My Large Betta Splendens Collection

[Questions?]

oh, "sounds" easy. its probasly not though. how many fry do they usually have

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

oh, "sounds" easy. its probasly not though. how many fry do they usually have

Believe it or not, it's easier than it sounds to breed them. The problem is raising their fry, since the fry are extremely sensitive. My pairs will usually produce around 100-150 eggs during one session, from that usually 100% hatch, but only around 80% survive.
I have to say, out of all the freshwater fish species I have raised over the years, bettas are the easiest to breed but their fry are the hardest to raise out of all the fish I have cared after.

 

[Questions?]

oh, ok

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Alright guys, I've selected the pairs which I'm going to condition for breeding this month. I'll be breeding blue mask HMPK male #1 with blue mask HMPK female #1 as well as my female black copper Ct. I'll keep everyone posted, really interested to see what I can get out of my male blue mask crossed with my females black copper Ct. Hopefully I get some crossray fry, as this female is the sibling of my black copper king Ct male.

Male Blue Mask HMPK #1

Female Blue Mask #1

Black copper Ct female

 

[CoryLover95]

Gorgeous!  What spectacular bettas.  I have a little blue crown tail female, not as stunning as yours but I still love her!

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Gorgeous!  What spectacular bettas.  I have a little blue crown tail female, not as stunning as yours but I still love her!

Thanks CL, yeah crowntails are awesome. Out of my show bettas, it's the crowntails I have a really soft spot for. What some people aren't aware of is; crowntails need specialized care compared to the other tail types, if your interested in why I'll be more than happy to explain

 

[PiranhaGirl]

Your Bettas are absolutely beautiful! I love Bettas, and always feel so bad for them when I see them at my LFS, stuck in those tiny cups.
 
I currently have a female crown tail. She's just a little thing, only about an inch right now. Cream color, with red fins and these beady black eyes. I named her Irie, after the Iridescent looking scales along her gills. Right now she is in a 12 gallon tank with three ghost shrimp. She was very inquisitive when we first put them in but pretty much ignores them now.

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Yeah, it really is sad how bettas are stored in those dip cups, with not even enough room to stretch their fins. Even when the employees do water changes, they don't even take the time to properly accimilate them to new water. Irie sounds awesome, would love to see some pics.
Noticed your UN has "piranha" in it, do you also keep a few species of piranhas? I currently have a ruby red spilo and a piraya, though I've kept numerous species from blacks, mannies, macs and Cariba.

 

[Timberbatch]

That first black copper HMPK is to die for! But all of them are stunning non the less, such a beautiful collection!
 
Thanks so much for sharing, I could look at Bettas all day. 

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Here's the plakats that a buddy of mine gave me for free. He delivered them to me this morning at 8:00am, they're sibling brothers and 3 months old. Base black with blue/green irids, also want to mention their really nice and even form.
Constantly darting at eachother, while I was floating them.
My friend breeds his own line of fighters here in Canada, calls these ones LS-3 (Little Samurais, brood/batch 3) fighters.
I don't usually keep plakat fighters as I don't support the so called betta fighting sport, but when I do get fighter plakats I usually go for looks.

 

[RCA]

Thanks CL, yeah crowntails are awesome. Out of my show bettas, it's the crowntails I have a really soft spot for. What some people aren't aware of is; crowntails need specialized care compared to the other tail types, if your interested in why I'll be more than happy to explain

I am interested ...explain away please 

 

[Questions?]

those plakats are beutiful

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Thanks CL, yeah crowntails are awesome. Out of my show bettas, it's the crowntails I have a really soft spot for. What some people aren't aware of is; crowntails need specialized care compared to the other tail types, if your interested in why I'll be more than happy to explain

I am interested ...explain away please 

It would usually apply to males of the crowntail strain, but due to the lack of fin webbing between the rays, in a crowntail's caudal a crowntail needs to be kept in softer waters. Their water also needs to kept at very prestine conditions.
The most common problems individuals have with crowntails is: fin rot and curling, these problems are most reccuring in crowntails, especially specimens with long and thin rays. An example would be: crossray crowntails.
Although, crowntails with thicker rays don't need to be treated as so.

 

[RCA]

Thanks Dominus_XVIII I was not aware of that, where did you find out this information?  So far, I have not had an issue with my two CT's, except one ate his tail shortly after he arrived i.e. tail biter (first one I have had to ever do this)!  I knew he ate it as it changed dramatically within 30 mins.  He now has a lot more ornaments/plants in his tank with him, including five small fish to keep him occupied.  He has a salt dip now and again and his tail appears to be gaining new growth.  He now eats everything I give him (he used to not bother and he was as skinny as anything), and is happily building bubble nests.  Hoping he will not do it again!

 

[Dominus_XVIII]

Most of my info is basically taken from what I learn from breeders around the world. I regularly email breeders is Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, on a daily basis. Most of the time they email me lectures and research notes they've written up them selves.
They come across some pretty neat stuff, because bettas are so readily avalible to them. They have enough bettas of their own in their bett farms, but they can also walk to any nearby body of water, either in a pond, stream, puddle or river and scoop up more bettas.