This article is taken from the Healthy Betta Forum and is written by our longstanding member and moderator Starlight. It features some of the history of betta keeping and contains some fascinating points that all betta keepers, both old and new, will enjoy and benefit from. Special thanks from HB to Starlight for the time and effort put into composing such articles for our members. (View original link)
Please note: All photos are property of Starlight and HealthyBetta.com and should not be used without permission.
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Poor Bettas!
Written by HB Forum Member: Starlight
In another thread I posted:
"I want to remind posters that the betta hobby did not originate in Petco/Petland Discounts/Walmart or the scores of US Mom and Pop Pet shops in the US and Canada. Asian breeders have been breeding and keeping bettas for hundreds of years".
"I look to the way bettas are raised in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to understand the best way to maintain, breed and enjoy bettas. I try to provide conditions that give my bettas a better chance to thrive. With few exceptions, expert betta advice is not available at most pet shops."
While we talk about many betta related subjects on HB, I wonder how much new betta owners really know about the origins of our favorite fish.
Part 1
A number of years ago I wanted to learn everything about every aspect of betta keeping. It was one of the first betta boards I had ever seen. A couple of fighter guys showed up. They didn't bring bad vibes but instead came presenting information. No one on the board (forgot the name) condoned fighting bettas. The guys were just like other Thai breeders except for two things. They bred plakats that were really "trained". It wasn't just using the females; they trained them and made them stronger by swimming against varying currents of water. They trained them almost like human fighters and rested them on days off! They used natural elements to toughen their scales to make them resistant to bites and bacteria. They fed them the available live food. The other thing was they spoke and wrote in English and welcomed any questions. I mostly listened and clicked on their link to learn more.
I'm known for being eclectic and constantly find info in one area that I could use in another. I learned about treating injuries and tried the Indian Almond leaves that they are so fond of. Unfortunately my water was too soft and I found out that the leaves work better in hard water.
They provided links and many pictures showing the habitat where they gathered their plakats. There were pictures of their favorite fighters, usually in green water with banana leaves. They believe certain colors are better (stronger fighter) than others. I have no idea how they breed these fish since the females must be very strong and aggressive as well.
I learned a few things from them and moved on. I'm always cognizant of one thing when I put a male and female together. The female must be near the male's size or at least decent breeding size. The fighters use very small females to train the males. All our bettas have attitude, this is one of the things we like about them. Apparently success with small females gives the fighter more attitude and courage. Even our milder veils/halfmoons and crowntails can get real nasty with a tiny female. Breeders speculate that the male knows it's a female but too small and immature to breed. In his mind there's only one thing left to do, eliminate the non-breeding female.
They rank bettas and the lines they come from based on their skill as fighters. They don't put a skillful fighter with a novice. After the fight they work on their bettas and bring them back into condition. I found this all quite interesting. Along the way they dispelled a couple of myths and convinced me of the value of water changes in the healing process. I know that I've mentioned that from time to time. In the US there are illegal fights arranged through clandestine boards, I have no interest or respect for these people. Recently, I noticed in my local Petland Discounts that they now label veil tails as “fighters”. Poor bettas never get a break!
Thai kids on the way to school catch plakats with their bare hands and fight them. Fighting fish have been popular in Thailand for centuries (maybe longer). Adults raise fighters according to centuries old tradition. They wager large amounts of money on these fights. I recall reading in old betta books, hundreds of years ago some bet their homes and even their wives on the outcome of a major fight. The loser of the large wager was disgraced. Reports vary but the fight isn't usually to the death. One male signals that he's had enough and no longer wants to fight. The victorious male pushes him and makes sure that he wants no more. From my reading, I gather that the participants are not rooting for either betta to die. It's the strength and winner's ability to fight for a very long time plus his courage and fighting technique that they so admire. After the fight, the bettas are put in treated water and given the proper treatment to recover.
I guess it's difficult for us to understand not being raised in that culture. As a kid I would play baseball before and after school.
The poor betta a brownish drab anabantoid fish, able to breath air through its labyrinth organ and not dependent upon dissolved oxygen in the water like other fish are. This allowed them to live in tiny pools of water, build their bubble nests and hope that a female betta either swam by or jumped into their little pool of water. First the Thai fought the drab fish. Then they bred in a bit of color to make them stand out. Other breeders came along and bred color, finnage (long fins are dominant over short fins and were easy to change) and form onto these drab fish. When they had the colors separated and down, they worked on the patterns (butterflys/bi-colors/multis) Once the patterns were there they worked on form (veil tails, combtails, crowntails) Not too long ago the delta tail and super delta appeared. Both were precursors to the most desirable ($$$ see Aquabid) trait. It was the very recessive and hard to produce halfmoon tail. While some still like the freaky crowntails that breeders still produce, the Halfmoon Betta is what many professional betta breeders strive to produce and show. Not satisfied with perfect 180-degree straight edge halfmoons, the Thai and others just can't stop. In the last several years metallics, golds, platinum, red & gold and copper bf's have appeared on Aquabid. A number of years ago, they produced bettas in the colors of the Thai flag. Red, white and blue bettas made their appearance as well. They looked gorgeous. Lately very large bettas “Giants” have appeared. I've seen them and would guess that they produce more ammonia than regular size bettas
Last fall an IBC Judge gave me a turquoise plakat and two sibling females that he bred. The male is a halfmoon. He seems very gentle until you show him another betta. With the exception of Starfire, none of my males like to see him. They seem concerned about his size and attitude. It's as if they know what he is. I call him Teddy Bear and he is carded from my other bettas. This is for his own good as well as his neighbors. He hits the glass way to hard for my taste and would manage to hurt himself if left un-carded. He likes playing with a mirror, acts silly and does the betta dance like any other betta. I rarely use a net when I remove a betta from his tank. I usually scoop them up in my hand. Don't try this at home. Catch him in a cup, it's much easier. My biggest males are pretty easy to catch. I can feel their power when then try to escape me. It's much harder removing Teddy Bear from his tank. He hits and moves with much more strength as he tries to avoid me. He's not a fighting fish but as I observe him, I can easily envision his origins.
Here's a picture of a young (3 mos old) showy (not fighter) plakat that appeared on Aquabid last year. I loved this betta since he is a blue bf with marbled face and is totally cute. He's not a perfect bf and I asked the breeder what color he was. The breeder just called him a fancy plakat. Think of the work, the generations of breeding and care that went into producing this lovely betta. It makes you want to own him. I guess that's the point.
Poor bettas!
Part 2
The betta's history is quite well documented and not all of it occurred in Thailand.
In 1840, the King of Siam presented several of his prized fighting fish to a friend of Theodor Cantor, and he, in turn, gave them to Cantor, a doctor in the Bengal Medical Service. Although these fish were more colorful than their earlier counterparts, their predominant colors of olive green, black and red still left much to be desired. The fin lengths also varied from specimen to specimen.
In 1849, Cantor published an article on the fighting fish he called Macropodus pugnax, var. It was not until 1909 that C. Tate Regan reexamined this and noted that pugnax was already a distinct species. Since the fish had no scientific name, Regan named it Betta splendens,
It was not until 1927 that the first brightly hued, flowing-finned Siamese fighting fish arrived in the United States,
Now American hobbyists would get their chance to work with this interesting fish.
Mr. Tutweiler of Florida founded the Tutweiler Butterfly, a Cambodian with fins divided between white and red, but this strain was never fixed. To this day breeders worldwide try to breed this elusive color. Breeders may get a couple of these in a spawn but are not able to fix the trait.
Jay C. Niel of Michigan founded the butterflies we have today. He managed to raise cambodian-red-white fry, thus giving birth to the butterfly bettas
The marbles have their roots in the Indiana State Prison, where they were developed by Orville Gulley, an inmate. Walt Maurus, (well-known betta author) bought some of Gulley's bettas. Gulley didn't pursue the marble betta, but several people who acquired his fish kept the line going.
In the 1950's Warren Young bred bettas with superior size and long veil tails. Each of the single fins, the dorsal, caudal and anal fin were as long as the body length. He named them Libby Bettas after his wife Libby. All veil tail bettas owe their heritage to the Libby Betta of the '50's
Dr. Gene Lucas, betta specialist, developed opaque white bettas around 1960. Dr. Lucas has and continues to do much to advance the Betta hobby through the IBC (International Betta Congress)
Guy Delaval selected bred these fish for more angle on the tail fins and in 1987 he had a few fish that had a caudal fin of 180°. The first halfmoons were bred in France but later shipped to the US where they were developed by American hobbyists. In 1993 a halfmoon betta shocked the betta world by going best in show at the IBC convention in Florida. It appeared on the cover of Fama, the IBC magazine and overnight the Halfmoon craze was on. Every US breeder started breeding halfmoons from this betta.
Breeding halfmoons frustrate many even today. The gene responsible for the halfmoon trait is both recessive and very elusive. Even if you breed two perfect 180-degree halfmoons, you may not get a single hm betta in 300 fry. Conversely if you bred two deltas or super deltas, you might get several hm's in the spawn.
"Big Bear" Super Delta Red Male
The Thai breeders didn't develop the halfmoon trait but they knew a good thing when they saw it. With their perfect natural conditions and centuries of working with bettas, Thai and other Asian breeders started breeding halfmoons. Anybody want a freaky extended ray crowntail cheap? Overnight everything had changed! Everyone wanted halfmoons. This continues to this day. Recently over-halfmoons have appeared. Starfire my favorite male is a 190-degree over halfmoon. You can't see it in my picture but the edges of his caudal are perfectly straight.
Starfire Over Halfmoon Pinky-Red BF
Apache 180 Degree Halfmoon Steel Blue BF
Big Star 180 Degree Halfmoon Royal Blue BF
"Dark Star" my first halfmoon circa 2001. Note lower edge of the caudal is not straight
Diablo "Dee" Red Cambodian Crowntail BF
That's a bit of betta history for you. It's interesting to see that many major color lines as well as the veil tail and halfmoon trait were developed in America by American Betta Breeders. To date, the most important development of all, the halfmoon betta was developed in the US.
Source: Information from various IBC publications & Walt Maurus / other info Starlight