The Elusive Purple Betta

[xrdh]

I'm not an experienced fish owner, nor am I a good photographer, but I wanted to share my excitement about my newest fish - a fairly rare purple Betta. I hope the two photos download OK.

I first found out that there was such a thing when I saw an ad on Craig's List asking for them. They included a photo of the ideal fish and I was hooked.

After a couple of weeks and searching every store within 75 miles, I found one. It was at WalMart, of all places. The shipment had just come in, so they had not had time to ruin the fish. Actually, this particular WalMart is exceptionally good at maintaining their Bettas. In no small part, I hope, due to my diligence at complaining, educating and praising the manager in regards to their fish department.

Anyway, he may not have the best fins or shape of his head (I really don't know...) but in my mind he is beautiful and sweet and I am totally in love with him. I have only had him for three days now and he will go into my 10 gal tank with 2 Cory Cats as soon as I re-home my lone Rosey Barb. He is still quite young, but when he matures and gets his full finnage and color I will try to re-post another photo of him. He is irredescent, and can appear to be dark or light purple depending on the light and angle.

It is so weird to admit that I am in love with a fish, but I feel some comfort in knowing that many of you completely understand.

[Old Marine]

Nice looking Betta! No i Love my Mbunas allso, If you do not Love your Pets and Fish you should not have them! Great too see your entusiasm

[Fishkeeper]

Love him! Such a beauty! I had a purple betta once. He was dull grey when I bought him from the store, but he colored up after he was in a larger tank for awhile.

[nikelodeon79]

That fish is a copper... not a true purple. (Though yes, there is purple on the fish).

Coppers are my absolute FAVORITE color betta, though!

[Cyberra]

^_^ Very pretty. I've seen some near-purples, but I've never had an available tank when they were in

[xrdh]

I agree that he is not a true purple, but no one I have spoken to here around Spokane, WA has ever seen a purple one. He looked almost black in the little cup at WalMart. I had to borrow a magnifying glass from the jewelry department to see him well enough to determine his real color and apparent health. His personality won me over. He was hard for me to examine, because he wouldn't give me a side view. He kept facing me, no matter which way I turned the cup. So cute!

I just moved him from a temporary one gallon bowl to his new home - a 10 gallon tank - yesterday. Boy is he happy! He loves to explore and thinks the plants are great. The woman at the pet store was thrilled to be given my beautiful long finned Rosey Barb for free. She unexpectedly gave me some plants in trade. I loved the Barb, but he was the only one of his school left and I had to rehome him before I could get a Betta.

What makes him a copper? His irredescence? (I'm still trying to figure out what a mbuna is....)

[ScottishFish]

Nice fish! I <3 my firemouth so I totally understand!!

[nikelodeon79]

What makes him a copper? His irredescence? (I'm still trying to figure out what a mbuna is....)

Well... his color makes him a copper. https://www.google.com/search?q=copp...w=1152&bih=749

Here's a copper I had in the past (sorry about the poor picture quality):


And mbuna are a rockdwelling fish (cichlids) from Lake Malawi in Africa. They are aggressive fish that are generally brightly colored (at least the males).

[xrdh]

Thanks for the education. I don't see why they call that color copper, but he is a copper betta. I assumed that my guy was a very young adult, but after reading more on these forums, I see that he may already be a year old. He is small, so I was asuming he would grow some. If they only live to be 4 or 5 years old, surely he would be full grown and full size at one year, right? Or was that forum statement wrong about the typical store-bought Betta being one year old aready? I was hoping to take more and better photos in a few months when he was fully grown and colored out.

[Cyberra]

My blue betta Midnight was a bit of a runt when I brought him home, and he was almost a year old at the time. He's now a good three to four inches long. Yours probably will get a bit bigger.