Betta livida can be housed in pairs, species tanks, and community tanks.  Pairs can be housed in a 5 gallon tank, groups should be housed in a 20 gallon tank or larger.  Pairs should be given cover such as caves and plants.  In a pair or species situation it is possible that fry could be discovered in the tanks. 

Betta livida comes from blackwater environments and should have soft acidic water that is well filtered.  They should be kept at mid 70s F.

Females have an egg tube.  Females ovaries might be visible via spotlighting. Males may be more intensely colored.  Males have more pointed dorsal fins and longer anal fins.  Females are rounder and may exhibit an egg tube.

Livida is a submerged bubblenester so large leafed plants or black plastic film canisters are best for giving them a place to nest. 

References

Countries:

Malaysia

General notes on water chemistry:

All that is necessary for the successful spawn is a compatible, well-conditioned pair, a small floating tube for the male to build his bubblenest in, and Java moss for the female to hide in. B. livida appears to be a seasonal spawner with the author's fish breeding from the end of September through the middle of March. To induce spawning, either add a small amount of water a few degrees cooler and with the same chemistry as the tank water, or wait for the arrival of a storm. The male builds a small bubble nest into which 20-50 eggs are deposited. Both parents tend to the fry for the first few days. The fry become free-swimming at around the fourth day and may be found all over the tank, although most will be found hiding in the darkest corners. They are too small to accept newly hatched brine shrimp and need to be fed infusoria for the first week. The author has been successful at feeding the fry artificial plankton rotifer (APR) powder. By the end of the first week, the fry are able to accept brine shrimp. Cannibalism of the fry by their parents was not witnessed with this or other species in the B. coccina group which the author has maintained. Therefore, he suggests keeping the parents with the fry, which seems to eliminate the outbreak of velvet usually occurring after the fry are removed from their parents in the first 2-3 weeks. This has also been observed with mouthbrooding species like B. picta and with B. foerschi. A pair can spawn several times over a period of 6 or more weeks, leaving the tank filled with fry of differing sizes. To reduce predation of the smaller fry, the older ones should be moved to new quarters after they are sexed out, which can usually be accomplished by the third month. The fish are sexually mature soon after this, but it is generally recommended to wait until they are older to start breeding them since they will be better conditioned to produce larger and more robust spawns. B. livida appears to be long-lived, with the author's pair being well over 3 years old and still spawning at the writing of this article. [148]

Latin for 'jealous' with reference to its green eyes.  [148]