Cockerel fish: varieties, selection, care and breeding of “fighting” fish

Cockerels are one of the most controversial pets you can buy for an aquarium. Legends make up about their unserviceable character, and the enthusiastic descriptions of fighting aquarium breed left by amateurs look very attractive. Some believe that it is impossible to keep this species in the same aquarium with other individuals. What you need to know about this unusual pet in order not to make a mistake in choosing what unique qualities this fish has and what is unusual, we will tell later in the article.

Different subspecies of males differ mainly in color and fin length. Its second name is "Fighting fish" they received thanks to the participation of wild individuals in battles, where the aggressiveness of representatives of the macropod family was very much in demand. In the heat of battle, the cockerel fluffs its fins and turns into a swift likeness of ball lightning. But even in a calm state, this fish can become a real decoration of a large or small aquarium.

The decorative Betta splendens fighting fish in the natural environment lives in the regions of Southeast Asia in ponds, rivers with stagnant or low-flowing water. The first mention of their maintenance as pets appeared in 1800 and belonged to Siam, where at that time specific fights of aquatic inhabitants were popular. True, it would be very difficult to recognize aquarium beauties in them. The wild species had a rather nondescript brown body and short fins.

Out of Thailand, fighting fish came only a century after the start of breeding. Thanks to the transition to the international scale of their breeding, it was possible to obtain individuals with bright colors. The males of the new formation were bred in North America in the first half of the 20th century, and since then many aquarium subspecies of the most incredible colors have appeared.

Wild Betta splendens has a characteristic body color - light olive-gray with stripes on the body, they can be longitudinal or transverse. The body length of the fish varies in the range of 4-5 cm, males are larger. Decorative males often grow to 10-15 cm, have original fins in shape.

For males, as well as for other labyrinth fish, breathing of various types is characteristic, they are able to rise upward and breathe air. Other features include:

• characteristic oval body shape;
• flatness of the body from the sides;
• rounded shape of the caudal and dorsal fins;
• a variety of colors from plain to multicolor;
• a change in the brightness of the color in a collision with the enemy - it becomes saturated;
• males nest and care for caviar;
• developed territorial instinct.

All these features should be considered when choosing cockerels as pets for your home aquarium.

If not a small fry is acquired, but an adult, it is important to determine the age of the fighting fish. There are several basic evaluation criteria by which you can make approximate calculations.

1. Body length. The standard sizes of adult fish are 6–9 cm; young growth grows by 11 months. Accordingly, determining age is not difficult. For purchase, it is better to choose individuals 2-3 cm long that have not yet reached puberty.
2. The length of the fins. If we are talking about males, then in young animals they always look more modest. The fish acquires its luxurious long tails and “feathers” as it grows older. In the old individual, the fins will be shabby, split.
3. Color brightness. If several males live in the aquarium at once, younger individuals will be easily distinguished by their bright color. It is much richer than the one that adult fish have. In addition, with age, the pet will have a characteristic hump, the eyes will become whitish. These signs should be taken into account when choosing fish for home keeping, because males live no more than 1-2 years.

Thai fighting fish has a variety of color options. Thanks to the work of breeders, unprepossessing in nature, through the efforts of specialists, it flourished with bright colors. Today there are white and marble, black, bright red, blue, violet subspecies, dragon, masquerade and piebald, they are one-color, two-color, multi-color. According to their decorative characteristics, fish males can be of various types.

• Posters, with shorter fan-shaped fins, wider than other species.

• Veil-tailed, with long veil ornaments on the body of the male. Both fins and tail are double. Therefore, the fish can be called double-tail.

• Crescent-tailed or halfmoons. Their tail is characterized by a lunar shape.

• Crown-tailed. The fishes are decorated with a tail, divided into separate crown-shaped “feathers”. The crown-tailed type is one of the most beautiful.

• Round-tailed, with a rounded shape of the fin processes. The closest in appearance to the natural form and the least decorative.

• Royal - so are called the largest varieties. Their fins are fan-shaped, not very long.

• Dumbo Males have very long pectoral fins, while moving interestingly fluttering in the water, like elephant ears.

• Flag-tailed. In these fish, the tail and fins have a rectangular shape, similar to the flag flag.

• Pistol-tailed or spear-tailed, with decorative elements in the shape of a brush or the tip of a spear. The lateral segments of the tail are shorter than its central part.

• Delta-tailed. With fins and tail in the form of the Latin letter delta.

These are the main decorative varieties. But breeding work does not stand still, and new interesting subspecies of fighting fish regularly appear.

When choosing a cockerel fish for home keeping, it is important to consider a number of rules.

1. Get your pet only at trusted stores or from breeders. The better the conditions of detention, the higher the likelihood that the fish can easily adapt to a new place of residence. It is better to choose small specialized stores that work with breeders.
2. Take small fish. Young males have a body length of 2-3 cm, larger fish can live in a new place for very short time.
3. Do not purchase a pet from a clearly dirty, muddy aquarium. You should not take a fish from an overpopulated reservoir, with obvious signs of stress.
4. Pay attention to health status. Eyes should be clean and clear, scales without mucus and spots, bright color, fins long, without kinks and cliffs. A healthy fish is active, curious, swells at the sight of danger.
5. Immediately determine the gender. For solitary content, it is better to take a more decorative male. They are brightly colored, have characteristic fins and a tail.

These basic recommendations will be enough not to make a mistake when buying a fighting fish for a home aquarium.

Creating good living conditions is the basis of comfort for cockerel fish. These pets need:

• clean clear water; you will have to change it regularly;
• plants on which the fighting Thai will rest;
• interesting bottom decoration with decorations.

Avoid immersion of sharp objects in the aquarium, otherwise fins may be damaged. In this case, you can wait until the tail grows.

Free space required - during the day, fishes like to play in the water, often stay close to the surface. If you turn off the backlight at night or not use it, the pet sleeps in a thicket of greenery.

One individual requires at least 3-4 liters of water, it is better if, with a single content, the tank capacity will reach 10-15 liters.

In a spacious aquarium that has already been populated, you can plant different-sex cockerels, or delimit the compartments for each individual with septa with monobreed content. Holes are made in them, providing a free flow of water. Plants are planted near the makeshift wall to create a sense of isolated content for each male. At any aquarium cover required — the fish are jumping and curious.

Fighting fish can do without additional heaters. But optimal for males, as well as for other tropical species, indicators are considered to be + 24 ... 28 degrees Celsius. Other environmental characteristics: 6-7.5 pH, hardness not higher than 15 units. As a home antibacterial treatment salt is added to water - 0.5 tsp is enough for 3 l of liquid.

Substitution of 1/6 of the medium in a small aquarium is needed up to 10 times a month, in a large one every 14 days, or as needed, bubbles on the surface - future nest, removed with other contaminants.

Aeration for labyrinth fish will be unnecessary, it is needed only by fry of the first month of life. But the filter does not need to be neglected, but it is enough to choose a low-power model.Strong current, these fish are poorly tolerated, in nature they live in reservoirs with almost stagnant water. When choosing a soil, it is worth giving preference to fine gravel, sea or river sand of a dark color, pre-treated against bacteria and parasites.

To study the nuances of breeding fish in an aquarium at home should be done in advance. Males are not viviparous, but there is no sense in constantly keeping a couple together - pets will be aggressive. But to distinguish a female from a male is quite easy.

In the male, the fins and tail are decorated with long veil processes, the body is slender and elongated. The female is smaller, more compact, with a more rounded body. She has shortened caudal, pectoral, and dorsal fins, fish older than three months have a characteristic white area in the lower abdomen, in front of the tail.

Breeding fish is recommended in a dedicated small spawning with a volume of 4-5 liters. For its arrangement it is necessary:

• refuse ground flooring;
• provide a muffled, diffuse backlight;
• plant 2-3 green small-leaved plants;
• pour water at a level of 10-15 cm from the bottom;
• provide saturation of the environment with oxygen.

Water is poured into the spawning after settling for 3-4 days, heated to a constant temperature of + 28 ... 30 degrees Celsius.

The temperature parameters of the environment should exceed the usual by 2-3 degrees, substitutions are made more often, 1-2 times within 7 days.

The male is the first to be placed in the tank allocated for spawning. We need to give him time to adapt and build the nest. After that, you can plant a female, with which the cockerel will be able to demonstrate the results of their labors. If they manage to reach an agreement, an educated couple lays eggs and fertilizes it. In the process, the body of the female individual is entangled with the fins of the male - so he squeezes the eggs.

At the end of spawning, the rooster by mouth transfers eggs that have fallen to the bottom of the eggs into the foamy nest created by it. The father takes care of the offspring until the fry appear.

The male will remove dead eggs by himself, returning the fallen eggs to the nest.

The standard time from fertilization to birth in males is from 24 to 48 hours. After this period, babies appear from the caviar. Another 3-4 days it takes them to eat their yolk shell. Further fry swim out of the nest in search of additional food. At this moment, it’s time to plant the male, otherwise he will try to return the young to their place, leaving him without food.

Starter food for cockerel fry is quite simple. Suitable live dust, dried egg yolk, microscopic cyclops larvae. Ready-made flakes are not recommended for use, as they can slow the development of fish.

From the second month of life in a children's aquarium, you can turn off mandatory aeration, since the organ necessary for breathing forms at 4-5 weeks.

The transition to an adult regime begins for young animals at the first manifestation of territorial instincts.

Success in joint maintenance largely depends on the amount of free space and the aggressiveness of a particular individual. Female males do not fight so often and are generally less aggressive. In addition, even 2 heterosexual individuals in the same territory usually do not live. The maximum that you can afford - female repartition during the spawning period, when the male has built the nest necessary for the incubation of eggs in a common tank and is ready for courtship.

But you can usually hook a beautiful fighting fish into an already populated aquarium with a volume of more than 100 liters, having received a quite peacefully coexisting underwater kingdom in miniature.

Despite the individual temperament of a particular fish, groups of rocks more or less compatible with rather aggressive neighbors in the aquarium can be distinguished.

1. Well compatible views. These include catfish corridors and other non-aggressive individuals, thorns.
2. Conditionally compatible views. This group includes cardinals, barbs, guppies, neon, labeos.
3. Completely incompatible species. Piranhas and other predators, small fish up to 4 cm long, brightly colored individuals, are not recommended for joint keeping. Population with goldfish threatens the cockerel with hypothermia.

Single content is considered optimal. Males need sufficient space and solitude, and seek little to the community of other inhabitants of the aquatic world.

Arranging a convenient aquarium for fighting fish will require the right selection of scenery.

For artificial options, the optimal choice would be manufacturing decor from natural silk - it is safe for the inhabitants of the tank, does not affect its environment.

Gardening of an aquarium intended for males with live plants is done using pots and planting in the ground. Plant volumes can be up to 1/3 of the total available space, but they are placed on the walls without interfering with the swimming of the fish. As the bottom decorations are used driftwood, stones without sharp edges, which have undergone high-temperature treatment with boiling water or calcined in the oven. Fighting fish like grottoes, castles and other decorations.

The main problems faced by owners of cockerel fish are related to changes in the appearance of pets. It happens that a male has peeled off and lost his attractive appearance, requires the restoration of the female after a fight - these and other main problems are worth considering in more detail.

• Bubbles appeared on the surface of the water. Foam in the aquarium of the cockerels is not cause for alarm. So the male prepares the nest for the subsequent throwing of eggs. It can simply be removed if no dilution is planned.

• The fish lies at the bottom and breathes heavily, the movement of the gills is noticeable. This behavior may be characteristic of older fish. But similar symptoms are observed in young males during the acclimatization period, as well as at extremely low ambient temperatures (below +19 degrees Celsius). It is worth checking the water parameters and nitrates - there is a possibility that the fish received chemical poisoning.

• White spots or plaque appear on the body. If it is observed on the fins, this fin rot is a dangerous specific disease in which the fish completely loses its decorative effect. White spots are formed on the body during ichthyophthyroidism, if other fish are present in the aquarium, quarantine is needed, the risk of death is high. Fluffy "snow" plaque, similar to mold - this is saprolegniosis, the pet needs treatment with salt baths and antibiotics, you need to go to the veterinarian.

• The cockerel does not eat. Lack of appetite in these fish may be due to relocation to a new place or a change in diet. Pets can easily ignore the new food, especially when it comes to dry compressed flakes. In this case, the situation will be remedied by replacing the finished diet with a living one - bloodworms, artemia. And also fish can refuse food with too large fractions.

• Fins or tail stuck together. These are signs of a disease or violation of the rules for keeping fish.It is necessary to consult a veterinarian. If the tail and fins are peeling off, this may be due to fights in the aquarium or self-harm in stressful situations.

• Cockerel jumps out of the aquarium. Fighting fish are physically active, especially at a young age; they are often attracted to the world around them, which they try to observe through jumping. In addition, a frightened cockerel in a stressful situation can try to jump out over the edge. Most often, such attempts are made by fish contained in round aquariums.

• The fish swims sideways on the surface. Like other labyrinth fishes, this can mean bubble problems. But it happens that when feeding flakes, the fish just grab excess air. In this case, a hungry diet for 1-2 days helps.

The problems with the behavior and oddities of the males are not limited to this, but in general, the probability of encountering them when creating good conditions is extremely small.

The males are quite unpretentious in keeping fish that can easily live without food for 1-2 days. They are even encouraged to arrange weekly fasting days, allowing normalization of the digestive system. The rest of the time food is given once, preferably at the same time.

As a rule, this behavior is demonstrated at the sight of a potential rival; it does not indicate the presence of health problems. Some male males show their affection for the female. It is easy to verify this statement: just put a mirror on the glass of the aquarium, and the pet will immediately take an offensive position.

Males willingly let themselves stroke, in general they are pretty contact fish. But this can not be abused, since it is possible to damage the mucous protective layer on the scales, leaving the pet vulnerable to any infections.

A cockerel lying at the bottom is a rather strange sight. But with a short-term manifestation of such behavior, you should not worry. So the fish are resting. If such periods become long, it is worth showing the cock to the veterinarian.

Considering the reviews of breeders about fighting fish males, it can be noted that almost all of them consider their pets, indeed, the best choice for home maintenance. Absolutely everyone notes the incredible beauty of this species. Males with a veil tail look very beautiful and, in addition, do not need to create special conditions. They are so unpretentious that they are able to live at room temperature - water does not need to be heated. Besides, since the fish breathe air, swimming to the surface, many hold it without aerators and other devices.

Aquarists note that males are lighter than other breeds to endure cramped conditions. In fact, the fish can live in a decorative glass, and in a small round aquarium. But only its content in a large aquarium helps to reduce its aggressiveness. Females - their lovers call “hens”, have no less developed territoriality and may themselves become aggressors. But if the reservoir is large, the fish are not often found, and they can quite successfully coexist.

According to the reviews of breeders, it can be judged that males are often chosen as the first pet for children. Indeed, it is interesting to observe this beautiful fish, it easily tolerates children's forgetfulness when feeding, it can starve for 1-2 days without damage to health. But it is worth considering that the fish do not live long, and they will have to change their pets quite often.

Not without negative reviews. The males are not too accommodating, it is difficult to call them the soul of a large team. This fish is at enmity with male and female relatives, and a stronger individual will certainly win, leaving a weak fellow without food, driving him into a shelter. Unaccustomed to such battles, novice aquarists are usually horrified, and try to take their pets back to the store. In fact, you just need to remember from the very beginning the increased territorial instincts of the pet and not experiment with the sharing of the company in the aquarium.

You will learn about proper care for males in the next video.