# My Betta Macrostomas **Big mouth series** WARNING: shrimp lovers stay away!



## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

:icon_cool

Hope this doesn't offend anyone especially since it wasn't deliberate. I just happened to walk upon this guy with half an Amano shrimp stuck down his throat.  I was able to grab the cam in time, luckily. A minute after he scarfed the entire shrimp down. Keep in mind he's only about 2" long. These guys can grow to 7" so I've heard. Just thought I'd share this little story with you guys/ladies. 



















Lil bro trying to steal some... no luck.









After the buffet









Shrimp makes him sleepy









off to bed









The End


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## StaleyDaBear (Apr 15, 2010)

the horror! the humanity!


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## bkrivera (Feb 16, 2010)

speedie408 said:


> :icon_cool
> 
> Hope this doesn't offend anyone especially since it wasn't deliberate. I just happened to walk upon this guy with half an Amano shrimp stuck down his throat.  I was able to grab the cam in time, luckily. A minute after he scarfed the entire shrimp down. Keep in mind he's only about 2" long. These guys can grow to 7" so I've heard. Just thought I'd share this little story with you guys/ladies.
> 
> ...


this is a beautiful betta. Can u cross this betta with halfmoon plakats?? And where did u get him from?


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Looking good, I want some of these someday! I would almost trade my Albis for a small group of these, almost.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

bkrivera said:


> this is a beautiful betta. Can u cross this betta with halfmoon plakats?? And where did u get him from?


Nope this is a Wild Type Betta and are pretty expensive yet. Breeding trios run about $200+


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

This thread should be posted in the inverts section every time someone asks if Betta are compatible with shrimp lol. 

beautiful fish


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

wow. Those are awesome fish AND pics.


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## RipariumGuy (Aug 6, 2009)

StaleyDaBear said:


> the horror! the humanity!


The Sweetness! :thumbsup:


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## StaleyDaBear (Apr 15, 2010)

do you provide the bettas with lemon butter?


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

yummy...i had a betta do that except he left the abdomen and head crawling around without its tail


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

you have no idea how much they love shrimps. Even the common betta splendens. I used to feed mine little bits of raw shrimp and they go crazy for it.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

haha glad you guys find it amusing as well. 

If you guys haven't kept this fish yet, they are on a whole nother level compared to Betta splendens or any other betta species that I've kept before. They got mad character and are absolute pigs, who'll eat till they burst. You can't feed them too much or they'll pinecone. I've been culling my RCS colony and feeding them to these guys with great results. They're growing fast and supposedly shrimp makes them more red. 

Thanks for looking guys. I'll share more photos on this thread as they keep growing to adulthood. Hopefully I can attempt to spawn them as well. Stay tuned.


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## Scottso (Oct 2, 2009)

Wow that's amazing. I have a metric ton of amano's in a tank with 5 inch opaline and gold gourami along with various rainbows and the fish can't even come close to eating one of those whole like that! That fish must have a big mouth!

I also had about 50 ghost shrimp in there too, but apparently the gourami CAN eat those because I have 0 in that tank now... :/

But that is really amazing. That's an expensive meal for that betta. I wonder if the shrimp was molting or just molted? Is this a regular occurrence or a one time deal?


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Scottso said:


> Wow that's amazing. I have a metric ton of amano's in a tank with 5 inch opaline and gold gourami along with various rainbows and the fish can't even come close to eating one of those whole like that! That fish must have a big mouth!
> 
> I also had about 50 ghost shrimp in there too, but apparently the gourami CAN eat those because I have 0 in that tank now... :/
> 
> But that is really amazing. That's an expensive meal for that betta. I wonder if the shrimp was molting or just molted? Is this a regular occurrence or a one time deal?


Macrostoma means "big mouth" :icon_mrgr

I didn't see the initial attack on the shrimp so I couldn't tell you if it was molting or not. I saw no shrimp head on the ground, and by the time I got my camera, what you see in the pics is what I captured. I think since I introduced the Macs in here, they've been slowly picking away at my Amano population. What use to be 12 shrimp, I only see about 3 bigger females now. Probably around still only because the Macs can't fit them in their mouths yet. I can get Amanos for $1.00/shrimp so it's not a big deal... they're only shrimp :icon_cool.


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## Sarkazmo (Jun 22, 2009)

These are supposedly awesome Betta. The Sultan of Brunei, where they're from, made catching, keeping, or possession of this fish a crime. It is an endangered species in the wild and hopefully aquarists will be able to keep this fish from going extinct.

Sark


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Sarkazmo said:


> These are supposedly awesome Betta. The Sultan of Brunei, where they're from, made catching, keeping, or possession of this fish a crime. It is an endangered species in the wild and hopefully aquarists will be able to keep this fish from going extinct.
> 
> Sark


They're the King of Bettas actually 

Thanks for that tidbit of fact on this fish. Although the Brunei government is rather lax on the law from what I've been reading. My intentions are to breed/distribute them but I'm not sure how successful that'll be. We'll just have to wait n see.


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## Gordon C. Snelling (Jun 20, 2007)

Macs are great fish. They actually breed fairly easily however the males are notorious egg eaters. Shrimp are an ideal conditioning food for them as well. It is highly likely that once someone decides to work out the taxonomy of wild Bettas that the genus will be split and _B. macrostoma_ will be placed in another genus.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Gordon C. Snelling said:


> It is highly likely that once someone decides to work out the taxonomy of wild Bettas that the genus will be split and _B. macrostoma_ will be placed in another genus.


Why so? Please elaborate if you may.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

speedie408 said:


> Why so? Please elaborate if you may.


+10 as all the wild type bettas are very much similar looking. Just because the Mac is bigger doesn't mean much. Considering if you look at the standard bettas there is a giant variety that gets 4+ inches.

Craig


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

They're mouth brooders too. That sets them apart but to give macs another genus, you'd have to look at the bones.


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> They're mouth brooders too. That sets them apart but to give macs another genus, you'd have to look at the bones.


Yep almost all the Wild Type Bettas are Mouthbrooders all but the Rutilans and they were classified as a mouth brooder some time ago that evolved to bubble nester but no one knows why they don't mouthbrood anymore.

Craig


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

These guys have the most unique characteristics to say the least. Not like any other bettas I've kept before. They're not shy at all and literally feed off my fingers.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

Loved this  

You always make me want wilds...


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

Love the pics and had to LOL at the one with his mouth wide open!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Here's a couple new snaps for everyone:










Another "Bigmouth" shot.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

Awesome pictures.. what kind of camera do you have?


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

chase127 said:


> Awesome pictures.. what kind of camera do you have?


Thank you sir. I shoot with my trusty Canon 40D.


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## chase127 (Jun 8, 2008)

Niceeee! I've got a lame Olypmus  Maybe one day I'll go DSLR


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

chase127 said:


> Niceeee! I've got a lame Olypmus  Maybe one day I'll go DSLR


Def the way to go if you love image quality. Most the older DSLRs are very affordable now for beginners. You can start collecting your lenses and later upgrade to nicer bodies when you get more advanced. It's another fun (and expensive) hobbie aside from planted tanks. :icon_mrgr

Go get one! :icon_cool


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Update:

One male in particular (Alpha) is coloring up nicely. Here's a few photos of his definitive marks showing up. Notice the spot on the dorsal fin and the outline starting to show on his caudal fin.



























These guys are going into a bigger tank soon so hopefully they'll be happier and make babies for me soon.


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## pwninkev (May 10, 2009)

aha nice pictures! gave me a giggle there


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## bikeny (Apr 29, 2010)

Those are some great fish and pictures, congrat's! I had no idea there were cool wild betta's in the hobby until I visited this site. I guess they are still expensive, but they look like really cool fish. They kind of remind me of miniature snakeheads! Good luck with the spawning attempts.

Maark


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## pwninkev (May 10, 2009)

ugh beautiful pictures and fish D:!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks guys.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Fantastic photos. That guy looks like an eating machine.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

Thanks Orlando. All these guys are hogs. They've got endless pits for mouths is the best way to put it.


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## dxiong5 (Sep 28, 2008)

You Macs are looking good! I'm a shrimp and Mac fan, :/ don't know who I side with here  I still haven't had a successful spawn, they keep eating the eggs. I'm running 100% RO now, but still might not be acidic and soft enough, time to try out some peat moss.


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

dxiong5 said:


> You Macs are looking good! I'm a shrimp and Mac fan, :/ don't know who I side with here  I still haven't had a successful spawn, they keep eating the eggs. I'm running 100% RO now, but still might not be acidic and soft enough, time to try out some peat moss.


I'll take macs over those pesky shrimp anyday . I hope you get those macs of yours going soon. I'm looking forward to some inspiration from you dude . Good luck to you bro.


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## urbanherbalist (May 13, 2010)

At a $1.00 a shrimp, it's still an expensive meal! The wild bettas look wonderful next to the red stemmed plants.


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