# What is the smallest adult betta type?



## BettaBeau (May 14, 2014)

I was curious, since I see double tail bettas at the store and they seem smaller, is it because they stay smaller, or because they are sold at a younger age?


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## Kaxen (Mar 3, 2013)

If I recall correctly, something about the genetics of breeding for the split double tail affects their body length so it may be a little shorter and needs to be bred carefully or you get a bunch of deformed stubby fish


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

DT can have short bodies but its not a good thing-it can crush organs and have swim bladder issues because of the cramp innards. Ask forum member lilnaugrim about Quasi.. he had real bad short body deformity.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Both are correct.

Yeah, poor Quasi, didn't live long at all.

All Betta's will reach about the same size in body but it depends on genetics and how they were grown. Most Pet Store fish have been Power-grown and so at the store, they're generally 3 months of age and you'll notice a lot of them have average body sizes but tiny tails; that's a result from power growing. Large tailed Betta's have usually been grown at an appropriate rate and will be around 4 months of age instead but they'll have smaller bodies. This is all just an average, there will always be some that defy this of course. In fact, most DT's aren't really that short either, it's just the occasional one. This doesn't mean that they can live in a smaller tank though just because their body is smaller--they still have plenty of energy to swim around and half the time, even more energy than other fish.


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