# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Anabantoids >  Betta simplex

## Caesar

I have just become the proud owner of two betta simplex :Jump for joy: , i left my light on for an extra hour just so i could watch them for a little longer. Very nice fish with as far as i can see a great temprament and I think one is a female which makes me even happier :Grin: . I shall post a couple of photos tomorrow. The reason for the post was because i seen they are on a vulnerable species list, is it ok to keep these fish in the home aquarium because of this and are they any harder to keep happy than any other betta.

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## Wackytpt

Hi,

Wild bettas are beautiful. They should be easy to keep. Just do remember to have a cover over your tank as wild bettas are known to be jumpers.

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## mickthefish

hi caesar
they are a very good looking fish,i bred them last year quite a few times, at the moment i have the last lot of youngsters growing on ready for new homes.
the male in breeding colour is a sight to behold.
good luck with them mate.

regards
mick

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## benny

Looking forward to your photos! Quite a few hobbyists have kept and even bred them in home aquariums. 

Cheers,

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## Caesar

Thanks for replys, have tried taking pictures but cannot get very good ones goes blury up close. Any advice on taking nice pictures. The fish are fantastic, they come right up to the glass when i go near the tank and i'm sure they can see the worms in the jar because they go right up to it when its sitting near the tank. They won't touch anything but blood worms, will eat a few daphnia, will not even consider flakes. Any advice on breeding mickthefish ? Have included one photo the the best one from a bad bunch of photos.

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## mickthefish

hi caesar
you don't need a big tank to breed them, a 15x10x10 is a nice size,
the ph needs to be between 7.4 to 7.8 temp needs to be about 78f.
give the fish plenty of veg as the sexes can have a few barneys, and leave them to it.
as youve noticed they go for all kinds of livefood but are not keen on flake or pellet foods.
thats about all that you need.
good luck with them bud, now it's all up to the fish

regards
mick

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## Caesar

since yesterday my betta simplex have been acting a bit funny, they were both hiding behind the plants yestereday not even to interested in worms. Today the female is out and about as happy as ever eating loads of worms. But the male is still being a bit cagey hiding away and not much into his worms. Is there something wrong with them or is this natural.

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## mickthefish

hi caesar
yup thats pretty much how mine behaved at times, they could have had a scrap and neither of them was willing to come out for the second round.

regards
mick
btw have you got a name thats easier than caesar bud. haha

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## Caesar

hi, the male fish is hiding a lot, there is a place above my heater were there is some java moss which turns it into a hide away, which at present he is spending a lot of time. Also he still not eating well :Sad:  . Also i found out the hard way about how good these fish are at jumping. There is about a 1cm gap, if that, either side of of the glass covering the top of there tank i came to feed them in the morning and could not find the female, when i looked into the bucket of water beside the tank getting aerated for water changing there she was :Shocked:  i put her back in the tank and she seems fine, what a lucky escape, i wonder if she was aiming for it.

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## johannes

my male was a fussy eater too... it takes him 2 mths to eat normally (as in accepting the different food that i offer, e.g tubifex, brine shrimp and frozen blood worm). at first only eat BS and eat 1 or 2 worms only....

lucky manage to spawn him succesfully... :Smile: 

some pictures to excite the senses... :Grin:  

currently have abt 25 fries from one brood... fries abt 2 mths  :Grin:  now.. roughly 2.5 cm...

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## Caesar

nice pictures johannes, thanks for posting :Grin:  . I was in my local shop again at weekend and seen two simplex left so have 4 now :Smile:  . One is a small male about 1.5cm long and is very bright red in colour, what is the difference between him and the others. Well done on spawning them johannes, am i right in thinking they are bubble nest builders or do they spawn a different way. The plan is to spawn them myself, however did get a little worried when i read they can spawn up to 500 at a time is this correct :Shocked:

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## mickthefish

hi caesar
this fish is a mouthbrooder mate, they spawn close to the floor of the tank.
as far as them having 500 fry i have'nt heard of anyone coming close to that, a well bred pair could yield around 50-60 fry and thats classed as a good spawning, if and when yours spawn you should be looking at around 20-30 fry.
looking foreward to hearing youve had a spawning bud.

regards
mick

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## Caesar

Hi mick , thanks for the reply been lost while site updating, seems better though. That explains it mick my male who was hungry and very active will not touch anything, he looks well enough but hiding and not eating, also looks like theres something in his mouth. How many days does it normaly take before seeing fry and will they start eating them straight away or have i some time before i get them out.

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## mickthefish

hi caesar
the male incubates the eggs and fry for between 14-16 days, at first he might only release a few fry at a time then he lets the flood gates open.
the fry are able to eat bbs once released but i personally use micro-worms for a week or so, less chance of pollution that way bud.
the fry are about the size of newly hatched guppies.

regards
mick

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## Caesar

the poor guys mouth looks like its about to explode :Flame: , he has changed to a realy deep red colour and is looking a bit thin. When i come to the tank in the morning i worry when i don't see him then he comes out of the plants to say hello then back in. I have bought one of them plastic floaing hatcherys its been about a week since the deed, when should i put him in a bit worried about touching him. Also i have bought a new tank which i have started for them fry :Jump for joy: .I read that he might swallow them is this still possible after this long :Crying: . Hopefully get some pics to put on if i can get the nano button working on camera,

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## johannes

try not to disturb the male in the early stage of brooding like 3-5 days.
you can catch him out on day 10-11, normally when he is about to release he will come out of his hiding place....

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## mickthefish

like johannes has said i would prefer to remove the female but we can't all be the same.
as to them eating the fry that are in the mouth, i never lost a single spawn and i know a few other guys over here and niether have they bud.
heres a few of my pics from earlier this year, hope you enjoy

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## mickthefish

if this works there's two more pics one with the male the day after spawning.

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## mickthefish

try again to get the pic on.

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## Caesar

he came out of hiding today swimming about a lot more than he has been and looking particularly white. so i thought i had better put him into the large hatcher, put a wee bit java moss to give him some cover and also placed it at the back of tank to give him some privacy :Confused: . His colors have came back now and he seems quiet happy in it, its about day 9 or 10 not to sure about day of conception. Have i place him in to early ? and if there is no fry by how long should i let him out ?. I can't believe how stressful this is, you would think it was me in the tank. Hope i can come back with some pictures of fry in a couple of days :Smile:

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## Caesar

hi everybody, yesterday my male spat out lots of very very small fry :Smile: . These things are tiny, i read that the fry were as big as live bearers but i would definately say they are smaller, also i read that they would be big enough to consume small brine shrimp, also not much chance of that, so i am feeding them frozen baby brine shrimp. They were so small they could fit through the bottom of the hatchery, which was supposed to be able to keep them in. Male is not eating yet, he is although back to his active self and looking very colourfull. He is even back being very freindly with the female :Grin: . I would estimate on having maybe 15 fry not quiet as many as expected but more than enough for my first attemp at breeding. Its all been a learning experience, and i'm sure still a lot to learn as they grow. Has anybody got any idea on times for growth ?

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## valice

Congrats on your successful spawn!
Pictures?

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## illumnae

congrats!!  :Grin:

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## Ah_ZhaN

Caesar, that is a piece of great news!  :Jump for joy:  Congrats~~

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## johannes

why never congartulate me? haha....
kidding la bros... :Grin:

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## mickthefish

congrats caesar & johannes on breeding he simplex, are your simplex the ho lok type or the smaller simplex?.

regards
mick

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## johannes

i've no idea, but their body will turn pinkish when they flare... is that any indication of either one?

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## Caesar

interesting you should mention that mick, i have two males and two females at moment and one of the males is smaller and much more colourful than the other fish. What is the difference between the two different kinds ? The fish are growing well, also the male has another mouthfull of eggs :Grin: . Was slightly worried :Confused:  when i noticed he had been at it again as i never seen him eat very much in between times, however he looks healthy and happy enough :Smile: , gonna have a tank full soon. My local fish shop says they will give me credit in shop for some of them  :Jump for joy:

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## Caesar

i posted a comment on the 13 of september to say that my male betta had spat out lots of fry, well today is the 25 and once again he is ready to spit out more fry. I am quiet amazed at how close together they have done this. I think i am going to have to split them up after this because don't think i can cope with much more fry.

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## Caesar

Hi everyone, just had another spawing, have set up a new tank for another kind of wild bettas. Have asked my local fish shop if they could get me some other wild or rare bettas in and they said they could, so i've to make up a list up and take it to them. So i'm looking for any advice or even some nice pictures anybody may have. :Grin:

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## greenD

if you want some info on wild bettas, youy should have a look at

http://www.internat-anabanassoc.org/Species_ID.htm

lots of species listed there

 :Angel:

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## johannes

update simplex fries...






flaring.... :Grin:

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## johannes

even the fries are pinkish when flaring.... :Smile:

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## greenD

very nice johannes, they are in great condition!

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## Caesar

Good looking fish johannes, what age are these fish, as i am trying to work out time scale on growing, my first batch of fry are about 1cm long now

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## johannes

just barely 4 months.. :Smile:

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