I want to breed!

[FalconStorm]

Actually, I am interested in breeding, but I'm interested in doing it right, and not at all if I don't think I can pull it off.

First thing, I have a VERY beautiful crowntail male whose genetics I think would be great to pass on. The thing is, I could be completely wrong, so I want some opinions from the betta experts on here. I got him from my lfs for $9. I'm not sure if the price might say anything about his quality. Would it be a good idea to ask them where they get their fish from and see if I can get some info on his bloodlines? Would it matter? He is a very dark blue, black in places with red patches on his fins and metallic blue the color of a neon's stripe on the veins of his fins. He looks a bit like the betta in germanshphrdlover's avatar. I've got some pics, but they're not downloaded yet, and I dunno how good quality they are, but I'll try to post them.

If he is good quality, could someone recommend what type of female to look for and where a good place to get her is? I'm interested in going ahead and obtaining her, because even if it doesn't work out, I'd love to have a pretty female around the house. What kind of tail should I look for? I know DT's should not be bred together. Is the same true for CT? How do I know if a female carries the right gene? How do color traits usually work when passed on? Should I look for a female with similar coloring? (I know it's hit or miss more than anything on coloring, but sometimes there's a rule or two that creep up in breeding.)

It's going to be a while, probably, before I can properly afford to breed them and before I have the space. I don't know my male's age. Is there a way I can tell or at least get a good guestimate? I know they don't have the longest life spans. Is there a certain age at which I should not attempt a breeding, or is it all based on the physical condition of the fish?

I'm going to leave it at those questions for right now, because the actual breeding is kinda far down the line and dependent on the answers to these questions, so...yeah.

Thanks for your help and answers, guys. I hope I can be a refreshingly attentive breeding newbie, that will actually listen to the advice I ask for.

 

[Bettaman]

Ill post it again for you........

I suggest you go and .......

and then ...

Some more and then ....

a little more and then see what happens........and see how you feel when you know whats involved... ..... so go and do a bit of

PLEASE

 

[ManyFISH4Me]

Those are all questions that you can answer yourself. All you have to do is read, and research. Both are things you should do before you breed anyway.

 

[yeeviabetta]

Bettaman. you are so funny. At least you should give him or her a hints where to get the resources. OK. You might start reading people web. Here is a good one to start with. You need your basic foundation stable first. Just don't be lazy to download free files to read and not live freebies. LOL

http/www.ibcbettas.org/

This is another one you shouldn't miss.

http/www.bettysplendens.com/articles/home.asp

Now go and do your homework!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

ok, wow. except for yeevia, those were horribly rude and dismissive posts. Falcon appears to have already learned the basics by reading on the forum and is asking specific questions, one of which was a direct appeal to hear from experienced breeders. and you just blow her off with a gif?

we all have to start somewhere. why not at least tell the poor girl where you first learned how to go about breeding quality bettas? or just providing a simple yes/no for some of those questions. or you could simply even just look at her sig and say "oh, hey, wuv is from texas too! maybe she can help you out!"

pretty much you've got a person politely asking you to help with tying her boat to the dock, but you just threw her rope back at her and told her to learn how to swim. you could have at least pointed out where the water is shallow!

i really ought to stop lurking in bettas; sometimes the things i see posted in here just really make me want to scream. if we aren't dropping f-bombs on a family-friendly forum, we're saying "you aren't important enough to provide with a link". way to be friendly guys...

 

[Kiarra]

*Note...I'm going to assume you have the basic idea of genetic terminology and basic animal genetics themselves. If you have any questions about what I'm saying, please feel free to ask for clarification.

Falcon, what female you pair your male with would depend on your breeding aims. Crowntail x Crowntail will produce Crowntail, and there are no genetic defects related to this, like there are with a Doubletail x Doubletail cross. I believe that Crowntail is actually recessive, so spawning a Crowntail x Delta/Halfmoon will not result in more Crowntails. However, you would still end up with at least Deltas and Halfmoon, since MOST Crowntails are Deltas and Halfmoons with added Crowntail trait.

I don't think it would be worth it to ask the pet store about his genetic history. They more than likely won't know, and the breeder is unlikely to divulge such information. But you may by all means use him in your breeding attempts, as he is not a Veil, he is a Crowntail, and is in high demand.

Crowntail females are obvious. They have the extended rays of the males. I would suggest contacting a breeder for one, as most mass-producers will not sell anything but Veiltail females. You can also breed to a Doubletail female, which will result in Doubletail carriers, likely Crowntail expressed (which would open the way for a second generation containing Doubletails). You can also choose a Delta or Halfmoon female. Even a Plakat female. It's really up to you. The only type of female I wouldn't recommend is a Veil.

Your male is probably about a year old now. If you wanted to breed now, he would probably do it. They're prime breeding age, however, is under a year...about 3-9 months? Something like that. They will breed after a year, though.

 

[Bettaman]

OK, wow. except for yeevia, those were horribly rude and dismissive posts. Falcon appears to have already learned the basics by reading on the forum and is asking specific questions, one of which was a direct appeal to hear from experienced breeders. and you just blow her off with a gif?

we all have to start somewhere. why not at least tell the poor girl where you first learned how to go about breeding quality bettas? or just providing a simple yes/no for some of those questions. or you could simply even just look at her sig and say "oh, hey, wuv is from texas too! maybe she can help you out!"

pretty much you've got a person politely asking you to help with tying her boat to the dock, but you just threw her rope back at her and told her to learn how to swim. you could have at least pointed out where the water is shallow!

i really ought to stop lurking in bettas; sometimes the things i see posted in here just really make me want to scream. if we aren't dropping f-bombs on a family-friendly forum, we're saying "you aren't important enough to provide with a link". way to be friendly guys...

yes maybe your right but pictures speak louder than words and we do have pinned topics and they are there to read and she would have answered at least two of the questions...if you lurk long enough then you will see its quit often we get people saying i want to breed bettas..and I'm sorry the best advice i can give about keeping and breeding any fish is DO SOME READING, then come back and ask some questions nothing is basic so really i cant say learn the Basics, if i want to know something i will read about it first then ask questions about what i have learned, as there is alway something that may have been missed, without exceptions, i love to read and thats my advice to anyone, it is all on the INTERNET nowadays.....just type in what you want and hey presto something come up....and at the end of the day if by saying please is being rude I'm sorry i don't know another word that politely point them to an answer without repeatedly typing the same thing i never assume that people know as if i was to give a full blown answer about genetics it would not possible make any sense.... im am sorry if I HAVE offended falcon, but she not the one complaining Thanks for reading....

 

[flautist]

Bettaman, that would be all fine and good, IF they were asking questions that were answered in the breeding sticky. However, this person is asking pretty specific questions about genetics, and that is not covered in the FAQ's. Did you even read this person's post, or did you just see that it's a breeding topic and so posted that image?

 

[Bettaman]

Bettaman, that would be all fine and good, IF they were asking questions that were answered in the breeding sticky. However, this person is asking pretty specific questions about genetics, and that is not covered in the FAQ's. Did you even read this person's post, or did you just see that it's a breeding topic and so posted that image?

Sorry for just posting this link which is in there second one down links...

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=45548

and there is a whole list of sites were information can be found and in more detail than anyone can put on a post and were i have read a lot about bettas and found an answer to any question i may have come up against, .......

 

[newfishies]

hi there!
i'm not a breeder and i haven't even really researched it, so i can't help with most of your questions, but if you are taking the time to learn about it, then i think you will have much better results than jumping right into it! good for you!!

i would bet that you would need to buy a breeding pair when you are actually ready to breed. i think your male might be too old when that time comes, and if you get a pair from a breeder you will have all your questions about their genetics answered for you!!

good luck and i hope you have a successful spawn when the time comes!

 

[ManyFISH4Me]

I can't speak for anyone elses post. As for mine, I don't feel that it was too harsh. I have not tried to breed bettas YET. I would like to, and will soon. I have been here for about 2 months. I have read most of the posts, and pinned topics. Also I have researched betta genitics. I now have about 35 bettas. Including a 20 gallon Female Tank. I have asked a couple questions about female types, and how I can get Orange babies from my orange girl (because I can't find much info about breeding orange bettas) All other things I have looked up myself.
LATELY it seems that every new person on here, has gone to the local pet store and picked up a Betta, or pair. Then posts asking how to breed. It doesn't seem that any of them are doing any research, or even reading the other posts on this board. If they did, they wouldn't be asking the same things that 4 other people asked this week. It just gets a little frustrating to see that everyone seems to want to breed, but none of them want to put in the time to do the needed research.
Many don't even listen to the answers they are given over, and over.

Sorry, just had to add my 2 cents


Sorry for my spelling/typos. It is 10pm here and I have been up since 4am. Going to bed now.

 

[flautist]

You know, if they are like me, it's hard to learn from just reading. I don't learn anything if all I do is read it. I learn by discussion. Not everyone can absorb 20 articles on breeding fish.

 

[BettasRFriends]

Bettaman is defintely right: read...read...and read even more! But if you don't like to read that much, there's always the pictures to help you . Good luck on the breeding

 

[yeeviabetta]

Bettaman always right and don't forget that. LOL
Here is the first sentenses she wrote. "Actually, I am interested in breeding, but I'm interested in doing it right, and not at all if I don't think I can pull it off."
If she wants to do it right in breeding, she shouldn't go and get from LFS and buy one crowntail to breed and start from there to do it right. That crowntail is mixed up colors like got red and blue colors as what she said. We all knows LFS wants to sell crowntail and as long as it is crowntail, they sell it no matter what color is muted. Therefore, they breed whatever the crowntail they can get and as long they look like crowntail at the end. There will be no different between veiltail then. We all totally don't know what gene the crowntail got. Besides, I can't really trust on LFS unless you know what back ground is the crowntail. If she really study and read a lot of websites, she should get a great pair from a breeder who knows what the gene are and start from there. Do it right from the start.
We all here have no intention talking out loud, scolding people or yelling at each other. We all are nice people in here anyway and know our boundary limit. Just cheers.

 

[xanthianacid]

BettasRFriends, I think you missed flautists point, some people don't learn the same way as you do, so GET OVER IT! Doesn't make them bad learners, just different. Maybe you've heard of the concept. Some people won't take it in until they actually SEE it, or DO it, or whatever.

Bettaman, I think you are being harsh. She is trying to learn and being very polite about it. Once I am sure you knew nothing about breeding Bettas yourself, so how would you have felt in her shoes? She is asking questions that are legitimate.

I think some people should GET OVER THEMSELVES. Treat people with dignity please.

That is my rant. Now I'll go back to being silent again for a while.