# Plakat VS longer tail types.



## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

ok, thinking for the future when I want to buy another boy, there are many things to consider, what style and tail type? Now I have to say I love the halfmoons and my current guy is a halfmoon. But having said that when you buy a halfmoon, you generally are going on pictures of them showing off those fabulous fins of theirs. Now when we get them in our tanks they have to deal with slight water movement, if filtered. (I will always go filtered) and ornaments and plants. Now over my time of owning bettas many a halfmoon, as darted round his new tank and torn or damaged one or more of his beautiful fins, now they do generally heal but they never really heal quite the same as before. Plus my current guy doesn't display anyway, he's healthy though he never has been much of a displayer, and when he does that is usually when he would damage a fin, despite my best efforts of checking everything for sharp edges, cutting and filing any edges points away.

Now since coming to this forum I have noticed many here own plakat tail types, and I just wanted to now how to they fare up in a pet tank environment. Do they cope better with filter movement? How do you find they cope with keeping their fins intact with ornaments, plants and such?
Do they tend to look more like they do in their sale's pictures, having a shorter tail do they tend to display them more frequent?
Do they heal better if they get damaged?


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I had several plakats and I love them! They're every bit as pretty as the long tailed bettas. I guess it's just preference and what catches your eye when you go fish shopping.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> I had several plakats and I love them! They're every bit as pretty as the long tailed bettas. I guess it's just preference and what catches your eye when you go fish shopping.


thanks.


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

I have only ever had Veiltails (which I love!) until recently when I bought my BEAUTIFUL Plakat boy Mako. I thought I would only ever have/want Veiltails but now that will always be Veiltails & Plakats.Mako is just wonderful,so friendly & energetic and absolutely stunning,the colours that have come out in him since I've had him are amazing.His fins are also extremely strong looking and the filter doesn't bother him at all.So yes I would definitely recommend getting a Plakat for sure.I love the long flowy fins of my Veiltail boys but must say that I equally love the look of my Plakat boy,they are all gorgeous! :mrgreen:


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## Mary Kathryn (Jul 17, 2013)

I've been thinking about the same thing, beautiful Betta. My HMDT likes to nip his own fins quite a bit. Right after I got him he gave his beautiful dorsal a "mohawk." :lol: Since it's an ongoing issue even with hidey places and surface plants galore -I can only guess they must impair his movement- I'm always on my toes when it comes to water quality.
I know plakats can and will bite their fins as well but I don't think it's as common. My PetSmart has had some fantastic plakats available but I don't have a place for another betta yet. I'm going to start putting a 5 gallon together next week and get it cycling. I want to give one a home.

I think I may have gone off on a tangent. Sorry 'bout that.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Polkadot said:


> I have only ever had Veiltails (which I love!) until recently when I bought my BEAUTIFUL Plakat boy Mako. I thought I would only ever have/want Veiltails but now that will always be Veiltails & Plakats.Mako is just wonderful,so friendly & energetic and absolutely stunning,the colours that have come out in him since I've had him are amazing.His fins are also extremely strong looking and the filter doesn't bother him at all.So yes I would definitely recommend getting a Plakat for sure.I love the long flowy fins of my Veiltail boys but must say that I equally love the look of my Plakat boy,they are all gorgeous! :mrgreen:


Polkadot, thankyou for your response it is great to get the perspective of someone who has a long finned type to compare with, its also good to know that they seem to cope better with the filters, and get around the tank well.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Mary Kathryn said:


> I've been thinking about the same thing, beautiful Betta. My HMDT likes to nip his own fins quite a bit. Right after I got him he gave his beautiful dorsal a "mohawk." :lol: Since it's an ongoing issue even with hidey places and surface plants galore -I can only guess they must impair his movement- I'm always on my toes when it comes to water quality.
> I know plakats can and will bite their fins as well but I don't think it's as common. My PetSmart has had some fantastic plakats available but I don't have a place for another betta yet. I'm going to start putting a 5 gallon together next week and get it cycling. I want to give one a home.
> 
> I think I may have gone off on a tangent. Sorry 'bout that.


I sometimes watch my guy swimming around, and at times it seems a effort, with all the tail he has to drag around, lol, and my tank has a very gentle filter flow so gentle not even the plants move slightly, although my flow is angled into a corner. But I just wanted to start this thread to get some perspective from people with plakats they may also own longer finned types. like I said I love the long fins, but quite often they are bred and sold in small cups with no water movement no ornaments or anything to damage those beautiful fins. The wild type are closer to the plakats in finage so I guess it is natural to assume the plakats will get around and maintain their fins better in a pet environment.

The other thing I am curious about is the big ear types, I personally am not sure how I feel on them, sure they look pretty, but can they even swim that well with all that extra fin?


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

oh anyone reading please don't feel I am slamming long finned betta's my boy is long finned, and I adore him, but he does easily damage fins, and I guess it is pretty common that the long finned types do manage to damage their fins and I just want to know if the plakat owners have the same issues or not.


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## PetMania (Mar 28, 2013)

I have an HM that turned into a PK....guess how that happened. 
I think that all tail types are beautiful. I don't really have a favorite....well maybe RT.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

PetMania said:


> I have an HM that turned into a PK....guess how that happened.
> I think that all tail types are beautiful. I don't really have a favorite....well maybe RT.


:-D yes I can guess, I agree all tail types are beautiful. RT I guess you mean round Tail?


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I have two plakats both have great personalities. The one I got from Petsmart recently has is white with beautiful light blue highlights. Even his eyelids are light blue. He has pinkish lipstick! Finding one you like should be no problem. Some plakats can be very speedy racing back and forth in a tank which makes them entertaining to watch.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

jadaBlu said:


> I have two plakats both have great personalities. The one I got from Petsmart recently has is white with beautiful light blue highlights. Even his eyelids are light blue. He has pinkish lipstick! Finding one you like should be no problem. Some plakats can be very speedy racing back and forth in a tank which makes them entertaining to watch.


Thanks Jadablu, for your reply. How do you find them in maintaining their fins? do they rip or tear them? or do they stay torn free?

If they do damage their fins how quickly do they heal?


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## jadaBlu (Feb 14, 2013)

I don't have not had any problem so far with fins. They are not hampered by heavy fins so they don't seem bothered by them. You may find that if you gradually expose your halfmoon to your new plakat he may stop his fin biting. I have fin biter that has reduced his biting for two reasons IMO. I added live floating plants to his tank (biggest reason) I also put craft mesh between his tank and his neighbor. So he has an obscured view of his neighbor and I think it entertains him a little bit. I don't think his fins will go back to the original length but they are not ragged now. I could tell after he bit them he was really enjoying being able to swim faster. I am pretty sure if they ever get to heavy he will "trim" them. The floating plants really seemed to make him happier and I noticed the raggedness went away and saw growth at that point. The light I am used is not even supposed to be able to grow plants but it's working fine. You don't have to buy expensive lights to support floating plants.


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## LizbethDawn (May 22, 2013)

It seems no matter what I do my long finned fish either get finrot or bite their fins off. I just realized I only have one long finned fish left because my daughter likes the pretty fins and he just got stuck in a plant yesterday that he shouldn't have gotten caught in and he lost some tail to that.

I have 4 plakats besides him and I like them. I have an EE, DT, a HM and a giant that are all plakat tail types.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

jadaBlu said:


> I don't have not had any problem so far with fins. They are not hampered by heavy fins so they don't seem bothered by them. You may find that if you gradually expose your halfmoon to your new plakat he may stop his fin biting. I have fin biter that has reduced his biting for two reasons IMO. I added live floating plants to his tank (biggest reason) I also put craft mesh between his tank and his neighbor. So he has an obscured view of his neighbor and I think it entertains him a little bit. I don't think his fins will go back to the original length but they are not ragged now. I could tell after he bit them he was really enjoying being able to swim faster. I am pretty sure if they ever get to heavy he will "trim" them. The floating plants really seemed to make him happier and I noticed the raggedness went away and saw growth at that point. The light I am used is not even supposed to be able to grow plants but it's working fine. You don't have to buy expensive lights to support floating plants.


Thanks jadaBlu, That is really good to know that the plakat's don't seem to have any problems with fin damage. I think you may have got a little confused with my thread and another, tail bitting my boy hasn't got any issues with that.;-) lol


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

LizbethDawn said:


> It seems no matter what I do my long finned fish either get finrot or bite their fins off. I just realized I only have one long finned fish left because my daughter likes the pretty fins and he just got stuck in a plant yesterday that he shouldn't have gotten caught in and he lost some tail to that.
> 
> I have 4 plakats besides him and I like them. I have an EE, DT, a HM and a giant that are all plakat tail types.


lizbethDawn thankyou for your thoughts on Plakats compared to the longer finned betta's it really does seem that on a whole the plakats really have less issues in regards to damaging their fins.


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

beautiful Betta said:


> Polkadot, thankyou for your response it is great to get the perspective of someone who has a long finned type to compare with, its also good to know that they seem to cope better with the filters, and get around the tank well.


You're welcome! :-D


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

beautiful Betta said:


> oh anyone reading please don't feel I am slamming long finned betta's my boy is long finned, and I adore him, but he does easily damage fins, and I guess it is pretty common that the long finned types do manage to damage their fins and I just want to know if the plakat owners have the same issues or not.


Yes it sure is true that the long finned boys can get their little fins tattered easily sometimes,be it from the water flow,playing amongst plants or just zooming around etc.I look at the long finned boys as kind of being like someone having long hair,when your hair is neatly brushed & you just sit around in your room it will stay that way,but if you go out & run around and play it will get tangled,unless you are a Plakat,then it is like having your hair in a bun which will stay neat,even when you play. :lol:


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Polkadot said:


> Yes it sure is true that the long finned boys can get their little fins tattered easily sometimes,be it from the water flow,playing amongst plants or just zooming around etc.I look at the long finned boys as kind of being like someone having long hair,when your hair is neatly brushed & you just sit around in your room it will stay that way,but if you go out & run around and play it will get tangled,unless you are a Plakat,then it is like having your hair in a bun which will stay neat,even when you play. :lol:


oh I just love that way of looking at it, it is so true.:-D


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

beautiful Betta said:


> oh I just love that way of looking at it, it is so true.:-D


 
hee hee,it really is.I think I'm a bit of a Veiltail as my hair is always getting tattered,I have to be more like a Plakat & wear a bun when outside.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 20, 2013)

Do Plakats and Reg bettas have the same body or are Plakats an entirely different fish?

I ask because Ive seen some gorgeous plakats on aquabid that I wouldn't mind having then when I visited my local Petco, they had a slew of plakats and nticed that most were fat body plakats with short fins. They were same length as a reg betta but with a noticeably fatter and taller body. I was expecting to see a regular sized betta but with short fins.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

I have a plakat and she's so zoomy in her 5g. She's quick and active, never had a problem with her tail snagging bc it's short like a regular aquarium fish. 

I have a young deltatail now. First time with a tail heavier than VT. So far, it's manageable but he does get pushed around by the filter (which I baffled) 

I wanted another plakat but the delta boy appealed to me bc he was bred by a local breeder. Actually, both my current fish were bred locally so I got to know the breeder and their stock and methods. 

As for body form, I think they're pretty much the same as all _betta splendens_ since they are all under the _splendens _group. You will see variations in back ridge and fins due to breeding.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

Aguilar3 thanks for your question and input.

Laki, thanks for your advise. Your girl looks a lovely colour, assuming that is your girl in the avatar, lol.


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## Laki (Aug 24, 2011)

Thank you! Yes my avatar is Osha. Steel blue Plakat with metallic/mild dragon. (lilaugrim confirmed it but I cannot remember!)


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## Polkadot (Feb 10, 2013)

My beautiful Plakat boy Mako is a round tailed Plakat and he is alot bigger and more solid than my Veiltail boys & Peanut & Piglet are both big boys,Button is my little weenie boy,he stayed little.But yes,just speaking for my Plakat boy he is much more solid,has a bigger face,is wider & longer than my VT boys.


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

My hmpk is so much more active than my other long finned fish, he zooms around his 10gal frequently and unlike the other two, doesn't like to stay in one spot very long, I haven't ever seen him stop moving unless he was sleeping lol 

He's also the most aggressive of my boys... not sure if that goes for all pks though.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

I love my Plakat (pictures on my profile page) though he is an elephant ear one which makes him stand out a lot more than the others at the store I've seen. Plakats always remind me of kites with their fins...not sure why.. Hmm strange.. LOL but Aku likes to dash around too. =)


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## veggiegirl (Nov 20, 2012)

I love all bettas but plakats have to be my favourite. They are so active and their fins stay looking good long term where I find most long finned bettas get splits and are more prone to disease.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

AGUILAR3 said:


> Do Plakats and Reg bettas have the same body or are Plakats an entirely different fish?
> 
> I ask because Ive seen some gorgeous plakats on aquabid that I wouldn't mind having then when I visited my local Petco, they had a slew of plakats and nticed that most were fat body plakats with short fins. They were same length as a reg betta but with a noticeably fatter and taller body. I was expecting to see a regular sized betta but with short fins.


Plakats are traditionally thicker in the body.


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## snowflake311 (Jun 19, 2013)

I kept long fin bettas for 15 years. I took a 2 year break from bettas. since getting back into them I notice the fins are longer then my last hm 2 years ago. My daughter picked out a halfmoon it's her fish. He bites his tail it look awful. So that turned me off to long finned bettas.

I now only keep hm plakats and big ear plakats. They are the best. They always look good when healthy and happy their fins are always extended like most other normals fish with normal fins. The plakats are more active and just great fun.

Get a plakat and you might not go back. I personally love big ear plakats I think if the ears are not too big it looks great with the short fins.


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## Tree (Sep 29, 2013)

snowflake311 said:


> I kept long fin bettas for 15 years. I took a 2 year break from bettas. since getting back into them I notice the fins are longer then my last hm 2 years ago. My daughter picked out a halfmoon it's her fish. He bites his tail it look awful. So that turned me off to long finned bettas.
> 
> I now only keep hm plakats and big ear plakats. They are the best. They always look good when healthy and happy their fins are always extended like most other normals fish with normal fins. The plakats are more active and just great fun.
> 
> Get a plakat and you might not go back. I personally love big ear plakats I think if the ears are not too big it looks great with the short fins.


I agree! Mojo (my CT) is just so relaxed all the time, but Aku, (EE Plakat) is so active and speeds around the tank like a mad man. LOL


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

thanks everyone for the input, I must admit some of the hm plakats that I have been looking at on aquabid are stunning, and the big ear ones do have a little of the flowing fins going on, although too big and I would have to agree that they are perhaps a hindrance to the fish rather than a beautiful asset.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 20, 2013)

snowflake311 said:


> I kept long fin bettas for 15 years. I took a 2 year break from bettas. since getting back into them I notice the fins are longer then my last hm 2 years ago. My daughter picked out a halfmoon it's her fish. He bites his tail it look awful. So that turned me off to long finned bettas.
> 
> I now only keep hm plakats and big ear plakats. They are the best. They always look good when healthy and happy their fins are always extended like most other normals fish with normal fins. The plakats are more active and just great fun.
> 
> ...




I'm starting to get discouraged with long finned HMs. I moved my white HM from a 2g planted bowl into a larger temporary 10g bare bottom tank yesterday and noticed he bit a small chunk off of his tail within 24 hrs of his move. This is the 2nd HM that has nipped at his fins.

I just may give PKs a try.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 20, 2013)

That's it, I'm officially over with half moons. Another HM randomly nipped at his fins. My Deltas and CTs are doing extremely well with 0 issues. 

Plus, the Deltas, CTs and VTs are zooming around in their tanks while the HMs just sits at the bottom or on one of the pothos leaves until I walk by.


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## BettaCulture (Oct 9, 2013)

Halfmoon Plakats are my favorite no doubt, I do have one VT but all the rest are HMPK


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 20, 2013)

> Get a plakat and you might not go back





> (EE Plakat) is so active and speeds around the tank like a mad man. LOL


I got a rescue DTPK from a club member this past Saturday and put her in this planted vases I have. Out of the 7 Bettas that have resided in this vase, the PK is the "only" one that has ever swam lapse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_RFcNUnl1o


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

AGUILAR3 said:


> I got a rescue DTPK from a club member this past Saturday and put her in this planted vases I have. Out of the 7 Bettas that have resided in this vase, the PK is the "only" one that has ever swam lapse.
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_RFcNUnl1o


I love your tank, and your boy is making the use of his space.


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## AGUILAR3 (Jun 20, 2013)

beautiful Betta said:


> I love your tank, and your boy is making the use of his space.


Thanks. The breeder said it was a stunted female that decided to stop growing. She is a hair over 1 1/8" head to tail. Perfect size for a small tank.


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## beautiful Betta (Sep 19, 2013)

ops I thought it was a boy, I remember the days when the females used to be quite dull in colour compared to the boys, breeding has come a long way.


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