# breeding an ee betta



## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

I am looking to breed my elephant ear betta at some point and would like to know compatibility. I would like to keep the over features of the elephant ear but maybe grow them larger. Is there a female king or giant beta that I could go with? thanks for any help in advance, I have experience in breeding African ciclids but I am new to betta's.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

If you want to cross breed size, it is best to use smaller female - thus use male kings/giants and female big ear. The pair need to wrap in an embrace to fertilize the eggs. If the male is much smaller (slightly smaller is OK), he won't be able to embrace properly.

You might want to read the stickies on breeding for basic knowledge. Then ask as many questions as you can think of.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

I have been reading up just not sure how big the female king is compared to my ee. He is around 1.5in long.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

As far as I know, Kings could reach 2-3" (body only - without fins). If your male is only 1.5", then he would be too small. Remember, female's body is usually fatter/thicker than males. Equal sized, males have difficulty embracing too fat females.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

darn... ok well what other beta would be a good candidate for breeding with this guy since there is no female ee's to be found.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

whats his tail type? you'd want one with the same tail as him.
have you looked on Aquabid or ebay to see if they have any EE females?


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

this is my lil guy. I cannot find any females.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

i'm thinking maybe a plakat?


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

yes, he looks like a PK. So you could breed him with either an hm, hmpk, or pk and you would be safe. I'm not sure if the EE gene is recessive or dominant, so if you arent in any rush to breed I'd go search around online for a month or two and see if a female EE pops up by that time.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

nope not in a hurry at all just trying to get some study done. Maybe someone else on here has attempted this before.?


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## Eggbert (Sep 8, 2012)

Subscribed. He's adorable btw.


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## BettaFx (Oct 15, 2012)

go with a hmpk for sure. try to find a female with the best branching you can find and try to match their colors as closely as possible. when breeding with normal plakat female you'll have to step back many generations just to achieve better caudal, anal and of course pectoral fins. =]


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

do you have any pics of those? As I am still new to betta's i am not sure about all of the differences. As I also see you are selling both of those, do you have the female I would be in search of?


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

thanks eggbert, we couldn't leave the store with out him, to bad it was petsmart and just to ask a simple question like do you have females for him and they say, "they are to new to have females" i was like ummmm... k


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

http://bettaakapes.com/HTML Product/FMHMHMPK/11-4FM.html

http://bettaakapes.com/HTML Product/FMHMHMPK/11-20FM.html

Looking at him made me think of these girls


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

I really really want that second one!


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah he's selling her for $30 and I can see why. They would make a beautiful match. The copper I have as my avatar is his breeding too. He's got 3 females I've been drooling over for him too.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I will note that EE is recessive. Even breeding two EE, there is no say that all or even half will show that gene. I agree with the other posts for what tail types you should hunt for.


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## VanBoy (Aug 22, 2012)

With my experience with ee, breeding an ee to an ee will give you an extremely high percentage of ee offspring in the first generation. I had very few non ee and a few half ee. You should find him an ee mate if you want to continue this line but if you can't find him one then you should definitely breed him to a halfmoon or halfmoon plakat. 
Great find by the way!


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

their was one more at petsmart if anyone is interested. looked similar just had some other colours mixed in. I think there were some red hues down the side and on the cheek.


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## VanBoy (Aug 22, 2012)

Again, this is just my experience. Breeding two ee may or may not give you a high percentage of ee.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Also depends on the actual background of the fish  him being from a pet store, you may not get higher results but you can still get some awesome fish from this spawn =D


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

never the less it seems to be almost impossible to find a female ee.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I agree. I have only a male and have never seen a female ee


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

thing is i have a buddy that is waiting for his offspring now.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Well, when the off spring are of breeding age pick a female that carries that ee gene, breed her either back to dad, or the other ee. That should result in at least 50% being ee, and then you will also have females!!


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

thinking about buying the 30$ fish.. it is an ee mix female. so that is my best bet.


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## VanBoy (Aug 22, 2012)

Sena Hansler said:


> Also depends on the actual background of the fish  him being from a pet store, you may not get higher results but you can still get some awesome fish from this spawn =D


I agree. breeding a fish that good looking, you will have some pretty awesome fish regardless of breeding him to an ee or not.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

definitely =D I'd love to see a spawn log for him and whatever female you choose.


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## VanBoy (Aug 22, 2012)

I can't wait to see who you paired him with. I would also love to see a spawn log for him.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

sounds like I will need to learn how to do a spawn log.. haha Sounds like a build page from one of my car builds.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

:lol: It's easy ;p just post a thread that updates us all on the spawn, and PLAGUE US WITH PICTURES!!! :lol:


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

only problem I have is the placing of the female. Guess I need to make a shelf for them.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

:lol: I have a shelf for fish. There's... 8 fish tanks on it. Maxed out!


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

well as it sits now I have sent an email to the bettaakapes.com to pick up the white female hmpkee, the girlfriend loves her and so do I so we will see how it works out.


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

stangant said:


> well as it sits now I have sent an email to the bettaakapes.com to pick up the white female hmpkee, the girlfriend loves her and so do I so we will see how it works out.


He's always replied to me very quickly. She is a beautiful girl and will make a perfect match for your handsome boy.


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## VanBoy (Aug 22, 2012)

stangant said:


> well as it sits now I have sent an email to the bettaakapes.com to pick up the white female hmpkee, the girlfriend loves her and so do I so we will see how it works out.


Good call. I would have chosen her, too.


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

stangant said:


> well as it sits now I have sent an email to the bettaakapes.com to pick up the white female hmpkee, the girlfriend loves her and so do I so we will see how it works out.



Well update us. I want to know if you got the girl cause I see her listed as sold now. I would love to see her as a new member of the forums. :-D


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

yes she is now ours, shipping soon!


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

Yay!


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

since i am new to them is the females side patterns referred to as the Dragon scale?


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

He doesn't have her listed as a dragon. Even if she isn't I would bet she has the gene in her. Someone else here who is a little more experienced with dragons could answer you better then me. 

Dragonscale refers to a thick coat of iridescence on the bettas scales making them appear thicker then normal. She looks like she has thick scales but I am by no means a expert on the subject. I am sure there is more to it then just that to determine if it's a true Dragonscale.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I don't see dragonscale on her, as usually dragonscale is thicker scales of a different color on the body, face and sometimes partially on the dorsal (as mine has). However she could have the gene. You may get metallic or iridescence


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

She is not dragon nor metallic. She has regular color. Not sure what to call her - she looks purple


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

Well until I know what that pattern on the side is called officially I will call it "tile scaling". with blue/purple grout. lOl


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

I like it


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## ktbrew (Sep 18, 2012)

Post pics once you get her!


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

she is here!!!! pics will be posted later in the "betta picture" section.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

Well Bruce has started getting more agitated and has commenced in building a small bubble nest in his tank. Not to sure what started it as it has been going on for about a day.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

A weather system going through can cause them to build nests.. is her tank next to his? 

And she is very pretty


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

So when would be a good time to try breeding them? She has not been here long but she is very active and healthy and since he has been making nests recently I was going to see if it could be soon.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

IMO it doesn't matter how long you've had them. As long as they are healthy and in breeding age, you can immediately breed them. But if you want to be on the safe side, best condition them first.


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## stangant (Dec 3, 2012)

well I have started to try and breed them. I have the female in a jar in the center of his tank and has been their for a day with the male just coming up and making angry faces. I am going to be going to the store and getting frozen food for the conditioning and maybe he will start to make a bubble nest soon and show some interest.


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## BettaFx (Oct 15, 2012)

stangant said:


> do you have any pics of those? As I am still new to betta's i am not sure about all of the differences. As I also see you are selling both of those, do you have the female I would be in search of?


sorry slow reply.
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/closed.cgi?view_closed_item&fwbettashmp1354520773

this female pretty nice anal fin on her not too nice but must be fight in grow out tank which isn't big issue.. like said before normal PK lack branching at most they have double rays but you want at least 6+ for easy 180 spread and straight rays it sounds simple but difficult to find and sometimes you just gotta start from scratch but keep searching!


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