# Black Orchid male and female crown tail



## Photographer (Jun 14, 2013)

Its been 12 years since i've attempted to breed betta. I spent the last 10 years in the saltwater world. I just picked up these two today, do you guys think they'd make for a good pair?


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

They are fine for getting back into the groove of it  Will have variations of the two in the fry - black with lots of irids.

If you want honest critique, they both need lots of work - their rays are really messy and won't produce the best rays in the fry, which would be hard to sell to anyone outside of the pet trade/pet stores. The male's dorsal is a bit small, as well as the caudal - puny in a sense if I have to put a word to it. 

In the end, it will come down to your goals - are you wanting to make nice fish that people will really want and be easy to sell? Do you want to show them down the road? Do you just want to breed for the fun of it, but not worried about selling as you have a place (local pet store/wholeseller) that will take them in?

If you have a place to sell/give the fry to, then just have fun and enjoy it all, if you don't then you may want to look into better breeding stock soon. CTs are popular to a point.. their time in the spotlight has dwindled quite a bit over the last year or two - there are still big fans of them, but HMPK and HMs are still the faves and most popular. If you are wanting to sell the CTs then I would look into a better pair in the future that can compete for sales. Nothing wrong with breeding them, they are lovely fish! But they can be more of a pain trying to keep the rays just right and the 180 degree spread in the caudal. 

Their toplines are real nice, so don't have to worry about that 

Blacks are popular, and black lace is.. so if you can clean up the fins then you will have some really nice fish.. just breed the best of their offspring to each other, etc and work on it that way - bring in a long finned HM at some point to help get the spread correct, etc. 

Good luck


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I don't mean to discourage you, but I say no - because their fins are too thin and messy. You want CT with firm straight rays (regardless of their quality- form).


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## Photographer (Jun 14, 2013)

Thank you for the honest opinion! I've been out of this for so long, I will keep reading and do some research before jumping into breeding. It seems like there's so much more to learn this time around.


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## cowboy (Apr 14, 2013)

I am by no means an expert (actually im a betta amature) and I have no idea about the different fin names but with that said I would have snapped him up. I love the black colour


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

They are fine for pets and to sell/give to pet stores 

The only things different now are the different fin varieties, and even new pectoral fin varieties. Keep in mind you don't want to mix the fins unless you have a goal and know how to achieve it when mixing. So you did right by getting a CTxCT (I see too many CtxVTs and people don't realize the flaw it will create  )

I say if you like them, then breed them at least once to get back into the hang of it.. see what you get from them. May not be the best, but you can sell the juvies off to people for $5-10 each, and sell/give to a local pet store the ones you don't sell  It will be the coloring (like mentioned above) that will grab people's attention. The black of them is liked by many.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

Photographer: One thing you should look into is the CT water requirements (if you like CT). Perhaps the fin curls (your bettas) were caused by water not genetic - in which case you could breed them as pets. 

+1 Myates; avoid crossing fin type until you understand more about them.


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