Wild betta biotope ideas

[WhistlingBadger]

This is a really interesting video. They're catching Betta smaragdina. They also catch some small aquatic crabs, puddle frogs (I want one so badly now), three spot gouramis, and something that looks a lot like an amano shrimp with claws. I plan to do this next time I'm in Thailand.

 

[TNG]

If there was only one leech latched on to his leg, he’s very lucky .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

If there was only one leech latched on to his leg, he’s very lucky .

We have leeches in some of the ponds here, but they're small--2 cm would be a huge one. That thing looked more like a snake than a leech.

 

[myrtle]

That's what I've tried to replicate for my imbellis

 

[WhistlingBadger]

That's what I've tried to replicate for my imbellis
View attachment 307242

That is really, really cool. I've long wanted to do a tall paludarium like that with lizards and frogs skittering about the top half.

 

[myrtle]

I've got another in an exo-terra and have toyed with the idea of vampire crabs. Rigt now, it just has shrimp in the water section and 1 lonely Dubia cockroach which hitchhiked in on the cork!

 

[biscuitbetta]

That's what I've tried to replicate for my imbellis
View attachment 307242

This tank is gorgeous, an absolute dream of mine to have an imbellis

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Imbellis are possibly the prettiest fish I've ever kept. I'm currently trying to get hold of some rubra.

 

[TNG]

That's what I've tried to replicate for my imbellis
View attachment 307242

I have seen tropical orchids grown indoors and I’ve seen fish tanks, but you’ve taken it up to the next level but having Phalaenopsis blooming using humidity from a fish tank. Well done!

Just curious, what is the temperature of your room?

 

[TNG]

We have leeches in some of the ponds here, but they're small--2 cm would be a huge one. That thing looked more like a snake than a leech.

The big leech you see in the video can suck water buffalo blood. You can usually see them latched on the buffalos grazing in the water from 20-30m away.

I’m told that if you apply kerosene to your legs the leeches will keep away from you, but it’s not a good idea to apply chemical to your skin, not to mention the impact on the waterway and the fish. So if you decide to go catch bettas next time you’re there, the challenge for you is to concoct something to deter the leeches and which has no impact on the frogs, the shrimps and the fish. Once you’ve found the right formula, you can patent it .
After all you don’t want the zillions of leeches in the water to crawl up in your pants and enter places them shouldn’t go .

 

[GaryE]

A friend of mine fished a similar biotope in Laos, and got splendens. In a similar spot, she also got imbellis. The locals had figured out dry pathways through the very wet marshland/meadow, so she didn't have leech problems. She was able to sink a go-pro for a few hours, and if I were ever to be into Bettas again, those films would change everything. I would have reeds coming out of the water, like in an angelfish tank (in my daydreams).

I asked her about staying dry and she said you had to choose the right fishing spots. She has also noted that centuries of fancy breeding in Thailand has led to a lot of feral fancy bettas, and the fish can be very different in Thai waters, and may not be true wild Bettas at all. Escaped fish from many generations of artificial selection may have replaced the real thing. fancy were bred for size and for fighting, as well as finnage. They were gamblers' fish long before aquariums.

Where she was, the locals didn't care about tiny fish, but she found a few local aquarists who had gone looking for native fish.

She was advised to stick to fishing far from the aquarium export regions, very far.

For wine Bettas, it would be entirely different. She worries about mosquito borne diseases too much to go after them - they are in the darkest forest blackwater swamps.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

The big leech you see in the video can suck water buffalo blood. You can usually see them latched on the buffalos grazing in the water from 20-30m away.

I’m told that if you apply kerosene to your legs the leeches will keep away from you, but it’s not a good idea to apply chemical to your skin, not to mention the impact on the waterway and the fish. So if you decide to go catch bettas next time you’re there, the challenge for you is to concoct something to deter the leeches and which has no impact on the frogs, the shrimps and the fish. Once you’ve found the right formula, you can patent it .
After all you don’t want the zillions of leeches in the water to crawl up in your pants and enter places them shouldn’t go .

I think I'd wear long pants and tuck them into my socks. And maybe treat my underwear with permethrin.

 

[GaryE]

One of my friends got attacked by large leeches in Madagascar, in tall wet grass (they are not featured in the cartoon). He had scars on his legs for a very long time.

 

[myrtle]

I have seen tropical orchids grown indoors and I’ve seen fish tanks, but you’ve taken it up to the next level but having Phalaenopsis blooming using humidity from a fish tank. Well done!

Just curious, what is the temperature of your room?

To be fair, there is also humidity coming from the back wall as it is a drip wall and part of the filter for the tank. The phaeleonopsis also doesn't live in there permanently as it is too wet for it's roots the min temp is 18C . I'm still playing with planting for this as the humidity and moisture levels are hard to stabilise.

 

[Nicodemus]

Humidity for vampire crabs is critical housing at waterline is prime real estate for them.