# My new King betta fish!!



## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Bad cellphone pictures are bad. Anyways! Meet my new King! His name is Roebuck!! :-D


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Magnificent creature. As close to a wild-type as I've seen in a giant. Long, slender body; small, pointy dorsal with wild stripes; two-ray branching caudal; long, pointy anal---characteristics of wild Betta.

How big is he? When you say "king," does that mean you got him at Petco? Where did you find him? I want one.


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Hallyx said:


> Magnificent creature. As close to a wild-type as I've seen in a giant. Long, slender body; small, pointy dorsal with wild stripes; two-ray branching caudal; long, pointy anal---characteristics of wild Betta.
> 
> How big is he? When you say "king," does that mean you got him at Petco? Where did you find him? I want one.


I got him at my local Petco which gets a GREAT variety of betta fish from someone. The top of his container said "King Male". I'm going to assume he's a wild-type King Plakat (if I'm naming that correctly). The stripes you see on him in the first picture went away so those were stress stripes and they went away not even a minute after taking that picture. So he has no permanent stripes on his body. Though it is really amazing how calm and relaxed he is in my tank. I've only had him for not even a whole day yet and he's eating and building a bubble nest. I honestly didnt expect him to eat AND build a nest so fast. He must be happy! And he is a good 3 inches long. Biggest betta I have ever seen or owned!


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Update: Decided to rename him Buckshot instead. Has a better ring to it and I think it suits him very well!!


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

He's very handsome! Your avatar pic shows him without the stripes


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Laki said:


> He's very handsome! Your avatar pic shows him without the stripes


Ahh...my avatar is of my girl who passed away. Need to change that.


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Here's pics of Buckshot flaring out his fins!


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

My god, he's a prince


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

He is beautiful and colored up oh so nicely!

King's are just half Giant Betta's as Hallyx pointed out. Do mind though, he will eat more than your regular Betta's, ;-) they've got a bigger stomach to feed haha

But other than that, there are no other special requirements for Kings/Giants.


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> He is beautiful and colored up oh so nicely!
> 
> King's are just half Giant Betta's as Hallyx pointed out. Do mind though, he will eat more than your regular Betta's, ;-) they've got a bigger stomach to feed haha
> 
> But other than that, there are no other special requirements for Kings/Giants.


I figured I would have to feed him more than I would a normal sized betta. I'm amazed that he doesnt like bloodworms AT ALL. He just spat them out and didnt care for them whatsoever. He loves the pellets I have though. I might see if he likes sun dried baby shrimp (as treats only since they are a bit big for a betta's mouth). Other than that he is just a handsome looking guy!!


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

If you can find one of Setsuna's threads on wild B. splendens, you'll see what your fish descended from.

Larger-sized Betta come in a range of sizes from 2in on up from nose to the start of the tail (the caudal peduncle). Breeders are each doing their best to make them big.

Petco calls them Kings (tm). Everyone else calls them Giants or, lately, GBs (giant Betta).

He may eat a lot, but don't overfeed him. Some Giants have tender digestion, so daphnia and shrimp as laxative is appropriate occasionally. Use the best quality pellets you can find.

Oh...and find your camera. I'd love to see some real quality photos of him. If you see any more at that Petco, please PM me their address. Thanks.


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## Deanna01 (Apr 22, 2013)

Wow, he's a gorgeous guy! Grats on a great find!


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## Tabbie82 (Jan 24, 2013)

He is beautiful!


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Hallyx said:


> If you can find one of Setsuna's threads on wild B. splendens, you'll see what your fish descended from.
> 
> Larger-sized Betta come in a range of sizes from 2in on up from nose to the start of the tail (the caudal peduncle). Breeders are each doing their best to make them big.
> 
> ...


I was certain that true Giants are supposed to be 5 inches to 7. And Kings are only half Giants, not true.

Also my Petco sells them all the time, some do look very similar to his here. If I had more tank space, I'd certainly have one


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

everyone seems to come to the conclusion that giants are 5-7 inches, it is a mistake, it is 5-7 cm it is a common mistake with us americans and our imperial system, keep in mind the way you measure is from the tip of their nose to the beginning of his/her tail fin, not including their tails

petco seems to be having a bunch of kings/giants that are simular lately we got harley a bit ago and someone else got one the same day, they all could be related lol here is harley....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMhM1pkb_5Q


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Stone said:


> everyone seems to come to the conclusion that giants are 5-7 inches, it is a mistake, it is 5-7 cm it is a common mistake with us americans and our imperial system, keep in mind the way you measure is from the tip of their nose to the beginning of his/her tail fin, not including their tails
> 
> petco seems to be having a bunch of kings/giants that are simular lately we got harley a bit ago and someone else got one the same day, they all could be related lol here is harley....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMhM1pkb_5Q


5 cm is only about 2 inches, if that's so then all my Betta's are Giants.


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> 5 cm is only about 2 inches, if that's so then all my Betta's are Giants.


Go look on aquabid at the giants and show me one that is 5-7 inches show me one that is over 3 for that matter, and look mopst of them are measuring the whole fish and here are weblinks that have about every possible sized listed for them to cover the range http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=giantbetta there is up to 12cm which is 4.72 inches and then there is this site http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=giantbetta which says 5-7cm but does say there were some that were 7 inches but suspected growth hormones might have been involved, and if you continue to do web searches you will find the size range varies on sites, this is kind of like saying someone is a tall person where does tall start? and that being said there will be "giants" that are 3 inches or so on average there will be ones that are closer to 4 inches and some may exceed 5 inches, I personally have not seen one bigger than 4.25 inches so from personal experience I can state that as fact but I wont say a 7 inch one is not possible that would be like saying a person could never be over 7 foot tall, and we all know there are people taller than that but they are the exception not the rule......


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Hallyx said:


> If you can find one of Setsuna's threads on wild B. splendens, you'll see what your fish descended from.
> 
> Larger-sized Betta come in a range of sizes from 2in on up from nose to the start of the tail (the caudal peduncle). Breeders are each doing their best to make them big.
> 
> ...



I'm only giving him as much as he will eat and for now it's been roughly 6 or 7 pellets. He's a pretty big guy. Not sure if that is too much for him. 

I will definitely break out my Canon T2i and take some BETTER pictures of him and I will post them on this same thread again. So keep a look out once more.

I could give you the address of the Petco I go to. When I went to go pick up Buckshot there were 2 other King's that look similar to Buckshot and then the third one had a lot more red to him. All equally beautiful. I'm not sure if they are there still. The Kings were on high shelves and apparently no one seems to look up except for me. I take care in picking a betta fish lol. Anyways, if you would still like the address just let me know. Though I cannot guarantee that they will have the King's I mentioned. But maybe you could call and ask when their next shipment will be or ask where their breeder is located.


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## RiceFish (Feb 9, 2013)

I believe that all Petcos if not most of them carry "king bettas" in their betta section


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

I've personally seen giants over four inches. But they weren't particularly well-formed. I had a 3 incher (nose to caudal peduncle) from Petco who died of ammonia from having been kept in one of those small cups. 

My avatar picture is my giant plakat, 2.5in BO (body only) and growing, who succumbed to bad digestion (swim bladder?) in less than a day.

Some of the early giants were over four inches (some say five). But, when they were back-bred for looks, finnage and color, naturally they became smaller. Now Thai breeders call anything over 2in BO a giant. They call those 2.5in fish. Stone is right in his observations there.

More than absolute size, a giant is determined by genetics. So a 2in standard Betta is not a giant. But a 1.8in giant is. 

Someone mentioned growth hormone. There really is no reliable growth hormone, even for commercial farm-raied fish, let alone pet fish. However, there is an anti-growth hormone, called a "stunting hormone" exuded by fry in an attempt to keep their sibling small and less competitive. A good giant breeder separates his fish as soon as possible to keep this from happening.

So, really, there is no such thing as a half-giant. The breeders are just doing their best to breed large, attractive Betta fish. Some are just bigger and better than others.

Hey, Edgy, here's a pic of Setsuna's wild B. splendens. See any similarity?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh, interesting info, glad it was cleared up 

Betta's are so confusing sometimes lol


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## Stone (Jan 6, 2013)

Hallyx said:


> I've personally seen giants over four inches. But they weren't particularly well-formed. I had a 3 incher (nose to caudal peduncle) from Petco who died of ammonia from having been kept in one of those small cups.
> 
> My avatar picture is my giant plakat, 2.5in BO (body only) and growing, who succumbed to bad digestion (swim bladder?) in less than a day.
> 
> ...


absolutely I have yet to see a betta over 4.5 inches or so I have heard rumors and read stuff on there being bigger ones but alas I need actual proof, that being said someone will now hunt down a 7 inch betta and ship it to my house all expenses paid..... to prove me worng but yeah thik about how big that betta would be plus his finnage that would be awesome.....


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## konstargirl (Mar 9, 2010)

He's a handsome guy! <3 What kind of betta is he actually even though you sad he was label as "king"?


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

konstargirl said:


> He's a handsome guy! <3 What kind of betta is he actually even though you sad he was label as "king"?


Like Hallyx said, he's probably a wildtype half-giant. Though I am honestly not sure. He's clearly a plakat though without a doubt. He was labeled a "King" at Petco.


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

Hallyx said:


> Hey, Edgy, here's a pic of Setsuna's wild B. splendens. See any similarity?


I can't see the the picture!! XD

Geez I'm terrible! Going to take a few pictures of Buckshot with my Canon RIGHT NOW!! Be right back!!


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## EdgyWolf (May 6, 2013)

FINALLY!! Here are some better quality pictures of Buckshot!! Sorry if some of the pictures are a bit dark. He's a VERY DARK purplish/blue/black color. Glares got in the way as well. And Buckshot swimming around being a show off made one of the pictures slightly blurry.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Nice looking fish by trational plakat standards. Good topline, pointy anal. Could use a broader dorsal and more even caudal. Looks like he has a little copper in him, too.

Maybe he spawned a giant 2-ray plakat with a wild female (imbellis? smarigdina?) to get that. Whatever the breeder did, I hope he crosses siblings for a while to set that configuration and size; and that he does a lot more.

Oh...My giant loved the camera. I would blink the orange focus light on my camera whenever I fed him.


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