plebian
Fish Crazy
I have a community aquarium with a pair of discus as my centerpiece species. This community includes two L144 and one L134 catfish and 50 wild caught blue neon tetras. It previously also included a dozen silver tip tetras. I wasn't happy with the silver tips because they were very active and aggressive, males and females alike. The aggression was mostly a game of bluff and none were ever injured. The problem was they were almost constantly at it. I have an aquarium primarily for its meditative effect and the heightened activity and aggression was counterproductive to that state of mind. Even worse, the silver tips occasionally directed their aggressive behavior toward my blue neons.
I decided the silver tips had to go, but afterwards I felt the aquarium needed at least a few additional inhabitants. I wanted at least one species that would be compatible with my discus and my neons, smaller than the former but larger than the latter. I was leaning toward either a pair of wild caught ram cichlids or a small group of serpae tetras, but obtaining either was non-trivial. I live in a rural province in a third world country in Asia where obtaining either species is a bit of a challenge, and I wasn't convinced that either species would be completely satisfactory.
While still deciding what to do, I came across several reports and several videos that suggested the species I was looking for might be Betta splendens, females not males. I never really liked the hybrid males, which look more like flowers than fish, the wilds were very ordinary looking, and both had a reputation for excessively aggressive behavior. Further research revealed that female spendens were nearly, if not equally, as colorful as their male counterparts but with much shorter finnage. They were also reported to be less aggressive, with numerous reports of people keeping spenden "sororities". I found this very appealing.
Further research revealed a great deal more interesting information that contradicted common beliefs about Betta splendens, but I don't want to get into that here. What I do want to report is that I have added three "super red" and two "snow red dragon" female spendens to my Amazon community and I couldn't be happier. They are absolutely gorgeous, possess very engaging personalities, display an unparalleled curiosity, are not initimidated by my discus, display less aggressive behavior than the silver tips, and do they do not bother my blue neons. Lastly, they eat anything I put in the aquarium. In short, they are perfect additions to my formerly Amazon only species tank.
I decided the silver tips had to go, but afterwards I felt the aquarium needed at least a few additional inhabitants. I wanted at least one species that would be compatible with my discus and my neons, smaller than the former but larger than the latter. I was leaning toward either a pair of wild caught ram cichlids or a small group of serpae tetras, but obtaining either was non-trivial. I live in a rural province in a third world country in Asia where obtaining either species is a bit of a challenge, and I wasn't convinced that either species would be completely satisfactory.
While still deciding what to do, I came across several reports and several videos that suggested the species I was looking for might be Betta splendens, females not males. I never really liked the hybrid males, which look more like flowers than fish, the wilds were very ordinary looking, and both had a reputation for excessively aggressive behavior. Further research revealed that female spendens were nearly, if not equally, as colorful as their male counterparts but with much shorter finnage. They were also reported to be less aggressive, with numerous reports of people keeping spenden "sororities". I found this very appealing.
Further research revealed a great deal more interesting information that contradicted common beliefs about Betta splendens, but I don't want to get into that here. What I do want to report is that I have added three "super red" and two "snow red dragon" female spendens to my Amazon community and I couldn't be happier. They are absolutely gorgeous, possess very engaging personalities, display an unparalleled curiosity, are not initimidated by my discus, display less aggressive behavior than the silver tips, and do they do not bother my blue neons. Lastly, they eat anything I put in the aquarium. In short, they are perfect additions to my formerly Amazon only species tank.
