Betta Genetics

[dasmall1]

I breed guppies right now and am thinking about breeding bettas instead. But, looking on aquabid at bettas, I see that most auctions are only for a male. Like there are for guppies, are there certain strains of bettas? Do you breed in order to perfect the genetics of a line? Or is it just, you take the best looking male with the best finnage and the best female and breed them together? Sorry if I'm being vague or stupid.

Thanks!

 

[Synirr]

Kind of both. There are certain colours and combos that breeders work to perfect, and certain colour morphs are related and can be bred together to produce a mix (for example, copper and opaque are both the product of certain genes working on the steel blue colour, so you can breed any of these three colours together and get nice results), but you can also cross two completely unrelated colours and get something interesting. Generally you want to avoid mixing reds with blues unless the fish you start with are already a mix, though.

 

[dasmall1]

Thanks for the reply! That will help me get started with breeding stock!

 

[Synirr]

Here are some good websites on betta genetics to get you started, if you are interested. Knowing more about them will help you make educated decisions about breeding stock if you are shooting to get a specific result in the offspring
http/vanriel.myadsl.nl/BT-AABcolorgenetics.htm
http/www.bettas-jimsonnier.com/genetics.htm
http/www.bubblenest.net/geneticsymbols.html

 

[dasmall1]

Thanks! They're very helpful and easily understood. I don't really have any specific results yet besides not messing up a bunch of fish, but I'm sure I will. Knowledge, research, and planning are the keys to success, imo. You can't just jump into a lake if you don't know how deep it is.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

If you want females of a particular strain just keep watching Aquabid... they are less common but do show up from time to time. Females just don't sell as well as males because they aren't as "pretty" so most breeders prob. don't bother to put them up very often...you could always try contacting the breeder and asking if they have females in the strains you want.

 

[Synirr]

Asking a breeder if they have available females is always a good idea, and often produces results

 

[jess6905]

iv asked the breeder twice now if they had any females that they hadnt listed yet and both times i got some very nice fish so don't be afraid to ask.