Brunei beauty betta

Care at a glance

Overview

The Brunei beauty betta is a mouthbrooding betta for a dedicated species tank. It is an expert fish, best left to experienced keepers.

Caring for the Brunei beauty betta

Keep a Brunei beauty betta as a single fish or a single pair, one male and one female, in 20 gal (75 L) or more. Set up a dedicated tank with leaf litter, driftwood, dim lighting and gentle flow from an air-driven sponge filter. It is skittish and a strong jumper that can hit the glass when startled, so use a tight-fitting lid. Leave a warm, humid air layer above the water.

Keep the water soft, acidic and pristine, at a pH of 5.0 to 6.5, since it is very sensitive to ammonia and nitrate. Hold the temperature at 72 to 79°F (22 to 26°C), cooler than most tropical fish, because high temperatures stress it. Feed small live and frozen foods.

Males are aggressive toward each other and most tank mates, so treat it as a species tank rather than a community fish. It swims in the middle and lower levels. Buy captive-bred stock where you can, and never release it into local waters.

The male holds the eggs and fry in his mouth for roughly 12 to 35 days before releasing them. Breeding is hard, so give the pair quiet, stable conditions and resist the urge to check on him. The calmer he stays, the better his chances of carrying the brood to release.

Good to know

The Brunei beauty betta is Betta macrostoma, a betta in the family Osphronemidae. Like other labyrinth fish, it gulps air at the surface. It is wild-caught and threatened in its native range.

In the wild

Brunei beauty bettas are endemic to Borneo, in clear forest streams and pools in Brunei and nearby Sarawak in Malaysia. The water there is soft, acidic and stained dark by tannins from leaf litter.

Common questions

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