Facts and Information
Back when, it was a stout little brown to green fish with short fins and major attitude. Several years passed before the king of Siam gave some specimens of the wild Betta to a friend of his, who happened to be a biologist, Dr. Theo Cantor. He aptly dubbed the fish Macropodus pugnax, which stuck for quite a few years until another scientist (Tate Reagan) pointed out that there was already a fish named M. pugnax, so it was changed to Betta splendens in 1909. Splendens is Latin for splendid, or beautiful, and Betta came from an ancient tribe of Asian warriors called the Bhettahs known for their ferocity in battle. In 1896, the first shipment of Bettas landed in Germany and in 1910, hit the shores of the US. By 1927, the first few color strains of the Betta had shown up and since then, dozens of different colors have been produced; including black, turquoise, red, dragon red, blonde (pale yellow) and white (also called Cambodian Bettas), green, lavender and purple.
PH Levels - 6 to 8
Hardness Levels - 80 to 320 ppm
Temperature - 75 to 86°F
Size - Small
Possible Tankmates -White Cloud Minnow, Harlequin Rabora