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Banded betta

Betta taeniata

Also known as Banded fighting fish, Borneo betta, Striped betta, Borneo fighting fish

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature
72–81°F
22–27°C
pH
6.0–7.5
Adult size
2.2 in
5.5 cm
Minimum tank
16 gal
60 L
Temperament
Peaceful
Social behavior
Social
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Middle
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
Medium
Rarity
Very rare
Family
Osphronemidae
Origin
Southern Sarawak and the upper Kapuas basin, Borneo

Overview

Peaceful and very timid, so it belongs alone, as a pair, or in a small group with cover, never with boisterous fish that will outcompete it. It uses the middle of a 60 liter or larger tank. Keep it at 22 to 27 C and around neutral, pH 6 to 7.5, since it comes from clear neutral streams rather than peat swamp, though Seriously Fish allows down to pH 5. Feed live and frozen daphnia, brine shrimp, and bloodworm, with dried food once accepted. The male broods for 9 to 12 days, and small calm tank mates from similar water are fine, but shrimp are food.

In the wild

The banded betta is a hill stream fish from southern Sarawak and the northern part of the Kapuas basin in West Kalimantan, Borneo. Tan and Ng collected most of their fresh material from a clear, fast stream near Serian with a pH of 7, a bed of quartz gravel and rocks, no water plants, and depths of 5 to 80 cm, netting the fish from the slack stretches among leaf litter, tree roots, and overhanging bank growth. Copy that with sand or fine gravel, driftwood roots, leaf litter, some current from a sponge filter, and dim light with Cryptocoryne or Java fern. A tight lid is essential.

Good to know

Betta taeniata belongs to the Betta picta group of the family Osphronemidae, the small mouthbrooders with rounded fins and dark fin margins, alongside Betta picta, Betta falx, and Betta simplex. Regan described it in 1910 from four syntypes collected at Sungai Senah in Sarawak, and the largest known specimen is 54.9 mm standard length. Sexual dimorphism is weak: both sexes carry blue to green iridescent scales on the gill cover, and males colour up only when undisturbed. The IUCN lists it as Data Deficient, with logging and agriculture the main pressures.

Did you know

The name has been pinned on the wrong fish for a century. Herre reported Betta taeniata from Singapore and the Malay Peninsula in 1940, and Tan and Ng later checked his specimens and found they were all Betta pugnax, while records from Thailand and Vietnam are just as doubtful. The real banded betta is a Borneo hill stream endemic that the Iban call ikan t'pachi.

Common questions

What size tank does a Banded betta need?

A Banded betta needs at least 16 gal (60 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.

What temperature and pH does a Banded betta need?

A Banded betta is comfortable at 72–81°F (22–27°C) with a pH of 6.0–7.5.

How big does a Banded betta get?

An adult Banded betta reaches about 2.2 in (5.5 cm).

Related species