OntarioBetta

I am currently breeding several different species of Wilds, and I am always on the look out for more. Below you will find details on the different species I am keeping.

• Betta Channoides
• Betta Mandor
• Betta Simplex
• Betta Falx
• Betta Patoti
• Betta Unimaculata

 Channoides, also known as the Snakehead fighter, are a type of wild betta. I have found it difficult to find information on these little guys. There is lots of information on Betta Albimarginata, which looks much like Channoides. But not a whole lot on these guys. So, from my experience, here is a little info on caring for them:

Size: about 2in, females a little smaller.

Care level: Really easy!

Temperment: Peacefull. Unlike Splendens, males can be kept together. The only time I have seen fighting is when they are competing for the female to breed. They are not shy at all, always swimming over to the glass to see you.

Sexing: Males are more colourfull. They have the black and white edging on the fins, and a bigger head. Females are smaller and have lighter coloured body. When females get excited they will display the vertical bars like the splendens do, and their fins will go red, but there is no white or black edging.

Diet: Anything! They arn't very picky at all. But like any fish, they love live foods.

Tank: I keep my 3 in a 10gal. I have a piece of driftwood and live plants. I have a little corner filter in there as well, just bubbling slowly. And a heater.

Water: In the wild they come from soft waters. But I found that they will adapt well to just about anything. I have very hard water here, and they are healthy and happy in it. Plus they breed! I keep the temp at about 76degrees.

Breeding: When they feel like it, they will do it. One thing that helps to set the mood is live mosquito larva. The first sign that they will spawn is the female will start to colour up, and start flirting with the boys. Then the boys will start squaring off. She picks who she likes, and off they go! It takes a few days for her to decide sometimes. And sometimes the one she doesn't pick gets a little angry. He should be seperated, so that they can have thier privacy. That only implies if you have more than a pair. Channoides are mouthbrooders. Meaning the males carry the eggs/fry in there mouth until its time to release them. They spawn similar to Splendens, in that the male will wrap around the female. Only this takes place on the bottom of the tank instead of under a nest. The male will wrap his body around the female from underneath, so that he is on the bottom. The female releases the eggs and they fall onto the males fin. The female then picks up the eggs in her mouth. She will then spit the eggs, one at a time, to the male. The male will catch and hold them in his mouth. Sometimes the females like to play games, "haha you can't get the egg" type games. So spawning can take quite a while. The male will hold the eggs/fry in his mouth for around 14days. Sometimes it will look like he has nothing in his mouth, but amazingly he will have quite a few fry in there! He has to go 14days without food remember, so feed him well before!!! After they spawn I put a plastic canvas seperator in the tank. The male with the eggs gets the side with the driftwood. He will spend most of his time hiding out in it. They seem to like to have somewhere to hide, and only rarley come out.

Fry care: When he releases the fry they are pretty big. They will already have their fins, and they will be hungry! Baby brine shrimp is my first choice, and they love it. The fry part is pretty easy. Just feed and change thier water. Sometimes if the male holds them for too long they will be weak, and some will die.

Well, I think thats about it. Heres some pics! (click to see bigger)

	Chad, the more dominant male
	Chad showing off
	Chad again
	All 3, looking for food
	Chad and Chip
	Chip
	Freckles flirting
	Little baby Channoides!
	Awww

Spawnings:

Spawn on July 20th, 2006. Released on Aug 3rd. This is my first spawn of them. There were 14 babies in total. One got eaten before I caught it. 2 died later on, they seemed weak and wouldn't eat. So now I have 11.

They seem to be doing well. They started off a dark colour, then went to a much lighter colour. Now some of the bigger ones are starting to get dark stripes. I'm not sure what their growth patterns are like, so I don't know if they are what they are supposed to be for their age. But they are healthy, and thats all that matters.
One of the bigger babies:
 

Update april 20 2008. There have been multiple spawns since that date. The original trio has since past on, a few months ago. I'm still breeding them, however I am in need of new fish to add into the line, as there are now somwhere in F4 or F5.  

I received a pair of wild caught Mandor on Aug 12th/07. Being wild caught I had expected them to be very shy. But they are actually the opposite! The male is very friendly and comes over to the glass when ever he sees me. The female is a little nervous, probably because the male keeps chasing her. They are also eating anything I give them.

Here is some info on caring for them:

Size: About 2-3inches

Care Level: Moderate, they can be a little tricky at some times. They need softer water and large tanks.

Temperment: Slightly aggressive. They don't hurt each other, just chase a lot. I keep male and female separate as he is always after her.

Sexing: Males are a green colour and females are more ready-brown. They have similar body and fin shapes. Females also show vertical bars when displaying.

Diet: Love live food! But will eat anything and everything

Tank: Min of 20gal. They are large and need the room. Also lots of places to hide!

Water: They need soft water, with a pH of around 6 and very low hardness. They will tolerate harder water but for breeding you will need softer. Temp is around mid 70s to 80.

Breeding: Mouthbrooders, males carry eggs and fry in thier mouths for about 2 weeks. They spawn near the bottom of the tank.

Fry Care: Fry are large and can eat BBS right away.

Some pics:

Spawnings:

So far not a whole lot of luck in the spawning area. They spawn non-stop, but no fry are getting released. I suspect the eggs are very sensitive to water conditions. After I did a large water change and soften the water a big, they spawned and the male released some fry. So I am continuing to gradually lower the hardness of the water, and hopfully that will help.

As of april 20 2008, he has only released 2 batches of fry. The first batch he held for too long and by the time he released them they were too weak to eat and eventually died. The 2nd batch was small and the female ate some of them before I could get them out. I have 4 left.

Simplex were the very first wild I ever kept. I got my first pair several years ago. Unfortunatly I didn't have any luck spawning them, as the male wasn't very good at brooding. The pair eventually died off. Then back in August of 07 I got another pair. Unfortunatly the male died shortly after arriving. So my lonely little female was all by herself until I could track down a male for her- which wasn't easy! It wasn't until March of 2008 that I got another pair.

They settled in great to their new home. The female is pretty aggressive and wants to be the boss of the tank, the other 2 just kinda stay out of her way.

Heres some info on care:

Size:  About 1.5-2 inches

Care Level: Easy. Very hardy and easy going. Does well in almost any water as long as its clean.

Temperment: Fairly peacefull, they do chace now and then but there is no damage. 

Sexing: Males are more colourfull, they will have a blue/black/white band along thier anal and tail fin. Females sometimes will also have a band, but it will only be on the anal fin and it wont be as bright.

Diet: Love live food! But will eat anything and everything

Tank: 10gal works well.

Water: They prefer slightly harder water and cooler temps, 70-75. I just keep them in straight tap water.

Breeding: Mouthbrooders, males carry eggs and fry in thier mouths for about 9-12 days. Its best to remove the male or the female, because the females will eat the fry.

Fry Care: Fry are large and able to eat bbs right away.

Pictures:

Spawnings:

First spawn released around the end of april, and another on the way. Looks like they will be producing regularly.

I got this pair in March 2008. At first I had thought I had two females. They were both dull looking and always hiding. The big fat one was always picking on the skinny one, and just wouldn't leave it alone. So I put a divider in the tank. I would check them over everyday trying to see which was the male, and I was sure I had two females. Males should have a blue band on their anal fin, and neither of mine did. So I said Oh well, and stoped checking them over 24/7.   About 3 weeks later I noticed that the big fat one was REALLY fat, and the skinny one was COLOURFULL! I did have a pair after all!

Size: About 1.5 in

Care Level: Easy. They are a small fish and are easy to keep.

Temperment: Peacefull. There is some chasing but no damage. 

Sexing: Males have a colourfull blue and black band on thier anal fin and a bit on the tail. Females are more plain, and may have a faint band on the anal fin.

Diet: Will eat anything!

Tank: They are small and will do well in anything. I keep my pair in a 5gal.

Water: In the wild they come from soft waters with a pH of around 5.7. But they don't seem to care too much about it in the tank. I'm keeping mine at a pH of about 7.2 and GH/KH of 6.

Breeding: Mouthbrooders, males carry eggs and fry in thier mouths for about 9-15 days. They spawn near the bottom of the tank. Its best to remove the male or female to prevent the female from eating the fry. Also, the female will want to spawn again soon after and will disrupt the male.

Fry Care: Fry are large and can eat bbs right away.

Pictures:

I don't have any good pics of the male coloured up because hes always got eggs in his mouth now!

Spawnings:

First bunch of fry was released the first week of april, there are about 30. The second bunch was released may 13, there are about 40.

Size: Approx 3-4inches

Care Level: Moderate. These are a large fish that require a bigger tank. 

Temperment: Mildly aggressive. Should have lots of hiding places. Weaker fish will get heavily picked on.

Sexing: Males are more brightly coloured, have larger heads, and will have irridecent scaling on the gills. Females are duller and not as colourful.

Diet: Will eat anything!

Tank: Because they are a large species, a large tank is required. They can also be slightly agressive so you must provide hiding places. Currently I keep a pair in a 45gal tank, I did have 2 more males in there but the female would beat them up. So now I only keep one male at a time in with her. I have also kept the pair successfully in a 25gal tank.

Water: Any type of water is fine as long as it is clean. Temp also doesn't seem to matter, I've kept them frin 60-80degress and they still breed and do fine.

Breeding: Mouthbrooders, males carry eggs and fry in thier mouths for about 14-17 days. They spawn near the bottom of the tank, then the male will hide away for about 2 weeks. Neither male or female will eat the fry, but its still best to move the male to a seperate tank for him to release the fry- its a pain to catch the fry in the main tank. 

Fry Care: Fry are large and can eat bbs and even crushed pellets right away. Fry also grow super fast!

Pictures:

Male

Spawning

 

female