Pugnax,Imbellis, Smaragdina and Coccina

[Elisabeth83]

Theses are the bettas my lfs can order in for me. I'm just wondering if anyone on here owns some? I've read all about them but I'm just wondering if those of you who actually have some could tell me what you think about them?

I know male and females of each of these species can live together but I can't find any information if say Imbellis can live with Coccina and so on? They all pretty much say very peaceful bettas which only get aggressive during breeding. They say they can be kept with all other peaceful fish. I'm thinking probably none of these species can live together because they could all see eachother as a threat??

I'm also looking into getting Betta macrostoma. My lfs said they were avaliable before but lately haven't been on the list of what they can order in. He said when they were avaliable they were only $17 US dollars each I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can actually get my hands on a pair

 

[50000_tears]

macrostoma =*DROOL*

 

[Elisabeth83]

macrostoma =*DROOL*

I know they are amazing arn't they?? Have you seen the licorice gourami?? Their colors are amazing too. I'm hoping to get a pair of them one day too

 

[bettaboi]

wow 17 $ each ive seen macrostoma for like 400$ for a pair

 

[Synirr]

If they're $17 each, I can almost guarantee you they're not really macrostoma. It would be nice if they were, but I refuse to believe the LFS can just magically order them that insanely cheap. It reminds me of my LFS ordering "sweetheart bloodparrots" that ended up being bloodparrot/midas hybrids . They don't look anything like sweetheart bloodparrots except for the missing tail, and are mean as all Hell. They also got some "emerald bettas" that were just copper plakats.

I don't think it would be wise to mix betta species... they might interpret one-another as a threat, you never know. It's just not a chance I'd take. I had a pair of imbellis until I found my female had jumped tonight

 

[Kiarra]

I had a male B. brownorum, which is closely related to B. coccina. He was REALLY shy, and so I kept him by himself...this is a species group I wouldn't recommend keeping with any other kind of fish, as they're just extremely timid. They also have special water requirements, so, if you get them, you're going to have to pay attention to that.

 

[Elisabeth83]

If they're $17 each, I can almost guarantee you they're not really macrostoma.  It would be nice if they were, but I refuse to believe the LFS can just magically order them that insanely cheap.  It reminds me of my LFS ordering "sweetheart bloodparrots" that ended up being bloodparrot/midas hybrids  .  They don't look anything like sweetheart bloodparrots except for the missing tail, and are mean as all Hell.  They also got some "emerald bettas" that were just copper plakats.

I don't think it would be wise to mix betta species... they might interpret one-another as a threat, you never know.  It's just not a chance I'd take.  I had a pair of imbellis until I found my female had jumped tonight 

I'm so sorry your female imbellis jumped That's terrible

About the macrostoma I know I am still not sure if I believe them or not. I was very surprised when he came back with that price.

Thing is he knows what fish I am talking about because when we were going through the fish index book looking at the other bettas avaliable I pointed at the macrostoma and said isn't that a gorgeous fish and he surprisingly came back with yeah we can order that one in for you.

Then yesterday I asked him if he looked into ordering them and he said that the coccina, imbellis and pugnax were all similarly priced to what regular betta are here about 7 US dollars and that the macrostoma were on a old list and he wasn't sure if he could order them anymore but the price on the old list was 17 US dollars each. When he said that I said What??? macrostoma are you sure the one we looked at in the book and he said yeah. Then I said that there was a pair on Aquabid for $400 US dollars and he said theres no way they cost that much here.

I really have no idea...I'm just going by what I've been told. I did go to google.se and typed in macrostoma and it came back with some type of cichlid so maybe theres some confusion and it's really that and he doesnt realize it or something. I've specifically showed him the betta macrostoma in the book and he saw the latin name and said he would check on the list because he said he saw it listed before


edit: I'll be going to akvarielagret (sweden biggest fish store) sometime this week and they also have about 4-5 wild betta species at there store all about $7-8 US dollars each. There is a guy who works there who breeds all the wild bettas. He's known as the betta guy so I'll ask him. If anyone knows if they are actually avaliable here and how much they are it'll be him.

 

[Synirr]

Thing is he knows what fish I am talking about because when we were going through the fish index book looking at the other bettas avaliable I pointed at the macrostoma and said isn't that a gorgeous fish and he surprisingly came back with yeah we can order that one in for you.

Man, I wish I had pet shops like that around here! I don't think any near me can order wild bettas... I should ask

There are a couple of species of betta (albimarginata and channoides, specifically) that look a lot like macrostoma colour-wise, so maybe he's getting them confused? Those aren't exactly cheap either, but I could see them being $17 long before I could imagine macrostoma at that price. They're usually around $100-200 a pair, but there was a pair of albimarginata on Aquabid a while back for 30 euros, and I was about to pounce on it until I read they were pickup only in Germany

If that shop could get albimarginata that cheap I would just die. Die and beg you to find someone who could ship me a pair

 

[Elisabeth83]

Thing is he knows what fish I am talking about because when we were going through the fish index book looking at the other bettas avaliable I pointed at the macrostoma and said isn't that a gorgeous fish and he surprisingly came back with yeah we can order that one in for you.

Man, I wish I had pet shops like that around here! I don't think any near me can order wild bettas... I should ask

There are a couple of species of betta (albimarginata and channoides, specifically) that look a lot like macrostoma colour-wise, so maybe he's getting them confused? Those aren't exactly cheap either, but I could see them being $17 long before I could imagine macrostoma at that price. They're usually around $100-200 a pair, but there was a pair of albimarginata on Aquabid a while back for 30 euros, and I was about to pounce on it until I read they were pickup only in Germany

If that shop could get albimarginata that cheap I would just die. Die and beg you to find someone who could ship me a pair

I was actually told the reason why the more rare and unique fish are avaliable here is because Germany is crazy about these types of fish and they breed a lot of them therefore they are quite cheap throughout Europe. 30 euros does sound about right though. That's about 280 crowns and I was told I could get them for 135 crowns.


I don't think he could be getting it confused because that was the only betta we looked at that was like that. I made sure I asked a few times are you sure it's Betta macrostoma and he kept saying yes. Even after he told me again yesterday we went and looked in the book. I just emailed the akvarielagret place and asked if they knew if it was avaliable here and if so how much. I was just at their site and found out these are the listed wild bettas I can get my hands on. There are probably more if I asked:

Bellica
Pugnax
Imbellis
Foerschi
Smaragdina
Waseri
Falx
Coccina
Burdigala
Prima
Pi
Edithae

I've seen quite a few of these when I've been in their store but because I didn't know what I was looking for I really wasn't sure what was what ) I can't remember what type I was looking at a couple weeks ago but the guy pointed out to me that one of the males was holding fry in his mouth in the back and that if you watched you could see the female warding off all the other fish. It was really neat

If I could get a pair that cheap everyone on here would force me to buy them and breed them and send them some

edit: Have you seen the licorice gourami?? Both at my lfs and at the akvarielagret place I can get them. I was thinking of trying a pair out as their colors are just They arn't much here either.

 

[Synirr]

Licorice gouarmis are beauuuuutiful! I was going to get some for my 29 gallon, but then I remembered... it has a senegal bichir in it.
They'd make a lovely lunch for him, lol

I am so so so so sooooooo very jealous of you right now. This is me turning green with envy, right here.
You should ask him to order in some macrostoma if they're ever available again just to see if they're the real deal

 

[slamster17]

macrostoma is not supposed to be 200$ for a pair. the people over there sell them for the much to get us gullible people to by them. you can get them cheap for a good price directly through a wholesaler.
i would not keep and 2 species of wild in the same tank just do single pairs for each tank.
also i would not bother with macrostoma as they can be quite difficukt to care for.
Coccina Complex fish can require very acidic peaty water so make sure you know what you're doing before you buy.
also a fish as big as macrostoma could require at least a 20g
you are very lucky to have such an awesome lfs.