# Dragonscale



## JurassicBetta65 (Jan 23, 2012)

I bought a DS from the pet store a few days ago. They were on sale, however I really can't see a huge difference. What are they exactly?


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## Roxy (Nov 16, 2011)

Dragonscale betta's have bigger than the normal betta scaling & appears metallic.


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## Draug Isilme (Aug 7, 2011)

Also, from what I've researched, dragonscale bettas are more or less a coloring than a specific name for a breed. The bettas you find listed as 'Dragonscale' in pet stores are actually better known as plakats. You can tell the 'kind' of plakat by the size of the fins (like halfmoon plakats, spade tail, round tail, etc)... I'm assuming that the stores that do sell them as Dragonscales were hoping to sell them better with a cooler name than plakat- sometimes it makes me think of plaque you get on your teeth... >.>;; Other than that, I love the way plakats look ^.^;


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## JurassicBetta65 (Jan 23, 2012)

Here is Lance. He is living in the cup he came in until I am able to get my 1 gallon cycled. It has a filter and the temp is perfect for them year round. So they are plakat and were just called something else to increase sales? I like the dragonscale name better lol.


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## Roxy (Nov 16, 2011)

I don't think a 1 gallon tank can be cycled.

Having a heater is still recommended. Betta's need stable temp around 78-80 ( or a temp close to those numbers )

Did you get a thermometer for the lil' guy?


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## JurassicBetta65 (Jan 23, 2012)

Roxy said:


> I don't think a 1 gallon tank can be cycled.
> 
> Having a heater is still recommended. Betta's need stable temp around 78-80 ( or a temp close to those numbers )
> 
> Did you get a thermometer for the lil' guy?


Not a real heater, but where he is I have a few reptiles and it stays about 75. When I do move him to the 1 gal I will have a heater because he won't be in that room anymore :-D


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## Queen Zenobia (Jan 17, 2012)

Hi.

I loooove dragonscales. Yours doesn't look like the dragonscales I have seen, though. Still is a very handsome fish.

Queen Zeno


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## Draug Isilme (Aug 7, 2011)

Aww, he looks like a cute little double tail ^.^ The name thing is more of an assumption, but from what I've gathered, it's pretty much just that >.>... You can get dragonscales in pretty much whatever kind of betta you have, but I suppose they just find it better to sell dragonscale plakats... I wanna say my betta is a dragonscale- he's uber metalic looking with mainly white with red spotting and finnage.. but he's a halfmoon betta... I've also seen a few 'dragonscales' that looked exactly like him, save for the short fins xD
Yeah, it's pretty much next to impossible to cycle a 1 gallon tank. You get lucky if you can get a 2.5 gallon (and from what I know of that's usually with a filter), but with cycling it's better to cycle tanks 5+ gallons.... You might want to get your betta something a bit bigger, but that's just my opinion- usually the smaller the tank, the more water changes you have to make and vise versa for larger tanks. It's also easier to heat larger tanks and usually the heaters I've seen are more designed for 2.5g+.. Mainly because tanks smaller than 2.5g just aren't large enough for the heater to really heat the entire tank (I used a heater in a 1.5g and when I'd change the water, I could feel the difference in how warm it was at the top and cold it was at the bottom- stuff like that can possibly stress your fish). And even if your tank is still able to hold a good temperature outside of the reptile room, it's convenient to have an adjustable heater on the side for those moments when your fish gets sick and you need to treat them- some ailments are treated best with temperatures more than 80 degrees.


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