Horseshoe betta

Care at a glance

Overview

The horseshoe betta is a large, mostly peaceful betta for a blackwater tank. It is hard to keep and needs an experienced hand.

Caring for the horseshoe betta

A pair of horseshoe bettas needs at least 24 gal (90 L), with a base of 80 cm. Set up a spacious blackwater tank with wood, leaf litter and heavy cover, plus a tight lid.

Give them very soft, acidic blackwater at 73 to 81°F (23 to 27°C) and a pH of 4.0 to 6.0. Clean, stable, mineral-poor water is essential. Feed varied live and frozen foods, including small insects, daphnia and bloodworm.

Horseshoe bettas are mostly peaceful, and they do best in a species tank or with very peaceful blackwater fish. They are paternal mouthbrooders, so the male carries the eggs in his mouth. Breeding them is hard.

Good to know

The horseshoe betta was described by Ng and Kottelat in 1994 and belongs to the Betta waseri group of the family Osphronemidae. Peat swamp loss has made it uncommon in the wild.

In the wild

The horseshoe betta comes from threatened peat swamp forests of Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. The water there is extremely soft, very acidic and deeply stained with tannins.

Common questions

Related species

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• 

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• Omega betta

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• 

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