Aquarist Species:  Betta rubra

Aquarist: thopson

Species Profile: Betta rubra

Description:   rubra: from the Latin ruber, meaning ‘red’. Known only from northwestern Sumatra, Indonesia with definitive records existing from the Singkil area in Aceh province and around Sibolga in North Sumatra (Sumatera Utara) province. Type locality is given by Perugia as ‘Lago Toba, Siboga’, with the latter an alternative or misspelling of ‘Sibolga’, although it’s not thought to inhabit the lake itself which lies at an altitude of around 900 m AMSL. Other former localities for B. rubra are currently considered to refer to the closely-related B. dennisyongi and it’s unclear if the two occur together naturally in some locations due to human interference (Tan, 2013). Max length: 30 – 42 mm. Temperature: 22 – 27 °C pH: 5.0 – 6.5 Hardness: 18 – 90 ppm

Category:   Anabantids

Global Region:   Asia

Distribution:   Indonesia: Sumatra

CARES Classification:   Endangered

Aquarist Notes

Genetic Line:   Aquarium Strain

Year Acquired:   2026

10G, walstad setup. 2 pairs kept together. Males are very shy

Spawning notes:

Species Spawned:   Yes

Once they get comfortable they seem to spawn regularly.

Have Reared Fry?   Yes

Fry tend to stick to the bottom of the tank. I strictly feed live foods to all my fry such as infusoria, vinegar eels and microworms