Please don't tell my lovely Pretty Boys they are cheap.
I think to do it again, I would still get a couple of good VTs. They really are lovely. What I would do differently is get some of the fine Betta offered by our own breeders on the Forum. Let them pay the fortunes for imports. At some point when I was ready to breed and really knew what I liked, I might get some Thai import. But there is also the excitement they tell me of shopping at the IBC Shows. There are just so many tanks to keep them in and only so much water.
I am in the UK miles from anywhere so i am limited to where i can get them.by starting with cheaper i meant getting one from the petshop at £2.50 compared to the £12.50 plus shipping for quality to start with.I am planning on having a few eventualy and maybe in a year or 2 even consider breeding but no way in the near future would i even consider breeding
Well, it isnt' much better if you live in the USA, to get a breeder quality betta.
A petstore betta starts at $8 where I'm situated, and the least expensive betta I could find from Thailand would cost me at least $50 after shipping, that's over 5 times as much! Even a betta bred in the USA would cost me at least $30, depending on where I look, which would still put it at more than three times as much.
Bettas are hardy little creatures, and if you read up before you buy, they're easy to care for. Proper care for a 'cheap' betta is the same as proper care for a 'quality' betta. Get which ever betta strikes your fancy.