She has arrived!

[Synirr]

As you may know, my female imbellis somehow managed to leap to her death through a 1/2" wide hole in their lid a while back. The wonderful Wuv was able to find me a new female, and she arrived alive and well today. She acts completely unphased by the shipping, and feasted on grindal worms and fruit fly maggots a few hours after being introduced to her new home. She's a lot bigger than I was expecting... I'm assuming because she was tank-raised (Wuv, can you verify this?), whereas the original female and male were wild-caught. She and the male are still getting acquainted, but he is obviously very happy to have a new ladyfriend in his tank! Really, you should have seen how excited he acted! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside seeing him so happy
They've been swimming around together, rubbing against one-another, and at one point I saw him resting his head on her's
After seeing the way he moped around for days displaying unusual colours after the original female died and the way he reacted to the new female, there's no doubt in my mind that these fish are capable of forming strong bonds with one-another.

BTW Wuv, you still need to PM me your email addy so I can send you money for shipping. I seem to have lost it )

Edit: Just a side note, I still have 8 fry from a spawn with the original female, so her legacy lives on

The new lady

Meeting for the first time (male on left)

A happy ending

 

[red-devil0602]

glad he's got a new lady, that picture of their first meeting looks really sweet,

 

[Alisha]

Awww how sweet! Fishy love! haha! I'm so happy your fish are happy together! I love happy endings! lol.

 

[Kiarra]

This is wonderful news. She's very beautiful.

It's quite interesting to hear that he moped around, and that he's happy to have a replacement female. I've noticed this in all female splendens tanks, where one will die and the others will mope. But it's VERY interesting to see it in a male-female relationship, and to see him accept the female so readily.

How are the fry from the original female doing?

 

[Synirr]

How are the fry from the original female doing?

Great so far! One of them is sooo tiny I'm not sure if he'll make it, though. He's as big as a one-week old and I'm afraid one of his siblings might eat him
There's also one that's massive, and the others are everywhere inbetween.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Awwww! I was JUST going to PM you and ask if she'd arrived ( and/or tell you she was due). I was told they came from Kathy Waters and that they're tank raised.

It's so funny how dull and brown they are when jarred/bagged. They look totally different in their tanks.

 

[Little_Orca]

They are not as 'colorful' as the bettas I have seen (i.e. blues, reds, greens, etc) but they are very beautiful. I am sure their fry will be lovely!

 

[LifeBear]

Orca,
Betta imbellis is a different species than what you are used to seeing (Betta splendens.) They are closer to the natural state than the highly cultured fancy fins we see in stores most of the time.
I have never kept one. But seeing how well they do together, judging by Synirr's experience, they might be something to look into.

 

[raeburter]

how can u tell the diff from a male and a female.

 

[slamster17]

looking good, glad you got a new female. i think i went threw 1 pair and a female

but for future reference id like to direct you to a place that sells wild caught imbellis for 3.50 each. www.internat-anabanassoc.org

 

[Elise]

Oh, the happy couple is soooo cute! Yay!

 

[Little_Orca]

I knew there were different kinds of bettas, but I had just never seen those kind before. The splendens are the most common in pet stores (at least in this area and I am sure in many places). They are still gorgous bettas.

Synirr, ince you had the fish delivered to you, does that mean they are hard to come by and must be ordered and sent through the mail? Just curious.

Edit: I am also glad to hear that you have fry from the other female still. We will need pictures.

 

[Easystreet]

Synirr,

Are they kept together full time? Or is this just a meet and greet session?

Is your male an acception to the rule of never keeping males with another betta? (I know its a different species. As you can see I know nothing of the Betta imbellis)

Anybody have a guide to Betta imbellis. Or have a link to a site that does?

Thanks,
Jason

 

[Bettabelieveit]

http/ibc-smp.org/species/imbellis.html

There's a good link on the imbellis

 

[Synirr]

raeburter -- the female is generally less colourful (though this one is quite lovely) and has a white spot on her belly, right behind her ventral fins, which is where her eggs are released from (called an ovipositor.) Females also have more rounded tummies when they are carrying eggs

Little_Orca -- Most pet shops don't usually have them available, but some can order them in if you ask (none of my local ones can, which is why I had to have a new female shipped)

Easystreet -- They're housed together in a 10 gallon. They're much less aggressive than Betta splendens, so it's usually ok to house a pair together.

Edit: Thanks for the link slamster17! I must explore this site further