@@PrettyPinkPlantedAquatics yeah, 9 gallon long is large enough for both to establish their own territory and escape from aggression. It is also heavily planted, plus these are wild and not the overly bred variants.
@@ozpinoy I always wondered if I could do that with the wilds. I’d love to get two in my ten gallon with a school of neons. That’s definitely in the works now lol
Thank you... They are beautiful indeed. I'm cycling my first aquarium and have my heart set on a wild betta. I feel the long fins are a bit too flashy for my taste. I want a more mysterious set up where the fish is more elusive amid beautiful plants. You've helped me make up my mind which type i think is a safe starting point ❤ You have a new subscriber here 👍
I have three alien bettas and so far they're my healthiest and best-tempered of all my bettas! I hope to be able to get some smaragdina someday though!
If you had asked me what my favorite wild Betta species was a few years ago, I would have likely said one of Betta unimaculata types. But the smaragdina group has slowly taken over in my heart. I spent a year and a half to get a successful spawn from my group of Betta unimaculata "Sangatta", but my Betta smaragdina casually just threw spawn after spawn. In that time, I got to watch these little fish and their drama of learning to be dads unfold. It was absolutely delightful. In the last few weeks, I have started working with my first Betta stiktos pair and my initial impression is that they have many of the things I love about other smaragdina types and then some unexpected benefits. Who knows? Maybe, in time, they'll become my favorite. Time will tell. TL;DR I cannot agree with you more. The entire smaragdina group is amazing and everyone should try them.
Im so glad someone share this experience with me. My main goal is to spread this to new wild betta keepers who are way too obsessed with alien type bettas. But mouth brooders are a whole different experience all together. I do have some theory on how to trigger mouth brooder to spawn. So stay tune!
@@BlackwaterAquatics Keep up the good work! I've been preaching the good word of wild Betta with my co- hosts on our podcast for quite some time now. Haha. Trust me, I'll be sharing this video.
yeah, i had no idea what an alien betta was. i thought they are close to wild type. i have a lot of catching up to do on this betta genus. i didn't know how diverse the genus is. all i am familiar with are the ones from 40 years ago in the hobby.
@@berenicehickey9755 ah I didn’t know that, I’ve seen people keep them and say they were easy to care for. Even breeding isn’t that hard but its probably because of prior experience. Do you know what makes them hard to care for? Now I’m curious since I’ve had a hard time researching them in the past
Live food needed. The fish are taken from the wild here so are extremely stressed and shy. Also tiny so you rarely see him! He hides a lot. You are advised to only buy them if you intend breeding as they are pretty much wiped out in the wild due to pollution and humans taking them for the aquarium trade....
The betta Smaragdina is not only from Northeast Thailand , In Laos there is even more of them than in Thailand . The population in Laos is unknown because Laos has no international Airplane , the fish is no commercialized .
@@Sam-Videos The bettas you catch around Vientiane is a betta Smaragdina but in city of Vientiane you catch many battas splenden . Laotians has been importing the fighter from Thailand for gambling , releasing them into the swarm , they survive .
3 vital questions after this video :) Are they fit for a community tank at all given the mates are relevant? I.e. smagardinas aggression level towards same and other species. Or they only kept in a species tank? And last but not least are they hardy, i.e. don't get sick at the least reason like usual betta.
@Nefariouslash you can watch my newish video for the answer. You can keep males in community tank with many females or by themselves. Do not use 2 or more males
uhaoo you fascinated me! I am an expert dog lover but a super novice in aquariums. I'm studying for my first aquarium by reading and watching lots of videos. You really struck me, I love wild shapes! But is it true that they are less aggressive and can you keep more of them together, like a couple or 1 M and more females? You would have removed all my doubts! Literaries?
Even females will kill each other, a female sorority will always stress the fish as this is not naturally how they live in a confined space in the wild. The females are forced to tolerate each other.
Every betta the call alien betta is is hybrid , I do not know how many % of each specie is used . The 4 species the Thai people uses to create very fancy color are: betta splenden , smaragdina , imbelis and Mahachai .
@@BlackwaterAquatics sheesh, they really are resilient. Might keep a few as pond inhabitants then, I just need a new mini pond before I start thinking about getting some. Can they survive and overwinter when nights drop to near freezing?
growing up, 60 years ago, i had a betta splendens. blue and red, long fins,, that classic beauty. we had the power go off during a blizzard and had to stay with my uncle for a week. the tank didn't freeze, but the betta died, as well as the rest of the fish. it got pop-eye and lingered on for a week. i was upset to see it like that, but too uninformed to know i could have put it in a jar and brought it with me to a warmer house. (my uncle had a wood stove, and everyone including my grandparents moved in with him).
The story of this sold me. I live in southern California too. Is there a way to buy from you fish and pick up locally to save on shipping? Because of you I have chlorella successfully growing and daphnia and moina. Can't thank you enough.
I recently stumbled upon your videos and I love them. Keep up the great work! New subscriber here! Also, what did you breed your smaragdina to make that copper colored one? It looks amazing!
Brackish and hardness are different but in general yes mahachiensis can tolerate harder water. But that is true for almost all splendens. In VN some population of imb live in hard brackish water. For mouthbrooding wild bettas blackwater is almost always recommended.
By definition, brackish environments are hardwater environments because brackish environments have an abundance of calcium, magnesium, and carbonates. All things that buffer the water into the "hardwater" range. Betta mahachaiensis does come from an environment that gets a bit of tidal influx, making it marginally brackish. There are also a few populations of Betta imbellis that come from similar "brackish" swamps. But I have to agree with the comment from BA, most splendens complex Betta species seem to handle hardwater just fine. I come from a region with pH around 7.6, a GH around 10, and a KH around 9; but I've never had a problem breeding wild Betta. So far, I've pulled off: unimaculata, splendens, smaragdina, imbellis, and mahachaiensis. With the efforts of some individuals in our local aquarium clubs, another dozen or so species have been spawned locally.
Blackwater Aquatics I wonder if you have experience of smaragdina tank sharing with aa small shoal of suitable fish eg ember tetra. Is stressed out fish inevitable? say in 15-20 g tanks. I don't love the common practice of keeping male betta alone long term I think they tend to get lethargic / depressed without any stimulation or activity.
I don't agree in regard to the genetic diversity within the species. Multiple specimens are even referred to as cf. smaragdine indicating that it might be another species. It rather seems like there are multiple different similar species that are share many characteristics with B. smaragdina.
I see what you are saying, but all smaragdina share genetic markers with each other indicating that they had a common ancestors. But you are right that the diversity among them makes it so they could be refer to as different species
@@BlackwaterAquatics No, that's not exactly what I was saying. Obviously they share a common ancestor like B. splendens, B. imbellis, B. siamorientalis and B. mahachaiensis do. But not their diversity indicates that there might different species. It's mainly the naming cf., aff. etc. Of course it could be a diverse species and since the researches choose multiple smaragdina and putative smaragdina samples it seems like that. But if they would indeed believe it's a single species they wouldn't refer to them as cf. smaragdina. Species can be diverse but in this case it's rather believed that smaragdina is a species complex
this was my question also. very happy to find a knowledgeable breeder. i actually saw your ads on ebay yest, they were for aliens, if i remember right. i am very interested in finding the original green/brown wild type. i will wait til spring so they don't freeze during shippng.
Hello. I choose from three types of fish: betta smaragdina, betta imbellis and betta mahachai. 1 I would like to keep two or three pairs in one aquarium. 2 it is desirable that the color of females be as bright (or almost the same) as that of males. Which species of the above three would you recommend to me and what size aquarium is desirable for two or three couples? 
These fish should be kept in females sorority or solo male in a nano tank/community tank. You can keep some pairs in larger 10 gal tanks with some success but its dependent on the fish.
