TankBud

Kuehnei betta

Betta kuehnei

Also known as Blue throat fighting fish, Kuehne's betta

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature
70–77°F
21–25°C
pH
6.0–7.5
Adult size
2.4 in
6 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
Kelantan, Malaysia and Narathiwat, Thailand

Overview

One of the more sociable mouthbrooders: Aquarium Glaser reports several pairs can share a tank when there are enough hiding places, so a group in 60 liters or more with cover works well. It uses the middle of the water. Keep it cool for a betta, 21 to 25 C, at pH 6 to 7.5, and it is forgiving of hardness, though soft acidic water helps spawning. Feed live and frozen daphnia, brine shrimp, and bloodworm, plus small insects, with dried food once accepted. Small calm fish from similar water are fine as company, but shrimp will be eaten.

In the wild

The kuehnei betta lives in the far north of Peninsular Malaysia, in Kelantan, and just across the border in Narathiwat, southern Thailand. The type locality was a shaded forest creek with clear, colourless water at pH 7, 3 dGH, and about 25 C, where the fish sat in the shallows among beds of Cryptocoryne cordata and leaf litter alongside Trichopsis vittata and Parosphromenus paludicola. Set it up with sand, potted crypts, leaf litter, driftwood, floating plants, dim light, and a gentle sponge filter, with a tight lid.

Good to know

Betta kuehnei is a mouthbrooder in the Betta pugnax group of the family Osphronemidae, described by Schindler and Schmidt in 2008 and named for Jens Kühne, the German aquarist who found it. It reaches about 6 cm standard length, 8 cm total. Unusually for the group the tail is rounded in both sexes, and males carry an intense blue to blue green iridescence over the sides of the head and throat, with no chin bar or second postorbital stripe. The IUCN lists it as Data Deficient.

Did you know

It came into the hobby as the blue throat fighting fish before it had a scientific name, and the throat is how you tell it from every other pugnax group betta. The male holds the eggs for around 10 to 12 days, and clutches usually run 40 to 80 eggs of 1 to 1.4 mm.

Common questions

What size tank does a Kuehnei betta need?

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

What temperature and pH does a Kuehnei betta need?

A Kuehnei betta is comfortable at 70–77°F (21–25°C) with a pH of 6.0–7.5.

How big does a Kuehnei betta get?

An adult Kuehnei betta reaches about 2.4 in (6 cm).

Related species