# How does this guy measure up?



## finbros (Sep 7, 2015)

I live in New Zealand and we don't have any beta shows. It's also quite difficult to get show quality fish but I'm aiming to try to breed fish that meet the show standards.

I got this buy the other day and would be interested to see what you guys think of him so that I can pick the best possible girl for him and know what I should be looking for in his babies.


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## PurpleJay (Jan 4, 2015)

First rays of dorsal fin is stubby. = Bad.
Anal fin is too long. = Bad.
Caudal is too rounded. = Bad.
Ventrals are not knife-shaped. = Bad.
Ventrals are too short. = Bad.

I can't tell if that's his full spread or not since he's not flaring, but if it is, that's not good either.

I'm not sure what you're aiming for. Good form, or good color, or both?


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## Zhylis (Nov 4, 2014)

I rather like this fish and his dorsal especially. The first two rays are anatomically different from the others in that they are bone not cartilage, so they are always short. The rest of the rays are nicely extended to match the tail. He's also expressing a good amount of DT with 12 rays and a broad base on the dorsal. The one minor thing is that the dorsal sweeps back towards the tail rather than forward. Body-wise, he has smooth topline. I'm guessing he's young? I like to see a bit more bulk/broader body in a breeding male. He does have rounded corners on the tail and I would pair him with a 2-4 ray female to reduce the ray count in his tail. Anything higher and I'd be concerned with the number of rosetails in the F1. Only after reducing the ray counts would I work on lengthening the outer rays to form sharper corners. His anal fin is slightly long but still comparable with the tail. I'm OK with that. I would like to see more length on his ventrals to match the length of the anal, but they are nice and full. I can't quite tell if they come to a single point though. The one major concern I have is the thickness of the metallic scaling; he looks like he's starting to get diamond eye. I'd cross him with a non-metallic female to try and reduce that.


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## Revosok (Aug 11, 2015)

+1 to everything Purple Jay said. But I would like to add that he is going blind, it looks like he has diamond eye. It will most likely be passed down to his descendants, so be careful will his partner choice and make sure that you will be able to take care of a blind fish.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

+1 Revosok . . . if you do breed this guy, don't breed him to a dragon. Breed to a regular irid, black, or metallic (copper) - you want to reduce the dragon genes.

I like his form too. Not perfect but breedable. He is not in full flare, so he doesn't show his actual fins. The only flaw other than his scales is his anal - a bit long. Pair him to a balanced female should fix that. . . . well for shows, his color would be faulted too. But I would breed him, specially considering how difficult it is to find a decent formed betta at your area.


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## Zhylis (Nov 4, 2014)

Measure the two red lines. The length of the anal fin is a near perfect match to the length of the caudal. The reason the anal appears longer is because the outer rays of the tail are shorter, resulting in rounded corners. The difference in length is an optical illusion. The actual length of both fins are the same. Fix the ventrals and the corners on the tail (AKA the outer rays) and the fish would be beautifully balanced.


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## Zegor22 (Sep 7, 2015)

I know very little about show standards but he is very handsome! What's his name?


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## finbros (Sep 7, 2015)

Thanks everyone!
I always forget to look at ventral fins properly, his are very rounded on the ends, definitely not knife shaped.

To answer purplejay's question I'm aiming to get good form first and foremost. I'd like to keep some of his colour but definitely try to reduce the dragon scaling.

We very, very rarely get imported girls here and there aren't many serious breeders so I don't have anything that fancy. How about this one though? She's a 4 ray has reasonably long ventral fins. Also her father was a blue/yellow bi-colour so maybe some of the babies would get some of dad/granddad's colouring (though my knowledge of colour genetics is very basic so I'm not sure). Her rounded tail is going to do him no favors though...










Zegor, the boy's name is Flick :-D


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## finbros (Sep 7, 2015)

Or maybe this one (excuse the scruffy fins, she was chomped by one of the other girls in her tank)? She's full sister to the first girl but seems to have a better tail spread?


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## Revosok (Aug 11, 2015)

You would have to wait until she completely heals and in top condition before breeding.


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## finbros (Sep 7, 2015)

Of course, she is well on the way to being 100% already. That photo is a couple of weeks old. I think I'm going to use the 2nd girl as she is closer to half moon and has longer first rays in her dorsal.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I can't see pictures of the female so can't really comment on them. Basically speaking though, you can always breed father to his best daughter/s. Usually males are fit enough to be back bred twice ( to F1 and F2). Then you'd have to breed F3 siblings. If they breed true (form wise) you can either inbreed again or add new genes (it is said they can be inbred for 6 generations). 

Remember to always keep your best females, since better looking females are harder to find compared to males. If you add poorly formed (specially females) specimens to your line, you will probably have to redo the whole process to get balanced form and ideal colors.

Good luck


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