Fighting fish male Halfmoon xl - Betta splendens

With their colorful fins, peculiar character and very simple husbandry requirements, fighting fish have always enjoyed great popularity. The Betta splendens originates from oxygen-poor waters of Asian rice-growing areas, as well as standing and flowing freshwaters from the islands around Bali to Indonesia over the Milanese peninsula to Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia.  The easy breeding, as well as the constantly increasing color morphs and fin shapes make it a popular labyrinth fish - the Halfmoon, whose fin shape is quasi crescent-shaped, is one of them. This solitary fish, which can be maintained only to a limited extent in sufficiently large community aquariums with other by-fish and should rather be kept alone, can become an exceptionally mindful family fish if you spend enough time with it.

When fully grown, fighting fish differ mainly in color and fins, with males more often outranking females here. The colors of the males are much more intense, also the fins are sometimes more than three times as large. The females usually form pastel shades, with relatively short fins (which partly suggest a breeding form), which also show coloration. If young fighting fish grow up together, they will slowly color out within 1.5-2 months if fed well and kept at the appropriate temperature. Since young suppressed male fighting fish can "camouflage" themselves color-wise as females, sex determination at a young age is difficult.

Breeding is possible in several ways. The most common method is probably to keep both animals singly and without visual contact with each other, feeding them large amounts of live and frozen food several times a day, as well as raising the water temperature to 28°C. Water changes in combination with this can have a positive effect. Afterwards, both aquariums are placed next to each other so that the fish can see each other and continue feeding. Once the male is appropriately stimulated, he begins to build a foam nest on the water surface, sometimes involving surface or floating plants. The actual spawning act takes place entwined, with the male entwining and mating with the female. During this process, the female falls into a kind of rigidity, which is released after a few seconds. The eggs, up to 200 or more in number, fall to the ground and are collected by the male and spat into the foam nest. For the following 36-48 hours, the male is incessantly busy collecting fallen eggs again and transporting them to the nest. After these two days, the first young hatch, still feeding on their yolk sac. The young can be fed with Artemia nauplii from 2-3 days and stay mainly near the nest. The aquarium should have a constant temperature of 27°C and be covered with a cover pane, which allows oxygen exchange but also warms the air between the pane and the water surface. Juveniles rise to the water surface fairly soon as their labyrinth organs develop.

Because of its habitat and territorial behavior, the fighting fish can be kept alone in a  aquarium in virtually any water condition without aeration or filtration, assuming proper acclimation and prior knowledge. Aquariums without technology require more care than those with technology! In a community aquarium it will claim a territory of 30-40 cm, which it regularly swims off and defends against fellow fish. Usually it will not seriously attack or injure them, but will clearly threaten them. Due to its large fins, this tires it out quite quickly and gives it a correspondingly short life, which is why it should preferably be kept alone.

Fighting fish do not like glaring lighting or reflective bottom grounds, so their aquarium may well be densely weedy especially in the middle and upper water zone and rather semi-shaded, but still leaves enough room to breathe.

Fighting fish are very intelligent and observe a lot. They can visually tell their keepers apart, likewise they can be "trained" with a lot of dedication, fed from the hand or tweezers, some even recognize their food above the water surface and jump up. However, the latter is also one of the reasons why the fighting fish aquarium should be covered. Last but not least, the adult fighting fish can also catch a cold if the ambient air is too cool. water temperature should not fall below 26°C permanently .

As a fighter and hunter, socialization with invertebrates is absolutely not recommended. Although it is already successful to keep a fighting fish with adult dwarf shrimps, no offspring will develop here, and from the shrimps is usually rather little to see, since these hide permanently and are possibly even nibbled. The socialization with snails is conditionally possible - the Betta is curious and will possibly also examine these for taste, small bubble snails are simply pulled out of the shell without problems, the shells are spat out again.

Fighting fish can be maintained particularly well with Live food like white mosquito larvae and Artemia nauplii well. Most can be switched to special fighting fish food and fed rather sparingly, but more often.

If there is a worthy representative for non-allergenic pets, then among the fish it is certainly the fighting fish! Even though they don't need to be walked around the block on a regular basis, they are still suitable for the odd food game on rainy days. Thanks to its spartan space requirements, its aquarium can be placed virtually anywhere and its peculiar character will soon swim its way into any heart. Especially children learn with a fighting fish biological connections and a sense of responsibility in dealing with living creatures. It is proved that such children developed further in the natural scientific school subjects!

Our food recommendation: With the NatureHolic BettaFeed a special food for fighting fish has been tailor-made, whose soft soft granules are reminiscent of the consistency of insect larvae in nature. The soft beads protect the sensitive fish mouth from micro-cracks caused by too hard food grains. The specially developed NH Immune+ complex and the NH Color+ high-performance additive support the immune system and the magnificent color development of the fish.

Our plant recommendation: Use for the planting NatureHolic InVitros. These are free from snails, planaria and other unwanted co-inhabitants. Also free of algae spores, bacteria and fungi.

Expert Tip: We recommend for fish keeping the NatureHolic 3 Phase Liquid. The care set offers the best all-round protection for your animals. It ensures optimal conditions for successful breeding and keeping.