# Sticky  Learn How To Evaluate Your Betta's Form and Finnage Here



## Overprotective Fish Lover

Hello all!
I'm really interested in learning how to critique bettas. So I thought maybe I would make a thread where people can post pictures of bettas (even if they're just random ones off Google) and other people can critique them. This would give the opportunity for betta showing newbies (like me) to get used to identifying positive and negative traits in betta splendens.

Best pic for critiquing are flaring.* Always embed; do not link. If you use a host and close that account the photos will disappear.* That is why so many here are now gone.

*Edit:* This thread is to help _YOU_ learn to critique your own Betta so you will be better equipped when you go to buy your next one. If you want someone else to do it post in Betta Pictures. All posts asking for straight-out critiques will be removed. All posts with photos that that are no longer visible have been moved. RTST


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## Laurenie

This is my blue and yellow bi-color marble HM male. Critique away!


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## Laurenie

This blue and yellow bicolor HM female is related and one of two girls that I'd like to pair him with: *This is an older pic and she's filled out quite a bit in recent months to look, I think, even better--need to get new pics.


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## sharkettelaw1

Oh my gawd that boy is a show stopper. Only real flaws I can see is that his anal is a bit too long, and his ventrals I guess could be better, otherwise he's VERY nice form wise


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## Overprotective Fish Lover

Whoa love that guy! As sharkettelaw1 pointed out, anal is a bit long and vents not perfect. The first dorsal ray looks pretty stubby to me, and the whole dorsal seems to point back instead of forward. Still I adore him - his pattern is stunning.


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## Laurenie

sharkettelaw1 said:


> Oh my gawd that boy is a show stopper. Only real flaws I can see is that his anal is a bit too long, and his ventrals I guess could be better, otherwise he's VERY nice form wise





Overprotective Fish Lover said:


> Whoa love that guy! As sharkettelaw1 pointed out, anal is a bit long and vents not perfect. The first dorsal ray looks pretty stubby to me, and the whole dorsal seems to point back instead of forward. Still I adore him - his pattern is stunning.


.

Thanks guys! And yeah, his slightly over-long anal fin is what I see as his biggest flaw so will def be working on that. Ventrals could be a bit better but they're not too terrible, the very first dorsal ray is definitely stubby but all the others are nice and long. My plan is to use him to start a blue/yellow bicolor HM line and bring DT in as well.


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## Laurenie

Here's a link to an excellent thread regarding exactly how to evaluate CTs--very detailed w/pics and examples and everything: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=280506


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## lilnaugrim

Most CT's are only 2 rayed and there are variations to it which include: Double Ray, Single, and Crossray. Then the 4 rayed CT's are called Double Double Rays (DDR). There have been more rayed CT's as they were bred with other tail types but those are the common ones. 

Here's an image depicting:









And here's a DDR or 4 Ray CT. You ideally don't want ray's to be this thin.









Here is a good thread about CT's by one of our great breeders:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=280506
EDIT: whoops, didn't see that Laurenie posted that already!

Here is more about ray's:





This is an image someone on BF made a long time ago when looking for basic form in HM's.


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## lilnaugrim

Peduncle is the end of the body where the tail attaches to.

For colorations, I don't know exactly what IBC wants for everything, someone from the IBC would have to answer that or you can join ;-) However, there are some things I do know. But Coloration is a much bigger topic since there are so many variations!

If you have a Butterfly, the color needs to be clean and separate from each other; no bleeding at all!

Ignoring form at the moment, here is a good butterfly. See how the blue and the white are completely separate? Over time, that will change but for this moment, this is good.









This one is a messy or bad Butterfly. See how the reddish is bleeding into the white and there are splotches of red in the white as well? The red is also not solid red, it's red and pink colored. This is actually a pink Salamander, but still not a great Salamander









Salamander is the next, it's similar to BF but the body color is different from the fins (whereas a Red Butterfly is red body, red fins with different colored band around the outside). The body color should bleed into the fin colors and then there is a solid fin color with a BF band around the outside, should still be clean band. So the most common Sally's are blue body with red head and red fins with a white band.

Here is a good Sally. See the red head (not necessary but common), the blue scales lay over top the red. The blue bleeds into the fins but a good chunk of the red is still showing. And a nice white band around all the fins


This guy, while nice, doesn't show as much red. I'm not sure if that's a technical fault in IBC shows, but for a good Salamander, you want to see more red or whatever color is it on them, than that


Though most Salamander's are that color up there, some also look like this:
His blue doesn't bleed much, but that's okay.









Here is a Red Copper Salamander









Salamander's were based off of Mustard Gases in the beginning. The creator wanted them also to be called Mustard Gas which would then just be a coloration of: body being different from the fins with a BF band around it. This is what the original MG's looked like:









AquaBid tends to screw up MG's the most. MG's HAVE to have yellow fins with some sort of band around the fins. Common ones are Blue body, yellow fins and either black or blue band. As far as IBC, again, I'm not sure which of these is acceptable and which isn't.
This is what you want to see on MG's. However, the band is incomplete on the anal fin, that's not good. The band should go all the way around the fins









Despite what he's being called, this is not a MG. Most of the "MG's" you see on AquaBid are like this. A blue fish with a yellow wash in the fins, that is not an MG


Neither is this boy, just because there is yellow in the fins does not make it automatically an MG









There is also Copper Gas now, again, not sure of the status of the IBC but I'd assume it's accepted by now since it's been a few years. But it's the same thing as MG but instead of blue, it's copper. Here was one of my old boys:
He had the black band, though it was small. His copper color bleeds a little


Black Copper Gas (where the body under color is black like this one, it becomes Black Copper instead of just Copper)









A nice fairly clean Copper Gas









And there is also a Purple Gas, same rules apply. This one isn't as good since the purple color bleeds









And then there are bicolors. A lot of fish mistaken for MG's are actually yellow blue bicolors. If there is no band around the outside of the fins, it is not an MG but now a bicolor. A bicolor should have a solid body color and solid fins, color should not bleed between fins and body.

This is an example of bleeding, see how there is blue in his dorsal fin and caudal? You don't want that there ideally. This is a messy coloring









Here is a good Bicolor! Teeny bit of bleed but not bad at all









Another decent bicolor









As far as what is good messy and what is bad messy, all coloration types I believe can be shown, you just may be marked off for not having the right colors. I'm not sure if there is a Variation class for colorations or anything.

If you want me to tell you about a specific coloration, I can do that for most of them. I don't know what is accepted as far as marbles go but I'm sure most are accepted.


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## IslandGirl7408

I know that took a lot of time to prepare-- thank you so much for doing that for us! Very, very helpful!


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## hrutan

I did some looking to try to figure the color thing out, and here's what I am coming away with for color types recognized in Area 1 IBC:

Light bodied solid (ex: Yellow)
Dark bodied solid (ex: Red, Black, Blue)
Metallic
Multicolor
Bicolor
Butterfly
Marble / Grizzle

Anything that does not fit in those categories would be shown in Division E: Breeders Division, in E1: Color or Form Variations

For example: Orange Dalmatian has no color category. It would go into E1, and must be entered with a clear description of what the breeder is intending so that it can be judged accordingly.

Salamander and MG would typically go into either bicolor or multicolor, depending. Salamander MIGHT go into Variations, instead. There's no "gas" category recognition. That's just a trade name .. makes the fish seem more exciting, so that they sell. No different than calling a yellow and black marble a "bumblebee."

When you're showing a fish and you're just not sure where to class it, put it in the HELP class (write HELP on the bag), and it will be classed when the fish are getting sorted.


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## lilnaugrim

+1 thanks for that hrutan!


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## lilnaugrim

The first two Salamander's I posted aren't actual EE's, they just hold the geno for it. EE is not exclusive to Salamander, but that's where it first came from and it's still a fairly new form so breeders are trying to expand on the colorations. So far there have been many variations; white's, pastel's, MG's, Pineapples, Sally's, Coppers, and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting.

But yes, you can absolutely have a Salamander without having EE.


















Terrible form but he's a Salamander without EE


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## Overprotective Fish Lover

Hrutan, thank you so much for your research! Awesome to know!


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## Nova betta

so the ventrals should be as long as the end of his anal fin right? Also a another noobie question what are split ventrals, I have heard about them but don't really know that they are?


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## lilnaugrim

Yes, exactly.

Ventrals should be knife shaped. The split ventral refers to the bottom tip of the fin, it may split off at some point and the ray's split from one another. This is not desirable.

Here is a fish with split ventrals, see the white at the end and how they are split apart? There is no webbing between them? Those are split ventrals









This fish's ventrals are of nice length but should be wider towards the bottom; they taper too much.









Female's ventrals have extended rays (as does the above male). Extended rays are faults.









Ventrals should taper as the blade of a knife; not suddenly come to a point.


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## LittleRose

Howabout my boy Orchid? 



He's just a pet, I don't plan on breeding or anything, just curious. 

I know that his fins are a hotmess, but I think he has a desirable body shape...maybe? lol I'm definitely no expert.


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## lilnaugrim

Phew, you guys are tiring me out lol!

LittleRose, while that's a great picture, he does need to be flaring in order to fully critique him!


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## 123Rascal123

this thread is amazing, thank you all for sharing you knowledge, I have learned so much


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## hrutan

Always. I am not as fast as I used to be due to being an admin on two different FB groups, but I am _always_ happy to help. And if I don't answer in a thread you want my input on, send me a PM. I will get an email notification and know to go check.


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## Overprotective Fish Lover

Here's something I've been wondering about. Thanks to lil and hrutan, I think I'm partially able to identify and count rays if they're prominent. But how many rays are desirable in each tail type? How many should there be for:

VT?
CT?
HM?
DT?
PK (all 3 types)?
RoseT? (infinite?)
Etc.?

Thanks,
-OFL


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## lilnaugrim

*VT:* 2 Rays ONLY
*CT:* Most are 2 Rays, can be 4-8 (yes, there have been 8 rayed and even 12 rayed CT's; Chard56 had one )
*HM:* Depends. A good one that has more webbing than branching can have as little as 4 Rays, ones with less webbing and more branching can easily have up to 16 or even 24.
*OHM*: Usually has more rays around 12-16 but can vary.
*DeT and Super DeT:* Can have anything from 4 rays and up. Cannot be 2 rayed, otherwise it'd be a VT or Round Tail.
*HalfSun:* Same as HM but has some web reduction like CT
*Combtail:* Can have as little as 2 Rays (needs web reduction to be Comb) or as many as 6-8 or more.
*DT/DTVT/DTPK:* As little as 2 rays per each type and as many as 16-24 or more if it becomes DTRT.
*Rose Tail:* Usually around 16 and more, sometimes as low as 12 or 14 on males. On females it can be as low as 6 to be a Rose Tail.
*Feather Tail:* Same as RT but there is web reduction that causes the rays to spread out and look like a feather.

*Traditional PK/HMPK:* Traditionally they should only have 2 rays and lots of webbing/membrane in the middle. Some have 4 rays though.
*Asymmetrical HMPK (the most common besides Trad):* Usually 4 rays to 8 rays, again, you ideally want more webbing but they can become a Rosetail HMPK as well with a higher ray count. Not ideal, but it can happen.
*Symmetrical HMPK (shortfinned HM):* Same as HM but just a short version.

Sorry, there are mostly no straight number answer for these. These are pretty much the ideal numbers, though almost anything can show up except for VT which is strictly 2 ray only, the others can vary quite a bit.


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## Overprotective Fish Lover

Wow, thank you lil! That's so helpful! I always assumed "the more rays, the better," but I guess that's not true with most tail types. Thanks again!


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## lilnaugrim

You're welcome ^_^ On almost all tail types, more membrane/webbing is ideal and less rays if possible. When you start getting more rays, that's when you get into RT and FT and that's not a show fish then. A show fish needs a nice flat tail, no wrinkles or kinks in it ^_^


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## Julie7778

Would love to hear what you guys think! I also am trying to learn critiquing.


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## Overprotective Fish Lover

Okay certainly not a trained Berta critic, but I'm gonna give this a shot based on the rest of this thread  ...

Julie7778, holy cow the elephant ears on that boy! He's a trad. PK, if I'm right, and pretty decent-looking form, to me. The first two dorsal rays look pretty stubby...not sure how big a deal that is in PKs, I know it's an issue with HMs. His anal could be pointier, but otherwise his topline looks good, his caudal looks great, and his pectorals seem nice and rounded (he obviously doesn't chomp them like my EE boy Gabriel does ). I can't see his vents though. I don't know if he's show-worthy or not, but no massive faults.

Hope this helps! If anyone more experienced sees something wrong with my critiquing please let me know, I'm just learning!


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## lilnaugrim

For Julie's fish, he's an asymmetrical HMPK, he does reach the 180 degree mark, his dorsal is not small and round, this makes him an HMPK 

Otherwise I agree on the points made. Dorsal definitely needs work, can't have stubby rays like that. I can see a bit of the ventrals and they look like they're split or something which is a big fault. And as long as those ears are at least 1/3 of his body size, then you're good!


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## lilnaugrim

For the DT stubby dorsal question. Look at this guy, the very front of his dorsal closest to the face end, do you see those little numbs that stick out at the front? Those are the "stubby" rays because they are so short. The first ray should extend all the way up ideally but that is very hard to achieve for DTs so they often have stubby rays to varying degrees.










Here is another image, another stubby dorsal. Do you see how it looks almost like stair steps? It shouldn't be like that.


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## Vergil

How about this one? He's still a bit shy... Every time I'm around he dances and flares. He gets real spooked by the camera though - mirrors and all. :/


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## Vergil

After almost a hundred shots with the digicam later... xP 

@*lilnaugrim* Now I know what you mean when you say only 1 or 2 in a few hundred shots ever turn out nice. And interesting. I wasn't aware he had that hole in his fin up until I took the photos!


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## lilnaugrim

Much better, we could still use an actual flare picture when he's extended his beard but I can give a basic crit with this at least. And yeah, the pin holes show up sometimes when they flare too much and too hard; it rips the fin. It may heal up or it may open up to a larger hole if he continues to flare, it will still heal though 

Looks like he may be a small fish still. His body shape isn't too desireable; the topline should be smoother and curve more. Not sure if it's due to the dragon scales or not but he has a couple little bumps on his topline between his eye and dorsal.

Hard to tell on dorsal if it has a stubby ray or not, I won't critique it since it's not fully spread out.

Caudal looks beautiful, full 180 spread even without full flare. He's on the edge of having too many rays though which causes the ruffled rosetail effect which is undesirable in Bettas for showing.

Anal fin needs to be pointed more since he is an Asymmetrical HMPK, he has a nice slant to it though.

Ventrals are split! Big fault. Can't tell if they are the same length as the end of the anal fin or not due to not being down, they don't look very full though.

Coloration is good but the white iridescence scales are bleeding into the caudal fin, the fins should be totally yellow with black edging for his type. Black edging doesn't totally go around all the fins, notably on the dorsal and bottom of anal fin.


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## Vergil

Oh, I see. He's been flaring more since he got the new tank. He used to live in like 500mL of water from the LFS, then moved him for two weeks to a 1gal hospital tank. Now he has an 8.9gal to himself with a HOB filter and seems a lot happier!  Will I need to medicate it or do I just leave it alone? 

I don't think his topline was ever that smooth - it can really be just his shape. His tail kinda has a ruffle-like appearance at the edges so I guess time will tell if it'll change.

I think his ventrals are split. I've never encountered that in my previous bettas. Is this a cosmetic defect or should I worry? 

Also, after all this has been said, well, is he a good potential breeding stock? I'm not breeding/showing but the LFS I got him from is marketing theirs as such. 

PS. 

Thanks for critiquing Lantia! ^_^


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## lilnaugrim

Vergil said:


> Oh, I see. He's been flaring more since he got the new tank. He used to live in like 500mL of water from the LFS, then moved him for two weeks to a 1gal hospital tank. Now he has an 8.9gal to himself with a HOB filter and seems a lot happier!  Will I need to medicate it or do I just leave it alone?


Yeah, just leave it alone. It will heal on it's own 



Vergil said:


> I don't think his topline was ever that smooth - it can really be just his shape. His tail kinda has a ruffle-like appearance at the edges so I guess time will tell if it'll change.


That's okay, it's all about genetics. Some Betta's have a very nice topline and others don't, it's all about the parents and what kind of care they had when they were growing up. There's nothing you could do about it now though.

And yeah, the ruffle-like appearance means that he has too many ray's, again, nothing you can fix, it's all genetics. As time goes on, it may become a little more ruffled in appearance, it never goes the other way (flattening out as it should be for a show fish)



Vergil said:


> I think his ventrals are split. I've never encountered that in my previous bettas. Is this a cosmetic defect or should I worry?


It's a genetic defect and also how they were raised as babies, nothing you can do about (see a theme here? lol)



Vergil said:


> Also, after all this has been said, well, is he a good potential breeding stock? I'm not breeding/showing but the LFS I got him from is marketing theirs as such.


He has potential if you find the right mate. He'd need a girl that has a smoother body shape, a good dorsal (hard to keep good and full), a tail with less rays to counter balance his, and a girl that has a nice anal (they usually don't come to a point but some are pointier than others) and without split ventral fins to be good. He's certainly not terrible by any means and for breeding, he does look strong; a little on the small side at the moment though. You ideally would breed a larger male to a slightly smaller female so it's easier for him to wrap around her and she won't slip out of his grasp


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## indjo

Vergil: if you want to breed him, look for a female with a nice body, fan like or half circle/oval dorsal, 4 Ray caudal, short anal, and small but wide ventrals. You may not get desirable form in F1 but you should have enough decent offspring to continue breeding. If that is too much work, it would be best to get a new male.

Some points: Ray is the bone structure of fins. HM and HMPK usually have 11 initial rays (that conects to the body). Each of them branches. When ppl speak of rays, they are referring to the end - one Ray branches into a number of rays.

A good formed Betta must have equal branching of each initial ray and equal webbing between all rays (equal at the base and equal at the end).

To take pictures, place Betta in a small tank ; 1/2 - 1g. Let him settle then put a mirror next to the tank, either left/right or opposite to the camera. Take a shot when his dorsal is open (when attacking, dorsal will lean back).


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## Jadel

*Critique? Just for fun!*

Got a real nice photo of Zuko today and wondered what type of quality he is. I'm positive that he's no where near show quality, but still, would be cool to find out 

He looks to me to be a red crowntail combodian. Approx. 2 years old, maybe older. His eyes used to be the same color as his body, but changed black over the last couple of months.










[I'm a little worried he's got popeye, but that's for another thread I posted in the betta emergencies section. Sorta hard to tell in this photo either way.]


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## Olivia27

Nope, not Cambodian. Just red. To be a Cambodian you need a cello body, and then solid-colored (usually red) fins. Like this:

(( too lazy to Google, I'm going to bed soon XD so this is my foster when he first arrived. Excuse the missing fins ))



I'm far from a breeding/genetics expert, but I've been studying about it so I like to chime in and see what the real experts say later. With Zuko, I see:
- smooth topline
- no spoon head
- vents the same length as anal
- not sure if it's just the photo but his peduncle is funny-looking
- bent ray? 
- weak dorsal? 
- does caudal hit 180?

This is not a good photo to comment on anyway. Your best bet is a side view photo of the fish in full flare. Like this:



^ that's my own boy's eBay pic. He's pretty awesome finnage wise, although that caudal is juuust shy of 180 and the anal is a liiiittle too long. Technically his body shape is OK too, but it was probably that ugly narrow head (Volga can't read this, can he?) that made him priced at $5 LOL but whatever, I didn't buy him to breed. All I know is I got an imported fish for $5 and I could care less about what anyone say XD


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## Olivia27

Ugh, getting critique-worthy photos are a *nightmare*. I just can't seem to get it even with the flare-happy boys =\ aanyway. Forget what I said about my foster XD I cannot, for the life of me, capture his flare on a phone camera.

EDIT: welp here are two bad photos if you insist x)


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## BettaStarter24

From what I can tell, his topline is nice, and I love his head. But his anal and Dorsal fins are messy, unsure about his tailspread or ventrals though. His lovely pecs get in the way. He's gorgeous.


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## Olivia27

Aha, yep, bad photos like I said. King actually does have a nice overlap on his three fins, and a perfect 180 caudal - which I cannot prove because my phone snaps photos half a second *after* I hit the button >< one thing you missed though: he has a single stubby ray on the beginning of the dorsal 

About the messy dorsal-anal, I'm actually wondering if it's only because he's young and still needs time to grow into his fins. That's true though, those spiky edges shouldn't be there. But then again this boy was bought for color over form  the female is gonna correct those faults. Hopefully.


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## BettaStarter24

Oh I see that now that you point it out. It was hard to see in the cup. 

I'd have someone help me with Chihiro my HMPK female if I could actually get a picture of her that wasn't her facing the camera. She's another stubborn one.


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## Witchipoo

Nice wedge shaped head with strong jaw, good big dark eye, love his pects, but they hide his ventrals. Good strong flat top line, little bit of a dip behind the dorsal but nice.wide strong peduncle. His dorsal is too narrow and anal is way too long, edges of both are messy. Nice delta shaped caudal with smooth edges. Color bands could be sharper, but color is evenly distributed. Overall, nice boy.


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## trilobite

You can practice on these 2 very different ladies if you want 

both hmpk


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## Kay333

His fins are still recovering from fin rot but here's my guy Rudy. He hates staying still and doesn't flare often... Sorry for the bad pic quality!


















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## Kay333

What tail type do you think he is? I've had someone suggest he's maybe a rose tail??


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## ao

Thought Id plop my new petco purchase in here so I can learn something!

Im not usually a fan of DTs but this bundle of stress stripes in a little cup implored me to take him home. lol. i think he's quite lovely for a DT.

Since I'm not at all versed in good betta coloration and form, I can definitely learn something new here!

let me have a crack at this and you guys can correct me. 

I believe his anal is quite long, and the red coloration on his ventrals are undesirable. but his caudal and dorsal are somewhat even. 

what else? 










Ninja feesh! haiya!










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## lilnaugrim

Lol, you have the cutest Betta photos ao!

Yes, about all you pointed out. Ideally on all fin types, the fins should be flat and not ruffled as they are in Rose/Feather tails. So he's nearing the edge of having too many branches which is what causes the tail to ruffle and billow. If only his caudal was longer because it's actually too small for the size of the dorsal and the anal fin. So, if that grows out more then he's good! Still, the ruffling is technically undesirable as far as that goes  Looks like his lobes are both pretty even, hard to tell with the dorsal flopping over the top one though. If he reaches 180 then he's also good!

He is actually slightly spoonheaded there. Body is relatively nice for a DT! It compliments his fins well! He's also a Marble Copper. Yes, the red should only appear as a wash all around versus some showing in the anal and not in the dorsal/caudal and all of it in the ventrals. It should spread out more or just not be there at all lol.

Ventrals aren't as long as the anal, that's a fault. Also, they should be full knife-like shape all the way to the tips, his webbing kind of just stops about 2/3 of the way down and doesn't go straight to the end which is a fault.

As most DT's, he has reduced webbing on all his fins which is also a fault--likely he has CT in his genes somewhere up the pool.

Overall, he's mostly balanced, if his caudal was bigger and webbing wasn't reduced, you'd have a winner on your hands! :-D


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## ao

Whew, it's amazing how much thought you dedicate to your responses Lil!

I just read half this thread, and learned so much more on this topic than I had in the past 4 years of betta keeping! This side of the hobby can be a little snobbish sometimes, so I rarely ventures into these parts, but it such a great friendly and educational environment here, it puts a smile on my face 

A little question on the coloration, you said he was a copper, but he seems to be a steel blue to me? Here's a color accurate photo incase the lighting was throwing you off.










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## lilnaugrim

You know me ao ^_^ always happy to help! I'm glad many are learning here!! This is what a forum is all about!

Ah yes, he does look Steel Blue there. The two are pretty closely related so it can be difficult to tell sometimes depending on the lighting of course--as you know :-D He still looks like he came from a CopperxBlue spawn though or at least Copper is down in his line; it's very dominant over Steel Blue. Royal Blue and Turquoise are also dominant over Steel Blue which is why they aren't as common as Turquoise which are the most dominant of them all.


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## Witchipoo

He's a bit spoon headed, but has a good strong jaw. Nice big dark eye, his top line is relatively flat, just a slight curve. Good wide strong peduncle. A bit short nose to peduncle which gives him a little bit of an unbalanced look, that comes with the DT though. That dorsal is to die for! The mast could be.a bit taller, but it's nice and smooth all the way up. Dorsal and caudal are very evenly curved in that gorgeous half circle shape. His anal is a good bit too long, messes up the smooth half circle. Ventrals are nicely shaped and, as far as I can tell with the angle, of a good even length with the anal fin. Most people ignore the pectoral, but a Betta can't maneuver well without them, his are celo, so hard to see, but from what I can see they're a bit smallish and more delta shaped than HM. His color is beautifully even in spite of the marbeling, but there is some red wash on the anal and the red ventrals are both undesirable. I think of it this way though, does it detract from his overall appearance? I don't think so, it sort of accents his coloring. A fish doesn't swim with his color! So color, to me, is the least and last thing I look at.


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## Olivia27

^ don't wanna question anyone but I don't think I see a spoohead. Are you critique-ing ( what's the present continuos form of 'critique' lol) @ao's boy?


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## Witchipoo

Seren27 said:


> ^ don't wanna question anyone but I don't think I see a spoohead. Are you critique-ing ( what's the present continuos form of 'critique' lol) @ao's boy?


Yes, if you look at the first full side picture you can see where his head slopes sharply down in front of the eyes and ends at a slightly upturned mouth, giving his face a "pinched" look from the side.


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## RussellTheShihTzu

Hi, Folks:

Wanted to remind everyone that this is a teaching thread to help you learn to critique your Betta; not a thread for someone else to completely critique your Betta. So let us know what YOU see and we'll go from there. The only requirement is that you post a clear, full side-view flare shot. Without one a Betta cannot be critiqued.

Work with your Betta until you get the shot needed. Not only does it make critiquing possible it gives you a lot of interaction with your Betta...which they love.


----------



## BettaMommaHeather

So I am trying to learn all about betta form and thought i would give it a shot with my boy Greymane who is a Copper CT








1. his face kind slopes down with a bit of a pouty upper lip, I think this is what is called spoonheaded.
2. the slope of his head gives him a "hunchback" appearance
3. I do like the spread of his fins, they look very rounded except for the overlap of the dorsal and caudal fins.

So how did I do, what did I miss? Overall he is a nice fish for a walmart find. Its ok you can be honest, he is a pet so I know he is not perfect.


----------



## ThatFishThough

I saw some EPIC bettas on aquabid, in terms of form. Here's one. I'll do my best critquing it.

Let's start with these guys.

Guy 1:

Pros:
Beautiful color.
Nice Topline.
Forward Dorsal.
Okay-ish anal, pretty close to proper size.
Nice vents.

Cons:
I noticed there's something wonky going on with his rays. Bent/Uneven/Excessive?
Not 180 Cadual
No D Cadual

Is the spikey dorsal a fault?


----------



## lilnaugrim

BettaMommaHeather said:


> So I am trying to learn all about betta form and thought i would give it a shot with my boy Greymane who is a Copper CT
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1. his face kind slopes down with a bit of a pouty upper lip, I think this is what is called spoonheaded.
> 2. the slope of his head gives him a "hunchback" appearance
> 3. I do like the spread of his fins, they look very rounded except for the overlap of the dorsal and caudal fins.
> 
> So how did I do, what did I miss? Overall he is a nice fish for a walmart find. Its ok you can be honest, he is a pet so I know he is not perfect.


Love his name!

Yes, that is called spoonheaded. Hunchback is not a technical term so I usually don't promote it's use. With spoonheaded naturally comes that hunchback so it's simply assumed.

His color is nice and even. His fins are very messy though. The reduction of the webbing should be the same all the way around. Here, look at this thread: What is a good Crowntail? He lacks 180 degree spread needed. Dorsal does hit the caudal but it's still too small. Can't tell how many ray's he has.



ThatFishThough said:


> I saw some EPIC bettas on aquabid, in terms of form. Here's one. I'll do my best critquing it.
> 
> Let's start with these guys.
> 
> Guy 1:
> 
> Pros:
> Beautiful color.
> Nice Topline.
> Forward Dorsal.
> Okay-ish anal, pretty close to proper size.
> Nice vents.
> 
> Cons:
> I noticed there's something wonky going on with his rays. Bent/Uneven/Excessive?
> Not 180 Cadual
> No D Cadual
> 
> Is the spikey dorsal a fault?



Instead of beautiful color, tell if the color is balanced or not. Color balance means that the fish shouldn't have a yellow dorsal fin, a blue anal, and a red caudal (granted, that would be super interesting but work with me lol), that isn't a balanced coloration. Instead, you'd want all yellow or all blue, all red. Or if it's a Butterfly, the band should go all the way around the fins, not just on the caudal or the anal fin and not the dorsal. Make sense?

Say smoothe topline, not nice topline. Toplines can be smooth, bumpy, flat, too arched, etc. Nice has no real description 

So to describe these two:
Fish 1:

Slightly spoonheaded, too arched. Dorsal has a wonderful forward spread and very large in comparison. It has too many rays though which makes that ruffled look. The web reduction (spikey) is bad form though. Caudal is too ruffled; excessive branching. All fins should be flat. Caudal is rounded at the edges, not the perfect D shape it should be. Anal fin matches dorsal fin in shape which is great! It's slightly longer than the caudal but not so bad in comparison to others we've seen. Ventrals are wonderfully fat and thick, very wide spread. Ventral's are also split though which isn't good, but it does line up with the end of the anal which is good. His fins in all make a big circle in shape which is what the goal is!


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## BettaMommaHeather

Ty for that wonderful link Thatfishthough it was super helpful and i understand things a bit more.
Lilnaugrim, ty for your critque and for helping me understand a bit more. I appreciate it. Just a quick question though, since being spoon headed would the arching not even be commented on since it is assumed? 
Ty again


----------



## lilnaugrim

BettaMommaHeather said:


> Ty for that wonderful link Thatfishthough it was super helpful and i understand things a bit more.
> Lilnaugrim, ty for your critque and for helping me understand a bit more. I appreciate it. Just a quick question though, since being spoon headed would the arching not even be commented on since it is assumed?
> Ty again


Arch and humpback can be different. I use arch to explain the degree since they do vary. Humpback is usually just the general term. Does that make sense? It's confusing I know, sorry >.<


----------



## Olivia27

I always thought of it like this: spoon heads happen when a fairy pinched their little faces when they're a baby XD

Merah is spoonheaded


----------



## Tourmaline

So it's just what I call a grumpy face, or a dip just before their lips? I think Rajah is spoonheaded. I actually wanted to post him instead but Plakat form confuses me. I have more HMs for reference.

Okay, I see it now. Went to each tank and took a good look at them. I only have 3 males without spoonheads, including Meeko.


----------



## lilnaugrim

Spoonhead:









Not Spoonhead


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## Tourmaline

I finally got it when I looked at my other Bettas. I was having trouble because every time I saw someone saying a Betta was spoonheaded they looked normal to me, but most of my Bettas are spoonheaded, so I didn't know the difference. I didn't think to sit there and compare two side by side, I was being dumb.


----------



## BettaTalk

*Moved to "Learn How to Critique" sticky*

Hello,
So I don't plan on showing bettas any time soon because I already show enough animals (lol! ) but I was just wondering if anyone could help teach me how to critique bettas? I know that there are some other threads already dedicated to this but they are way too far into it for me to pick up on. So I just decided to start my own! So here is a picture that I found online that I'm going to post as an example for us to use. I thank you all in advance for your help! I always love when people go out of their way to help me learn something new! Thanks guys!

****IMAGE****






****IMAGE***​*
Hope that I chose a good one! I know literally NOTHING about showing bettas...


----------



## Olivia27

What I do is throw around guesses on the critique thread just so the real experts can come up and correct me  that way I never stop learning.

As for that little dude, I see a minor spoon head and a smooth topline. Broad, forward dorsal, strong peduncle, all overlapping fins, knife-shaped ventrals and an anal with a nice length (same as longest point of ventral, same length as caudal). Color wise... I don't know. He's a marble so technically his color can be whatever. But I don't remember there's a marble category in IBC shows. If this guy is showing in the bicolor group though he'd be kicked instantly because of his blue bleeding all over the fins. Not enough white to be a triband either. He's pushing to a butterfly but I don't want to say he's one. To be a BF one needs a clear separation between the two colors on all the fins. Whether or not his blue/yellow separation is "clear" is debatable. So yeah.


----------



## RussellTheShihTzu

Please note this is not critique thread. It is a thread for those wishing to learn to critique. Let us know what you do or don't see in your Betta and others will let you know what you hit and what you missed.

Posts asking for straight critiques of their Betta will be moved to "Pictures."

Thank you.


----------



## jadaBlu

Interesting I guess I have some spoon headed bettas. I have always found it cute and natural because fish that eat insects off the surface as they would in the wild would have this type of face shape.


----------



## Hallyx

Spoonheads are also preferred among fighting Plakats. Said to improve the angle of the grip.

But, if you look at wild species, you won't see spoonhead as a feature.

Seems Betta form judging is all about geometry, some of which is detrimental, or at least contrary, to good genetics.


----------



## Bettabirdlover

Just finished reading the whole thread! Learned so much! I will prob try to critique Finn for practice once I get a flare pic. 

I do have a question about abbreviations for tail types.

I know these

VT veiltail

HM halfmoon

PK plakat

DT double tail

RT rose tail

If I'm wrong please correct me. 

I don't know these

EE
HMPK


----------



## Olivia27

Bettabirdlover said:


> Just finished reading the whole thread! Learned so much! I will prob try to critique Finn for practice once I get a flare pic.
> 
> I do have a question about abbreviations for tail types.
> 
> I know these
> 
> VT veiltail
> 
> *HM halfmoon
> 
> PK plakat*
> 
> DT double tail
> 
> RT rose tail
> 
> If I'm wrong please correct me.
> 
> I don't know these
> 
> EE
> *HMPK*


Bolded parts answer the question :lol:

EE is Elephant Ear, sometimes also known as Dumbos or Big Ears. I'm sure you've seen at least one example. 

I think we have a thread somewhere that lists all the abbreviations but here are some more anyway:

MG - Mustard Gas (body of any shade of blue, fins of yellow or orange, plus black or white banding)
BF - butterfly (you will see me saying this a lot LOL)
FT - feather tail
CT - crown tail
DeT - delta tail
S DeT or Super DeT - super delta tail
OHM - Over Half Moon (over 180 degrees caudal). Similarly, OHMPK is just over half moon pla kat.

There's got to be more. I just can't pull it off the top of my head right now.


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## Bettabirdlover

Olivia27 said:


> Bolded parts answer the question :lol:
> 
> EE is Elephant Ear, sometimes also known as Dumbos or Big Ears. I'm sure you've seen at least one example.
> 
> I think we have a thread somewhere that lists all the abbreviations but here are some more anyway:
> 
> MG - Mustard Gas (body of any shade of blue, fins of yellow or orange, plus black or white banding)
> BF - butterfly (you will see me saying this a lot LOL)
> FT - feather tail
> CT - crown tail
> DeT - delta tail
> S DeT or Super DeT - super delta tail
> OHM - Over Half Moon (over 180 degrees caudal). Similarly, OHMPK is just over half moon pla kat.
> 
> There's got to be more. I just can't pull it off the top of my head right now.


Oh thank you!!!


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## nhgoalstop2003

Thoughts on this guy before I make a bid?


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## Olivia27

I have a poor eyesight. Is that fish just turning when the camera snaps, or is that one of the most arched back ever? I think he's just turning? Well either ways I think he still has a bit of a hump back. Some bent dorsal rays (the first four), but I like how the first one is nice and long. The fin edges are messy. Some spikes on the anal, too. Excessive branching, weak peduncle (maybe?) and... I can't see his vents but they don't look split. No spoonhead either. All in all, he's pretty awesome. I saw that you're looking to breed. If so, please read as much as you can BEFORE getting any fish. Form is important to learn. You need to know which fish is okay to breed and which should just be kept as a pet. Good luck!


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## BettaBoy11

Olivia27 said:


> Bolded parts answer the question :lol:
> 
> EE is Elephant Ear, sometimes also known as Dumbos or Big Ears. I'm sure you've seen at least one example.
> 
> I think we have a thread somewhere that lists all the abbreviations but here are some more anyway:
> 
> MG - Mustard Gas (body of any shade of blue, fins of yellow or orange, plus black or white banding)
> BF - butterfly (you will see me saying this a lot LOL)
> FT - feather tail
> CT - crown tail
> DeT - delta tail
> S DeT or Super DeT - super delta tail
> OHM - Over Half Moon (over 180 degrees caudal). Similarly, OHMPK is just over half moon pla kat.
> 
> There's got to be more. I just can't pull it off the top of my head right now.


Here's that thread:
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=641377


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## nhgoalstop2003

Thank you guys for the responses. Yes he's turning.in the pic. I tried to screen capture it.from a video. I've been reading everything I can about the beeeding side of betta keeping to better prepare myself for everything to expect and what I need on hand to feed and take care of the fry.


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## Bettabirdlover

BettaBoy11 said:


> Here's that thread:
> http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=641377


:-D thanks!


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## Nova betta

This is a really nooby question but what is a peduncle on a betta? And what is the difference of a weak and strong peduncle. Thanks!


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## lilnaugrim

Peduncle is the end of the body where the tail meets. A strong peduncle should hold the tail up strongly, it shouldn't droop down (though, that's rather rare) but it also shouldn't curve upwards.

Here's an anatomy pic first:









This is a good peduncle


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## BettaNard

I want to do one of Castor! I cannot get a full flare, because once he's fully flared he darts all around the tank like a maniac so these photos are all I have to work with

Here is what I see: 

- No spoonhead
- Anal and dorsal fin good lengths, meet up with Caudal
- Weak penducle?
- Smooth topline
- Ventrals are messy, not clean and knife shaped
- Dark discolouration on anal and ventrals
- Caudal has smooth edges
- Little stair stepping on dorsal?
- Rays look bent on anal fin?

How did I do? I suck at this ><"


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## lilnaugrim

Why don't you try to sort them into pros and cons instead of just listing them; it will be easier. Explain the good versus the bad. Such as: Not spoonheaded, however the nose is slightly blunt which is not desirable.

His peduncle isn't weak actually! He has a very nice one. Why did you think it was weak or were you just guessing?

Yes, caudal has smooth edges but his caudal doesn't make the perfect D shape, he has short rays on the very edges of his caudal which make him a Super DeT.


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## BettaNard

Okay gotcha! Oh I just realised the nose, I thought something was odd about that part of him.

I just thought the peduncle should be straight and kinda curl on both ends but Castor's look crooked-ish? I'm not sure sorry.

Oh damn, the person who sold me this fish sold him as a HMEE, I think he does reach HM though when he's properly flaring but it's so hard for me to get a shot, because he doesn't sit still when he flares :/


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## Olivia27

It's only crooked on one of the photos. If you look at your avatar it's all good  got nothing else to add, Lil's got it all.


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## lilnaugrim

It only looks crooked because he's wiggling in the photo. Try using flash and angle the camera down so it doesn't catch the glare in the glass when you use it. This way, your shutter speed is higher and you can catch him at full flare.

For HM vs. Super DeT, HM absolutely has to have the full D shape, that means straight edges from the peduncle and up to the corners of the D. That's what straight edges means technically. It can be difficult to differentiate between the edges on the straight side of the D and the edges of the curved part since we have no technical word for that. Having even edges all the way around generally means that there isn't overbranching which causes tail ruffling (RT/FT). But because your boy has short rays at the straight edges of the D part, it becomes rounded and no longer a sharp corner as it should be. That's what disqualifies him as an HM even if he makes it up to 180 degrees, does that make sense to you?


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## HTageant

Olivia27 said:


> Welp I do believe you get points cut off if your girl has a flat topline. So that's not me being subjective. As for fixing spoonheads, I'm not a breeder. But why not get a female with no spoonheads *and* a smooth topline? Kills two birds with one stone


Ha ha true  Idk, perhaps I should look up the standards for females sometime. I have only really studied the standards for males... Anyway, thanks for holding an interesting conversation with me! You taught me something new


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## anarchywulf

Is he a good quality halfmoon. I'm really bad critiquing


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## RussellTheShihTzu

^^
Please note this is a learning thread; not a critique thread. Once you tell us what you thing are your boy's pros and cons someone will come on explain where you are right or in error.

If you want a straight critique you could post in the Pictures section.

BTW, isn't your boy a double tail?


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## anarchywulf

Oh now i get it! Oops! He's not a double tail, it's just the moment his tail folded when i captured him on photo!

Pros
Long knife shaped ventrals
Smooth topline
Frontward angled anal fin

Cons
Stair Stepping at the dorsal fin
Uneven caudal - rosetail?
Short caudal fin
Uneven coloration with no symmetry


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## BlueInkFish

Although I'm not really a good "critquer," I do believe you have a double tail Betta. His dorsal is very big and he's got quite a stalky body. His tail also has 2 lobes. I'm 100% sure you have a Doubletail.


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## anarchywulf

Oh! I see! Thank you for pointing it out! I just got him a day ago and have been thinking that it was just the way his tail is folded against each other that made it look like that!


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## lilnaugrim

@Yoggiecast
This thread is to learn how to critique your fish, not have others do it for you. You can post in the Pictures section if you want that. But if you get a flare picture of your fish and give it your best shot, we can help correct or agree with you on what you've learned.


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## Tourmaline

I _finally_ got my other HMPK male to flare after months. Asymmetrical or Traditional PK? I have a hard time telling. 




















Pros:
Caudal reaches 180° (a bit hard to see but it does) 
Anal fin is pointed (not sure if pointy enough)
Dorsal reaches top of caudal
D shaped caudal
Strong peduncle 
His fins look proportional (compared to my other PK) 

Cons:
Ventrals are.. Weird. Not sure how to describe them
I'm unsure of his topline but it seems too flat
Body looks a bit thick
Spoonheaded? 
Anal fin could be more sloped (I think) 
His dorsal looks a bit messy

He's a marble so his color is all over the place.. The second picture was the best I could get for a side profile flare, it's been impossible to get him to flare up until now, and I can't get him to flare again. 

Anything I missed? I know I'll need some correcting. I haven't really critiqued in a while.


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## lilnaugrim

He's Asymmetrical. Trad's typically have a small dorsal, is more rounded, and their caudal's also have rounded edges.

Yeah, his point is decent but just a little more dramatic slant towards the end would be better. He would do okay with his anal fin.
Caudal is very nice but the edges have a stubby ray which would have points taken off there.

His ventrals would be great if only the membrane extended further towards the white part. Basically his membrane just stopped and that's why they're stringy like that at the end, it's just a single ray. However, they would be perfect if the membrane just went on. He would have many points taken off for those.

I agree his topline is too flat and his body is too thick. A good HMPK should have a slender, streamlined body. Topline should arch gracefully and gradually, it should not go flat at any point or arch too dramatically. I don't think he's spoonheaded but his topline definitely isn't as good, I agree.

Scale wise he's kind of really bad. The thick scales should either fully cover the fish (minus a skunk stripe if not Full Mask) evenly with no openings or crooked scales. His partial genes caused the thick scales to only appear at the front half of him which is a big fault. If the blue continued throughout his whole body, his coloration wouldn't be as bad, but because it doesn't it's not as good. 

And yep, you've got the Dorsal right; it is messy. It's a very good size, but it stair-steps too much and doesn't quite have the right shape for an Asym. HMPK.

Not a bad critique Tourmaline! ^_^


----------



## Tourmaline

Oh! I forgot about this. I've been wanting to critique my giant HMPK. 

Alydar first because I bought him first














Pros:
-Dorsal meets top of caudal
-Dorsal points forward flared 
-No stubby rays
-Caudal reaches 180°
-Pointed anal fin
-Ventrals meet longest point in anal fin

Cons:
-Rounded caudal 
-Split ventrals
-Flat topline 
-Anal fin has a split 
-Anal fin not slanted enough

And Mako, is he a traditional PK? I know Alydar is an asymmetrical PK. 














Pros:
-Dorsal reaches top of caudal
-Caudal reaches 180 degrees
-Pointed anal fin
-Anal fin has a decent slant to it
-Ventrals meet anal fin
-Topline is decent, not too flat

Cons:
-Web reduction in dorsal
-Stubby first ray I think
-Caudal is too rounded

He's hard to catch in a full flare, since he either doesn't have a beard or can't/won't extend it, I can't tell when he's flaring all the way. For his color, his blue band is fairly even, but I'm sure that blue bleeding into his fins is bad. I'm not sure.


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## harY

Any comments? Picked these guys up today!


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## RussellTheShihTzu

@spanch-moss As explained in the first post, this thread is to help _YOU_ learn to critique your own Betta so you will be better equipped when you go to buy your next one. If you want someone else to do it post in main Betta Pictures. All posts asking for straight-out critiques will be removed. All posts with photos that that are no longer visible have been moved.

You thread has been moved.


----------



## spanch-moss

oki


----------



## GailC

This is my new boy. I haven't been able to get him to flare yet but I'm thinking he is a OHM?
His peduncle looks a little stubby and his head seems a bit too pointy.
He is young though or maybe just small. He was half the size of the other bettas at the store.

What do others think?

He was marked as a copper but idk, almost seems too blue.


----------



## indjo

He is a nice copper, which belongs in the metallic color group. They often show different color by altering light angles. 

His is body could be better - ideally top and bottom line should be similar, forming a bullet shape. He has a dipped head - top line should form a smooth curve from mouth to tail, no dips, no hunchback, etc. Though it's hard to see in real life, the picture shows his rear has slight lump. Penducle, IMO, looks fine though not exactly 90° body-tail.

Nice big dorsal. It should at least be a half circle if he were flaring. Caudal has rather excessive rays thus folds here and there (not good). Anal is a bit long - should be equal length to caudal. Ventrals are wide and looks to be ideal form (blade shaped).


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## Moki

Here is Ghost. Got him two days ago from PetSmart as a "premium male platinum". In just two days he has gone from all white to white with pink and orange hues, and black markings
View attachment 1032774
View attachment 1032775
View attachment 1032776


----------



## RussellTheShihTzu

@Moki
As explained in the first post, this thread is to help _YOU_ learn to critique your own Betta so you will be better equipped when you go to buy your next one.

If you want someone else to critique it will be moved to Betta Pictures. To receive a proper critique a full flaring photo that has all fins extended is needed.


----------



## Kaye189

Pretty late in the game here but I still want to show off my boy Patch. He's not winning any show awards anytime soon, but hes definitely won my heart and all the females in the tank as well.


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## BTanaka05!

Hi! Do you critique females too? I have a few that I am just curious about I do not think I will enter them in any contests or breed them. They are kind of basic as there is not much selection where I live, they are all blue with the occasional red but I love them just the same. Everyone has such beautiful stunning bettas here btw I wish everyone entering contests and breeding the best of luck!


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## betta4ever!

pros- pointed anal fin, nice ventrals, caudal fin meeting anal fin cons- a bit spoon-headed??, dorsal fin not meeting anal fin, caudal fin not 180 Guys don't blame me if some of the info I gave is wrong, i just learned what betta critique is, and thought it would be fun to qritique my boy!!


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## indjo

We need a perfect side view picture, preferably not in attack position (first picture is attack position - usually fins are not opened to full potential).

Second picture, though a side view, but is from a high angle. We cant see body form, nor ventrals properly.


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## betta4ever!

those took me four hours to take  will try to take better ones!


----------



## betta4ever!

Oh, the ventrals are transparent, so you can't really see them from the pics...


----------



## indjo

betta4ever! said:


> those took me four hours to take  will try to take better ones!


I can imagine. It took me hours to take the picture of my avi which was in a 1g. Yours look to be in a bigger tank - harder to get that perfect picture


----------



## betta4ever!

I just remembered i had those older ones! Are they better? Yep, he's in a 6 gallon...


----------



## indjo

Based on combined pictures .. . . 
Yes, his head is rather dipped. Body isn't quite bullet shaped but acceptable (standard).
Fins are balanced. Nice big dorsal. Though I can't see the rays, by shape ut looks like a 4 ray. I think caudal should open 180°. Anal looks standard. Can't clearly see ventrals. Though they might have nice shape, but rather thin.

Color wise - I'm not familiar with multi color criteria other than they should show distinctive borders and should have similar patterns on both sides.


----------



## betta4ever!

Thanks, indjo! I'm always impressed by your knowledge...! His pattern is identical on both sides! What do you mean with the distinctive borders? Again, thanks for sharing your knowledge, we're glad to have you here!


----------



## indjo

I'm not sure of the term . . . .color bleed (?)
No color bleed or color washes . . . .
But this criteria was for regular color combos - not marbles. I haven't read the criteria for a long time. So I don't know if there are new updates


----------



## mollyyymo

indjo said:


> I'm not sure of the term . . . .color bleed (?)
> No color bleed or color washes . . . .
> But this criteria was for regular color combos - not marbles. I haven't read the criteria for a long time. So I don't know if there are new updates


I think the criteria for marbles just changed in July 2021. IIRC I think one of the criteria is that the marble pattern is present on all unpaired fins, and that the contrast is good on all unpaired fins. The lack of blue or white on the anal fin is probably a fault, but I'm just now getting up to speed on the standard beyond general faults. 😁


----------



## kellymhill

Well maybe you can test your knowledge with my koi galaxy... ? Please. I'm curious on what you all think of him. He's still growing but he got bigger since I bought him and I think he is coloring up nicely....but I'm not a expert far from it. I think I got good pictures of him flaring...but if not let me know I try again...just he's not a hot tender betta... he takes his time to flare at the mirror and doesn't last long he soon runs away from his reflection. Going have to work on his self esteem. Not sure why but his fins have some small tears in them I'm wondering if it got torn on a rock or drift wood in the tank...


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## kellymhill




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## kellymhill




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## kellymhill




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## kellymhill




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## Feanor

Hi!
This thread is for _you_ to try and practise evaluating your Betta😁…so give it a try!

If you want somebody else to critique post in Betta Pictures.


----------



## RussellTheShihTzu

@ betta4ever! Your boy would be considered a Multicolor as he has more than two colors.

From International Betta Congress Judging Standards:

*Marble:* The Marble Betta, like the Butterfly, is a Patterned Betta. However, it is variegated in a different manner. The key differences are the lack of fin banding and the presence of other colors on the body in a “marbled” effect. Two types of Marbles exist, the “Traditional Marble” and the newer “White Marble” which has white replacing the typical flesh colored of the “Traditional Marble”. The fins and body must show no more than two colors. These must include a light and dark color mix. Fish exhibiting sharp “edges” to the marbling pattern are preferred over those with blended colors. Note: Iridescence on the body and/or fins does not count as a color for the purpose of counting colors.

*Multicolor*: This designation is for Bettas with two, preferably three or more colors that do not fit into any of the other patterned categories or marbles with more than two colors. Ideally, the colors are in high contrast to each other. The colors are those normally seen in Bettas. However, simply having the head alone a different color or only having a different color (Black head in traditional iridescent colors) or only having a different color on the tip of the ventrals is not sufficient to be designated as Multicolor. Judges need be particularly cautious of Bettas shown as Multicolor that show as a second color only a fine wash, such as a “Blue with a bad Red wash”, which is not sufficient. Two colored Multicolored Bettas are those that have two colors without any sign of marbling on the Betta. These will primarily be dark colors however can be light as well.


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## indjo

#kellymhill; please try to evaluate your handsome boy. Practice is the best teacher.
Comment on his body and each of his fins separately.


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## betta4ever!

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> @ betta4ever! Your boy would be considered a Multicolor as he has more than two colors.
> 
> From International Betta Congress Judging Standards:
> 
> *Marble:* The Marble Betta, like the Butterfly, is a Patterned Betta. However, it is variegated in a different manner. The key differences are the lack of fin banding and the presence of other colors on the body in a “marbled” effect. Two types of Marbles exist, the “Traditional Marble” and the newer “White Marble” which has white replacing the typical flesh colored of the “Traditional Marble”. The fins and body must show no more than two colors. These must include a light and dark color mix. Fish exhibiting sharp “edges” to the marbling pattern are preferred over those with blended colors. Note: Iridescence on the body and/or fins does not count as a color for the purpose of counting colors.
> 
> *Multicolor*: This designation is for Bettas with two, preferably three or more colors that do not fit into any of the other patterned categories or marbles with more than two colors. Ideally, the colors are in high contrast to each other. The colors are those normally seen in Bettas. However, simply having the head alone a different color or only having a different color (Black head in traditional iridescent colors) or only having a different color on the tip of the ventrals is not sufficient to be designated as Multicolor. Judges need be particularly cautious of Bettas shown as Multicolor that show as a second color only a fine wash, such as a “Blue with a bad Red wash”, which is not sufficient. Two colored Multicolored Bettas are those that have two colors without any sign of marbling on the Betta. These will primarily be dark colors however can be light as well.


Thanks! Isn't he a galaxy koi betta? Thats what he was labeled at the pet store...!


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## RussellTheShihTzu

The International Betta Congress doesn't recognize trade names.

The IBC is like a kennel club for dogs in that it sets the standards by which Betta should be judged to which a breeder tries to adhere.


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