Recreating Natural Environment

[colematthewmalaka]

Hey, I have a tank and I want to put either a few female bettas or one male in, but i thought it would be cool to try and recreate a bettas natural habitat and make it as close to the real thing as possible, does anyone have any pointers or tips for me like substrate, plants, etc.


P.S. pictures are greatly appreciated.

 

[h2oguppie]

try a little cup full of dirty water thats how they come in the store lol

 

[colematthewmalaka]

try a little cup full of dirty water thats how they come in the store lol

Haha funny but seriously can i please have some real answers.

 

[krap101]

Well, they live in rice paddies in the wild.. so that's a start.

 

[taylorodw]

Bettas come from marshy, slow-moving (or still) water without much oxygen in it (hence their labyrinth organ, which enables them to breathe air). They are used to shallow, warm, soft, and acidic or neutral water. They are used to bright light and a lot of plant life.

Hope this helps!

 

[meegosh]

I saw this site while I was searching for information about bumblebee gobies. It is a log of the guys collection experience. Talks about a certain type of betta that he is after. It is a really cool read even if it doesn't help you out that much. Click the links at the bottom, there are quite a few Parts to his article.

The Longest Hunt, by Michael Lo

 

[Phoenixphire55]

I had a male betta living in a 2.5 gallon tank that was heavily stocked with cabomba and it was sitting on a windowsil that got a ton of sunlight. I dismantled the tank after a few months because the summer was over but it was definitely the most beautiful tank I've ever had.

 

[jsoong]

The natural habitat is fresh water marsh in Thailand. The water may not be deep, but it is a vast expense & full of vegetation, both live & dead. In additional to air breathing, the betta can also leave a mud puddle & go across land to the next one.

I am not sure you can really recreate a marsh habitat in a tank. The closest would be a large shallow tank (no betta cubes/bowl here!) with a sand/mud bottom, filled with large amount of plants, both under water & emergent (marginal pond plants). There would be a slow filtration & little water movement.

Check out this AGA winner for an idea of this style of tank:
2007 AGA Aquascaping Contest