# Breeding Pet Store Bettas



## BlueMoonBetta (Apr 25, 2013)

I Want To Breed Pet Store Bettas; I Found A Healthy One And Am Thinking Of Getting It, Is This Ok? :roll:


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## kathryn082 (May 1, 2013)

i breed pet store bettas they are all fine


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## LadyVictorian (Nov 23, 2011)

It depends on how good their form is and if you have homes for the possible 100's of fry you get.


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## BlueMoonBetta (Apr 25, 2013)

Alright! Any Advice?


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

What tail type are they? It's often very hard to get nice girls at petstores, most are vt with boring colors.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

not that there's anything wrong with VTs...


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

No, there is not...

BUT vt is generally a lot harder to sell, common/cheap, and they are usually mutts- pretty much unpredictable genetics. Vt is also a very dominant trait, so even if you were to buy a nice hm male you would end up with roundtail/veiltail fry.


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## BlueMoonBetta (Apr 25, 2013)

Halfmoon!


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## trilobite (May 18, 2011)

If it has good form then go for it :-D
Also make sure to get a good hm female otherwise she will most likely destroy the frys finnage


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

Like I said, finding nice females in stores is the tricky part. Breeding a hm to a vt female will pretty much ruin the fry's finnage and you would have to breed for multiple generations to get good fins back.


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## Saphira101 (Nov 14, 2012)

My PetSmart has OK females, most are CT though, and almost all of the rest are VT.


If you _do_ decide to breed them, be sure to post pictures!! :-D



Good luck finding a nice female!

Saphira


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

As far as I know chain stores and even most pet stores have regular shipments/orders which SOMETIMES are not met. So on these instances breeders/suppliers MUST fill the quota which often are of better form/quality. OR look for a pet store that orders better quality. The key is to know what to look for. So learn as much as you can on form.

Remember petstore bettas are actually "show rejects". You will need more generations to get them to be actual show bettas, but it is possible. If my memory serves me right, Basement Bettas is one of those who started with petstore bettas.

Now, the question is; Are you prepared to commit your time and money (and energy) on excessive breeding? If no, it would be much cheaper in the long run to invest in a better quality . . . at least the female. Trust me, you will have a hard time finding that perfect female on AB, let alone petstores.

Remember to set a goal and plan how you're going to achieve it.


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## BlueMoonBetta (Apr 25, 2013)

Ok, Any Other Thoughts?


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## Alcemistnv (Jan 29, 2012)

indjo said:


> Now, the question is; Are you prepared to commit your time and money (and energy) on excessive breeding? If no, it would be much cheaper in the long run to invest in a better quality . . . at least the female. Trust me, you will have a hard time finding that perfect female on AB, let alone petstores.
> 
> Remember to set a goal and plan how you're going to achieve it.


+1

From what I heard, the costs for breeding supplies can range up to $1000, and most breeders don't even make that money bac until their 3rd time breeding. I was also told that it's best to have a separate room for the fish because you can end up with hundreds of jars around the house.


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## Chard56 (Jan 22, 2011)

The last 5 years I've been breeding pet store Bettas. When I started over 5 years ago I didn't know anything about Aquabid and hadn't bred Bettas in 16 years. I was surprised with the new fin types. Crowntails and Halfmoons were not in existence the last time I kept them. My first pair came from a Wal-mart Super store and was a Platinum Red and Blue Crowntail male and a Green Doubletail female that I later found out from breeding results was of Plakat background. The pet stores in my area didn't carry and still don't carry any females other than Veitail and Crowntail so that's what I had to work with. I would look for females with more than a 2 ray caudal to breed with a nice Halfmoon male, having to drive 80 to 100 mile round trip to find. It was a year and a half to two years before I had bred a decent female that I could call Halfmoon. It wasn't easy but they were mine . I created my personal lines without buying any off of Aquabid or other Betta breeders. I never had a big enough spawn really to have to sell them. I just kept getting a bigger collection as I went. I was finally talked into doing a trade with another guy and shipped some of my Bettas in trade for some of his. That broke the ice for my fear of shipping and started selling my Bettas on Aquabid. This is my third year now of selling on that site. As far as initial costs go. I bought a couple ten gallon tanks at a garage sale and spent maybe ten dollars on the first pair. You don't have to jump in and go out and buy up half the fish store. Get your first few spawns down and figure out the process and needs of the fry and growing them to adults first before commiting to the whole project.


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

BlueMoonBetta said:


> Ok, Any Other Thoughts?


What is your goal? You are wanting to bring a lot of little lives into being. They require time and money to bring to adulthood. if you want to make some extra money selling fish.. it is not going to happen. I break even if I am lucky.. the fish pay for their upkeep or they will not eat.

If you are going to breed pet shop fish you still need a goal. Breed red ones? Or maybe breed good multi's. Do not mix tail types. Get an idea of what a good fish looks like. I do reviews on my site.. on the forum.. to help people learn what to look for. Read them. 

You will not find a show quality fish in a LFS. It will have lots of faults for a show or serious breeder. So, you need to breed with a pet shop in mind as that will be your only market. Forget the big chains, ask a local mom and pop what sells. And ask if they would want any fish you produce. Then breed for that market. 

And back to getting rich.. my LFS's pay 12 CENTS per fish/males. LESS for females. Not worth doing even one days water change for that. You can not compete with this: http://www.ppaquarium.com/tour_farm.asp

So breed for fun, but breed with a purpose. And take responsibility for the lives you create.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

I just bred a DTHM boy I got from a Petco, and have another EE HMPK boy I got there I plan on breeding as well. Luckily the EE is perfect with the rare 180 spread.. the DTHM needs a little more work on the 180, but he was paired with a female from parents of two very top breeders- so the girl will help reduce the flaws from the boy (in theory). But I know I will have a couple generations to go to work out any kinks that may come up. 
Same will go with the EE HMPK - the female is from an IBC breeding judge and is as good as an EE girl can come by, to also help any flaws the male brings the fry. 

I have nothing against pet store fish for breeding.. I haven't found a female at one yet. I just say be aware you will get surprises in colors, and may get a bit more deltas and spoon tops.. but those are things that can be worked out. Just know it may take you a couple generations to "clean" them up - will take about 4+ months before you can breed the first generation, so it will take time. But not a bad thing if you aren't doing this for money


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## KohakuRiver (Apr 21, 2013)

I have more faith in pet store females than the other users. I recently found not one, but two gorgeous solid red Spade tail females in the PetSmart near me. I wish you luck!


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## BlueMoonBetta (Apr 25, 2013)

I Found A PERFECT Female, Getting All The Supplies, And Fish On Friday! 
I Will Make A Spawn Log!


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## MattsBettas (Dec 18, 2012)

That's great! Make sure you condition them well for at least two weeks, do you need any help with that?


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## Darth (Nov 19, 2012)

It does NOT take generations to get good bettas from a Veil/HM cross..in fact you can see some very nice things starting in the F3.
You should however like everyone else mentioned have a goal and try to get the best stock you can, the key is try to stay with solid colors or definite patterns, also take into account many of these will and do have marble in them.


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