My most recent obsession: Betta mahachaiensis

[Tripping Willow 91]

I purposely added my ramshorns and I'm loving them, I bought 5 pinks but they've thrown out some blue leopards which are pretty cool.

I've bred montzumae swordtails and firemouths, never any bubblenesters so it'd be nice to have a try at it. It's great to see my firemouths in breeding dress and the male montezumas courting is amazing, I'm sure the bettas would be a treat to witness

 

[Matth05]

I purposely added my ramshorns and I'm loving them, I bought 5 pinks but they've thrown out some blue leopards which are pretty cool.

I've bred montzumae swordtails and firemouths, never any bubblenesters so it'd be nice to have a try at it. It's great to see my firemouths in breeding dress and the male montezumas courting is amazing, I'm sure the bettas would be a treat to witness

Firemouth are beautiful. I’d love to try out a group of them one day, or really any thorichthys for that matter. Yet another fish on that very long “want to keep one day” list .

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

I've got 7 of them, they're great, always digging around and flairing at each other, they all get along most of time though. Here's one of my pairs with their fry

Yes I've got a similar list, if had an empty 4ft right now I'd love to have 3or4 lionchu

 

[Matth05]

 

[Matth05]

 

[Americancichlidsaredabest]

Very pretty fish and great scape!! Where do you get one of those?

 

[Matth05]

Very pretty fish and great scape!! Where do you get one of those?

Thanks! I got this guy from Bwaquatics. They have a ton of cool wild bettas. My main thought process in getting mahachaiensis though is the harder water tolerance. In all honesty, some of the others in the splendens complex are just a tad bit prettier lol. Everything I’ve read though suggests the others would be better off in a bit softer water. I’m beyond satisfied with this fella though.

 

[duanes]

One interesting thing about this betta, setting it apart from some other species, is that in southern Thailand, it is often found near the sea, in brackish water, with a salinity up to 10ppt (parts per thousand).

There is some research suggesting Vallisneria plants often do best in brackish salinities at about 3 ppt.
So I've been occasionally adding a gallon of Pacific ocean sea water (35ppt) to my 125 gal Vallisneria, and mangrove biotope sump, and find it seems tp perk things up.
I doubt it's just the salt, but instead, some other minerals present in sea water, like iodine, potassium or magnesium.

Val above

Mangrove saplings

Sometimes after the occasional sea water additions, the Vals start to flower

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

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Hey, how's the mahachai doing, did u end up getting a female? He's looking good in these photos

 

[DawnMichele]

Your tank and fish are beautiful.