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You might look into B. imbellus. They are a lot easier to find, at least in the US, and they are just as pretty IMO.

Either way, I feel your pain. I've been trying to find a pair of fire belly toads since last winter. I finally found some, at $125 for a pair. That's a tough pill to swallow for an animal that could be picked up at any pet store a few years ago for $10 each.
 
Hmmmmm.... I have looked at the imbellis bettas several times, but for some reason they just don't really kind of like, stock with me? (Idk how to describe it) I have also looked at betta mahachai but they're not in stock anywhere either.
 
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Thanks for giving me the background. I was curious. There are so many beautiful wild Bettas that it's always interesting to see what attracts people to each.

I know this is cruel, but I used to keep the guitar smaragdina. You need to make friends with a forester who works in Laos sometimes. That's how I got mine. I'm not a Betta person, but I couldn't resist.

Now, if you really like them a lot, you may want to get a breeding set up lined up. Fish like those are very VERY hard to find, and you may not find them twice. A lot of my killies get bred because I know if I don't breed them, I can't simply run down to the pet store and get more.

In the past, not hard to breed (even though I failed at breeding them) Bettas like that sometimes show up on Czech lists. There are some companies that employ hobbyist breeders who specialize in odd stuff and sell centrally. I have only ever been in one Irish pet store, and it was tiny. But a good shop may be able to order them even out of season, if they come from a breeder.
I have some time I could maybe convince my parents to take me to the local lfs and I'll ask them if there could be a chance that they could either order them for me or tell me where I could maybe get them, though I doubt that they would actually know where a fish like that could be bought.
 
Nevertheless I will ask next time I am at my lfs (unless by some godsend miracle I find some before I will be able to go there)
 
If I have some time I could maybe convince my parents to take me to the local lfs and I'll ask them if there could be a chance that they could either order them for me or tell me where I could maybe get them, though I doubt that they would actually know where a fish like that could be bought.
Give the pet shop a phone call and see if they will put your name and number in a customer order book (book with customers wanting certain fish, plants, etc) and call you when the fish become available. You should also check in with them each week or every couple of weeks to let them know you are still interested in those fish. The shop can look on their supply lists and tell you if they are available, how much they cost and they will be in on this day.

If you can find some, you have 2 choices. Get the fish on the day they come in, or let them sit in the shop for a week before taking them. When I saw rare fish I took them straight out of the esky at the shop and re-gassed them (open the bag and put more oxygen in before sealing it back up), then took them home and put them into my tanks. This meant they weren't being stressed out by going into the shop tanks and then being caught, bagged up and going to your tanks. It also reduces the risk of them catching a disease at the shop or dying in the shop. The drawback is if the fish have a disease and you could lose them all when you get them home. However, if there's no dead fish in the bag and the fish look good, you are probably ok.

If you do this, you should have tanks set up for them before you get them and make sure the pH, GH and KH in your tanks are the same as the supplier's tanks. The shop can call the supplier before you get the fish and find out what the pH, GH & KH are. Then you go home and make sure the water in your tanks is exactly the same as the supplier.

When you get the fish home you float the bag for 10-15 minutes, then carefully pour the fish into a net that is suspended over a bucket. Then add the fish (without any of the water from the bag) to the tanks. The water in the bag/s will be yellow and stink of ammonia and if you add that to the tank, you could poison the fish. So float for 10-15 minutes then add fish, without the bag water, to the tank.

Make sure the tanks are covered so you don't lose any fish to jumping out.

When the shop calls the supplier to find out the pH, GH & KH, they can also find out what the fish are eating. Get the same sort of food. You can add other foods too but having the fish on the same sort of food when they first come in reduces one of the stress factors.
 
It's hard when you still live at home to get into rare fish.

With the decline in the hobby, it's hard to get any rarities that interest you. Just any aquarium shop isn't going to help for those. You would need a larger store that dealt with the suppliers. Otherwise, you will pay a small fortune for those fish.

I don't know where things stand in Ireland. The last time I was in Dublin, I didn't see any good stores, but I didn't exactly hunt for one either. In the smaller centres your chances are even smaller. If you were on the continent, there are incredible shops I would love to see - their reputation is international. Tapping into that is going to involve some fierce markups for shipping.
 
Give the pet shop a phone call and see if they will put your name and number in a customer order book (book with customers wanting certain fish, plants, etc) and call you when the fish become available. You should also check in with them each week or every couple of weeks to let them know you are still interested in those fish. The shop can look on their supply lists and tell you if they are available, how much they cost and they will be in on this day.
I think that I might actually call them, since the shop I was emailing lately said that they have only females at the moment, but if my lfs wouldn't be able to get any, I think I'll just wait until I find some elsewhere.
If you can find some, you have 2 choices. Get the fish on the day they come in, or let them sit in the shop for a week before taking them. When I saw rare fish I took them straight out of the esky at the shop and re-gassed them (open the bag and put more oxygen in before sealing it back up), then took them home and put them into my tanks. This meant they weren't being stressed out by going into the shop tanks and then being caught, bagged up and going to your tanks. It also reduces the risk of them catching a disease at the shop or dying in the shop. The drawback is if the fish have a disease and you could lose them all when you get them home. However, if there's no dead fish in the bag and the fish look good, you are probably ok.
For me it would depend on the day that they would ha e the orders come in, as the last time I asked when their shipping came in they told me that they got them on Thursdays, so I'll ask again maybe.
If you do this, you should have tanks set up for them before you get them and make sure the pH, GH and KH in your tanks are the same as the supplier's tanks.
Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to ask.
 
It's hard when you still live at home to get into rare fish.

With the decline in the hobby, it's hard to get any rarities that interest you. Just any aquarium shop isn't going to help for those. You would need a larger store that dealt with the suppliers. Otherwise, you will pay a small fortune for those fish.

I don't know where things stand in Ireland. The last time I was in Dublin, I didn't see any good stores, but I didn't exactly hunt for one either. In the smaller centres your chances are even smaller. If you were on the continent, there are incredible shops I would love to see - their reputation is international. Tapping into that is going to involve some fierce markups for shipping.
There was a really big version of my lfs up in Dublin, its called seahorse aquariums, but the shop up there mostly has saltwater and just the average tropical fish last time I was there.
 
If you have access to females now, grab a few and look to see if there are any young males in the tank that resemble females. You might get lucky and find one. Even if you don't, at least you will have a couple of females and then you can try to find males, or prs.
 
Yeah i think I'll order the females today, and if there are no males I'll just wait for them to be in stock
 
I went to my lfs and asked if they could order the fish for me,they said they'll try, but it may not work...
 
Still waiting for news on my betta, I have asked 4 times but they said theynwere still looking and that they don't know when they could get some.
 

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