# Mustard gas breeding combinations?



## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Hello bettafish people!

I'm starting my first -serious- spawn and looking to get some great mustard gas
Fry.

First photo is of my green mustard gas dragon male. Next photo will be of his mate, a blue mustard gas dragon female.


Last photo will be of a bicolor red dragon male that I'm thinking of breeding to the female mustard gas to bring out more rich yellows.

Let me know what you guys think I should expect in the fry or which pair I should breed first!!

Thanks,
Chad


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Here is the female


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Fixed - here's the female


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

2nd male


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

it would actually make more sense to breed the female with both, within 2 weeks time:

you need the red/yellow pair to help intensify the yellow.
you need the yellow/yellow pair to help increase the frequency that yellow will be potentially 50% of the batch when crossing to the heterozygous brood. 
if your goal is a turq/green dragon, you will need to perform in parallel for the same exact reason (turq is homozygous BB, and your female and red male are heterozygous Bb)


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## BlueLacee (Dec 8, 2013)

Pretty pretty. Cannot wait to see fry


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Thanks for the advice amphirion!

Okay so I should condition all 3.. Breed the 2 yellows and then recondition the female and breed her to the red dragon?

My goal is to get fry that look like the mustard gas male or even brighter yellow in fins (or bicolor male whatever ya wanna call him haha). 

I figured the red dragon would help with intensifying the yellow.

If I breed the two mustard gas (male/female) will I get mostly mustard gas fry that look similar to their parents? 

Note: all these betta were purchased from a high quality breeder I know in Thailand so I'm assuming their genetics are pretty nice.

Thanks again!
-Chad


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

Sounds about right. You are breeding for two separate colors here-- green/turq and yellow.

Turq by royal blue will yield 50:50 of both
With the first male, you would only have to worry about the blues because both parents have yellow. To get 100% turq, cross a turq daughter back to father.

But we are also dealing with yellows and reds with the other pair. If you understand genetics you should be able to follow.
B= blue variant 1, b= blue variant 2; R= extended red, r= yellow 
Male: 2 possibilities
1) royal blue, homozygous for red (BbRR)
2) royal blue, heterozygous for red (BbRr)

Female: royal blue, homozygous for yellow (Bbrr)

Gamate combination for male possibility 1= BR, BR, bR, bR
Gamate combination for female= Br, Br, br, br
25% of progeny are BBRr, or turquoise with red wash carrying yellow gene
50% of progeny are BbRr, or royal blue with red wash carrying yellow gene
25% of progeny are bbRr, or steel blue with red wash carrying yellow gene

Gamate combination for male possibility 2: BR, Br, bR, br
Female is the same: Br, Br, br, br
12.5% of progeny are BBRr, or turq with red wash carrying yellow gene
12.5% of progeny are BBrr, or turq with yellow wash <---what we want
25% of progeny are BbRr, or royal blue with red wash carrying yellow gene 
12.5% of progeny are bbRr, or steel blue with red wash carrying yellow gene
12.5% of progeny are bbrr, or steel blue with yellow wash

As you can see, different results depending on the genotype of that blue/red male.


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Ah I see now. So really with the first pair (MG Male and MG female) the offspring should technically all come out as bicolor with yellow fins.. However they will vary body color with royal blue/steel blue/turquoise.

As for the second pair (red male, same female) I could get a combination of phenotypes such as blue/red fin, steel blue/yellow fin?

I hope I'm understanding correctly, it's been a couple years since college biology genetics haha

Also, by "yellow wash" do you mean the fry will display a yellow phenotype?

Thanks again!!! Huge help,
-Chad


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

Yes. Yellow wash means you will see yellow on the betta. Do keep in mind that yellow x yellow will fade over time which is why the heterozygous reds (Rr) need to be used to continue the line.

The second pair has two alternate scenarios because we are guessing the male's genotype based on his phenotype.


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Interesting!

I would prefer true bicolors (all yellow fins and all blue or turq bodies) with no bleeding of the blue into the fins.. Will that just be random? Like, there could be bettas with yellow mixed into their bodies or vice versa and then true bicolors right?


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Wow I'm surprised that there's a fish named after a chemical weapon that has killed thousands and thousands of people. Many more than that survived, living out their lives with terrible scars and chronic health problems.

What makes a betta a mustard gas betta?


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

It was a nickname for the color variation given by the breeder that first came across the strain. It's not named after the actual chemical agent itself, but rather the "mustard" being the yellow in the fins.

Pretty much no true "mustard gas" breeds exist anymore anyway.. These fish are actually "Bi-colors".. Mustard gas just caught on in the betta community for any betta with blue/yellow colors in them.


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

So it was named mustard gas by the creator of the strain, but not after the chemical weapon of the same name? 

Thank you for the explanation.


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Exactly.

I can't see why anyone would name a brilliant strain they stumbled across after any kind of weapon anyway.

My pleasure


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## jaysee (Dec 9, 2009)

Cause they thought it was cool....
There's only one mustard gas that I know of....


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

True bicolor probably achieved via selection of bettas closest to bicolor pattern. Variegated fins also controlled by genes that control the red/yellow layer so there will have to be a little straw grasping before you find them.


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

I see, so what would you recommend I do if I find a male or female with particularly good coloring that has minimal color bleeding into fins? Should I breed them together? Or breed a female back to father? Or vice versa?


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

if you find a betta that has the exact specifications you want, breed with counterpart that is similar with minimal flaw. this could be either the mother or father, it does not matter. then cross progeny back with the ideal parent until you have the ideal pattern across the F2 or F3. i think maximum, you might be able to breed back at most three times before virility crashes. if the ideal specimen is no longer able to breed, cross with progeny that are closest to the ideal to continue.


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## Chadbud (Apr 11, 2014)

Okay, thank you so much amphirion, you've been a huge help.

Do you have any suggestions on water parameters for breeding? I've bee doing 
A PH of around 6.1-6.9 because that's what my tap reads at, temp at 80 degrees.

I notice my bettas do have a bit of trouble making large bubblenests. They usually only manage to make smaller ones. (Not the pictured bettas, mostly my platinum ones have the trouble)


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## amphirion (Jan 15, 2014)

those perimeters should work well.
are you giving your bettas support for their nests? something such as a large floating leaf, styrofoam cup, or pringles lid works well for creating large nests that do not break down easily. on the flipside, is your tank well covered? dry drafts will break down the nest in seconds, and may cause developmental issues when the fry start up their labyrinth organ. 

othertimes it will simply be the behavior of the male that determines how wide or thick a bubblenest is.


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