Sexing betta channoides

[lucasjiang]

Hi guys,

Recently i managed to obtain a pair of betta channoides. However, after they settled down, i realised that the supposed female was starting to have slightly red finnage, instead of the supposedly drab fins that i always see in pictures online.

So, i got suspicious and i decided to compare to a live specimen. i went to midori and got the last pair there. the female there was a very drab fish, unlike my supposed female at home. after i got the second pair home, i realised that my 1st pairs colours were even brighter (maybe they got turned on)

So, the point is, is my original female really a female? hope all the experts here can help to tell the gender.

Pics: (sorry for the lousy pics, they were taken at night)

1st male:




2nd male:





Suspected male:

[johannes]

Hey bro, from what i see, only your second male is the true male. The first and last fishes are female.

female may have the red coloration on the fins but not on the body, which is greyish/brown normally but will turn into black/brown and cream vertical stripes when breeding. the head profile is also sharper/more pointed.

male tends to have broad triangular head when viewed from the top. his fins would have certain degree of white rim, and the body would be dark red/maroon with black cheek when stable.

[lucasjiang]

Hi all,

here are some better pics of my bettas, side view and top view, so as to assist identification.

by the way, is it possible that my first pair of bettas may not be channoides. actually, i got them as an unidentified pair at $38, which is suprisingly cheap for channoides, and i assumed that it was channoides. Also, after comparing the heads of the fishes, i realise that the 1st pair's heads resemble a male's head more than a female's even though johannes said they were female., so i am a bit confused, and i think it is possible that they may not even be channoides.

Pics:

1st pair top view (the unidentified ones)




2nd pair top view (confirm channoides pair)





Unidentified fishes side view


1st fish



2nd fish




2nd pair (betta channoides)

male:




female:



thanks for the help

[Mudskipper]

I think they do look like channoides. I'm not good at sexing them either...but 38 buck a pair? Where did you buy them? Can I order 10 pairs?

[lucasjiang]

hi mudskipper,

i got it at tiong bahru wuhu. maybe if you want 10 pairs, i can help you ask the uncle, i am a regular customer. However, now i am thinking, is there any possibility that it is albimarginata?

[Mudskipper]

You need Johannes for that one. He's the wild betta guru here.

Just kidding about the 10 pairs lah...unless can keep them in teacups.

[lucasjiang]

haha, i thought maybe you had some empty four feet tank in your home waiting to be stocked with fishes.

[johannes]

your first pair do look like 2 males now seeing them from the top. you should let them settle, add ketapang leaves, condition them to bring out their colours, by then i think you would be able to tell them apart yourself, hehe.
they are definitely B. channoides, and not albimarginata.

[lucasjiang]

actually their colours are much better in real life, except that photo taking stresses them out. i try not to take too many photos.

[ouuuigh]

hey bro , i myself keep channoides
i think the unidentified pair contain two females , males do not have black spots or lines on grey body , even when they are stress , the male should still have a grey body with no spots and a faded red tail with a black border line ,
when stable just like what johannes said ,
females will have red tail like what you show in your post but the body should be grey with even darker spots around , thats means your betta is happy and MAY breed , thats what other bro told me
it may not be true as picture dont do justice , seeing it live will be better
does the 1st pair chase around? if yes one of them is male , if no maybe they haven stable

[lucasjiang]

Hi bros,

just some updates.

For the unidentified pair,
both of them are quite active and like to swim around the tank. One of them has very red fins, but somehow the body never ever turns red, or even slightly red. sometimes, there are also vertical bars. the other one is still quite pale and the fins are just slightly red.

For the confirmed pair,
the female is also quite active and is showing colour on the fins. on the other hand, the male is always hiding under the leaves. when i am able to see him, i realise that his body is slightly reddish, and his fin colours are also quite nice.

[johannes]

The presence of a more dominant male in a tank will cause the other male from showing its colour.
Sexing B. channoides is easy actually, you will know it after keeping them for a while.

[lucasjiang]

So, after camping in front of the tank for at least and hour, i managed to get some photos of the unidentified fish without scaring them. Here are the pics.

The first 2 pics are their normal colouration





The next two pics are of the fishes in display colouration. when they meet each other, or any other fish, i realise that they will flare, and will even chase the fish sometimes. the fins become super red, and they show the vertical bars on the body. in the second photo, that is a female below the unidentified flaring channoides.




Last photo, the shy male hiding under the leaf




Thanks for viewing

[ouuuigh]

hey bro , the photo above the male hiding , the one with strips seem like a male to me , thats the unidentified pair rite?
how does they flare look like? my pair dun flare at all , do they open their gills like normal betta do?

[lucasjiang]

Hi bro, yup, that photo shows one of the unidentified fishes.

When they flare, it is like they swim in front or beside another fish, then they open up their tail and fin until very big, then the colour suddenly become very bright. except for the gill opening, their flaring is almost exactly like normal betta.

When they swim normally, the tail is normally not fully open, then fins are also closed, then the colour is brown.