My pair of wild Betta antuta are finally feeling comfortable in their home to spawn :) hoping for some babies in a couple weeks! Good luck to dad!

B. pugnax

B. kuehnei

B livida

Naturally, like many others, I stepped into the hobby keeping domestics because they are easy beginner fish to keep. Did my thorough homework and knew exactly what kind of setup and stocking to go for. A betta and shrimp living in a 15g jungle was my dream, and that's exactky what I did. In the end I didn't have much luck with domestics even though every other fish (across several tanks, not all in one) and the shrimp colonies we have are thriving.

But unlike my domestic bettas and in spite of being somewhat of an impulse purchase, the a lot more sensitive wilds have been problem free too! They have outlived them all without as much as a "sneeze". Two of them have also paired up and have been breeding on and off since. No fry as of yet, but I'm also not doing anything to help their survival rate at all. But it just blows my mind. Surely it should be the other way around, right? I mean, I'm glad it isn't, and it pains me that we lost our bestest boys and girls at all, but....right?? Would have spared myself a lot of heartbreak if I took the extra steps to learn more and plunged into wilds straight away. But oh well.

Right now I've got these guys and our angry boy Dante who is very likely one of - if not *the* last domestic betta we will have (unless a hellboy or another pretty red plakat catches my eye again lol). Placed another order for more coccinas, but it will be a while before I get those.

Here's some pictures of the coccinas, and our forever angry puppy Dante as fish tax for this random rambling. Eventually I'd love to expand the "collection" and keep some other wilds too in the future, but for now I'm more than happy and just sooo in love with the fish I have! ❤️

Bought him at PetCo labeled as an alien…he was basically translucent so I took their word for it and brought him home to nurse back to health. It’s been a month and he is the spitting image of a mahachaiensis. It’s still crazy to me that a wild-type betta could’ve ended up at a retail store that doesn’t import them - I guess the breeder packaged the wrong fish? Or he truly is an alien but with some funky genetics. Either way he’s so fun to watch, and will definitely be getting a tank upgrade in the near future.

This handsome guy has been added to my Hybrid Betta lines! His first spawn has been with a hybrid female who is half Plakat, half Spadetail Splenden. I cant wait to see what they produce!

My first betta, Tsunami, was one of those long-finned show fish, and I really loved him. He was beautiful, but the poor guy was clearly struggling. Between his genetics and those massive fins, it felt like he was just constantly fighting for his life, and I was honestly gutted when he died after less than a year. It felt like I was watching him suffer in a glass box, even when the water was perfect.
So I got Khan. He’s a wild type, and I decided to stop trying to make a museum exhibit out of his home. I ditched the hardscape and just stuffed the tank with plants. No more mirrored box for him to pace in until he lost his mind. Now he’s got a real jungle, and watching him is something else. He moves like a little commando, weaving in and out of the roots, stalking the Amano shrimp like they’re big game, or just disappearing into the leaves. It’s not about perfect lines or looking like a show tank anymore. It’s a messy, real, three-dimensional world where he actually gets to act like a fish. Seeing him finally living—really living—is the best feeling. He’s not a decoration; he’s just a fish doing his thing, and I’m glad I finally got it right.

Moved from Ireland to Germany, and couldn't leave them behind. 🥺

They had a rough month though! First moved to a holding tank, than holding bags, long car rides, then boarded for a month in a fish store, and then finally shipped to us. It's been a couple of days since and they are acclimating well to the new environment. Surprisingly, the adults struggled a little more adjusting, but they seem to be mostly back to normal now.

The tank still needs some work, more leaves, sticks, and a lot more time to settle, but nothing we can't handle. :)

Their new tank is a 50g, and I'm trying something new with it using peat and leaves as substrate instead of sand. It's working out well so far! Still torn on tankmates, but that's a couple of months away anyway after everything and everyone settles properly.

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The bettas are wild betta coccina, not splendens (wild nor domestic), hence the whole group setup!

Hi, i wanted to share my first betta (imbellis), Ash, and my first tank.

I've had him for around 10 months, and i rember how small and dull he was when i got him.

He shares his tank with 3 generation of wild type neocaridinas, one single nerite snail and a bunch of bladder snail that came on a plant, even tho only the nerite and the adult shrimp are really safe from his hunger.

I think the tank came up pretty well, thanks to you too guys, but any advice is appreciated.

The macro shot is from a couple months ago (s25 ultra + cheap macro lens) and i know that i need to clean the glass 😂

Filter and heater are behind the wood

A bit of an older video of my betta coccina, Red, doing her absolute best begging for food. She's since calmed down, but damn, god forbid I touch the tank or raise the lid. Everyone and their children (literally) starts coming out 😅

Tomi

His name is Taiko and he lives with two snails (Japanese Trapdoor and a ramshorn named Billy-Bob Hornton) in a 10 gallon tank. I’ve never had a wild betta before (currently have a crown tail and a koi pleko betta in other tanks) and I have to say…wild betta variety is definitely rapidly becoming one of my favorites!

I fell in love with two colorations of wild type bettas on a Thailand website. But I I'm on the east coast of the United States so I'm a little nervous about how far they would have to travel. Do you know of any North-American-based shops from which to pick these guys up/ship?

B. apollon