By Gene A. Lucas g.a.lucas@worldnet.att.com

 

Originally Published:

FAMA Magazine

June 2004

Vol. 27 - No. 6 - Pg. 64

 

One of the problems that Betta breeders have to deal with is rearing young males in separate containers. Let's face it ... they like to fight. Nothing new here ... after all, they are the most notorious of the many species of fighting fish. This inbred enhancement of a natural behavior leaves us no choice but to rear them separately, no matter what they will be used for eventually. I am always on the lookout for novel ways of doing this (and there are many) but the one I'm going to tell about is probably one of the most unique.

 

My last column told of a visit to a Betta farm on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, where we saw an estimated 100,000 bottles of Bettas. The sheer number of them was a bit mind boggling but there are several different aspects which are worthy of description. Where do you get them (and how much do they cost)? Where do you find places for them? How can you keep changing them? How do you see what's in them? How do you feed them? How do you know when and which ones to "harvest"? The list goes on. These things, and others, are the objects of this story.

 

The bottles I refer to are flat-sided, pint-sized whisky bottles. I know I have mentioned these after previous visits to fish farms over there, but I never saw them in numbers like this. In fact, a standard of my lectures about Thai fish farms through the years has been the observation that there must have been quite a party to accrue the bottles in such numbers. I am providing several pictures from this farm and various things on it which will be discussed in turn.

 

We drove for about an hour to the outskirts of Bangkok, then down some side roads in more or less open country. The Betta farm had no obvious property boundaries that I could see but the functional area occupied about two or three acres. The land was flat and appeared a bit swampy (wet) but that may have been because of the weather. There were numerous scattered trees but none of them looked very large. Many of them were Banana or Palm trees. We parked in a drive, walked past a residence, then into a large area filled with concrete rearing tanks, and finally entered a large barn-like building with no side walls. This was the center of activity.

 

This view shows the array of bottles as they stand on the ground. I tried to do a count of how many occupied a small space, then tried to project how many similar spaces might make up the entire floor and came up with my final "guestimate" of around 100,000, the number I mentioned earlier. I don't know if they all held Bettas the morning we visited, but I'm sure many of them probably did and of course they all could whenever they might be needed. This building had no solid walls. There were plastic tarpaulins covering the side wall and arranged so that they could cover the open ends. The most interesting feature was that the bottles on the ground served a second purpose ... they were also the floor of the building!

 

To get a sense of how the bottles serve as a floor surface, this picture shows two workers harvesting Bettas from some of them. It wasn't obvious how they were able to determine which bottles to lift up, but I assume they had some kind of rotational system. There appeared to be six or seven people working the fish in one way or another and it seemed that there was plenty for them to do. They would have to deal with all the chores that accompany breeding and rearing Bettas: spawning, providing food for fry, moving them to rearing tanks, eventually sexing them and placing males in the bottles, feeding them (individually now), making water changes, eventually harvesting the adults, packing them up for transportation, then taking them to wherever they were going.

 

A water changing routine was aided by this homemade device. The operator could quickly load about twenty bottles into the rack which he did by picking up about four in each hand at a time. The rack was then closed with the wire mesh cover which can be seen laying back to the left of the top. The entire rack of bottles was then inverted and the water spilled out on the ground. The mesh allowed the water to drain without the fish falling out. The rack was then turned upright, the lid opened and the bottles returned to their places in the "floor."

 

The bottles with fish inside were then re-filled by means of a plastic hose. Since Bettas can "breathe" air for a brief period, several racks of bottles could be dumped before filling had to commence. I had seen similar practices before and I imagine they could dump several racks before they needed to start refilling them. We weren't around long enough to watch a regular change so I wasn't able to learn how many at a time were changed, how often changing occurs or how much time it took. My guess is that with the number of bottles that were there, a large number of them had to be changed every day. I'd also guess that this is the most tedious stage of the routine.

 

This worker is selecting Bettas which are to be removed for sale. She checked them in the bottles, then the ones she wanted to take were emptied into the plastic pan. If they were in some order this was probably not too difficult as the ones in neighboring bottles were probably of the same age and stage of development. They were then taken to a work area off to the side of the main rearing area to be further processed. I presumed that the empty bottles were left lying on the surface so they could tell they were empty and ready to be cleaned and readied for another "resident."

 

Several workers were preparing fish to be taken to wherever they were to go. Some were to go to brokers, exporters, the market, etc. I think they were checked carefully so that the best and most interesting of them would be jarred and put on display for direct sale. I suspect that they liked the interesting ones themselves (as anyone would) and of course they would need to select out fish they wanted to use for breeding. The males that were to be taken away were put in slightly medicated water, then dipped out into small containers and transferred to boxes.

 

A box being filled with Bettas to be transported elsewhere. The fish are in small, open-topped plastic containers that appeared to be the bottoms of plastic cups or jars. They could hold maybe the equivalent of half an ordinary coffee cup of water. They were about 2" across and 2" high. It looked like a layer could hold about 80 of these. A plastic mesh was placed over the filled layer, followed by another layer. I estimate the box was deep enough to hold at least five layers, so if my calculations are anywhere near correct, a box could hold about 400 Bettas. The boxes would need to be carried upright as individual containers were not covered to hold in water.

 

An area used for spawning set-ups. Spawns were set up in plastic pans about 12" across and 6" deep. The pans were covered with squares of plastic or cardboard and information about the pairings was written on the tops. I couldn't make out what was said! These fit about 36 to a compartment of what looked to be six foot square shallow concrete tanks. These, in turn, filled a sizable area of the building, although only two have spawning pans in them. Most of the others are filled with square containers holding individual breeder fish. Each tank could hold 64 of these and one can see that there had to be hundreds of them.

 

Another part of the work area contained shelving which held males that were of unusual and more valuable males for sale. Several of my companions bought fish and I was tempted but I didn't want to face the hassle of transporting them on to Singapore, keeping them for another week and then transporting them home. The urine or light tea color of the water in these jars is not because it is old or dirty. The color comes from the use of water treated with the extract of Almond leaves which is thought by many Betta breeders to be highly beneficial. I think it's interesting that they were bred successfully for probably centuries without Almond leaves but everyone now believes their use is essential. I've tried them on a limited basis and haven't been convinced, but what do I know?

 

A view of a residence on the property fronted by masses of rearing tanks. We saw them in use at several different places and they looked to be about right for a good sized spawn. These were fashioned (one person told me) from rings in concrete drain pipe which had to have a bottom added. Others seem to have been made as tanks and already had bottoms in them. They were about 20" deep and about 30" in diameter. There were at least 100 of them, possibly more. Young Bettas are reared in these tanks and sorted into bottles at the appropriate ages. These tanks were mostly covered (various materials, it didn't seem to matter what) for protection against the sun, birds, excessive rainfall (which could flood them and wash fish out on the ground) or whatever.

 

Discussion:

I have in my notes the comments "60 boxes a week @ 400" but I'm not sure if that refers to this farm. If so, it means they are turning out 24,000 Bettas a week which doesn't add up if my other calculations are correct. I surely could have underestimated the number of bottles or there may be other explanations. The number may include females, which wouldn't have to be reared separately, and they may be raising more fish elsewhere. Any way you look at it, it is an impressive operation.

 

An obvious advantage people have in the Bangkok area of Thailand is the climate. It isn't necessary to worry about enclosures or heating when the climate is nearly ideal. When we were there in late October it was frequently overcast, rainy and, at times, foggy, creating a very humid atmosphere. This humidity is surely a factor in the provision of an ideal environment for Betta-type fishes. Labyrinth fishes in particular probably benefit from having damp, humid air to take in as opposed to dry. It may also help in the maintenance of bubblenests for species that use them in breeding.

 

Another feature of these farms, one which I haven't shown here, is various means of rearing large numbers of Daphnia, which seem to be the main staple live food in that part of the world. If true, then they would seem to have replaced the traditional mosquito larvae. I have pictures of some Daphnia rearing ponds from another farm which I will describe in a later story. I asked about the use of brine shrimp and was told by another person that most find them far more costly and the Daphnia serve the purpose just as well. Since they are easily reared and can be harvested in an assortment of sizes, the process makes good sense.

 

As I suggested earlier the operation of these Betta farms is the basis for an extensive network for supply of Bettas to the world's trade in the species. I don't know how many farms there might be but I have visited (on previous trips) assorted kinds of what I like to call brokers and other tropical fish exporters as well as the shops and the public markets and there are always masses of them. In these times of growing interactions among Betta breeders via the Internet and through such things as Betta clubs, shows and other activities, there is also an expanding person-to-person market as well. Several years ago an exporter in Jakarta (Indonesia) told me there was a worldwide demand for several hundred thousand Bettas a month. This number has surely grown by now and I would guess that more of them come from Thailand than any other source.

 

One of the most positive consequences of the increased focus and communication concerning Bettas has been the improvement in knowledge as to what people like about them. This has stimulated efforts to produce better fish and the related discovery of new types. Betta clubs and the shows they sponsor have generated class descriptions and standards of assorted types that are becoming universally recognizable. While there are still differences of opinions I hope that eventually everyone will realize that we will all benefit from a coming together and use of a common method of naming and describing Betta types.

 

Another benefit of increasing international contact is that of gaining "connections." On my recent trip I was able to meet many people who deal in various ways with Bettas. Many of them knew or were in contact with others and as a result I was able to meet them and they in turn guided me to others I would not have known about or been able to locate on my own.

 

Of particular help in Bangkok was Mr. Sarawut Angkuwanuwat, known (possibly) to Internet Betta fanciers by his AquaBid identifier "siamimbellis@siamimbellis.com." He is one of a number of Thai Betta breeders who regularly offer excellent fish on AquaBid. I'd recommend looking them over to anyone who likes Bettas, even if not looking to buy. Sarawut had arranged transportation and visits from myself and several Singapore Betta enthusiasts for several of the days we spent in Bangkok, a task which would have been much more difficult without him. He met us each morning with a van and plans for our entire day (including snacks, water bottles and lunch breaks). I was impressed by his choices and organization and I am most grateful for his assistance.

 

It seemed to me that at least some of the people in Thailand were very "up" on what Betta breeders elsewhere are interested in. I believe Sarawut was assisting the farm people to market the better Bettas they are able to produce, possibly through purchase and resale. He, like several others, is skillful at getting excellent pictures of Bettas to go with his Internet offerings.

 

Of greatest interest to me were the several new types of Bettas under development over there. Some are apparent genetic types and others are one-of-a-kind but most exciting. The most impressive were oranges and coppers (I know, both are being worked here as well ... some stocks may have originated here) which they are working well. I think they are quite a bit ahead on Crowntails, Giants and a wide array of PlaKat (short finned) types. There were some individuals that almost looked tiger striped. Nice stuff.

 

Every time I have been fortunate enough to go over there I have come away feeling that this hobby (Bettas) is very healthy and getting more so. The interactions between Bettas fanciers around the world shows great promise for even better things to come. Those who work with them in all the ways we do can feel our efforts are not in vain.

 

If you found this story interesting, I'll warn you - I have several more like it that will appear in months ahead. I started this by mentioning booze bottles in my title. It reminds me ... I think I could use a .... Naaaaw!

 

More another time.