# Platinum and White Bettas



## lessandler

I am looking to get all white or platinum white betta or aquabid and i noticed that some of them have some slight white areas or clouding over the eyes. I had read somewhere that it was not ideal and could effect vision. But I am confused because the very same bettas appear to be very beautiful and also expensive (I mean up to the $200 range). I am not looking to breed, but would prefer that the vision not hamper the bettas ability to find their food easily. Should I avoid any betta that appears that the entire eye is black?

Please respond if you have experience and/or knowledge in this area. 

Thank you!!!


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## Burd

IMO, the bettas on aquabid that the sellers are trying to pimp out for $100+ are simply not worth it. This is especially the case with some of Aquastar71's bettas -- I've seen a few that had gorgeous colors but it's fins and scales were heavily deformed. Some of the sellers on there are pandering to the uninformed and the ignorant. You buy what looks to be an amazing $200 fish and what you really are getting is the by-product of breeding for huge fins. 

Don't get me wrong, Aquastar71 has some amazing fish for sale and many people have bought and successfully spawned gorgeous fry from them.

I've had several fish with totally black eyes. As long as the bubble over their eye is clear and they have a black pupil, they're fine. If one bubble or the other is popping out or the bubble is cloudy, then there might be a problem.

IMO, I don't know where you live but any betta that sells for hundreds of dollars isn't worth it. Petco gets in fish that could easily sell on aquabid every so often and you'll pay infinitely less and no shipping.


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## DarkMoon17

As I said in the other thread, white clouding can hamper sight. And I do believe it can get worse with age as I've seen with some of my girls, one of which I believe might have gone totally blind. They are fine if the eye is totally black-that isn't a problem. IMO don't pay a lot of money for a fish with any white in it's eyes.


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## n3wport

I have an all white hmpk I got from petco. He was my first fishie. Instead of trying to find one on aquabid and maybe paying alot more, I would just stalk petcos and other fish stores. I am currently looking for a solid red fish and a few halfmoons that were all white have been in the racks here and there.


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## lessandler

Thanks for all the replies guys! 

Funny that you mention aquastar71 becuase he was who I was planning on buying one from. I did buy my last betta of aquabid and it does have some issues, but from another seller. I have found threads on other sites where people rave about his bettas. I will steer clear of any clouding for sure.

I have yet to find any opaque white half moons at my petco or LFS and I look ALL the time for a while now. The only unique bettas I see there are king bettas that are HUGE. I am always tempted to buy them because it is one thing to see a regular betta in a tny cup, but it is another to see one that is so large they literally cannot stretch out straight. It's quite awful to see.

Hmmm maybe if I can find yet another spot for a tank. Wish I went with a large tank and divided it... can't have too many bettas!


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## Luimeril

speaking of, Aquastar has some lovely white butterflies up for sale now, but something about them irks me:
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1311271803
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1311271807

the scales. and, the price, of course. 1000 for one female? no thanks. x:



i've gotten two white bettas from my local pet store. the first one, is the betta in my avatar. Weiss. he didn't stay 100% white, though. gained some pink on his tail and anal fin, and a little black mustache.

my second is Theodore, Theo for short. darling Theo is 99.999% white, with the tiniest bit of black at the top of his ventrils, where they meet his body. but, Theo's partly blind, and totally has trouble seeing. but, that doesn't matter. he's still my darling boy, and it doesn't change how much i love him. in fact, it makes me love Theo more. <3 caring for a blind betta, is not really that different than caring for a betta who can see. x:


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## TexasCichlid

There are a lot of nice bettas on Aquabid in the $30 range. Now after shipping, you are looking at quite a bit more, but no more than I would spend per quality, full color male Cichlid or - heaven forbid -- pretty much anything saltwater. Petco is a reasonable alternative, but honestly -- if I am keeping fish I have generally wanted them to be nearly the best quality obtainable. Part of the enjoyment factor for me. Everyone is different. I guess that is why spending 30+ per betta shipped does not bother me from Aquabid given the quality you should expect to receive -- whether you breed or not.


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## Luimeril

if you have a mom and pop pet store, or a Not Petco/smart/land, you could see if they could special-order you a white betta. or, maybe PetCo/Smart would order white ones. when i was gonna order a HMDT, i had the option of ordering a white one, but i chose not to. (ended up getting Hyde, my grizzle/marble, instead of the HMDT, anyways. xD)


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## lessandler

I have one mom and pop pet store in my area that I have been purchasing everthing from that does oassionally have nice bettas, certainly better than my Petco. But I am a bit irked by that one. Not only does it sell dogs and cats, which is an issue in and of itself, but the owner (same one for over 30 years) insisted that I not buy a heater for a betta fish.

I politely said multiple times that I "prefer" to keep my bettas in heated filtered tanks (he also argues that they don't need filters too). And I was a bit surprised when he ranted about how many bettas he has sold and never with heaters, how he has been to thailand and how some people can keep males together. It was really an awkward experience and left a bad taste in my mouth. He sad I need not pay $$ for a white betta and proudly showed me a pinkish clear HM. I just prefer to see photos of the actual one I order I guess.

I saw those $1000 bettas and am totally not interested, not only beause they are female and ridiculously priced, but I am not interested in purchasing a brand new mutation. There's no saying those scales leave them open to disease, complications or other health issues. 

My current dragon betta has extra dragon scales on his gill covers and he does take air breaths differently than other bettas. It is sad some of the breeding practices that go on and I can't quite understand why all aquabid bettas have "siblings" available. Guess inbreeding is par for the course.

Thanks for for all the feedback though and it's good to know that the eyes can develop clouding and what to look out for. I appreciate it all!


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## Luimeril

i think Theo's blindness is both the way he was born, and the care he got at the pet store. he was there over a week, they said, and only three people there care for the fish the right way. x: so, who knows how long he sat in that half gallon 'tank' in nasty water until the good people changed it. Dx

yeah, those thousand dollar ones bug me. as they said, the breeder is known to end up with odd mutations, and try to sell it as a new thing. i once saw a betta who had NO tail, being sold as a mini betta. it's like, her body was so short, the tail and anal fin fused. :< poor girl. i mean, he has some BEAUTIFUL bettas! but... he sells mutations as cool things, when they're not.


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## Tikibirds

I agree. I dont like the scales on those bettas either - they look wrong.

Sometimes petco has white fish - although most i see are cream colored.


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## ladywolf580

i LOVE MY ALL WHITE BETTA CASPER
I bought him at my local Walmart. He is very social. I go to his tank and talk to him he swims right up to me and does this cute little circle twirl is the only way to describe it. I can't stand how they had him in this tiny little cup with barely any water in it. There was so little water in his cup his top fin wasnt even covered. I brought him home and put him in his nice aquarium with plants to swim and hide in and a nice rock with holes he loves to swim in and out of.


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## Littlewings85

Sadly he seems to have fallen prey to the common misconceptions about bettas, which is not great for anyone but is especially poor for a pet store owner/worker. If you’re going to be responsible for selling people live creatures then you really should have an up-to-date, basic (at the very least) understanding and knowledge of their needs and care. I’ve recently bought a small tank (just under 6 gallons) and have been researching bettas for months as I have never had one before. A lot of people don’t do this though and rely solely on the information given from the person who sells them their pet. 
Technically bettas can survive without heaters and filters but not for anywhere near as long and they are much happier with them. If you live in a hot country where your temperature is consistently around 80 degrees then you probably don’t need a heater (definitely not the case for me here in the UK lol) and no filter would just mean doing bigger and/or more frequent water changes. It’s heartbreaking to think of all those fish living without heaters and filters though, I want my fish to have a better quality of life than that. Plus I don’t get why people wouldn’t want to get stuff that means a) your fish are healthier and happier and b) you have to do less work than without them meaning you can spend more time interacting with your fish and less time cleaning the tank and changing the water! 
One thing I am glad of is that we don’t have the bettas in tiny cups like you guys do at Petco etc - how do you not go in and come back home with all of them? Poor things! It breaks my heart. 
I am leaning towards getting a platinum as my tank has black glass at the back instead of clear so a pure white fish would look stunning against it. Sadly we don’t have the options available for ordering fish online here that you do in the states, very few online stores and very little betta choice. Has anyone ever bought live fish on eBay? There are some beautiful ones on there but I have to be honest I am skeptical about the quality. 
Sorry for the huge comment! Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 😊



lessandler said:


> I have one mom and pop pet store in my area that I have been purchasing everthing from that does oassionally have nice bettas, certainly better than my Petco. But I am a bit irked by that one. Not only does it sell dogs and cats, which is an issue in and of itself, but the owner (same one for over 30 years) insisted that I not buy a heater for a betta fish.
> 
> I politely said multiple times that I "prefer" to keep my bettas in heated filtered tanks (he also argues that they don't need filters too). And I was a bit surprised when he ranted about how many bettas he has sold and never with heaters, how he has been to thailand and how some people can keep males together. It was really an awkward experience and left a bad taste in my mouth. He sad I need not pay $$ for a white betta and proudly showed me a pinkish clear HM. I just prefer to see photos of the actual one I order I guess.
> 
> I saw those $1000 bettas and am totally not interested, not only beause they are female and ridiculously priced, but I am not interested in purchasing a brand new mutation. There's no saying those scales leave them open to disease, complications or other health issues.
> 
> My current dragon betta has extra dragon scales on his gill covers and he does take air breaths differently than other bettas. It is sad some of the breeding practices that go on and I can't quite understand why all aquabid bettas have "siblings" available. Guess inbreeding is par for the course.
> 
> Thanks for for all the feedback though and it's good to know that the eyes can develop clouding and what to look out for. I appreciate it all!


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