Fighting fish male white poster lg - Betta splendens

Fighting fish have always been one of the most popular aquarium fish. And it's no wonder; thanks to their intense colorfulness, their quite trusting character and their easy keeping, they have very quickly swum their way into your heart . Originally the Betta splendens comes from oxygen-poor waters of Asian rice-growing areas, where it colonizes standing and flowing freshwaters from the islands around Bali to Indonesia over the Milanese peninsula to Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia.

Here you get a male fighting fish with short fins (poster) in the color white.

The rather easy breeding, as well as the constantly new color and fin shapes make it a sought-after new co-inhabitant. Especially the males are characterized by their sometimes very large fin shapes and their bright colors. This loner, which can only be kept to a limited extent in sufficiently large community aquariums with other by-fish and should rather be kept alone, can become an extraordinarily mindful family fish if you spend enough time with it.

When fully grown, fighting fish differ mainly in color and fins, with males more often outranking females here. Males develop much more intense colors, with fins sometimes even triple the size of those of females. Even though females develop a spawning papilla, this is not always a sex characteristic. However, the special breeding variant "poster" has short fins.

Breeding is possible. The most common method is probably to keep both animals separate and feed with large live and frozen food several times a day, and increase the water temperature to 28°C. As soon as the male is in spawning mood, he starts to build a foam nest on the water surface, usually involving surface plants or floating plants. Then put the animals together first. The actual spawning act takes place entwined, where the male entwines and mates with the female. The female thereby falls into a kind of rigidity, which is released after a few seconds. The up to 200 or more eggs fall to the ground and are collected by the male and spat into the foam nest. The female must now be taken out of the breeding tank again. When the fry swim free, so does the male. The young can be fed with Artemia nauplii from 2-3 days and stay mainly near the nest. The young rise to the water surface fairly soon as their labyrinth organ develops, and from then on they breathe atmospheric oxygen.

Fighting fish should preferably be kept alone in the aquarium, in technology-free only if these are well and properly maintained, which is not necessarily recommended to the beginner. In community aquariums it claims a territory of up to 40 cm, which it regularly swims off and defends. Although it will not seriously attack or injure its fellow fish, it consumes a lot of energy for this, also due to its large fins, which is why it will not live a very long life . KaFis like it more shady, so their aquarium should not be too brightly lit or have a bright, reflective substrate. They do, however, like dense weed growth, especially in the middle and upper water zones, which still leaves enough room to breathe.

Fighting fish are intelligent aquarium companions and also like to observe a lot outside the tank. They can visually tell their keepers apart, as well as be "trained" to take food from your hand or tweezers. Some even recognize their food above the water surface and jump for it. However, the latter is also one of the reasons why the fighting fish aquarium should be covered. In addition, a fighting fish can "catch a cold" if the ambient air is too cool. 26 ° C water temperature should not be permanently below.

Invertebrates in the aquarium are sometimes eaten by the fighting fish. It is possible to socialize it with adult dwarf shrimps, but it will be difficult to breed them, and it is possible that even adult shrimps will be injured. Dwarf crayfish can injure the fins of the fighting fish with their claws, especially in small aquariums, which is why the socialization of these is rather not advisable. The socialization with snails is partly possible - the Betta is curious and will possibly examine them, small bubble snails are simply pulled out of the shell and spat out again without any problems.

You can feed your pet mainly with Live food like white mosquito larvae and Artemia nauplii. Most can be switched to special fighting fish food and fed rather sparingly, but more often.

Our food recommendation: With the NatureHolic BettaFeed a special food for fighting fish was tailor-made, whose soft granules remind of the consistency of insect larvae in nature. The soft beads protect the sensitive fish mouth from micro-cracks caused by too hard food grains. The specially developed NH Immun+ complex as well as the NH Color+ high-performance additive support the immune system and the magnificent color formation of the fish.

Our plant recommendation: Use for planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free from snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend when keeping fish the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.