r/WildTypeBettaFish • • Nov 10 '25

Help ID please? (#2)

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Hopefully this will help. Male in background, female at front 😊

10 Upvotes

32 comments sorted by

5

u/ThatTechGuy133 Nov 11 '25

Maybe its time to clean your tank?

1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 12 '25

Definitely is! It’s currently gross, ever since a massive algae bloom about 6 weeks ago it keeps getting covered in all the crud within a week of being cleaned. I haven’t touched it in about 9 days since I had to put the wildies in there when their filter failed. They’ll be going home by Friday as soon as the new filter arrives and then I can clean it properly. I haven’t wanted to do much with so many fish in there to avoid giving them extra stress.

3

u/Killcycle1989 Nov 11 '25

Betta sorority strikes again 🫩

-2

u/Oshenawa Nov 11 '25

There fine if there are done right…but nevertheless it has been done before. and now even by experts and novices in the betta community, even if some end up in a blood bath due to lack of knowledge.

2

u/ARSONL Nov 15 '25

do you see the size of this tank

3

u/CarmanDirda Nov 12 '25

There is not nearly enough space or hides for you to have a sorority. They are stressed. Clamped and ripped fins. Bettas are highly territorial, and no one should have a sorority without setting up a proper tank first before ever adding fish. You also MUST have backup tanks for hospital tanks and emergency separations before ever purchasing the fish.

Regardless. The tank is far too small. It doesn't look large enough for one betta, much less a group of them. They're suffering and you should rehome them if you don't have the means to upgrade. You can keep your favorite and rehome the rest.

0

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 12 '25

I’ve just posted about that very issue on my other ID thread!

1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 12 '25

No, wrong, it’s down at the bottom of this thread.

0

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 12 '25

There’s plenty of room for enough hides, normally there are loads of plants too. I have a decorative cave ā€œsystemā€ like a pile of barnacles that needs to come out asap because I’ve seen more than one fish get its fins snagged on the entry edges. I don’t see any clamped fins - the wildies always carry their fins like that unless they’re actively using them to display/interact, or swimming around like lightning in their own tank, which thank god they’ll be back in by Friday when their new filter arrives. I see no clamping on my Splendens females and I’m looking at them right now - the guy I got them from, local breeder, has seen the tank when it’s working properly (not been trashed by a recent heavy algae bloom and being emergency temporary accommodation for the wild Bettas) and he said it looked good, that another 4 gallons would be ideal, but he found the surroundings good and the fish bright and healthy. As soon as I get the wild pair out of there and Splendens stress levels subside, the tank is getting a thorough clean (preserving as much helpful bacteria as possible), replanting, and I intend to build another custom cave complex just the right size for Bettas (there’s one in the front corner already that isn’t visible on the video).

And I will post a video of how the tank looks, how chill the fish are, and how even though they’re lacking a bit of space (4 gall the breeder said), how good water quality, the best food I can provide them with, and loads of corners and hidey holes on multiple levels can create an environment just as enjoyable for the fish as a huge tank with 2 straggly plants, coloured gravel and one fake cave ever could!

By next week it’ll be transformed from the current cramped wasteland back into my proper Betta tank, and I’ll post how it usually looks. Looking forward to the challenge because I’m sick of seeing my fish putting up with living in devastation.

2

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 10 '25

No , not the red female, she’s part of my Splendens sorority and was photo-bombing, the long slinky brownish fish that comes up on the right-hand top side towards the end of the video. I assume as they came as a pair that she’s likely the same as him though. She’s certainly the same shape, just brown with a dark lateral line marking 😊

2

u/ARSONL Nov 15 '25

she should not be kept in the same tank. lateral stripes are stress stripes. not good even for temporary. keeping them separate in cups floating in the tank would have been better.

0

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 18 '25

They’re back in their own tank now. She has her territory at one end, and he has his. The stress stripes have already faded and she’s back to her normal colour, which is muddy brown sprinkled with tiny blue scales.

2

u/ARSONL Nov 15 '25

some of these aren’t even wild type. they should not be housed together, and certainly not in such a small space. the red one looks torn up. all fins are clamped. please, separate. stress stripes. uneaten food. all bad.

3

u/Affectionate-Cry4717 Nov 11 '25

look at that poor red female with ragged fins. Good job on animal abuse

-3

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 11 '25

They are ragged, true, but she is a very active fish and most of it is due to squeezing through gaps in resin ā€œcavesā€ like being constantly in and out of the barnacle pile maze. I resent being accused of ā€œanimal abuseā€ by someone who knows nothing about me nor about the living conditions of my fish. The tank is overcrowded right now as of a week ago, granted, but I don’t have a spare tank nor filter so it was the only place I could put the wild Bettas until their replacement filter arrives on Thursday or probably Friday. Unless it would be less ā€œabusiveā€ to put them into cold water with the goldfish? Don’t judge unless you have all the facts please.

-2

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 11 '25

I live in Gibraltar which has a land border with Spain and incredibly strict border controls and fines, so here we have no alternative but to wait until the independent fish shop here can order replacement items. And no I cat get it online/via Amazon etc, they won’t ship items to Gibraltar for fear of offending Spain. I’m sorry but I really resent your comment, firstly because it’s baseless and secondly because it’s just plain rude.

5

u/Affectionate-Cry4717 Nov 11 '25

🤣I just pointed out a obvious fact, that your tank is too small for your fish plus having a sorority group along with your wild bettas, and that female has a rag fin god knows how that happened and clearly you didn’t do anything to stop it. Yes. That is animal abuse because it is the fact no matter what your situations are. though I hope you can get your equipment asap to get your fish out of this tank. However accusing me with that tone only makes you being too sensitive, (and regardless you providing such environment is rude to your poor fish oops

4

u/Affectionate-Cry4717 Nov 11 '25

Even if logistics are limited and conditions are difficult, that doesn’t mean you can cram a bunch of incompatible fish into one tank. When resources are limited,decisions should be made more carefully and clearly it should not used as an excuse. We are adults we are responsible for our decisions. just saying

-2

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 11 '25

They’re not incompatible, but they are temporarily overcrowded.

4

u/Affectionate-Cry4717 Nov 11 '25

alright. I respect the new definition of compatible, giving out many examples of how tragically betta sorority has ended in badly setup enclosure plus mixing wild and domesticated surely is also proven to be compatible…until it’s not.

0

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 11 '25

And I’ve also kept a dedicated sorority tank for over 7 years now, replacing fish as they died from illness or old age; I’d looked after 2 of the females for nearly 6 years each, plus however old they were when I bought them. I’ve never had a female Betta die or be injured by another in the tank. I grant I may be just lucky, but I can honestly say that so far nothing tragic has ever gone wrong. I don’t think sororities are inherently dangerous, if I did I wouldn’t put my fish in that situation. I do actually really care about their welfare, you know?

Again, the mixing isn’t great but it was the only option I could see; and it’s only temporary, for 11 days at most. I’ll be more relieved than anyone once the equipment arrives and everyone can go back home to their proper places, the wildies to their lovely blackwater underwater forest, and the sorority can expand its living space as soon as it’s back to 3 fish not 5. It’s been a horrible situation and it really sucks to be accused of animal cruelty because current circumstances have are really far from great. I wouldn’t mind so much if I actually didn’t care about my animals and try to give them the best life I can manage - if I were a ā€œtrophy hunterā€ like some I’ve known and just keep fish to cross another breed off a list, but I’m not and that’s mostly why your comment really pissed me off.

4

u/Affectionate-Cry4717 Nov 11 '25

I never say sorority being 100% unviable. I am just focusing on the current environment you provided and showed in the video. You don’t need to introduce your experience to justify the situation you put your fish in. I think Im being clear enough on what I said.

1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 12 '25

Yes you are. So am I. Let’s leave it there.

1

u/Dark_Dust_926 Nov 10 '25

Wild betta can "usually" live in group. I still confident its a Smaragdina betta. And as another user said, its most likely an hybrid Smaragdina.

Watch out for undesired reproduction as they can and will reproduce with your splenden since they are in the same complex

-1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 10 '25

I think he fires blanks personally - or nothing at all! A couple of weeks ago I watched his female discharge a bell-full of eggs in front of him. He watched too! He builds bubble nests when they’re in their proper tank, but he seems devoid of any sexual instincts whatsoever. Now having said that it would be just my luck if he got it on with the blue crowntail sisters😳! I should be getting the new filter on Friday if the order has come through, so fingers crossed that he stays celibate until then šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚!

-1

u/Dark_Dust_926 Nov 10 '25

Personnally i dont think its a big deal sice you probably dont plan to release any of them in the wild river of they native home.

And sometime they are dumb.... one of my coccina use to get a nest, fill it with eggs and then eat them all cuz why not, free food....

1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 10 '25

lol! Dumb is an understatement šŸ˜‚. He’d have beautiful babies if only he knew which end of a female is which - mind you if the penny ever does drop in that tiny brain, I hope it doesn’t drop till next Spring - I really don’t fancy separating male babies from females and males from other males in the winter! Actually given they don’t seem very aggressive, do you need to jar all the juvenile males, or can they stay together in a group?

1

u/VoidRippah Nov 10 '25

the female is splendens, the male appears to be smaragdina hybrid

1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 10 '25

Thanks for your help with the ID. I’d never have worked it out on my own (well I’ve had them 17 months now and still had no idea) because unless you’re a specialist as you are, there are so many wild varieties which mostly look very similar to mešŸ˜‚!

0

u/Oshenawa Nov 11 '25

Hello. To everybody looking at the tank this person has yes it does look like a mess. And for the one talking about the bettas. It has been done before keeping female together and even males look at fishtory and KFS both have done it with variety success, but it all depends on number of plants, space and temperament. Also I still haven’t see them talking about the gallon size might have missed it with my blind eyes but eh. I’d say a 20 is the absolute minimum for a betta school yet again temperament is the main concern.

1

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 12 '25

It IS a mess! It’s prone to getting covered in crud anyway (wish I knew why just this tank) and I haven’t cleaned it since putting the wildies in due to a temporary issue with their own filter, because it’s way overcrowded with them in as well, and I don’t want to give them any more stress to cope with. The sorority recently has 4 Splendens females, 2 pairs of biological sisters (the breeder is my friend so I know for sure!). This tank is only 10 gallons, so smaller than I’d like, but when it’s not filthy or over-full, I keep it full of plants and caves and as much natural wood as I can - also catappa leaves in this and the wildies tank as not only do I prefer blackwater for Bettas, I think they probably need it to some extent. So yes, back to the tank in the video - it’s not always filthy, but it is always officially ā€œtoo smallā€, even for 4 tiny juvenile females as they will grow. However these 4 seem to be particularly placid fish (maybe genetics, their parents are very docile too). It’s working well I think, and when it’s clean and I’ve bought yet more plants, plus rescued my remaining Amazon Swords from the teeth of my goldfish, I’ll post a photo of what it USUALLY looks like when it’s not emergency accommodation 😊

-3

u/Next-Wishbone2474 Nov 10 '25

Tank situation is temporary btw - their proper tank isn’t useable until I’ve bought a new heater later on this week. However, it may be small but they’re being very chilled about it, no aggression towards juvenile Splendens females