Reef Builders is clearly a specialist in the marine and reef aquarium side of the hobby but we still have lots of appreciation for incredible freshwater fish. This year’s Aquarama fish competition featured so many unbelievable fish specimens that we just have to share with some of the Bettas, discus and Asian arowanas which caught our eye in Singapore.
First up is this unreal looking shortfin Plakat betta which won first place in its category at the siamese fighting fish competition. This unique red betta has an unremarkable wine-red body color but with unbelievable bright blue scales that are so defined they appear as if they were “inserted” into the fish after the basic red color was set.
Pictures hardly do justice to this sapphire-studded Betta splendens and the video only comes close to revealing how eye-catching this championship fish was in real life. Alas, there is an unfortunate shortage of Bettas like these and the many stunning varieties in the Americas which is such a pity for such a beautiful and undemanding aquarium fish.
Hopefully in time show-quality bettas will catch on like planted tanks have but in the meantime, we’ll just have to enjoy these stunners from a distance and through the web. Be sure and set the video to HD and watch through the end for the extreme closeups of this unique fish.
