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I have two giant plakats swimming around in my tank! I'm so excited! I've never even seen a giant before today and then boom, two arrive on my front doorstep (carried by a friend, not of their own accord)!

I'll grab pictures tomorrow, but does anyone else here keep giants? Are they more like wilds, fancies, or fighter types in behaviour?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

nice!

Ive had a few "semi giants" they didnt fall into the 4-5 inches range, but they were very large in body size.

cant wait to see some pics.

congrats! i actualy had to look that up but they look pretty cool. your friend just randomly gavethem to you? thats pretty nice!
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/bettafish/tailfinforms.php
on this site at least it says they are the wild form of betta and are more active than the ones normally seen in stores since they arent hampred by the long fins. so im guessing
same aggression
more movement.
but thats just a guess.

The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we dont know what to do.

He works at a wholesaler and uses me for pictures occasionally, and he called it a Xmas gift I'm not complaining

Well, I've had the two for a week or so, and golly gosh they are grumpy! They seemed fine in the bag and fine in QT, but in with unknown fish it is a whole other story.

I have one in it's own tank and one in the 55. I keep a bunch of bettas in the 55, mainly left overs from breeding, and all get on fine. I think there are about 4 males and 2 females just swanning about with the guppies. This giant though, he took exception to one CT fellow and tore most of his tail off overnight. After scooping Mr CT out, he then turned on Evil Little Panchax (tail muncher extraordinaire, he was forever munching on guppy tails) and killed him. One minute ELP was just swimming around, the next he was very unhappy. *mutter mutter*

Even after all of that carry-on, he is still in there. I figured that it would be very interesting to see where this goes, given that his murderous intentions appear to have passed. Perhaps the giant gene/s are more common in fighting bred fish and this is just that angry side coming out? Maybe he's just been badly socialised? Either way, it is fascinating watching him learn about the other fish and how to interact. He has commandeered about 30gal of the tank for himself, give or take, and he seems unfussed by the guppies and a little deformed betta hanging out with him. He's lurking and giving chase, but not seriously. It really is like a low-level fight bred PK on red cordial... with stronger jaws.

Movement is about the same, I think the extra body bulk hampers him a bit. They lack the litheness of the show/hybrid fighting fish, instead moving more like the old brown breeder females from about 8 years ago. There doesn't seem to be enough fin for the body bulk, but that could be because I'm used to seeing finer bodied fish with that type of tail/colour. It seems like they could do with about another .5cm or so to get a bit more oomph.

And boy are these guys hard to photograph! I'll try again now they are more settled.


(Mr CT is perfectly fine BTW, recovering nicely and enjoying being unhampered by previously damaged finnage. He'll be getting his own tank once he's recovered)

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

The loose one next to a CT (in a strawberry punnet for safety!)



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For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Wow, i really like the PK. I am wondering why the Plakat couldnt run away from the CT, as the CT has more longer, threaded finnage, and i thought it would get hampered by that. The plakat also has very beautiful colors, and i was actually expecting a plain dull tan or brown (I thought Wild=Dull Color). Are you going to breed them? Also, do you have to give them back to your friend? I would QT them and heal their fins first, or that might be a bit of an upset to have one them with ripped fins....

Good Luck with them!!!

PS: HOw do all the Male Bettas get along in a tank? I thought that they would all kill each other on sight? Do they often attack each other? And how much territory do they occupy? THanks!

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wow that new guy sure is pretty!

i had always heard the wild specimens were duller, but after the breeding stuff and the catch and release and breeding of good lines i would assume that some of the color variations would have escaped into the wild...

good luck and i also ask the same questions as Goby_fan...

how do you keep all those males in one tank???

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