Hi everybody,
When I was first at TFF, I was into bettas, but hadn't kept one since Alberich (my plakat from another member's spawn) died last year. Albie lived for 4.5 years and I wasn't really interested in another betta since I prefer plakats. Yesterday, I went to a LFS to find a small powerhead for my planted tank. While there I took a look at the fish (They have great SW fish... sigh
). But the female bettas were catching my eye. They were fighting and I noticed what looked like a bearded flare in one of the fish. 
Upon closer inspection, no white ovipositor, wrong shape to the anal fin, and the other females had vertical bars in this shemale's presence... Hmmmm. Sometimes it happens, after lots of line-breeding, you'll get a throw-back, a short-finned male with wild coloration. You be the judge... My vote is male, definitely male...
Quite stressed when I got "him". Poor guy, probably has been fighting like crazy in the LFS.
Some video. He's kind of fat and I can see why he was put with the females.
Today he's much better... some fin damage from the fighting, but he'll recover, and he ate well.
Now, this is what makes Fugly all male. Look at that Flare! He even has a karate chop! Yeah, it's Fugly for now, but I think I'll be changing this. He's definitely not fancy, but I think he's beautiful in that Plakat sort of way. No fancy coloration or fins, just very basic. His body is about 2 inches long, making him very large, and he's bulky. Caudal fin adds another half inch or so.
I've found males like this before. They make great pets. I missed having a betta.
llj
When I was first at TFF, I was into bettas, but hadn't kept one since Alberich (my plakat from another member's spawn) died last year. Albie lived for 4.5 years and I wasn't really interested in another betta since I prefer plakats. Yesterday, I went to a LFS to find a small powerhead for my planted tank. While there I took a look at the fish (They have great SW fish... sigh
). But the female bettas were catching my eye. They were fighting and I noticed what looked like a bearded flare in one of the fish. Upon closer inspection, no white ovipositor, wrong shape to the anal fin, and the other females had vertical bars in this shemale's presence... Hmmmm. Sometimes it happens, after lots of line-breeding, you'll get a throw-back, a short-finned male with wild coloration. You be the judge... My vote is male, definitely male... Quite stressed when I got "him". Poor guy, probably has been fighting like crazy in the LFS.
Some video. He's kind of fat and I can see why he was put with the females.
Today he's much better... some fin damage from the fighting, but he'll recover, and he ate well.
Now, this is what makes Fugly all male. Look at that Flare! He even has a karate chop! Yeah, it's Fugly for now, but I think I'll be changing this. He's definitely not fancy, but I think he's beautiful in that Plakat sort of way. No fancy coloration or fins, just very basic. His body is about 2 inches long, making him very large, and he's bulky. Caudal fin adds another half inch or so.
I've found males like this before. They make great pets.
I missed having a betta. llj
