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Quality Bettas
and Buying them
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| Solid
Colors |
Vibrant, pure colors are
most desirable in choosing a betta. When looking for a solid color, any
other coloration should be considered a flaw, from minor to major. In
many cases you will not find pure colored solids going for cheap, but
you will find their siblings going for average pricing. In one spawn, a
breeder is fortunate to get less than half pure, solid colorations. As
said many times before, perfect bettas are few and far between. Those
who find them, usually don't sell them. They will breed them and brag
about them :) So when looking for nice solid stock, look for the
cleanest color possible. Even with some flaws, you should still get some
nice, pure colors in your spawn.
Opaque Whites that are a little different story. A clean white opaque is
truly a desirable betta to have. Unfortunately for those who breed them,
truly clean opaque whites are very few even in large spawns. This being
the case, try to find the cleanest pair you can, the female being the
most important. You can breed two opaque whites with red/cream wash
together and still get some clean whites in your spawn. So don't be
turned off by the wash, it may be the best (cheapest) way to get
your opaque line started. |
| Colors |
When looking for bi-colors,
multi-colors, marbles or butterflies you will need to use your best judgment.
For Bi-Colors, you should look for stock that has the least amount of
color bleeding from the body into the fins. |
| Tails |
Tail patterns are very wide
spread (excuse the pun, I couldn't help myself) There are Half Moons
(being ever so sought after), Delta Tails, Fan Tails, Round Tails, comb
tails, veil
tails and the newly popular Crown Tail. To learn all about these tails,
visit out Tails page in the Breeder's Corner. The advice I can give you
is that straight rays are very desirable. A veil tail fish is not a
'bad' fish, and they can be just as valuable as other tails. The only
problem is that most pet store fish are veil tails, and many 'breeders'
try to pass off pet store veil tails as quality breeders (mainly this
happens at auction sites). The problem is
a pet store veil is a mutt, in a matter of speaking. There is no way to
tell what genes that fish carries. There is no honest way to label a
pet store betta correctly. Please be wary of veils for this reason
unless you know the breeder's reputation well. I
only breed high quality fins, such as Deltas, super Deltas, Ultra Deltas,
fan tails and maybe a few round tails. I have many bettas that carry the Half Moon
gene and am always working toward that. |
| Condition |
The condition and health of
a bettas is often hard to determine online, even if you are fortunate to
get a photograph. So are
color and finnage for that matter. This section is more for those of you
purchasing your bettas in person. You should look for vibrant coloring,
this is a sign of health. You should also look for vigor. A frisky,
active bettas is always a sign of a healthy betta. Also, if you are
buying a betta for breeding, always ask the age of the betta. An older
betta may not breed as readily as a younger one. I would not purchase a
betta for breeding that is older than one year and never been bred
before. If they have successfully been bred in the past, then it
wouldn't be a bad buy. Also, I would not recommend buying a betta that
is over a year old in general, I feel that shipping them is too stressful for a
betta of that age. Some may go into a depression or may just not be the
same after the shipment. Some bettas may do fine, others may not. |
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