What kind of betta is this?

[Xabbusan]

Can someone tell me what type of betta this is? I looked at a few identification guides, but I am not sure. Is he just a Plakat? His tail doesn't seem as rounded, but he is also not that old, just got him a couple of weeks ago.

I almost thought it was female but the store said it was male. After getting him home and watching him, I do believe it is a male, I am just not sure what type. I picked him because I love the mustard yellow color on his fins but I love him now because of the blue/black almost purple scales he has. He is very active, and shimmery lol the cellphone video does not do it justice. He almost sparkles in the light.

He is in a 20 gallon with a green dragon pleco (he was hiding during the video. Just got him, he/she is about .75"), nerite snail, and tons of ramshorn snails (snail breeding tank for my puffers).

******Also I randomly came across something (can't even remember where now) that said that bettas do not go well with ramshorn snails. That surprised me. Is there a reason for this? I haven't seen any issues so far at all. Will the betta eat the snail eggs? if so, then that could be a problem for me.

 

[OrionGirl]

Can't help on the ID, but basing on ID on a juvenile can be tricky at best. Very active, though, which is great to see. Domestic bettas vary so widely in behavior--some are gentle, some are terrors. I had one that ripped apart large amano shrimp, others that ignore all but the tiniest shrimplet. Most have treated snails eggs as tasty snacks, but seldom enough to completely eliminate reproduction.

 

[Xabbusan]

Yeah he seemed active in the store but not overly aggressive. It's nice because where I get my fish from they don't keep the bettas in jars or cups, they mix them in throughout the store with appropriate fish in their other tanks. I feel this helps them acclimate to other fish before you ever get them home and you can also see their normal behavior better before you take them home.

ill have to keep an eye on the snail egg eating. I need lots of snails! I am actually thinking of setting up another snail breeding tank just to make sure I always have snails.

 

[OrionGirl]

If you're feeding a puffer, it's definitely best to have them in a tank of their own. That allows you to feed them more heavily, as well as upping the calcium levels without impacting fish. If you've not already tried it, snail jello is a great way to keep them well fed without polluting the water.

 

[Xabbusan]

Yeah I recently got one amazon puffer and 3 pea puffers (in different tanks) so I definitely want to keep lots of snails. I plan to get more amazon puffers too but my lfs only had one in stock and didn't know when they were getting more so I grabbed him.

Is there a good guide of sorts on snail breeding? I actually just found out about the hard water (I have very soft water) and calcium thing. Over the weekend I replaced some decorative rocks with some coral rubble and dropped a piece of zucchini in.

 

[OrionGirl]

The best you can do to get good snail reproduction is keep them fed. They reproduce based on food availability, and will strip calcium from everything they can. Snail jello is a good option, since you can add calcium and a good prepared fish food to gut load them for the puffers.

 

[Xabbusan]

Ok cool thanks. I think I will setup a 10 gallon plant overstock/snail breeder tank. I had no idea about the food/breeding being so connected. I got some in on plants and just left them alone and they breed pretty good but only a few ever get big. I wonder if it's because they weren't getting enough food or nutrients.

Side note. I saw my amazon puffer crack a snail shell for the first time last night. Yay! I had only ever seen him suck the snail out before.