# Possible new male...Need your help!



## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Well currently I have four 2 week old fry, and and a new batch that hatched today. I'm going to be using these fry to start my line later on. However while these guys are growing out (I plan to mix the fry in around 2-4 weeks) I want another pair spawn.The problem is my pastel male is REALLY aggressive(He beat up two of my females in spawning attempts) and my MG male is kind of small, so I'm going to let him grow a bit more before I try to spawn him. But before then I want to get a new male from a completely different line,just so I can mess around with genetics a bit.

Here's some fish I've been eyeing....

Purple Copper BF Halfmoon...
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1289190648


Multi-colored HMPK
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashmp&1289197387

Light Bodied Multi-colored HMPK
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashmp&1289630405

Blue BF Halfmoon
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1289292542

"Cello" Marble Halfmoon
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1289694465

I really like the finnage on these guys (Which is why I chose them) but since I'm not really set on a color, I can't decide :-?. So if I do get one male, which one would you be more interested in getting fry from? Again the male I buy (If I buy one) will be a breeder so please take quality into consideration.

Thanks!:-D


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

They're all so pretty! I like #1 and 3 the best.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

I really like the color on 1!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Yeah, I love the copper.


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## jeanclaudeasher (May 20, 2010)

I really like #1 as well


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

The first two have scale faults which I would try to avoid. I think the first one looks better than the second as far as the faults are concerned.

I like the fins on the first one but I think the color could be better. As far as the butterfly edging goes you want as even a spread as possible (for show you really want a 50-50 split) all the edges should line up on all the fins. In that respect the other butterfly (number 4) is better.

Number two looks decent (besides the scale faults) but the pattern needs a little work.

Number three has decent fins but isn't quite an HMPK. It almost looks like a female to me :?

Number 4 looks decent but I would email the seller and ask if there is any way she can get a picture of him flaring. You really can't tell anything about his finnage from that picture. Like I said before though, his pattern is really nice and crisp which is good.

Number 5 looks nice except for the ventrals.. which look too skinny IMO.


All in all I think the best ones are either number 1 or number 4. I still would like to see a picture of the 4th one flaring. 

For their prices they're all pretty decent fish.


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Just curious how old is your pastel guy. He might be too young for breeding if he's that aggressive. Wait a month or two before trying him again.


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

I like #1 best because of its form and color ( not much to fix).
#2 is OK, but color pattern needs fixing.
the rest no.

What form and or color are you trying to achieve? As a starter, it's best to use solid colors of the same tail type. Sometimes it's difficult to breed out undesired colors. So IMO it's best to breed in colors/patterns when you have a line you're satisfied with.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Thanks for the input you guys! I'm really liking the copper male. If I do get a new male,it might be him.However I'll keep looking.



MrVampire181 said:


> Just curious how old is your pastel guy. He might be too young for breeding if he's that aggressive. Wait a month or two before trying him again.


 He's around 4.5 months old...


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Also guys,if you know of any breeders that are currently selling for good/fair prices could you please link me to them? Thanks.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

You might try leaving your female in the jar longer so the male has time to get his high jinks out. Maybe even condition the pair so they can see each other the entire time so he is used to seeing her. I wouldn't necessarily give up on him quite yet.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

1fish2fish said:


> You might try leaving your female in the jar longer so the male has time to get his high jinks out. Maybe even condition the pair so they can see each other the entire time so he is used to seeing her. I wouldn't necessarily give up on him quite yet.


Oh I'm not going to give up on him  I'll try breeding him again sometime. However I either want to get another male to breed to my DTHM, or maybe get a semi-aggresive female that I could try spawning to the pastel boy.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

What about these guys?

Metallic Blue HM
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1289706409

Metallic Multi HM (Has a bit of fin damage from hard water but it looks like he has good branching and a nice dorsal)
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashm&1289702714

Red/White Copper (A super delta, but comes from an HM show line. Beautiful color. Finnage is a bit lacking,but I could cross him to my DTHM and then cross offspring to a nice HM or OHM)
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettasd&1289703071

Thanks.


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I don't particularly like any of those guys. They all seem to have very short bodies IMO. Out of those three I would say the Blue one is the best but his anal is a little long (as they are on all 3), but you could work on that.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Ah, I see. 
Currently my top 3 are....

1) Purple Copper HM

2) Metallic Blue HM

3) Copper Red SdT

However I have e-mailed both sellers and neither of them have gotten back to me. :/

I'm also thinking about maybe spending a bit more money on a male, so I could get one with better quality...


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

if you invest in a higher quality male you'll get higher quality babies! Might be worth the money in the long run!


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Thats what I'm thinking. 

The breeder of the purple copper, emailed me some pics of other young HMs he has available. I asked him about their age and prices. When he gets back to me, I'll post the pics he sent me.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

These guy are 3 months old...$15 each....Which one do you think is the better one...between these 3 and the purple copper?
Thanks


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## Learn To Fly (May 15, 2010)

All of them have PK in their genes...they all have short ventrals and/or non proportional tails...of the three I'd say the last is the best in that respect...but the first has sharper edges...so actually maybe the first even though his tail is smaller. I still like that purple copper, personally.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

That's what I've been thinking too. Either the first one (From the last three) or the purple copper...


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## indjo (Jun 6, 2010)

As breeders, I'd still go for the copper HM or the green PK because the later ones IMO are all unbalanced. IME unless you have a superb female with very dominant genes, it would take many generations to fix the later ones.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

The purple copper it is then!  Thanks for all the help you guys!


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

I just bought him.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

YAY!! He's beautiful!Can you post pics when you get him?


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

I really liked the multi HMPK. I didn't like the dorsal on the copper but his caudal fins was perfect.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Sure I'll post pics.  He's getting shipped out today.

BTW guys I'm going to try to breed him to my HMDT (So I'll get better DT geno dorsals, and some interesting colors), so look for a spawn log in a few weeks.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Sounds good!


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Well unfortunately the male was DOA.  However the DOA wasn't due to the fact that I ordered him priority, but that he wasn't packaged properly. Because of this, the breeder gave me a refund for the fish.($15) So this weekend when I go to drop off Karen Mac Auley's pair, I might bring home another male. I'm really bummed about the copper male though, as he looked like a terrific fish.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

Nooo!!   that's awful!!! How was he packaged??


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Well the bag was almost filled to the top with water, so of course there's not that much air to breathe and the heat pack was placed right against the bag, which I heard isn't right... :/


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## 1fish2fish (Sep 10, 2009)

I would leave feedback about that, even though he refunded that was extremely poor packing.

If you go to karen's you should get that gorgeous DT multi male she has up on Aquabid right now. I really wish I could get him but I don't really have a use for him.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

And you know what's weird? Most of his "praise" feedback is about good packing. Which apparently he doesn't do.

I really like him too but 
1) I want to breed my HMDT girl so no male DTs. 
2) She told me she has this nice "heavily branched multi-male," that she thinks I might be interested in, so we'll see. I really wanted to work with metallics or dragons but I guess that will have to be my outcross later on.

Also,you could always get him and breed him to Lily


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Keep in mind some sellers create fake accounts just to give themselves a good feedback.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Well I have been talking to Karen and she showed me a few pics of some males she has available. I'm really interested in this HMPK she showed me. He has nice fins,a nice color and went 2nd place at a show he was showed in. However she said she has other males, that she didn't show me, so we'll see.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

Well I just got back from Karen with umm...3 fish :roll: I bought an HMPK pair and a DT male. I plan to breed the HMPKs in a week or two.

Here's the DT male....









The HMPK boy....

Karen's picture









A quick picture I took...









The HMPK female









I'm really looking forward to breeding the shortfins.

PS Karen also has a few males she's willing to sell. ;-) She has a couple of shortfins and a few DTs and STs. Contact her for more info.


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

DT MG male








MG HMPK male


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

I saw her HMPK males a few weeks ago, I like the fins on em!


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

They do have awesome fins! Very symmetrical.

Right now she has another HMPK MG (Purple body) and a Blue gas HMPK. Very nice.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I love their colors!


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## beat2020 (Dec 31, 2009)

dramaqueen said:


> I love their colors!


Thanks DQ!


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