# New betta - Help with ID?



## TVbetta (Aug 14, 2016)

Full disclosure: I've never owned a betta. Normally I just look at the sad little fish and move on. No such luck today!

Here she is, still in her cup while I finish getting her tank set up. 










The ammonia level in the cup was horrifying. 4ppm+, no wonder so many don't make it  

She was tucked away at the back in a 'halfmoon female' container, but I'm kinda wondering if 'she' might not be a 'he'? I don't really know how to tell. Bigger then the other males that were there for sure, both halfmoon and veiltail. Waaaay bigger then the other females. Easily 3x the size, but they all looked like babies, and I'm pretty sure this is an older fish. Can you guess betta's ages? She's crazy bulky too, as in wide. Like a fishy pitbull.

So- what's the verdict? Girl/boy? Halfmoon/other? Is there a name for this color is she a 'mutt'?

Also needs a name, if there are any suggestions!


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## fernielou (May 19, 2015)

That color will change drastically over the next week (brighten up). I hope you post a picture then. I love seeing them perk up.

I don't know if it's a girl or boy, but I would guess it's probably a half moon female or IF it's a male maybe a half moon plakat. I can't tell based on that picture but some of the more experienced members maybe can.


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

Could be a King or Giant.
The best way to tell if it is a female is look for an egg spot between the two ventrals.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Hi friend, welcome to the addicting world of Betta's! haha. There is no cure for the Betta Bug ;-)

Looks to be a male PK, possibly a King (aka, failed Giant/half Giant. Giant's should be 2 inches in BODY size and over, tails do not count ;-) regular Betta's are 1-2 inch in body size). Coloration is a Bicolor; red and turquoise. There are three different blue variants which is why I specify turquoise (steel and royal are the other two).

If it is a King, just know that King's and Giant's need at least 5 gallons, 10 gallons being better. The bigger the fish, the bigger the tank! And the fish is likely 3-5 months old as breeders tend to power grow their fish to sell more often. Just because it's bigger doesn't always mean older.

Using an egg spot (ovipositer) as most will suggest is not actually a reliable way to sex Betta's unfortunately. Males often have false egg spots and some keep them throughout their lives. Instead, you have to look for the ovaries which are a cone shaped organ behind the stomach.

Here's a quick tour of the Betta Anatomy of a male:









Here's an eggy female. They've outlined the cone shape roughly for you to compare with the photos









Here is a very eggy female without the drawing. Can you see the fuller shape and the cone where the ovaries are?









And for comparison, a male with obviously no ovaries:









And here is roughly what your fish may color up to. Won't be exact of course, but similar.


And the other coloration that is similar is the Wild Type coloration. But you see there is less blue coverage, blue bleeds into fins and there is black band around the edge of the fins


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## JawsandChess (Apr 16, 2016)

Looks female to me. I don't know about tail type by just this picture.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

If you can get a picture with the fins outstretched or flared out it would help. I'm thinking maybe male, not seeing ovaries from that angle but again, hard to tell with the picture. Could either be HM female or HMPK male or female.


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## TVbetta (Aug 14, 2016)

Looks like male plakat was right on the money

He's in a 20gal, sharing with a danio who's on time out for chasing the new fish in the 55. He's got velvet, so lights out on the tank. I did turn the light on for a bit to make sure he and the danio were getting along and got this lovely display:










Guess he saw his reflection? Either that or he doesn't like me


Thanks everyone for your help, and thank you lilnaugrim for the very educational write up!


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## Aluyasha (Sep 2, 2010)

Wow what a difference in appearance! Looks like a totally new fish. 
Hope his velvet clears up soon.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Glad to help!

Are you sure it's velvet and not just his iridescence?


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## fernielou (May 19, 2015)

Agree with lil- if he's not flashing and scraping himself against things for relief, I think it could just be that metallic shimmer 


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## TVbetta (Aug 14, 2016)

I think so? If he wasn't a betta I'd say 100% sure, but all this iridescence stuff is different. I'm using salt/heat/dark right now, was going to get some real medication on my day off. 

I got a picture of him right at the surface under the lights, a little more obvious what I'm worried about~


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## fernielou (May 19, 2015)

If he has velvet I would expect the flashing - any other symptoms ??


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

I have a male who has gold iridescence all over and it looks like velvet's gold dusting but he never flashes and its obviously irids so I'd watch it too. Another of my males has the irids too, just not all over like Misha.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yeah, no that's velvet. He's clamping now as well.
I recommend Cupramine by SeaChem if you haven't started treating. It's much safer for the fishies but you'll never be able to have inverts in that specific tank now due to the copper. Even trace amounts can kill them unfortunately.

The only thing about Cupramine is if you use SeaChem's Prime, you cannot use the two on the same day, it will cause the toxicity of the copper to double and potentially kill your fish. To overcome this, keep a bucket out of water and condition with your Prime (if you don't have this, it may help others so I'm just going to go through it anyway) and then leave it out for a full 24 hours or a bit more. After that, it is safe to use with Cupramine. Or, simply use a different water conditioner if it's needed. However, Prime is the only decent one that will neutralize ammonia (2x dose) and nitrite (5x dose) to keep the fishies safe so it's typically recommended around here. 

But yep, keep those lights off and if you can, keep a towel or blanket over the tank. Bump the temp up to 88 and you should be okay for starters. This doesn't kill Velvet, but it will help speed up the life cycle at least in which it should help the medication work better. However, still follow whatever medication you're using, to the T. you don't want parasites becoming resistant to meds! It won't happen in one go, but over time they will evolve.


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## Oceana (Jul 23, 2016)

wow what a change, totally different fish from the one in the cup! Congrats. Love the colors. Hope the velvet clears up soon!


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## caileebug2 (Aug 17, 2016)

I love to go with names that make them spark. Also that is a female veiltale I believe... shes way to tiny to be a half moon. I had a veiltale that looked exactly like her. Mine looked like her then turned in to a beautiful blue moon. I think you did a great deed adopting her. I have 4 Bettas, 3 GloFish Tetras, 1 Danios GloFish, and 4 Guppies. Love them all!


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## lita43 (Jul 22, 2016)

Yhttps://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/57b4c02880abc/20160817_124029.jpg
This male has a strange tipe of bump on his nose


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