Another mini?

[Synirr]

The other day I messaged Wuv about Agares... she sent him to me as a small male to breed with Mini, and I just realised that he hasn't grown very much himself. In fact, I'm not sure he has grown at all. His body is about the same size as Mini's, and Wuv says their mothers were either sisters or the exact same fish, so maybe it really is a stray gene. I took some size comparison pics because I think this is pretty interesting and wanted to share

Agares... that's a package of Hikari betta pellets in front of him

Mini (take into account that she's further in the background in her pic)

Yura, who is normal sized

A fry, just for fun

 

[Seahorse]

I was going to ask you about this so I am glad you made this topic. I read your spawn diary regularly, and see you referencing to mini as a size, and not just the mothers name. By mini do you mean just small, or is it an actual gene like say, giant?

Is it like two 5'0 people having children, who also end up short?

I am just wondering if this is unique in the sense of giants, which I am assuming it is rare because bettas are generally larger.

 

[Synirr]

I was going to ask you about this so I am glad you made this topic. I read your spawn diary regularly, and see you referencing to mini as a size, and not just the mothers name. By mini do you mean just small, or is it an actual gene like say, giant?

Is it like two 5'0 people having children, who also end up short?

I am just wondering if this is unique in the sense of giants, which I am assuming it is rare because bettas are generally larger.

I actually don't know if it's genetic or not yet... which is why I bred Mini
Wuv and I think that it very well could be a gene, and Agares being small as well and related to Mini is a good indication of that. I won't know for sure until I get consistent results; like breeding two minis together and getting nothing but minis, for example.
I'm hoping it's like a form of dwarfism. If they make dwarf cows there might as well be dwarf bettas

 

[LifeBear]

Dwarf bettas would be cool. As long as people didn't get the idea that they could live in even smaller cups than regular bettas.

Anything in miniature is popular. You could become a betta breeding star!

Let us know how it comes out.

 

[BettaMomma]

I'd like to know what you find out about them too.
I think my little Liza is a mini and I'd like to know what "makes up a mini" . These pictures kind of show how tiny she is compared to everyone else, but to see her in person, the other fish are about 3 times her size.
In this photo, she's the one on the far right:

Here's one that pretty old. I took it when I had the girls for just a couple of weeks. They were exactly the same size when I got them, and here they are size by side.

Here she is in the middle lookin up at the top:

 

[daudy_dojo]

awww how cute i that

 

[50000_tears]

i used to have a mini betta . she was a double tail betta too. poor thing i lost her to dropsy.

 

[daudy_dojo]

tears there is something wrong here... i los tmy mini doubletail to dropsy! im slowly backing away from the computer... *runs*

 

[50000_tears]

o_o interesting

 

[daudy_dojo]

0.o very

 

[50000_tears]

it wasnt that one cute double tail you stole from walmart was it?

 

[Synirr]

BettaMomma, isn't Liza the one who wouldn't eat anything but peas? If so, that could very well be why she hasn't grown much. She's cute as a button, as are the rest of your girls

Anywho, like I said, it may or may not be genetic. Mini might just have a growth hormone deficiency or something, but it certainly has nothing to do with her diet!! She eats like a PIG and has a huuuuge tummy full of eggs.

The thing is, even if it is genetic, I may not see a good Mendelian ratio going on (if you're unfamiliar with Mendelian genetics, it just means I may not get the ratio of large offspring to "mini" offspring I'd be expecting). If the babies start out growing slower than their siblings, natural selection occuring in the tank will weed some of them out... they could be eaten by their larger siblings or just be weaker and less able to get to food. If, however, they grow at the same rate as their siblings and then plateau at their max size earlier, things will go on as expected. Mini is by far the most aggressive and least shy female I've ever seen, so I can easily imagine why she survived so well in her spawn, even being as small as she is

I know a little bit about the genetics of various types of dwarfism in humans, so I'm pretty sure I'll know what ratios to look for... just wish me luck, and we'll know in around 5 more months
Even if it turns out not to be genetic, I may try to breed my bettas down. Everyone else is shooting for larger fish, but I think the small ones are adorable, so I could just pick the best and smallest fish from each spawn and work my way down.

 

[AlexsDaddy]

I have a couple bettas on the small side and was wondering about that as well. When I first got the one smallish crowntail, I just thought he was young, but he hasn't grown any. He's about in inch long, MAYBE a little over. I just recently got a male plakat who is less then an inch long. Only had him a couple weeks, but havn't noticed any growth there yet either.

 

[BettaMomma]

BettaMomma, isn't Liza the one who wouldn't eat anything but peas? If so, that could very well be why she hasn't grown much. She's cute as a button, as are the rest of your girls

She WAS, but she started eating blood worms, daphnia, peas, cucumbers and every once in a while I can trick her into eating a pellet.

 

[Seahorse]

BettaMomma, isn't Liza the one who wouldn't eat anything but peas? If so, that could very well be why she hasn't grown much. She's cute as a button, as are the rest of your girls

She WAS, but she started eating blood worms, daphnia, peas, cucumbers and every once in a while I can trick her into eating a pellet.

She's got expensive taste, she's my kinda betta