# Critique HMPK?



## Nyri (Sep 23, 2014)

I've been pouring over the Bettas4All standards, but am not yet a member of IBC, and my eyes are still untrained in the ways of the betta  I'd love to have this guy critiqued as a potential breeder. I can already see that his vents will need work, and the point on his anal fin might, but I have a hard time telling with the color that it is. I don't have him in hand, these are pictures from the breeder.


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## Nimble (Aug 31, 2014)

At first glance, there are some good points and some bad points about him.

Good points: His dorsal fin is what's known as a 'Hawk' dorsal, meaning the front rays spread forward, and create an obtuse V-shape. His topline isn't perfect, but there are no real major imperfections, other than the slope going too high.

Bad points: His ventral fins are far too long to appropriately match his anal fin. The ventral point should be parallel with the back point of his anal, but his extend too far. Also see above about his topline.

As for his color, he's a marble, with what looks like yellow as his primary color. I really dislike the weird mish-mash of marble and irids that the overseas breeders mix together and call 'fancy'. It makes the fish very hard to work with genetically, and you have no idea what to expect in the F1's and F2's. Genetically, these fish are potpurri, and could throw anything.


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## Nyri (Sep 23, 2014)

Thank you for the eval! Yeah, I knew the vents would be trouble... also thought they might be split a little, too... 

Colorwise, I'm not too worried (yet) about what he'll throw. Trying to find fish with decent-ish form but not perfect that I can afford and breed up from... if I breed this fish, color will be more of an experiment until future generations, and my only hope there is that he doesn't throw all the same color since I have a pet store ready to take anything I throw at them as long as they don't all look the same...


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## Basement Bettas (May 12, 2012)

He is a tweener. Branching of a show type but edges not sharp enough. I also don't like the moderate slope of the anal. Both show and trad types should have a sharp slope to that anal.. and a good point. The point is there.. it just needs to be as long as the vents. I like the vent length but not the splitting.

He is marble.. and not a bad male. But you will need to pick either the show direction and sharpen his tail edges and improve the anal slant or go the traditional route and reduce the branching and get an even more extreme slope to the anal and a very distinct point. Lot of that will depend on the female you get. She needs to show a sloped anal with a good point.


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