Not a species, and our three sources do not agree which species are in it
An alien betta is a hybrid of wild Betta species crossed with domestic stock. That is where the agreement ends: one source names three parent species and says the origins are uncertain, one names three different ones joined by and/or, and the third names none at all.
Aquariadise: alien bettas are one of the more recent breeds of betta fish, created by cross-breeding different species of betta fish, and the possible parentage of wild fish include Betta smaragdina, Betta mahachaiensis, and Betta stikos. It then says the part that decides how this guide is written: the exact origins remain uncertain.
Fish Laboratory gives a different list and a looser joint: the fish is created by mixing two other species of Betta fish, and the hybrids involve Betta splendens, Betta smaragdina, and/or Betta mahachaiensis. It adds the conclusion that follows: as a hybrid specimen, it is very unlikely that they exist naturally in the wild.
Aquarium Co-Op describes the result without naming a parent: this hybridized betta combines the amazing colors of a domesticated betta with the small head and slender body of wild type betta species. On appearance it is the most specific of the three: the fins notably have dark, thick banding or bars on them, and the fish often come in blue to green iridescent colors with a non-black face and dark edging around the scales.
So the honest description of an alien betta is a look rather than a lineage, and that is not unusual on this site. Our flowerhorn record carries the scientific name None. It is a hybrid, and our platy record carries two species names and the words usually crossed.
What this guide is
- The question
- Three thousand three hundred searches a month for a fish that has no scientific name, and whose sources disagree about which species were crossed to make it.
- Why it is filed here
- Under breeding, alongside our koi betta fish guide. Both are breeding outcomes rather than fish, and they are unstable in different ways.
- The record behind it
- Our betta record for Betta splendens, one of the candidate parents, and Seriously Fish on Betta smaragdina for another.
The figures, and the wild parent that has better data than the hybrid
Two sources publish care figures for the alien betta. A third publishes figures for one of its candidate parents, and because that parent is a described species the data is better. The last column is our own record for the other candidate parent.
| Figure | Aquariadise, alien | Fish Laboratory, alien | Seriously Fish, B. smaragdina | Our betta record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tank | 5 gal min, 10 to 15 better | 5 gal set up properly | 18 by 12 in for a pair | 5 to 10 gal |
| Temperature | 78 to 81 °F | 75 to 85 °F | 72 to 82 °F | Around 80 °F |
| pH | Near neutral | 5.0 to 7.0 | 5.5 to 7.5 | 6.0 to 8.0 |
| Hardness | 4 to 18 dGH | none | 1 to 10 dGH | 18 to 268 ppm |
| Adult size | none | 2 to 3 in | 60 mm SL, 2.4 in | 2.4 to 2.8 in |
| Lifespan | Over 3, rarely over 5 | Around 4 years | none | 3 to 4 years |
| Diet | Fairly carnivorous | Carnivorous micro predator | Live and frozen preferred | Carnivore |
| More than one male | not addressed | No | Possible, with cover | No |
The last row is the one worth arguing about. Fish Laboratory says males cannot cohabitate with each other but can tolerate most freshwater community fish. Seriously Fish, on the wild Betta smaragdina, says the opposite of the first half: provided there is sufficient cover it is possible to keep more than one male per tank, though it is considered best practice to isolate pairs for breeding purposes.
That sentence is not written about most bettas, and it matters here because smaragdina is on both lists of candidate parents. It also inverts the second half: Seriously Fish calls the wild species not recommended for the standard community aquarium, where Fish Laboratory says the hybrid tolerates most community fish. Two of the four columns disagree with each other about both halves of the same question, and the difference between them is domestication.
On the water the hybrid pages sit inside the wild parent, which is the reassuring result. Aquariadise gives 78 to 81 °F and near neutral pH with 4 to 18 dGH; Fish Laboratory 75 to 85 °F and pH 5.0 to 7.0; Seriously Fish 72 to 82 °F, pH 5.5 to 7.5 and 1 to 10 dGH. The span all three temperature bands contain is 78 to 81, and on pH the two that give numbers overlap from 5.5 to 7.0.
Read against our own betta record the difference is at the alkaline end. That record publishes pH 6.0 to 8.0 for Betta splendens ornamental strains; every source here stops at 7.5 or below. So an alien betta is published for softer, more acidic water than a shop betta, which is what a fish with wild parents from peat and marsh habitats would want, and it is the one care difference the sources support.
It does not breed true, and sometimes it does not breed at all
Fish Laboratory gives the genetics in five words: they are heterozygous and do not breed true, meaning the offspring will not consistently match the parents. Aquariadise says the same thing from the keeper’s side and adds a harder one: alien bettas are sometimes infertile, and their offspring can be unpredictable in form and color.
Put those together and an alien betta is the opposite purchase from a pedigree animal. What you buy is one individual, not a line. Two alien bettas bred together do not reliably produce alien bettas, and some pairs produce nothing, which is why the fish is described as pricey and comes mostly from specialist breeders.
That is a different kind of instability from the one on our koi betta fish guide, and the pair is worth reading together. A koi betta is one species whose pattern moves during its own lifetime, because the marble gene is a transposon. An alien betta is several species whose pattern moves between generations, because the genome is a mixture that does not segregate cleanly. One is unstable in time and the other in inheritance.
Both alien sources agree on the mechanics of a spawning, and they are the mechanics of every betta. Fish Laboratory: they are bubble nesters where the male builds the nest and tends the eggs until hatching at 36 to 48 hours. Seriously Fish on the wild parent gives the same and adds where the nest goes: the male might construct the nest in a tube or canister, under a broad plant leaf or among fine-leaved surface vegetation, and notes that the pair need not be separated prior to spawning.
Seriously Fish also records what the ornamental trade has done to the wild species, which is the sentence this whole guide sits on: Betta smaragdina has been selectively bred for the ornamental trade and hybridized with its congeners, leading to the development of a number of colour forms that do not occur naturally. An alien betta is one of those forms, described from the other direction.
One practical instruction is shared by every source and it has nothing to do with genetics. Aquariadise: betta fish, especially the wild varieties, are known to be excellent jumpers, requiring a tight-fitting lid. A hybrid carrying wild-type body shape carries wild-type behavior with it, and this is the trait most likely to end the fish in the first week.
Three ways to not be a species, and this site now holds one of each
| Page | What it is | What the name field says |
|---|---|---|
| Alien betta | A hybrid of wild Betta species, parentage disputed | No binomial. Three candidate parents across two sources |
| Flowerhorn | A cichlid hybrid made by breeders | None. It is a hybrid |
| Platy | Two species sold as one fish | Xiphophorus maculatus and X. variatus, usually crossed |
| Koi betta | One species, a pattern that moves | Betta splendens. The pattern is not the fish |
| Siamese algae eater | A genus where the species is argued about | Crossocheilus, and the species is disputed |
| Black molly | A form of one species, with mixed pedigrees | Poecilia sphenops, over a complex of about 13 species |
Six pages, six different reasons the name field cannot simply carry a binomial, and the alien betta is the only one where nobody agrees on the ingredients. The flowerhorn has no name and everyone knows it. The platy has two names and everyone knows both. The siamese algae eater has a genus and an argument about the species. The alien betta has three candidate parents, two source lists that do not match, and a sentence saying the origins are uncertain.
That is worth stating plainly rather than treating as a curiosity, because it changes what a care sheet can promise. If the parentage is unknown, the tolerances are inherited from an unknown mixture. Aquariadise gives 4 to 18 dGH, a very wide band, and Fish Laboratory gives no hardness at all. Neither is being careless; both are describing a fish whose ancestry differs between breeders.
So the practical advice this guide can support is narrow and it is about the shop rather than the tank. Buy the individual and ask the seller what is in it. The care figures every source agrees on, 78 to 81 °F, soft to moderately hard water below pH 7.5, a carnivorous diet and a tight lid, are the figures for wild-type Betta generally rather than for this cross specifically.
On temperament the one thing worth carrying forward is Aquariadise’s comparison, because it is the only claim any source makes about the hybrid as opposed to its parents: alien bettas tend to be slightly more peaceful than betta splendens, their domesticated cousins. Set that against our koi betta fish guide, where Seriously Fish records that ornamental strains are more aggressive than any other Betta species, and the two guides land in opposite directions from the same starting point: selection for color made one line more aggressive, and reintroducing wild blood appears to have taken some of that back.
The body, the bars and the female, who is described as brighter than she should be
Alien betta fish are bought for how they look, and our two sources describe that look from different angles without quite contradicting each other. Fish Laboratory: they often have a black or dark brown body with a vivid metallic sheen, with stunning iridescence and pattern, and adds the practical point that the coloration is what typically helps you identify Alien Bettas.
Aquarium Co-Op describes the parts rather than the whole, and it is the only source that mentions the fins: they notably have dark, thick banding or bars on them, and the fish often come in blue to green iridescent colors with a non-black face and dark edging around the scales. Read the two together and the picture is consistent: a dark body under metallic scaling, edged, with barred fins and a face that is not black.
Fish Laboratory names the colour varieties, and the naming works the way the koi betta names do, by pigment rather than by line: Green Alien Betta Fish have a vibrant green color, the Copper Alien Betta Fish have a coppery patterned sheen, as do the blue and black. It also names one that is a fin shape rather than a color: Plakat Alien Betta Fish are a shorter finned variety of Betta. That is the same crossing of two axes our koi betta fish guide finds in the name Nemo Palkat, pattern from one list and fin shape from the other.
The female is where this fish differs from every other betta on this site, and one sentence carries it. Fish Laboratory: the female Alien Betta fish is typically much more brightly colored than most other female Betta fish. The females are noticeably smaller than the males, and they tend to have a body shape that is round in comparison.
Set that against Betta splendens and it runs the other way. On our koi betta fish guide, Seriously Fish describes the male as smaller, more colourful in the species where the female is the larger fish, and Aquarium Store Depot sexes a koi betta by the female being rounder and less intensely colored. Here the male is the larger fish and the female is the unusually bright one. Two betta pages on this site, and the sexes are described in opposite directions on both size and color, which is what you would expect when one page is about a domestic strain and the other about a wild cross.
On the tank, Fish Laboratory adds the one setup detail neither other source gives and it fits the parentage: in addition to aquatic plants, consider adding driftwood. Driftwood is great for Betta tanks because they release tannins in the water over time. Tannins acidify and stain the water, which is consistent with every pH figure on this record stopping at 7.5 or below, and with the peat and marsh habitats Seriously Fish describes for the wild parent.
Our own plant records supply the rest of that setup. Our java fern and java moss records both publish pH 6.0 to 7.5, which contains the whole of this page’s water, and both attach to driftwood rather than needing substrate. So the plant, the wood and the water are one decision on this record rather than three.
Alien betta fish questions, answered from the sources
What is an alien betta?
A hybrid, not a species. Aquariadise: alien bettas are one of the more recent breeds of betta fish, created by cross-breeding different species of betta fish. Fish Laboratory: as a hybrid specimen, it is very unlikely that they exist naturally in the wild. Aquarium Co-Op describes the result: this hybridized betta combines the amazing colors of a domesticated betta with the small head and slender body of wild type betta species.
What species make an alien betta?
Our sources do not agree, and one says so outright. Aquariadise names Betta smaragdina, Betta mahachaiensis and Betta stikos, then adds: the exact origins remain uncertain. Fish Laboratory names Betta splendens, Betta smaragdina and/or Betta mahachaiensis. Aquarium Co-Op names no parent species at all. So the answer depends on the breeder, and no source we hold can tell you which cross produced a given fish.
Is an alien betta a real species?
No, and this site already holds several pages in the same position. Our flowerhorn record carries the scientific name None. It is a hybrid. Our platy record carries two names and the words usually crossed. The alien betta is the only one of them where the ingredients themselves are disputed rather than simply mixed.
Do alien bettas breed true?
No. Fish Laboratory: they are heterozygous and do not breed true, so the offspring will not consistently match the parents. Aquariadise adds that alien bettas are sometimes infertile and their offspring can be unpredictable in form and color. What you buy is an individual rather than a line, which is why the fish comes mostly from specialist breeders and is described as pricey.
What size tank does an alien betta need?
5 gallons as an absolute minimum, and both sources push higher. Aquariadise: an absolute minimum of 5 gallons for a single fish, with 10 to 15 gallons recommended for water stability, and 20 or more if you want community tank mates. Fish Laboratory: 5 gallons if it is set up properly, larger for tank mates. Seriously Fish asks for an 18 by 12 inch base for a pair of the wild parent, which is about 11 gallons.
What water do alien bettas need?
78 to 81 °F, and softer and more acidic than a shop betta. That temperature is the span all three published bands contain: Aquariadise 78 to 81, Fish Laboratory 75 to 85, Seriously Fish 72 to 82 for the wild parent. On pH, Aquariadise says near neutral, Fish Laboratory 5.0 to 7.0 and Seriously Fish 5.5 to 7.5. Every one of them stops at 7.5 or below, where our betta record publishes 6.0 to 8.0 for ornamental Betta splendens.
How big do alien bettas get?
2 to 3 inches, on the one alien source that gives a figure. Fish Laboratory says 2 to 3 inches; Aquariadise publishes no size. For comparison Seriously Fish caps the wild Betta smaragdina at 60 mm standard length, 2.4 inches, and our betta record publishes 2.4 to 2.8 inches. All three land in the same place, which is unsurprising for a cross between them.
How long do alien bettas live?
Three to five years, and the two sources phrase it differently. Aquariadise: a happy, healthy alien betta fish should exceed 3 years of age in captivity. In some rare cases, they might even exceed 5 years. Fish Laboratory gives around 4 years. Seriously Fish publishes no lifespan for the wild parent. Our betta record gives 3 to 4 years.
Can two male alien bettas share a tank?
Our sources split, and the disagreement is about domestication. Fish Laboratory says males cannot cohabitate with each other. Seriously Fish, on the wild Betta smaragdina that both lists name as a parent, says provided there is sufficient cover it is possible to keep more than one male per tank, though it is considered best practice to isolate pairs for breeding purposes. That is a sentence almost never written about a betta, and it applies to the wild species rather than to the hybrid.
What can live with an alien betta?
Aquariadise scales it by tank: small tanks work with snails and shrimp, and 20 gallons or more accommodates peaceful community fish like rasboras and tetras. Fish Laboratory says the hybrid can tolerate most freshwater community fish. Seriously Fish disagrees about the wild parent, calling Betta smaragdina not recommended for the standard community aquarium. On this site that maps to our chili rasbora, ember tetra and cherry shrimp records, all of which sit inside the pH and temperature above.
Are alien bettas aggressive?
Slightly less than a shop betta, on the only source that compares them. Aquariadise: alien bettas tend to be slightly more peaceful than betta splendens, their domesticated cousins. That is interesting against our koi betta fish guide, where Seriously Fish records that ornamental strains are more aggressive than any other Betta species. Selection for color pushed one line up; reintroducing wild blood appears to bring some of it back down.
Do alien bettas jump?
Yes, and this is the trait most likely to end the fish in its first week. Aquariadise: betta fish, especially the wild varieties, are known to be excellent jumpers, requiring a tight-fitting lid. A hybrid that carries wild-type body shape carries wild-type behavior with it, so a tank that would hold a long-finned shop betta may not hold this one.
How do you breed alien bettas?
The same way as any betta, with a less predictable result. Fish Laboratory: they are bubble nesters and the male builds the nest and tends the eggs until hatching at 36 to 48 hours. Seriously Fish on the wild parent adds where the nest goes, in a tube or canister, under a broad plant leaf or among fine-leaved surface vegetation, and that the pair need not be separated prior to spawning. What you cannot predict is the fry: heterozygous parents do not breed true and some are infertile.
Are alien bettas hard to keep?
No harder than any betta on the numbers, and less certain on paper. The tank is 5 gallons minimum, the diet is carnivorous, the temperature band is three degrees wide and the lid is compulsory. What is harder is that the fish has no published pedigree, so its tolerances are inherited from a mixture that differs between breeders. Aquariadise gives a hardness band of 4 to 18 dGH, which is very wide, and Fish Laboratory gives none.
What does an alien betta look like?
A dark body under metallic scaling, with barred fins. Fish Laboratory: alien betta fish often have a black or dark brown body with a vivid metallic sheen and stunning iridescence and pattern, adding that the coloration is what typically helps you identify Alien Bettas. Aquarium Co-Op is the only source that describes the fins: they notably have dark, thick banding or bars on them, over blue to green iridescent colors with a non-black face and dark edging around the scales.
What are the types of alien betta?
Named by pigment, with one exception named by fin. Fish Laboratory: Green Alien Betta Fish have a vibrant green color, the Copper Alien Betta Fish have a coppery patterned sheen, as do the blue and black. The exception is Plakat Alien Betta Fish are a shorter finned variety of Betta, which is a fin shape rather than a color. No source we hold publishes a different care figure for any of them.
How do you tell a male alien betta from a female?
By size and shape, and the female is unusually bright for a betta. Fish Laboratory: the female Alien Betta fish is typically much more brightly colored than most other female Betta fish. The females are noticeably smaller than the males, and they tend to have a body shape that is round in comparison. That runs opposite to Betta splendens, where our koi betta fish guide records the female as the larger fish and the male as the more colorful one.
Do alien bettas need driftwood?
One source recommends it and the reason fits the water. Fish Laboratory: in addition to aquatic plants, consider adding driftwood. Driftwood is great for Betta tanks because they release tannins in the water over time. Tannins acidify and stain the water, which is consistent with every pH figure on this page stopping at 7.5 or below. Our java fern and java moss records both attach to wood rather than to substrate and both publish pH 6.0 to 7.5.
What is the difference between an alien betta and a koi betta?
One is several species, the other is one species with a moving pattern. A koi betta is Betta splendens carrying the marble gene, which our koi betta fish guide traces to a transposon that changes position in the genome, so the pattern shifts during the fish’s own life. An alien betta is a cross between wild Betta species and domestic stock, which is heterozygous and does not breed true, so the pattern shifts between generations instead. One is unstable in time, the other in inheritance.