta splendens.

To set up breeding environment of Betta smaragdina for small scale quantity is simple and closest to its natural habitat. The breeder simply dig a small square pooldepth 50 cm and length by width 1.5 meter. The breeder does furnishing the pool environment similar to its natural habitat. He put one bamboo tube for the breeding pair mate, hatching the eggs. This short movie clip was showing how busy the male protect his nest (movie clip) and the fry that reside in the bamboo tube. This breeding style is conservative and preserve an original Betta's specie that has no intension of selling in mass number as the Betta splendens is. However I can see the picture in the near future that breeder of Betta smaragdina would breed the fighter supply to mass players in the northeast region's fighting rings.


Last comment.

Whenever I meet the player who favor fighting Betta smaragdina. I always ask him why don't you fight the Betta splendens. The answers always the same, they said that the Betta splendens fighting too long. But when I ask them why should you introduce the splendens bloodlines to the smaragdina fighter? The answer always the same but it seems logical contradiction to the first answer. They said that they want to develop the smaragdina willing to fight longer. The fighting longer in smaragdina fighting ring means the fighter able to maintain his fighting activity exceed one hour. Because the setup rule for fighting game considered draw when one can not win another in one hour period of fighting time.

The question of why the player of Betta smaragdina do not change to play the Betta splendens. Or why Betta splendens can not intruding into the Betta smaragdina fighting arena in northeast?

I think there are few factors that can answer this question.

The cultural practice of fighting smaragdina in Northeast developing along with the splendens fighting fish. So both fighting fish practices has its own strength. The northeast has Betta smaragdina whereas the middle part has splendens. I think we can even use a development model of smaragdina fighting fish mapping to the development model of Betta splendens that it has been lose its evidence.

The degree of economical tension playing the role that the splendens look over the Northeast player. In northeast people mostly are the farmer but in the middle part of the country, Bangkok is the center of the country, the profession of the people are more complex and varieties, capitalization, business oriented etc. Now the modern captive Betta splendens is the major export item in the ornamental fish of Thailand. The nature of farmer society is the cultural confirmation, whereas the capitalization require the change and improvement. This is also imply the question that why the development of splendens much faster than the smaragdina. In fact the very nature of modern splendens fighting fish has develop itself out skirt of farmer society.  The smaragdina fighter, though do not copy development model from the splendens but still developing the same direction of splendens as follow up the Bangkok's economy.

I found the direction that smaragdina fighting fish is follow step by step to the development of the splendens fighting fish. For example, when I participate the small group of smaragdina fighting ring. I found that many matches were fight longer, many matches even fight exceed one hour in which considered to be draw. Some players in the ring complain that "next year we should extend the fighting time 1.30 hour. Why? Because one hour is not enough for him to get money. That's mean they have developed the more tough smaragdina fighter than the 5 years ago that I have been visited. In that time an average fighting would be around 20 - 30 minutes. Some matches even one of them simply ranaway with the minimal injury. Who knows may be the next five years they might demand for 2 hours and so on. And finally they might develop the toughness of smaragdina fighter as tough as the splendens fighter, or even borrow the fighting regulation from the splendens fighting ring.

The true conductor of breeding policy of both smaragdina and splendens surely is the economical ideology. The extending of the cloud of capitalization from Bangkok has cover the Northeast people definitely relevance to the breeding fighter policy. The breeders are more concerning on win and lose. The reward of fighting is more bigger stake.  The good captive fighter stock can sell in the very good price, and there is no more the legend of the good fighter in the particular secret flooded area. That is only the best fighter can get from the best breeder in the most tough arena.  And the most tough fighter is an ideal production of the breeder. This story is definitely mapped to the story of Betta splendens. I can say that, if one want to see the clear development picture of Betta splendens in the past, simply see the present development of Betta smaragdina. Or the development story of smaragdina fighter actually is the reflection of the development of the splendens fighter.  Perhaps, I am afraid that if capitalization that blow from the West to Asia has to happen in the human history. May be the development breeding policy of fighting fish as has been said a cruelty game in Asia simply an unavoidable impact from the West wind.

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Betta smaragdina, Part I

Thailand is geographically composed of five major parts: northern, northeastern, central, eastern, and southern. For Plakat Thai there are breeding places in every province of Thailand. Each province has its own domestic species and stresses the development of one species more than another. The Northeast of Thailand breeds mainly Betta smaragdina, while the central part of Thailand breeds mainly Betta splendens. The Southern parts of Thailand breed Betta imbellis and Betta splendens actively throughout the entire year.
There are very few breeders in the uppermost northern part of Thailand. Geographically the north is comprised mostly of complex mountain ranges and highland plateaus. The weather there is slightly cold throughout the entire year, and as we know cold weather is no good for breeding Bettas. There is a short sunny period from March to May. Wild Betta splendens and Betta smaragdina can be found in the rice fields and the surrounding areas. However, there are many more breeding areas in the lower parts of the north, geographic basins and river junctions from the north provide stable temperatures and fertile soil suitable for cultivating live food for the Plakat Thai. These are the most essential factors of successful breeding and maintaining good stock.

The northeast part of Thailand favors Betta smaragdina, especially the provinces that are connected to the river Khong, at the Thai/Lao border. These breeders preserve the tradition of fish fighting as a joyous after-work activity. There is no reason to breed for commercial purposes, or if any very few do. The fish are caught in the wild and exchanged among close friends. The fish are freed back to the rice fields after the games are over.

Every province in the Central and Eastern parts of Thailand mainly stress development of long and short fin BBetta splendens. Bangkok (officially "Krung Thep"), the capital of Thailand, is the center of all kinds of ornamental fish trades. However Betta splendens is a major part of Bangkok's aquarium fish industry.

The southern part of Thailand has two species, Betta splendens and Betta imbellis. With the rainy climate in the south, it is suitable for breeding Bettas in all aspects. Like the breeders in the northeast, the southern breeders, breed Betta imbellis for seasonal enjoyment and don't care much about quantity.

In order to win the domestic fish fighting game, some breeders crossbreed the domestic species with cultivated Betta splendens. For example, the breeders of the northeast cross wild caught Betta smaragdina with cultivated Betta splendens, and likewise, the southern breeders crossbred wild Betta imbellis with cultivated Betta splendens.

In this section I will focus only on the Betta smaragdina, the first aquarium pet of the Isan people. Keeping, rearing, and fighting of the Betta smaragdina has a long history in Isan culture, and it involves a basic social dynamic that has been a part of Isan society for a very long time. The traffic throughout different Thai cultures eventually led to the interchanging of Betta bloodlines for breeding.




WHAT IS BETTA SMARAGDINA?

Betta smaragdina is just one species in the Betta family, available in the northeast of Thailand. The general characteristics of the fish are crystal-like shiny green scales and gill covers. The trunk of the fish is round when viewed from the side and slim when viewed from above. The pelvic fin is long and tapered, and the caudal and anal fins are slightly orange in color. The dorsal fin is a green color. The local people call the Betta smaragdina "green fighter" or "Plakat Keaw" or "Pla Keaw" for short. The average size is about 1.5 - 2 inches in length, they are shy in nature and easily frightened by any stranger that approaches them. 

BETTA SMARAGDINA'S NATURAL HABITAT

Betta smaragdina is the native fighting fish of the Isan people. The Isan area of Thailand covers over one third of the entire country, and consists mainly of highland plateaus. This geographical characteristic is very isolating and helps to preserve Betta smaragdina, as well as keeping the species from mixing with other bloodlines. The Betta smaragdina, like the Betta splendens, can be found widely, living in the shallow rice paddies, ditches, and the lowland spaces beside the rice fields. This buffer area is a free space that the farmer uses for releasing the fish and also for irrigation to and from his rice field. Naturally this area is flooded throughout most of the year, except maybe in the dry season when it may remain only wet mud. The farmer does not actually use this area for growing rice so fortunately it is untouched by chemical sprays. This small area is very complex and complete in itself. There are various kinds of plants, weeds, and animals that reside in this area. This small area plays a very significant role in the farmers' life. It is a direct source of food, providing edible plants and fish. For children, this is their paradise playground. It is a place for adventure and imagination, and a classroom to teach children the way of nature, running and playing with each other. Some children may even search for small fish; of course one of those fish is Betta smaragdina, "THE GREEN FIGHTER", the fighter from the Northeast of Thailand. 

CATCHING THE FIGHTER WITH A TENDER SCOOP OF THE HANDS

To catch other wild fish, some may use a massive net that is thrown into the water and slowly pulled back ashore. The unlucky fish will get stuck in the net and the fisherman will free him from the tangled mess and then put him in a bamboo cage. This fish is his food.

Catching Betta smaragdina is entirely different. This method is very smooth with no noise or violence at all. To get this fish from the wild there are no special tools required, only two hands are needed. It seems that the green fighter is just sitting there waiting for someone to take him or her out of the wild and into his new home.

If a boy wants to get a green fighter he will walk along the pathways between the rice fields and the flooded land. With experienced eyes he slowly scans the locations where he might find the green fighter.

The boy slowly opens the grass all around the Betta's bubble nest. Without any hurry he tenderly scoops the fish up into the palms of his hands and raises the fighter into his new home.

THE FIGHTING FISH BETTA SMARAGDINA

One of the green fighting fish breeders I met in SakonNakorn province told me that fish fighting in Isan country may go back over 200 years. He was 53 years old. He said that his father had told him his grandfather was a big player in the fighting fish game. From his personal opinion, fish fighting may have come along at the same time as cock fighting or possibly even before that. In order to validate his opinion he said that Thais today and in the past have always had a close relationship with the water. We are a riverside society. Over 80% of Thai people were farmers, so naturally their lives are very close to nature. They grew rice and caught fish for food; children ran around playing and also caught the small fish in the rice fields. So it is possible that we knew the fighting fish before the fighting cock. This answer is very similar to the 45 years old theory, which comes from the owners of a local aquarium shop in U Bon Rat Cha Tha Ni, 119 Kilometers from SakonNakorn. I am inclined to believe their explanation. However, at this time I am taking a temporary break from researching the origin of the fighting fish of the Northeast of Thailand. I hope that by doing deeper research in the literary reviews I can go into more detailed explanations with some objective primary sources to support it.

The fish fighting takes place regularly at any one member's house. Normally the matches are held on Saturdays and Sundays. The starting time is usually about 10 a.m. with a few latecomers joining the event a little bit later in the day. The game is started later in the morning so that people can finish their daily work and enjoy the playful game. People start to gather themselves around the fish fighting bottles. A tall square glass is held at the center of the group of people. This manner of grouping is a symbol that represents the community and shows unity between the Isan people. The fish fighting plays a very significant role in the social interaction amongst people on the weekend. No one cares about the week's workload or stress; in the group everyone is laughing and talking loud with a happy face.

When fighting Betta smaragdina the owner uses a small net to shift the fighter to the fighting bottle, unlike fighting Betta splendens, for which we use the small scoop to transfer the fish. The Isan do this to be fair in the match, some people will put chemical solutions in their water and transfer this into the fighting bottle with the scoop. Once the second fighter has been lowered into the fighting bottle, the waiting challenger will rush the opponent, spreading open its splendid green gill covers. Then both will flare their fins in an attempt to intimidate and trick their opponent into believing they are bigger, more aggressive, and more powerful. With a very dignified look they will slowly rotate around each other. Their eyes fixed firm to each other, they both will flare their fins to scare their opponent, but neither of them will back down. Suddenly one of them will attack like a flash and immediately go back to flaring his fins to show his strength, when this happens the other fish must pay him back at once.

Betta smaragdina does less "swinging" in its body to push away its opponent (in Thai we call this "tec" or kicking) compared to Betta splendens, which try to push the opponent in order to make them lose control. The Betta smaragdina fight is more artistic and has more style-almost like traditional wrestling, a playing game not aimed at killing or injury. After the game neither fish is injured very much. They will return to their normal condition after the fight without any assistance from medicines.

The fight ends in about a half-hour. If the fight lasts a full hour and no one runs away, then the judge will tell the owners to take his fish from the fighting bottle and the fight is declared a draw. On average the fights last only 15 minutes. Some matches only take 5-10 minutes and one of the fish will run away with very little damage. The loser is freed back into the rice field, and the winner can fight again after recovering about a week. Very interestingly, the winner can develop his fighting skills and do better in his next fight. The fish fighting games take place from March to September during the rice growing period when the fields are full of water. Whether the fish is a winner or a loser, all fish are released back to their natural habitat after the fish-fighting season is over.

BREEDING TECHNIQUES OF THE BETTA SMARAGDINA

The philosophy when breeding Betta smaragdina is "to preserve the characteristics of fighting stock to be as close as possible to its original form, first found in the wild." To accomplish this, breeders try to simulate the Betta smaragdina's natural habitat by releasing the fry back to specific locations in the wild. The breeder will secretly release the fry at night because he doesn't want his opponents to find the source of his fighters. The opponent might catch one of your fish and use it against you. The wild environment slowly trains the human bred Betta smaragdina to be the real wild toughened fighter. From the struggles for life, to living with various predators, this time in the wild gradually teaches the green fighter how to defend its territory and fight. Only the strongest survive. The weak shall die. This is the process of natural selection. The wild environment will shape its structure to be as close as possible to its ancestors. The only difference being that they are not naturally selected bloodlines; they are human controlled bloodlines. More precisely they are a hybrid of Betta smaragdina and Betta splendens. They are like Arnold in Terminator, the new strain. The super selected fighter.

From the above breeding framework, one can see that the breeders have tried to shape the fighting strain to be similar to its original form. For game winning purposes, the breeders introduced Betta splendens fighting bloodlines into the Betta smaragdina lines. The outcome of the crossbreeding is the stock of Betta smaragdina fighting strain. One can hardly point out the difference between the Betta smaragdina fighting strain and the wild caught Betta smaragdina. However, a breeder told me three main differences that one may figure out:

One. The skull of the select green fighter is thicker and firmer, whereas the wild caught is small and looks balanced with its own slim shaped body.

Two. The lips of the human bred fighter are thicker and sharper in form, whereas the wild caught has thinner lips.

Three. The color of the human bred green fighter is a more deep dark color, and the color of the fins are not as clear cut, whereas the color of the wild caught is faded but the scales are more crystal like and shiny. The most genius breeders can breed fighters with structure, form, and colors very close to that of the wild caught Betta smaragdina.

THE PARADIGM OF BREEDING BETTA SMARAGDINA TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF BETTA SPLENDEN

Based on scientific method, ichthyologists have named each of the Betta species from its differentiation from one another. In the past, Thai breeders were without any scientific knowledge or modern educational support, and they classified the fighting fish into only two types: Plakat Pah, or wild caught Betta, and Plakat Morh (fighting fish in earthenware jar), or the cultivated fighter. This method of naming species was based on where the fish was found, and was common in farmer societies all over the world. The breeders in the central part of the country were able to successfully develop Plakat Pah (which were wild caught Splendens) into Plakat Morh and then extended the development even further to create the new strain of long fin Siamese fighting-fish. These admirable innovations in the development of selective fighting fish strains through social practices can be attributed to the Thai farmer alone. This is truly amazing because the farmers had no means of education or study.

INTRODUCTION

I went to Isan country again from the 28th –30th of September 2001. The purpose of this trip was to fill in some gaps that I had missed on my last trip. What I wanted to see was how the breeders reproduce the selective Betta smaragdina fighting bloodlines. If this point was made clear, then understanding the development process of the short fin Betta splendens or Plakat Thai should also present itself in the light. I will try to formulate the three key variables involved in new breeding and actually playing the fighting fish games: controlling wins, commercial, and social prestige. These three variables are all correlated with each other; each variable plays a role as a spoke in a wheel cart, slowly moving forward upon the Plakat Thai caravan. They not only play significant roles in the modern practice of breeding fighting fish of the Isan people, but in fact they are the mainstream core of the whole development process of Plakat Thais in general. I wrote this article based on the assumption that one similar historical event in the same historical atmosphere and environment may represent or be mapped to another historical event in question. I am trying to convince and show the reader that the development of Isan fighting fish breeding practices will throw light on the development process of Betta splendens.

These three variable relations may be grouped together as a prototype model to present the whole picture of Plakat Thai history, restructuring the story that has been dismissed. 

CONTROLLING WINS

Five years ago, the Isan breeders would free the winning fish to specific paddy fields and free the losers to the public flood lands. In the next season the breeder would go back to the special location and catch the spawn of the winners from last year. Hopefully, they will be as good, or even better than the winners from the last year.

Like all games, the absolute aim of the player is to be the winner of every match. But to be the winner all the time is like challenging fate. The player will never know the result until the game is at an end. In the game the players try to reach a desirable end, but the path to reaching the end is always variable and hard to predict the outcome. In other words, the players cannot control or program the resulting outcome. One can only prepare him very well and time alone will tell the result. This is the charm of the game that makes it fair for both players; they both wait on the fate and outcome of the game.

There are two terms that should be considered here: certainty and control. These two terms are always connected and imply something about the other. If more certain results are needed, then more control functions should be set up. We can use another term to represent this relationship, "seriousness." The more the breeder is serious about the fighting results, the more breeding control he does. The more the fighting result is affected by the player the more the breeder tries to accomplish the same result. This implies that in the past, the breeder was not as serious about the fighting results when obtaining good fighters from their natural habitat. So there was not as much breeding control when producing fighters. No doubt, no matter how many champions the breeder released to the paddy, there are already native Betta smaragdina already available there. The reader can imagine the result of uncontrolled mating and the outcome of the offspring. The fish fighting was for fun and prestige amongst a close group of friends.

Apart from luck, the breeder looks at the quality of his selected fighters in the following attributes: Fighting Style, Sharp Teeth, Stamina, and perfect structure or form. These attributes are all contributing factors for a fighter to win the game. The first two attributes are offensive whereas the rest are defensive attributes.

Fighting Style:

A fighter is able to deceive and trick the opponent, also he must be able to inflict more damage than he receives.

Sharp Teeth:

So that a fighter can penetrate the opponent's scales and cause the other fish pain.

Stamina:

So that a fighter is willing to fight for a longer period of time even though he may be sustaining more damage than his opponent.

Perfect Structure or Form:

So that a fighter can gain a natural advantage in all aspects of matching, giving him a better chance of winning.

The following are points the breeder has to achieve in his breeding tasks.

• How to preserve and reproduce captive bred fighters that have the same structure and form as their wild counterparts.

• How to reproduce the captive bred fish to have the same wild energy as the natural strains. Captive-bred fish are often fat, lazy, and slow.

• If the breeder is able to fulfill the above two tasks, then the next task is to develop the captive bred fish's fighting style and the will to fight for long periods of time while at the same time having the ability to self adapt to new environments. Most of the wild caught Bettas are shy corner living creatures. Some breeders will even introduce Betta splendens fighting strains to his own fighting stock.

Doing your best to select the best parent stock, the breeder accomplishes the three above tasks by simulating the wild environment in his controllable breeding tank. The following are breeding processes for selective fighting fish strains.

To increase the percentage of winning reliability, the breeder selects the best pair from winners of the fighting ring, pairs them accordingly and furnishes a breeding tank with a habitat as close to the fighter's natural habitat as possible.

Doing your best to select the best parent stock, the breeder accomplishes the three above tasks by simulating the wild environment in his controllable breeding tank. The following are breeding processes for selective fighting fish strains.

To increase the percentage of winning reliability, the breeder selects the best pair from winners of the fighting ring, pairs them accordingly and furnishes a breeding tank with a habitat as close to the fighter's natural habitat as possible.

Start by placing a round black vessel in the middle of a bigger cement tank. Lay clay on the bottom of the vessel and be sure to furnish real weeds and wild plants. The water depth should only be about 2 inches above the clay. The reader can easily see that there is no difference between the inside of the black vessel and the outside of the cement tank. The pair is confined to the round vessel to ensure that they are mating in a specific place and date, it also makes it easy for the breeder to look after the bubble nests and keep some records of his stock. This can also increase the survival rate of the new fry. After the fry are hatched they live in the limited space for one week. On the seventh day the breeder simply adds water to the tank until the water level is slightly higher than the top of the round vessel. Then the fry are able to slowly move out from the round vessel to the wider space that is already provided in the cement tank, the breeder will make sure to supply plenty of water fleas to feed the fry. They will live in this tank for about a month before being moved to a bigger tank.

After a month, the new tank space is about 5 * 5 meters with a water depth of about 30 centimeters. The young fighters will live in this tank for around 2-3 months. This is to ensure that they will be able to survive in the wild. When the young fighters are big enough, the breeder will move them into the human made dig pool which has already been furnished like the Betta smaragdina's natural habitat.

The human made dig pool is exactly the same as the Betta smaragdina's natural habitat. The breeder just leaves the fighters to struggle for survival on their own. There is no food supplied by the breeder. Only the strongest of the fighters are preserved and continue to flourish.

Now the problem is; how does the breeder distinguish the best fighters amongst the thousands available in the pond? How does he catch the best fighters from such a big pond without disturbing the other living creatures in the pond? The method to catch the best fighters is very simple yet at the same time extremely intelligent.

The breeder places a bamboo tube at the side of the pond. Early in the morning he just lifts the tube out of the water and checks to see if there is a fighter inside the bamboo or not. Of course, almost 100% of the time he will get a fighter in the tube he placed out yesterday.

The intelligence behind this method needs to be explained further. Only the strongest fighters will be able to claim the tube for occupation, as it is the best location for building a bubble nest and waiting for his new lover. The bamboo tube is considered to be the best and strongest shelter to hide in because it protects the delicate bubble nest from winds and unstable water surface. In short, only the strongest fish can claim the best location to breed. And the breeder gets that one to fight in the ring.

From the above selective breeding processes, the reader may notice that the selective pair were obtained from previous winners of the ring, so we may assume they have already been acquainted with human contact. The fry will also become accustomed to human activity within the first two months of their life. When the breeder takes them from the wild, they will surely adapt more easily to their new man made environment.

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Betta Livida

In the summer of 1991, a small, 3 cm, wine-red Betta was collected in the north Selangor area of Malaysia and was duly named, 'livida', after its green eyes, meaning 'jealous'. This fish was another of the Betta coccina group and differed from the others in that it had green-tipped ventrals, (white in B. tussyae and black in B. coccina) and a green spot on the flank of both sexes. The spot differentiates it from B. tussyae (also from Malaysia) and B. rutilans (from Kalimantan) which has none, but shares a similarity with B. tussyae due to the presence of two, vertical gold bars on the operculum.
This was a species that I first encountered at an AAGB Members' Week-end a year or two ago and was pleased to bring four young fish back with me. Having been reasonably successful in the maintenance and breeding of B. tussyae, I set up my tank for the B. livida in much the same way.
This is a basic set-up, no gravel, no aeration or filtration. The water was rainwater that had been left in a bucket of boiled peat and a few oak leaves for a fortnight and heated to 74°F. The water depth was only about 1' in a 12'x8'x8' tank. Other decor included a small clump of Java moss and some dried oak leaves. I also always add a couple of plastic floating tubes, even with very young/small fish. If the facility is there for them to breed, they will often take the chance soon after arrival, despite their age/size.
The fish were acclimatized and left to their own devices for a few days. Initially they were shy and hid for most of the time under leaves or in the pipes. I fed them on live brine shrimp, both at baby and full-grown size, as well as daphnia and bloodworms. As the weather warmed, I was able to collect mosquito larvae from the water butts, which is a great conditioning food and often a trigger for spawning.
As the weeks passed, the water was gradually topped up to a depth of 3 1/2 '. The fish were still shy, but I did notice in one of the pipes, a collection of bubbles but, try as I might, I couldn't ascertain which was which, with regard to the sexes. Just as one fish appeared to be male, all the others appeared to show the same differences, as it were. I had one option left open to me which was to try each fish with the other and watch for results.
My task was made a little easier, for the wrong reason, as when I went to catch the first two fish in the trial, I found a rather perished corpse, tangled in the Java moss. So two fish were selected and placed in one of my small spawning tanks (12'x5'x5'), in two inches of water with two floating pipes and a few oak leaves. The water was really brown from the peat steeping and when the fish were at the back of the tank, (to get them all in, they are placed 'end-on') I could barely see them.
The pipes were placed at the front of the tank, so that I could look into them but every morning when I went into the shed, sure enough, they were facing the other way. I put black paper along the two sides of the tank so the pair are not continuously spar-ring with fish in the adjacent tanks.
A couple of weeks passed and I was now convinced that I was trying to spawn two males - no nests and constant antagonism led me to believe this.
The less dominant fish was caught and replaced by the remaining fish which, to all intents and purposes, looked the same. three days later, I was proved wrong, the male had blown a nest in the tube and was courting what was surely a female. During the day, this courtship remained as spreading finnage and beating movements of the body, causing currents of water to waft at each other. At this time, both fish were extremely colorful, a very deep, wine-red, which enhanced the green flecking in the unpaired fins and the tips of the ventrals. In these displays, it was the male that initiated the pose and the female that responded.

The only way that I had of distinguishing the two, was that the male was slightly larger - no finnage differences were evident. The male claimed the nest site for his own and the female was not allowed in. The nest started out as something which would have barely covered a 10p coin but progressed to take up the roof of a 2' long-pipe, with several clusters of bubbles spilling out of the ends.
The spawning commenced in the evening. Both fishes swam into the same pipe and circled each other. The embrace differs from Betta spp. such as B. imbellis and B. smaragdina in that the female is turned so her head points straight down to the base of the tank and her tail is usually brushing or actually in, the nest. The male is wrapped around her, upside down. The embrace lasts around 20 seconds and is broken when the eggs start to spill out and sink. These eggs are white and slightly elongated. The following day, I looked into the pipe to find no nest and no eggs. Under the sunken oak laves sat two rather well-fed B. livida - they'd eaten the lot! I was, shall we say, disappointed.
Two or three weeks later, the pair spawned again and this time I removed the eggs into a shallow tray, where they promptly fungused, so I thought it best to let nature take its course in future. After another two weeks, they spawned again. This time the nest disappeared but only because the male had built another nest in another pipe. he then moved it again- to a surface nest in one corner of the tank and then finally back into a pipe. All this happened before the fry hatched out, after a couple of days.
The fry hung, tail downward, in the nest for three days and then began to look as though they would free swim. At this point, when I have a nest with fry in it, I employ the following method. Take a tub and gently slid it under the nest (or the pipe, in this case). The current will pull the nest into the tub with enough water. Often the male will come with it and you can catch him later but don't be surprised, when you return him to the breeding tank, if he spits out 6 or 7 young that he carries in his mouth. This trait also occurs in B. tussyae (see my article in Labyrinth 78) and B. spec. affin. coccina.
The tub is put on a shelf where the temperature is equal to the breeding tank, with an open air-line gently running as well as a few pieces of floating plant, to allow the fry to settle on something. This set-up is where they stay for the first three or four weeks of their lives and they are fed 'Liquifry' after a day free-swimming. The tiniest amount of baby brine shrimp is added four days later and this amount is stepped up each day after.
Meanwhile, a spare rearing tank is set up with a sponge filter slowly running. The tub with the fry is placed in this tank and the filter outlet is allowed to gently dribble freshwater over the sides. It takes a surprisingly short time for the tub to overflow but the fry are not released for a day or so in this set-up. They are released by gently tipping the tub on its side and letting the fry swim out in their own time.
For the next weeks, they are fed on brine shrimp and grindal worm and water changes are affected by topping up the tank. On horror with this species is Velvet, not in fry or adults, but in the 'young fish' stage where they resemble their parents and have their colors but are still small. One such attack happened as we were about to leave for the USA. I added a concentrated treatment and had to hope for the best and, although they looked like they had really been 'through the mill' when we returned ,there were only a few casualties. Even so, one brood was velvet free for less than half the time. It seems that water changes are at a premium when the young are at their most formative stages. The only other problem which I notice is that the brood do tend to squabble when they are at a higher temperature, say 76-80°F, lowers 70s, sees a drop in aggression.
It takes the young to be about half adult size for them to get the spot on their sides and this then fades with age. Both sexes have the spot and both lose it, neither seeming to do so quicker than the other. Tank-bred specimens also seem to adapt better to the more convenient pHs that we can provide which will lessen the chance of velvet-type diseases taking hold. Incidentally, I raised 15 young with their parents in a 12'x8'x8' with no filter and aeration, just fairly regular water changes, and I didn't encounter one fight or any disease.

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Betta Albimarginata

Photo by Michael Schlüter

There was a time when everyone thought of Betta splendens whenever the talk was about Bettas. This is changing. A growing number of people are now showing interest in some of the other species in the genus Betta. The genus currently includes over 50 species, a number that keeps growing, as the Southeast Asian rainforests are explored and new species are found and described by scientists.


One of the newer species is Betta albimarginata. It was first caught by Maurice Kottelat in 1993 in the north east part of Kalimantan province in Borneo. None of Kottelat's original Betta albimarginata made it to his home alive, but the following year he and Peter K.L. Ng described the species from the ones he had preserved in formaldehyde. The same year Kottelat and Ng also described 4 other Betta species: B. burdigala, B. channoides, B. chloropharynx and B. schalleri.

The species described on the basis of the preserved specimens was named Betta albimarginata (albimarginata means white edge), a very appropriate name since both dorsal-, anal- and caudal fins have a white edge and the tip of the pelvic fins are white as well. With a size of only 5 cm (2 ') it is one of the smallest representatives of its genus. B. albimarginata is a mouth brooder. The male carries the eggs and fry until they are ready. He will then spit them out, and neither of the parents will provide any further care for the fry after that.

B. albimarginata was caught by Dickmann, Knorr and Grams at the town of Malinau in 1996, approximately 100 km south of the type locality were Kottelat caught his specimens. They were found in a 2-metre wide tributary of the main river Sembuak.

Mature Betta albimarginata and Betta channoides looks very much alike and that has caused a great deal of confusion. Even the German publisher 'Bede Verlag' has, by mistake, swapped the photos of the 2 fish on their poster with Betta species. When you look at the fry from the two species they are very easy to tell apart.

There was a moderate current and the fish were caught 200 meter upstream from Sembuak. The stream was overgrown with rainforest. B. albimarginata were found in shallow water among plant roots and leaf litter along the bank. The water parameters were: pH 5.5 - 6. The temperature was 27°C (81 F) and the hardness was max. 3 DH. B. albimarginata has since then been caught at other locations, so if you should be so lucky as to come across some of them, then they are likely to have a location code attached to the species name. My albi's are descendants from the fish that were caught by Malinau in 1996. I got them from Michael Schlüter and I went to Hamburg, Germany with a friend of mine to collect them myself. It was on the 19th of December 2001. It was a beautiful young pair that Michael had already gotten offspring from a couple of times; a pair almost in their prime. Thanks Michael. I was very excited when I came home and released the pair into the 60-litre tank, which I had prepared in advance with softened water in which peat had been soaked. I had to the best of my ability tried to make an environment as similar to their natural habitat as possible. A big root along with lots of floating plants and the tea colored water created a nice dark atmosphere in the tank. The fish seemed to adapt well to their new home. They ate fairly well from the food (mainly frozen) that they were fed, but they didn't throw themselves at it as my Betta foerschi did. They didn't move around much and they kept pretty much to themselves. The male was not as colorful as I had hoped for but I assumed that this was due to the change in environment. Christmas was coming and I went on a 3-day holiday with my family. Much to my surprise the male was carrying eggs when we returned. Needless to say, I was a very happy man, even though I had not seen the actual mating.

Michael Schlüter had told me that the male typically carries the eggs and fry for about eleven to twelve days, at temperatures around 26° - 27°C (79 to 81F). He also said that it is safe, as soon as the eggs have hatched in his mouth, to move the male into one of those breeding boxes that are used for livebearers. This usually happens around the 7th day after spawning. Trusting Michael and his experience with this species, I did exactly as I had been told to do, and everything turned out perfect: Eleven days after spawning he slowly began to spit out fry one by one. After 24 hours I counted seventeen fry and the male was taken out of the box. I now had seventeen small albi'fry safe in a breeding box, and I was even happier than before.


Fry of B. channoides are very light (like guppy fry) while fry from B. albimarginata are very dark, actually almost black. My fry were black and approximately 5 mm long. As I expected, they were able to eat brine shrimp and cyclops nauplii immediately after they were released. After a week they were moved to a small 12 litre tank with peat as bottom cover and floating plants. I changed half of the water weekly and everything looked just right. Since the male had released the fry he had been convalescing in his own tank, one similar to the one the fry were moved into. Eleven days without food is serious business. -It would be for me anyway! He looked a bit worn and his colours were rather dull, but he ate quite well and that convinced me that he was OK. After 3 weeks alone he looked much better and I decided that the period of convalesce was over. The female was in the same type of water as him, so I just caught her and dumped her into his tank. In a matter of seconds it was as if someone turned on the light in the otherwise dark tank. Within five seconds the male lit up like a Christmas tree and became one of the most beautiful fish that I have ever seen. His colours changed into vibrant black, white and orange and he looked fantastic. He flared vigorously. He even extended his throat pouch as if he wanted to show her exactly how many eggs he was able to carry. He swam around making artistic poses: All rigid he shot vertically trough the tank, sometimes he swam head up and sometimes head down, and he played dead on the bottom as though he had fainted over her beauty. All in all he put on quite a show for her (and me).

The female seemed a bit confused and you can hardly blame her. More than four weeks on her own and then suddenly she finds herself tossed into a tank along with an ardent lover. After half an hour she was on top of the situation again and the spawning began in the slow way that many mouth brooding Bettas mate. It must be like watching The World Cup final in football all in super slow motion. On one hand you are dying to see what is happening but on the other hand you are also bored stiff. The female changed her colours and markings constantly during the mating but otherwise she didn't seem to be dominated by the male in the same way as you often see happening with the bubblenest-builders. Actually it looked as if she was the one who controlled it all. After 6-8 hours the colours on the male had faded and his throat pouch was full of eggs. Since I didn't want to feed the female in the small 12-litre tank, I removed her immediately after they finished mating. In a lager tank it is no problem to leave the female in the tank with the male for the first 4-5 days. By then she will have produced new eggs and will start to disturb the male and then she will have to be moved away from him. Also this spawn was released as planned. This time on the twelfth day and in the same manner. I succeeded in getting them to spawn a third time and I was beginning to think that I had found a fish that was easier to breed than the guppy. I would soon find out that it wasn't so. One day I discovered that the fry from the first spawn were sick. It was a disease that to me looked like Oodinium. I gave them the medicine Odimor according to the instructions in the packet but within 48 hours they were all dead. At the time I was not too worried. I still had the fry from the other spawnings, but unfortunately the disease wasn't a one off experience. Out of the four spawnings that I have had so far, three of them have died the same way: Always at the age of nine to eleven weeks and always from the same disease. I've been told that the disease is very similar to the one that adult Betta macrostoma sometimes get infected with and that it should be curable with ½ doses of Tetra's General Tonic and ½ doses of Tetra's ContraIck. I haven't tested it yet, but I would love the cure to be effective.

The fry from the second spawning made it though the critical period without any problems and they grew up to become strong and very healthy fish. They grew slowly but steadily and today at the age of six months they are about 4 cm (1.6'). Like their parents they eat any live food that will fit in their mouths and most kinds of frozen foods. While the fry are growing up it is a good idea to remove the males as soon as it is possible to identify them. Often other males won't show their gender until the largest and most dominant male has been removed. Then the second largest will become the dominant male and show his gender and so on.

Overall you can say that Betta albimarginata is not exactly a 'firecracker' in its everyday life. It's a quiet little fish with a reserved nature, but without any kind of shyness. But seeing them mate is an event that I would hate to be without. The whole concept of mouth brooding Bettas never ceases to amaze me, and Betta albimarginata are probably the most colorful of them all while they mate. Raising the fry to adult size has been a challenge to me but maybe you will have better luck.

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