Very interesting article. The videos are very cool and it is a wonderful thing to be able to see the natural habitat of some of the wild species.
I do want to make some points about this article though since some people could take some of the info the wrong way.
- The wild betta species they were collecting were all bubblenesting species of the Betta Splendens complex (where the domestic betta was bred from). Some of the comments by the author of the article do not take into consideration most of the other species and complexes of wild bettas. A lot of which tend to be much bigger fish and much more active swimmers requiring more space.
- The specimens they are collecting in the video in the really small areas are males under bubblenests. Of course a male will be found under his bubblenest and he rarely will stray from it once it is built. What the videos do not show is the "day in the life of a wild betta" to show how often they move from small area to other small area.
- Betta breeders do routinely keep juvies that are growing out in smaller containers until they are sold. This is for several reasons: having to separate the males from each other at an early age to prevent aggressive damage, to help get fin growth which will really start showing once they are pulled from a group, and to get an idea of which particular ones to keep or sell. The important thing to remember is that breeders on a large scale like Aquastar (who is the one shown in the video) do not keep the fish as pets but as breeders where space is a major issue. The fish get water changes often to keep the water pristine and are fed live foods. In that part of the world they do not need heaters which makes it easier to keep bettas in this fashion. Even breeders in the US and other parts of the world who keep their breeders/juvies in smaller containers- the conditions are close to the same. Daily water changes of the containers is a must. Heating is one area that is a problem for most of the rest of the world's betta breeders. The heating makes keeping fish in this manner unfeasible for the average person. Breeders often have a heated room that they keep in the mid 80Fs which is not always cost efficient.
For the most part keeping a fish like a betta in anything less than 2.5 gallons of water is not recommended for anyone that is keeping them as pets. Especially since most people are not going to want to keep up with daily (or more often depending on size) 100% water changes on the smaller containers along with finding a reliable method for heating the water to a stable temperature of no less than 78F. As long as one keeps that thought as a perspective then the article is a good read.
/www.reef2rainforest.com/2014/03/26/amazonas-videos-bettas-in-the-wild-what-they-tell-us-about-minimum-tank-sizes-for-bettas/
