Any US plakat sources?

[luxum]

So i've been browsing aquabid and have just fallen in love with plakats. There are a few up for bid atm that are "copper" and are just about the most beautiful i've ever seen. I would not have a problem paying 3 times the normal betta cost for one, but then you have to deal with trans-shipping from Thailand so i'm suspecting that one betta would cost me about $60 when it was all said and done. Now i like that betta a lot, but the cost is just too high for me to justify.

Sooo... does anyone know of a source within the US? I don't want to fight the fish, i just want that body type. Alternately, i would get a common long fin variety if i could find that copper coloration. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[White Whale]

Do you have a Chinatown in your area? If so, you can try to check out their aquariums. They usually carry arowanas, bettas, and discuseseseses. I got the little copper bugger below for $3 in my Chinatown tropical aquarium.

 

[luxum]

No Chinatown here, but there are many asian groceries, maybe they might have some? Never thought of that, i'll have to check!

 

[cation]

Funny you should mention that, itty. I was driving around the "International District" yesterday, Seattle's version of Chinatown, and came across not one, but two new fish stores w/in 4 blocks of each other. It was after they closed, but I'm looking forward to going down today or tomorrow to check them out.

 

[Ron]

There's a lot of American Plakat Breeders. On Aquabid, my favorite seller is Dalmatianz14. She is great! She has amazing bettas that come from Thailand, and they are very cheap. (About $15 for a male plakat.) The colors on her fish are amazing. Right now she has some up for auction, in fact she has a copper one. Here's the link to that auction:
http/www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auc...aswt&1088825754
http/www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auc...aswt&1088825754
Look around her auctions. She usually puts more stuff up every weekend. Again, great seller, great product!

 

[luxum]

Well those are pretty nice, but frankly, if i'm going to end up paying the high shipping cost anyway, i'll just spend the extra 15 to get the one i really like from Thailand...

Listen to me trying to justify it lol. My honey is not gonna be happy with me... i could just start secreting away a 20 dollar bill here and there and pay with western union, right?