Veiltail Breeding Project

[Nova]

A little while ago I posted a question on the IBC yahoo group about the showing of veiltails, and what it may take to get them back in the shows.

These are the replies I got from the IBC (International Betta Congress) president

"You could enter VTs in the ST NB class, but since they are poor examples of our ST(HM) standard, they would have a hard time placing. They should be entered in Variations class as Veiltails. But since their is no standard for variations, other than uniqueness, its completely subjective as far as judging goes. Personally if I am judging, I would love to see a exceptional veiltail with a good full flowing finnage and can handle it(not drag it on the bottom of a container). But they need to be a step above a typical pet store fish. Showing is about rewarding excellence after all. There has been talk of a few breeders working on them and showing them, but not much came of it. Again, it will come down to one or two breeders working on them and showing them. Until then there is no need for the IBC to develop a standard for them. Supply and demand as with all things."

and

"Again, supply and demand...

You can always enter them in the new breeder class. The one with the best combo of color and symmetrical finnage will win the class. A fish does not have to be near perfect to show. In fact even BOS fish have flaws.

The Veiltail will never become a popular show betta till someone develops them into a real veiltail(like the veiltail goldfish) fish...

Pet store bettas really aren't "veiltails" for the most part. They are just mass produced fish. They were the starting point the was used to develop the modern show betta. But the genetic raw material is there to develop a Veiltail type fish, if someone wanted to. I would use the DT gene though for volume of fin rays and a thick peduncle to support it. A fish would have to be thick and strong to support the weight/length of finnage. Trust me, its a issue with Veiltail goldfish. The best ones are powerful and strong."

I've decided that I am most definitely going to concentrate my breeding efforts on veiltails (as well as my fancy marble HMPKS), I want to get them back in the shows, and I want to create lines of unique and eye catching veiltails that will really make people go WOW!

I am so excited to get started!!

I found a Thai breeder who has some blue/red dragon veiltails hopefully available, the one he had on AB was sold before i got a chance, so I emailed the seller to see if he has any others.

Here's the one I missed

 

[Rummynose]

Wow! Very nice indeed!

 

[Ny82]

Absolutely gorgeous! Best of luck with your breeding

 

[Gizaroo2]

Gorgeous! Good luck with everything!

I wonder if Tango would ever fit the bill. He's such a pretty boy, and rarely drags his finnage! hehe

 

[betta lover35]

where do you get veil tail betta s like this

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

VT are my most favourite tail type for a long finned betta.

I'm currently contemplating setting another tank up for a VT male... (we are 'supposed' to be downsizing tank numbers).

I have a lovely PK male but whilst he is lovely, I do miss the long fins.

 

[Liquid skills]

ive only got one vt at the moment besides the fry but they could be delta vt crosses but my vt is the one in my sig

 

[HayzH]

i love VT's...i Have Jackson (a blue) and Flare (red in avatar)

 

[Asteria]

Oh my hes beautiful D:
its a shame you missed him

 

[Nova]

Unfortunately the seller doesn't have anymore VTs like that guy left, I emailed a few other AB sellers to see if they had any VTs available, but today I picked up a GORGEOUS VT from petsmart, that Im seriously thinking of breeding!

 

[Suwa]

This is a cool thing to go for! I think some veiltails are very lovely, even though I'm more of a Plakat person.

But if you are going to go through with this, you need to create some kind of standard and an idea of what your ideal VT finnage would look like. In my opinion, if there was a VT standard, the only thing I could think of is a fish that kept its fins open most of the time (no skinny caudals!) and when posing during flaring or when calm, has all of his fins looking nice and full, and kind of 'connected' in some way or another..

For example, this fish has a dorsal fin that connects nice and smoothly with his caudal:

And this one has a caudal fin that connects smoothly with his anal:

This one isn't my fish(from Wayne's This and That) but is totally gorgeous and has great connection with all of his fins:

I think creating awesome VTs is totally doable but you need to set a standard first. So decide what you think it should be and then go for it!

Edit: Also, just wanted to say that you could probably introduce plakats into the line for the sake of getting more color.. Most of the babies would probably turn out as veiltails, since the longfin gene is dominant.

 

[Nova]

This is a tentative VT standard developed in the netherlands where the do show VTs, this is what I'm kind of going by!

• Standard Veiltail (VT)
• Dorsal (dorsal fin)
The Dorsal is narrower at its base and has fewer rays than the (other fin variants.)(1) The fin should run in a sickle-shaped manner and not exceed over ¾ of the body length of the fish. It should not (run out in individual rays.) (2) Overlapping of the Dorsal over the fish body is not desired.
• Caudal (caudal fin)
The caudal fin should be full with a broad base, but (long stretched.) (3) It should be at least the same length as the body of the fish. The rays come out of the tail root steeply rising in the upper part of the fin and then after reaching its highest point at 20% of the entire fin length, drop down in an even (elbow.) (4)
Within the lower part of the fin the rays come out almost straight
from the tail root with an (easy upward arranged) (5) curvature and then
drop down parallel to the other fin rays. Thus results in a light sickle-shaped (long stretched optics.) (6) The Caudal must be able to be carried easily by the fish in its entire length. The ends of the rays should not have any spikes or indentations. An (easily corrugated) (7) fin border is permitted. The fin volume is to be stretched completely (not too many rays and/or too much skin between the rays, no pleating) when the fish flairs.
• Anal (anal fin)
The anal fin should (set up at the highest point of the body) (8) and be at least as long as the body and run out in its deepest end (pointedly. The form is to resemble a parallelogram.) (9)
• Ventrals (ventral fins)
The ventral fins are to be the same length as one another and should look like a curved knife blade. They should BE at least 1/3 as long as the body.

 

[MisssMarie]

Try messaging Chard56, I know he had veiltails sometimes and I love his bettas. 6 of my 7 are from him. He's on aquabid

 

[Nova]

I know chard. He's a good friend of mine! Lots of my fish are from him

 

[lilfishie]

Last I heard he had some Purple VTs?