# Are my bettas show quality?



## CRAZYHERMITCRAB (Mar 10, 2015)

Heres the first one. Bought them both on monday.


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## CRAZYHERMITCRAB (Mar 10, 2015)

Here is the second


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## Wildsho (Jan 24, 2016)

very nice , they indeed look like shoq quality


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## Shortnsweet (Sep 16, 2015)

Are you planning on breeding and showing the spawn? Or showing in a purchased category? Gorgeous fish by the way!


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## Tourmaline (Nov 23, 2015)

I'm unsure of the HM, but I see many faults on the PK, I wouldn't say he's show quality. I've bought one with slightly better form in a pet store for $14.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

I'm hoping someone who shows or breeds will correct me if I'm wrong but I would say "No."

What I see:

1. PK has split ventrals
2. Doesn't have a smooth topline
3. Color is uneven
4. Dorsal is uneven
5. Hope I'm wrong about this one but he looks to have the beginnings of Diamond Eye.

1. HM has stubby ventrals (that's what they were called on one of my Betta)
2. Dorsal looks to have bent rays
3. Dorsal, caudal and anal fins do not form a "D."

For general information: The IBC has a set of standards by which Betta are judged. A Betta doesn't have to conform to the standard to be beautiful; however, it *must* conform to the standard to be "show quality."


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## Tourmaline (Nov 23, 2015)

I agree with Russell on the PK. Same points for the most part. 

-Hunchbacked
-Uneven dorsal
-Split ventrals
-Ventral membrane doesn't go down far enough
-Anal fin isn't pointed
-Anal fin isn't sloped
-Weak peduncle

I'm not going into color because I'm not good with color. He does look like he's developing diamond eye too, so I'd look up how to help him with that.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I agree with Russell and Tourmaline.

*HM Critique:*

Coloration is very messy. Colors are supposed to be balanced so you shouldn't have one fin be yellow and another blue. Because he has a dark patch on his caudal at the base but no on the other fins, that's bad. And his scales should not be two different colors either even though that's just part of the marble gene. You could show him in the Variations class but not any of the other classes.

His tail is extremely messy. Too many branches causes it to ruffle. Bettas should have flat fins, no ruffling in the edges or on the fin.

As point out as well, caudal does not make the perfect D shape, the corners should be much more pointy to make the shape. his are round.

Dorsal fin has good height to it but he has a stubby ray in the front, that would take points off. Also the fact that it flops over would mean that it could be weak because he has too many rays in it and it's falling over. More points off.

Anal fin has krimped edges on the front end. It also curves too much. In total, the fins should make a nice round circle. So an HM doesn't need a pointed anal but it does need to be smooth still and a gentle curve, not dynamic like his. 

Ventrals are a bit of a mess there. They don't reach the length they should be at (needs to be as long as the longest point on the anal fin) and they are curled and krimped. More points off.

Body is short, stumpy, and his topline is not a smooth arch. Body is too thick for his fins.

He does look like he has attitude though which is good!


*HMPK Critique*

Caudal does not make perfect D shape as I spoke about with the HM. Same problems apply here; too many rays for an HMPK. He is closer than your HM but still doesn't quite make it.

Dorsal has nice first rays and has a good overall shape but it's still messy in the middle there where it's dipped down. It should be smooth and rays should make a nice arch as well.

Anal fin has nice length but lacks a point at the end. Some damaged rays from past events.

Ventrals are proper length but as pointed out earlier, they are split which are big points off.

Body shape is not good at all. He's humpbacked with no smooth arch to his topline. His peduncle is weak (should not upturn like that) and his scales are bad. Some are messed up, likely from x-factor in breeding. And yes, he has the beginnings of Diamond eye as well so he will be blind in the future.



After saying all of this, in the end, if you aren't going to show them then it certainly doesn't matter what we tell you. I'm not trying to be harsh but this is how your fish would be looked at in a fish show. If you'd like to learn more about standards you can read IBC standards on their pages and visit this thread where we talk about judging and critiquing a little bit more: http://www.bettafish.com/146-show-bettas/588074-please-note-learn-how-critique-your-bettas.html


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## CRAZYHERMITCRAB (Mar 10, 2015)

thanks everyone


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## BlackMoon (Nov 26, 2014)

Regardless, they are nice fish.


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## Linsey Inniss (Jun 16, 2016)

Wow! Hope to see those fishes, too :grin2:


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