# Are betta's really tropical?!?!?!?!?!



## snail_keeper97 (Mar 10, 2011)

Are betta's really tropical, i have seen so many tanks of them being in non tropical tanks its not even funny please comment on your opinion. :betta:


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## Peterjay (Feb 15, 2011)

I a word: yes. But you'll see bettas kept under all kinds of conditions - I doubt there's an aquarium fish anywhere that's so widely abused as the betta. The bettas you see in tiny unheated bowls in stores are surviving, but they're certainly not thriving. In order to see them at their best, they require a suitable habitat like any other fish. Not to mention the myths that surround the fish. IME, bettas in community tanks are in more danger from the other inhabitants than vice versa.


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## blackghostbetta (Mar 16, 2011)

Yup. They live in the rice patties in thailand. These rice patties may be shallow, but they are warm, and they are MILES long. If you have only ever seen betta in an unheated bowl, than you don't know what a betta can be. Betta in bowls just sit there all day: eat, poop, sleep, and eventually die of sickness. A lot of people think betta are really slow moving and therefore don't need much, but once again, they haven't seen a betta in a real tank. I have a betta (my profile pic) in a twenty gallon tank, heated and filtered. I just fed them, and he gives my rams (which are darty little fish) a run for their money when bloodworms are involved. Most betta are actually capable of being speedy, hyper little guys. Having no heater, though, lowers their metabolism and keeps them from being "natural"


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Bettas that are found in most pet stores are of the splendens complex,meaning they can be pure splenden,or a mixture of any of the others in the complex.These incluse:Splendens,Imbellis,Mahachai,and Smaragdina.These can all interbreed,and crossing the many complexes gives you the different array of colors.Wild splendens are more of a brown bodied fish,with short fins,red and blue.These are the most common bettas found in the rice fields of Thailand,a tropical area,where the paddies span for miles upon miles.Young boys working the fields would catch the fish,and train them over a weekend,fight them then release them back in the paddies.The mahachais,are found in one area,where the water is brackish.Smaragdinas and imbellis are both found mostly in slow moving blackwater streams.

Because the betta is a mixture for the most part of all these other fish,the natural habitat of all of them should be taken into consideration.They all are found in blackwater habitats,and hide under leaf litter.All areas are upwards of 82-89 degrees most of the year.The only time any of these fish are found in any puddles,is when a heavy rain comes and they wash up into boot prints or other small holes,where most will either become food,die from the heat,or be picked up from a passerby to take home for training.

Picture of the habitats:








Note the depth.








See how expansive








Again,expansive.








Closeup of leaf litter and such.


These are wild type bettas of the splendens complex:








Splenden








Imbellis








Smaragdina








Mahachai
And the mahachais habitat:









Betta pics borrowed from Betta Territory.
AAB-coppergenetics


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