Who Gives A Fish Forums

I might've made a slightly impulsive decision last night and brought home a betta for my 10gal tank. Before anyone jumps to conclusions, I do have a backup plan in place - a separate tank to keep him in if he ends up being too aggressive. I've got a pretty established population of exLodgeing shrimp and ramshorn snails, and I'm hoping he can help me get the shrimp under control. I've also got chili rasboras in the tank, and so far, he doesn't seem too interested in them, and they don't appear to be bothered by his presence either. He's been pretty curious about the shrimp, but I haven't seen him actually go after one yet.

I'm really curious about his coloration and whether it'll change over time. I don't know too much about betta genetics, but I've heard of the marble gene. Does it look like he's got marbled coloring? It's kinda hard to tell since his body's a bit splotchy around his head, and he's pretty pale overall. The store just labeled him as a "double tail male."

Honestly, the most telling sign is that his colors will likely change over time, and pretty dramatically at that - think mottled or marbled patterns popping up out of nowhere. You won't really know for sure if he's got the marble gene until you see it happening, though.