# If I were to breed again..



## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

Well, it's been a long time since I've bred bettas (maybe 5 years or so?) and I've been finally getting that itch to start again thanks to my beautiful HMPK, Stamps. 

Stamps is a marble with blue, white, and yellow colors mixed in (yellow in the fins only) and I think I might have found the perfect female for him on aquabid...










Now, when I saw her, my jaw dropped - she is not from the same breeder I bought Stamps from, so seeing such similar coloration really struck me as a "rare opportunity".

Question is, should I breed? I understand how to breed, the work involved, etc. etc... but should I breed because of this female? Questions really are:

1. What type of finnage would I see from mixing the female with Stamps (avatar picture)?
2. Will the fry be marble-colored like the parents?
3. How difficult would it be to rehome the fry (I plan on actually giving them away to people on this forum for free minus shipping costs if I breed)?
4. Would this just be a waste of time? :-?

CALLING MrVampire! :lol:


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Beautiful pair!
Finnage wise, you should get PK and HMPK.

The fry will most likely be marbles and maybe some butterflies. I'm not sure on the colors though because I don't know the genetic background of the fish.

I don't think you'll have a problem rehoming the fry. 

Of course not!  You'll get quality offspring and I'm pretty sure you'll have fun raising the fry.

BTW the only "faults" I see with the female are the dorsal length and caudal edges. (The dorsal doesn't meet the caudal, and she has rounded corners, but you can work on this) Overall, she is a really nice female.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

I would totally breed them! Get the girl! I think they'd make pretty offspring  I'd buy a little one from that pair


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## Sweeda88 (Dec 6, 2010)

Get her!


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## Bettas143 (Dec 20, 2010)

I think they're perfect for eacother.


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## PeggyJ (Oct 15, 2010)

They are beautiful fish!


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

DO IT!! Hahaha. Ok here's what I'm seeing:

Stamps..PERFECT fins.
Female...OK fins...I think her caudel should be a bit more crisp on the edges but she has nice branching. Breeding marble to marble will get you some solids, butterflys, and of course more marbles.

I'd go for it.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

She's very pretty! I think you'll have no problem getting rid of your fry. I bet they'll be beautiful.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

LOL.... everyone is infecting poor Tsuhei with the betta syndrome.... incl. me.

Seriously, though, I would go for it for many reasons.
1. Such marble pattern is hard to come by - rare opportunity 
2. Marbles are unpredictable - hopefully with similar coloring, they will produce similar offspring instead of random marbles.
3. Like MrV said; Though the female lacks on fin form and body, but she has good branching thus should produce many HMPK's. With selective breeding, you could easily create more like Stamps.
4. I'm sure a lot of people would want their offspring, whether you sell or give away.
5. Last but not least, it's great experience - I love to watch nothing come to life and grow.


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## doggyhog (Apr 30, 2009)

That is one nice female!! I would get her if I were you!!

BTW, if the fry look anything like the parents you will have no trouble re homing them. LOL


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## Biomess (Jan 1, 2011)

They are both very beautiful fish! I have never bred Bettas before, only Balloon Mollies and Platties,
but it should be an exciting experience to see what type of color variations you will get from them.
I would do it if I were you, you may not find another female with similar markings when you finally decide you cannot wait any longer to breed 'em.


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## LucyLoofa (May 30, 2010)

I think this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for your little buddy!
That girl is gorgeous, and the chance of getting some little ones with similar coloring is higher than that of just another random marbled hmpk.
The fins aren't that big of a turnoff for me, and some of the fry are bound to have gorgeous fins regardless.
All in all they're the cutest little pair and I think the perk of seeing how cute they are when they're together will be totally worth it.
PLUS she has GORGEOUS eyes! Look at that cobalt blue!
Very pretty!!!
C:


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## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

Alright, everyone, you convinced me! :-D

I am currently contacting the seller since the auction has ended, offering a slightly lower price since I've seen her advertised more than three times within the past few months.

Regardless if he rejects my haggling offer, I will still purchase the female at her original price (can't blame a girl for tryin', right? :roll.

I am going to purchase my setup - 
-10 gallon tank with a hood 
-adjustable heater
-BBS (I will be making my own hatchery)
-plants (not sure if I'm going to go live...petco plants are atrocious)
-Thermometer
- IAL (already have 20 and 20 more on the way)
- Frozen daphnia and brine shrimp for later
- and of course a container or barrier of somesort to separate the male from the female
- Live food for conditioning or frozen...I am undecided, but know that live food is the best for this. Either way, I want it to be mosquito larvae or bloodworms

I will keep her quarantined for about 1-2 weeks before I begin conditioning them - better safe than sorry.

The first time I bred, I started out with an infusoria culture, but I'm not exactly sure if I want to try that method again since bbs can be fed the entire time until 1-2 months (if I remember correctly). However, I am reluctant to use microworms because of the ventral fin rumor.

I openly allow criticism and suggestions - I would love for Stamps's babies to turn out healthy and beautiful.


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## PeggyJ (Oct 15, 2010)

What is the microworm/ventral issue????? Now you have me worried because I am using microworms for my fry.:-(


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## Tsuhei (Nov 26, 2010)

PeggyJ said:


> What is the microworm/ventral issue????? Now you have me worried because I am using microworms for my fry.:-(


There's a rumor that the ventrals won't develop if you use microworms. However, there are people that use it regularly for their breeding processes and have never had any problems. You're fine, I'm just a paranoid person. ;-)

And UPDATE: The haggling price has been accepted. HOORAY


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

YAYYY *throws confetti*


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yay!!


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## Dragonlady (Nov 29, 2010)

I hope you are able to get a spawn out of that pair. Good luck! They look perfectly matched to each other. Marbles are so much fun.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

PeggyJ said:


> What is the microworm/ventral issue????? Now you have me worried because I am using microworms for my fry.:-(


My understanding of this issues and missing ventral fins with microworm feeding is not the microworm itself but the bacteria that is caused/produced from decaying microworms and the fry swimming/staying at the bottom of the tank more in bare bottoms setup and poor cleaning practices...if microworms are fed and you clean/remove the uneaten microworms before decay you shouldn't have missing ventral fin issues-also I read that using air stones at the bottom of the tank to keep any bacteria from forming in high numbers and/or false bottoms can help by keeping the fry off the bottom/floor of the tank


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## PeggyJ (Oct 15, 2010)

Thanks...my fry do hang out on the bottom.. I am crazy with cleaning though, and my mystery snail and pond snails do a good job of cleaning the bottom of leftovers too. They even eat egg yolk!


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