Is this tank good for betta imbellis?

[Thermal]

Hi all, this is the 5 gallon I've been setting up. It's 2 weeks old now, and I'm thinking of getting a betta imbellis for it in the next three months, for now I'm letting everything settle.

Plants
- Pothos
- Salvinia
- Hornwort
- H. Polysperma
- Crypt (brown & green)
- Water wisteria (still in emersed form)
- small java moss on the driftwood
- Banana lily (soon to arrive)

Light is 9-watts/900 lumens
Temp - 27-28°C (81-82 F)
pH - 7

Can't afford those test kits for other parameters, but I'm assuming its not perfect yet since it's a new tank. I'll wait for another 3 months or so, just to be sure. This will be my first time taking care of a Betta Imbellis, the only reason I'm doing this is because they're a bit smaller than your regular splendens? I'm not sure if they're good for beginners, I might be doing a gamble here. But I still have three months to go, I'll be doing more and more research about them. In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Any advice for keeping wild bettas?

 

[MattW]

Looks great to me! Seems in nature they are found in "still and sluggish waters, including rice paddies, swamps, roadside ditches, streams, and ponds". Looks like you've achieved that look with leaf litter and large amounts of vegetation

- https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/betta-imbellis/

 

[Thermal]

Thanks, I'm going for more vegetation by adding more crypts and banana lilies. I think I got the "habitat simulation" going, my only concern now is the betta itself. I've never had imbellis before so I'm a bit clueless as to how you need to take care of it. Are they similar with the domesticated bettas you get at fish stores? Do Imbellis get sick more often? Are they forgiving with beginners? Etc?

 

[MattW]

My first tropical fish was a betta which was a female splendens. I liked to give my betta a mixed diet with flake, granules, live food, etc. One thing I do know is that there's more chance of health problems with a betta bred for its colors, looks, etc (mine developed a large tumor/growth on its head) You are less likely to have this problem with an Imbellis. You shouldn't have any problems in keeping this fish. There are members on this forum with a lot more experience and expertise in bettas so hopefully they can input in this thread.

edit - I assume keeping an Imbellis is somewhat similar to keeping a splendens etc. I'd have a look around YouTube and other threads on this forum for more info as well.

 

[Thermal]

My first tropical fish was a betta which was a female splendens. I liked to give my betta a mixed diet with flake, granules, live food, etc. One thing I do know is that there's more chance of health problems with a betta bred for its colors, looks, etc (mine developed a large tumor/growth on its head) You are less likely to have this problem with an Imbellis. You shouldn't have any problems in keeping this fish. There are members on this forum with a lot more experience and expertise in bettas so hopefully they can input in this thread.

yea that's also one of the reasons I planned to get a wild type betta. I've heard alot of horror stories of people's bettas just developing tumors and dropsy out of nowhere and dying earlier than the average lifespan. So everything is all good with imbellis so far, but I'll wait for more people to share stuff about this

 

[GaryE]

I've kept imbellis, but never one alone. It's such a hard fish to find around here that I always tried to breed them.
You may find that even though they are a tiny bit smaller than a splendens, they need more room to swim than the domesticated long fin fish. The reason? They can swim without the human created handicap of long fins.

Tank size for Bettas gets some pretty dogmatic arguments going online. If I were getting one of the wine red bettas - the coccina types, I would consider a five gallon. For imbellis, I would think a 10. They haven't been shaped for captivity by hundreds of years of linebreeding, as splendens has, and they are more rebellious. They can jump out of the tank, for starters. B splendens will too, but much less.

B imbellis is more active, and needs cleaner water. I wouldn't consider them an option for beginners, but it's easy to prove me wrong if you're motivated. People with no experience but with curiosity and a willingness to work at things can keep fish lazy experts can't.

Full disclosure - I don't like fancy Bettas. But when I did, a 5 was perfect for them. A lot of people would disagree, but with clean water and an inactive fish bred for jars, it works. It's no use making a natural set up because their nature is a bare glass jar. Adding leaf litter and such is inviting fungus and parasites, since no fish with fins like that has ever seen a leaf. The long, folded fins trap problems.

An edit - I have bought "imbellis" three times, and been given them once (by someone who collected them in the wild). Two of the three store bought ones were not imbellis, but either hybrids or short-finned splendens. Because imbellis have a reputation as more peaceful, there is a demand, but you have to know your source. A lot of sellers are happy to pass off short finned splendens as their relatives.

 

[Thermal]

I've kept imbellis, but never one alone. It's such a hard fish to find around here that I always tried to breed them.
You may find that even though they are a tiny bit smaller than a splendens, they need more room to swim than the domesticated long fin fish. The reason? They can swim without the human created handicap of long fins.

Tank size for Bettas gets some pretty dogmatic arguments going online. If I were getting one of the wine red bettas - the coccina types, I would consider a five gallon. For imbellis, I would think a 10. They haven't been shaped for captivity by hundreds of years of linebreeding, as splendens has, and they are more rebellious. They can jump out of the tank, for starters. B splendens will too, but much less.

B imbellis is more active, and needs cleaner water. I wouldn't consider them an option for beginners, but it's easy to prove me wrong if you're motivated. People with no experience but with curiosity and a willingness to work at things can keep fish lazy experts can't.

Full disclosure - I don't like fancy Bettas. But when I did, a 5 was perfect for them. A lot of people would disagree, but with clean water and an inactive fish bred for jars, it works. It's no use making a natural set up because their nature is a bare glass jar. Adding leaf litter and such is inviting fungus and parasites, since no fish with fins like that has ever seen a leaf. The long, folded fins trap problems.

An edit - I have bought "imbellis" three times, and been given them once (by someone who collected them in the wild). Two of the three store bought ones were not imbellis, but either hybrids or short-finned splendens. Because imbellis have a reputation as more peaceful, there is a demand, but you have to know your source. A lot of sellers are happy to pass off short finned splendens as their relatives.

Completely agree with you, I've never been a fan of domesticated bettas or the splendens that are bred for fins and color. For me it felt more like manufactured toy fishes, like going from a wolf to a pug. Also I was pretty much just fascinated by wild bettas, I thought they looked cool. I remember getting one of those neon-green, glofish looking bettas for the first time as a gift and it genuinely confused me that they even exist. The 10 gallon minimum for Imbellis did shook me a bit, but your point actually made sense, so I might reconsider for a different typeof betta. I'm not that familiar with Coccina but I'll try to do more research on that. Any suggestions for wild bettas that would live well in my tank?

 

[GaryE]

The problem with Bettas is getting them. I could make a lovely list, but you could them spend your lifetime looking for them in the trade!

There are a lot of wonderful brown fish in nature.

I learned how to keep the tiny Bettas by starting with sparkling gouramis. They were similar, but infinitely tougher. They were my entry drug to wine red Bettas and the fantastic Parosphromenus licorice gouramis (great microfish for a softwater 5 gallon).

The little micro Bettas thrive on live food, which is another issue.

The problem is importers find these fish murder to sell. They can easily be imported, but if you get a couple of hundred fish and sell four, it hurts. There's this weird hobbyist mindset that says if it's small, it should be cheap. But if it's hard to get to, hard to catch and in low demand, it's expensive.

I have no tiny Asian anabantoids now, as I live far from a large centre where rare fish are available. These fish don't ship well. I'm mainly a killiekeeper (many killiekeepers seem to be tiny Betta keepers too), and honestly. I have a stack of 5 gallon tanks under a rack, and only use them for short term breeding of small killies, or hatching fry. 5 gallon tanks need meticulous attention to water quality, especially since I have very soft water.

If I could still get Asian Anabantoids the way I used to (it was easier when the hobby was more into trying new things) I'd have ideal conditions. I'd suggest you look into what attracts you, and what you can get. That last point is important. Then ask about specific species. A long time ago, I co-wrote an out of print intoduction book on gouramis and labyrinth fishes, but that was just before the wave of modified fish hit the hobby and made the wild forms into absolute rarities.

 

[Thermal]

The problem with Bettas is getting them. I could make a lovely list, but you could them spend your lifetime looking for them in the trade!

There are a lot of wonderful brown fish in nature.

I learned how to keep the tiny Bettas by starting with sparkling gouramis. They were similar, but infinitely tougher. They were my entry drug to wine red Bettas and the fantastic Parosphromenus licorice gouramis (great microfish for a softwater 5 gallon).

The little micro Bettas thrive on live food, which is another issue.

The problem is importers find these fish murder to sell. They can easily be imported, but if you get a couple of hundred fish and sell four, it hurts. There's this weird hobbyist mindset that says if it's small, it should be cheap. But if it's hard to get to, hard to catch and in low demand, it's expensive.

I have no tiny Asian anabantoids now, as I live far from a large centre where rare fish are available. These fish don't ship well. I'm mainly a killiekeeper (many killiekeepers seem to be tiny Betta keepers too), and honestly. I have a stack of 5 gallon tanks under a rack, and only use them for short term breeding of small killies, or hatching fry. 5 gallon tanks need meticulous attention to water quality, especially since I have very soft water.

If I could still get Asian Anabantoids the way I used to (it was easier when the hobby was more into trying new things) I'd have ideal conditions. I'd suggest you look into what attracts you, and what you can get. That last point is important. Then ask about specific species. A long time ago, I co-wrote an out of print intoduction book on gouramis and labyrinth fishes, but that was just before the wave of modified fish hit the hobby and made the wild forms into absolute rarities.

I've never heard of licorice gouramis but when I searched them up, just oh my goodness they are BEAUTIFUL. I'm still doing my research on some small wild betta types suitable for me, but I'm definitely taking chances on small gouramis too now that you mentioned them.

I live in South East Asia (philippines) so there's an abundance of fish breeders here Finding popular wild types like Mahachai, Imbellis, Smaragdina, and Macrostoma are light work, the only problem is the price. Though it's still hard to find some types like Coccina, Licorice, but I'm definitely willing to fight tooth and nail for them. Would definitely appreciate a list of what you know, I love getting more options for this.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

When I began keeping fish I bought a copy of the Baensch Aquarium Atlas. It had info and pictures on a ton of fish. I would thumb through it and when I saw a fish I liked I read on to see if I could keep it in the tanks and water params I had. The number one fish on the lust were zebra plecos and the number 2 fish were Betta imbellis.

It took me a while to find imbellis. I got very lucky when somebody listed a trio of imbellies which were the offspring of the winner in class at an IBC event. I was going to win them not matter what I had to pay. They were the first ones I had seen for sale that were as pretty as the picture in the Atlas. There is a reason the imbellis are referred to as the peaceful Betta. You can keep them in mixed sex groups in a tank.

The fish went into a well planted 10 gal. tank I had in my bathroom. I could see the tanks even before I was through the bathroom door and from any other spot in the bathroom where I might be sitting or lying in hot water. I managed to get into a 3rd generation before I lost them

What I can say is that when they were in spawning mode the colors were absolutely stunning. In the middle of the plants they were easy to spot from a distance due to their vibrant spawning colors.

So, from my point of view I would offer two thoughts. A 5.5 is too small because they should be kept in at least a pair and maybe more. These were some of the prettiest fish I have seen.
https://www.franksbettas.com/collections/betta-imbellis
https://smp.ibcbettas.org/species/imbellis.html

Also, for a number of months before I got the imbellis I kept two male splendens each in a 2.5 gal. planted tank sitting end to end. The could see each other and would spend time flaring at each other. I have to confess I found it somewhat boring and gave them away. Then I started to hunt for the imbellis which I eventually found with the look I wanted.

Good luck with them.

 

[Thermal]

Alright so from all the info I got from you guys, I think my best options so far for the tank is Betta Coccina, Licorice Gourami, since I now know that 5 gal is small for Imbellis, though I'll keep my research going around that for anything I'm missing, I got Channoides and Albimarginata but I dont have enough info on them yet. Thanks to everyone here for helping me out though I never realized how looking for the right fish can be alot of work, but better having everything figured out before execution I guess.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Perhaps the hardest skill to master as a fish keeper is patience. Let the tank be fully cycled whatever time that takes rather than adding fish too soon. Research more that you think necessary before you buy. This often means picking the brains of people who have already done it.

I was never a betta fan, but i just could not resist the imbellis. They were just too pretty to pass up. Because they are able to be kept in groups and that they will spawn in tanks makes them a lot easier to manage than the splendens. Moreover, ibellis are wild fish wjicj means they are more natural. I have a hard time with fancy line bred color morph but do find myself attracted to some long fin and albino fish.

But all the color varieties of discus, bettas, guppies, angels etc. I find hard to appreciated. But that is just me. Not matter what fish call us, the most important issue is."Are they healthy?" Sometimes line breeding can produce unintended results which make the fish less hardy or prone to certain problems.

Licorice gourami need special conditions. If you have not already done so, please have a read here:
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/parosphromenus-deissneri/

 

[Thermal]

Thank you, I'll take your advice. researching is probably my biggest priority right now. I'll postpone on getting any fish as far as possible until I'm fully prepared. But in the meantime I'm thinking of adding more plants into the tank just for the sake of having more. I'm considering getting hygrophila corymbosa 'compact' because I heard they grow small, in contrast to the standard corymbosa which gets really huge. But got a ton of conflicting info about this, it's either; High light + CO2, or low light and no CO2 is fine. Then it prefers acidic to neutral pH, but suddenly it needs alkaline. Those are the only info I got so far so I'm thinking of getting Cryptocoryne Green Gecko for second options, but I got even less info on this.

Planning on putting it in the middle of the tank, that part with the leaf litter since I wanna keep adding plants on the tank until empty substrate space is no longer visible as much.

 

[Velvetgun]

Perhaps the hardest skill to master as a fish keeper is patience. Let the tank be fully cycled whatever time that takes rather than adding fish too soon. Research more that you think necessary before you buy. This often means picking the brains of people who have already done it.

I was never a betta fan, but i just could not resist the imbellis. They were just too pretty to pass up. Because they are able to be kept in groups and that they will spawn in tanks makes them a lot easier to manage than the splendens. Moreover, ibellis are wild fish wjicj means they are more natural. I have a hard time with fancy line bred color morph but do find myself attracted to some long fin and albino fish.

But all the color varieties of discus, bettas, guppies, angels etc. I find hard to appreciated. But that is just me. Not matter what fish call us, the most important issue is."Are they healthy?" Sometimes line breeding can produce unintended results which make the fish less hardy or prone to certain problems.

Licorice gourami need special conditions. If you have not already done so, please have a read here:
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/parosphromenus-deissneri/

I'm joining this conversation and I apologize for the intrusion.

I'm also very interested in wild bettas, I have a 60x30x30 aquarium that I'm slowly starting to install and then let it mature.
My favorite fish are various cichlids but I really love anabantidae. I'm studying wild bettas and I wanted to have direct experiences from those who have kept more than one imbellis or other species of wild.
I would also like to know what species of gourami this is? found in a well-kept shop.

 

[Essjay]

It is a chocolate gourami, Sphaerichthys osphromenoides

Sphaerichthys osphromenoides – Chocolate Gourami — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com