thanks for the compliments...everyone. well, thats a 110x55x55cm tank, so its not as big as the photos suggest. i didnt spend a fortune on it, since this is an outdoor tank, i skipped the expensive lightings , heaters and the co2 system. tropical climate makes the plants grow like crazy with minimal effort
the plants are free ..hehehe, i got them from the wetlands not far from bangkok. there are plenty cheap plants available, but commercial bred plants are planted dry or on mud beds with their leafs exposed and its a bit tricky to get those plant to flourish in your tanks. apart from that, the planters always trim the roots off for the simple reason u would go back for more when your plant dont make the grade.
so for that reason i had to brave the snakes and leeches to collect plants from the wetlands.
im malaysian , but i have been living in thailand for a few years now, so all the imbellis collections are done in thailand. i must say that in malaysia, the imbellis are truly stunting, especially the red/orange imbellis.of course there are plenty of betta pugnax, betta taeniata, betta livida, etc etc ,but then malaysia have strict laws on capturing of native species. most species of fish and plants are protected by law...so care must be taken on what u collect.
most of my imbellis and mahachai are collected from ural rice fields near the cambodian border. hahaha..of course i didnt catch them myself. a dumb city folk like me would spend hours trodding those fields without catching anything
i got the village kids to do it for a small sum. the kids know those fields like the back of their hands and could produce dozens in a short time.