Unusual Betta Fins?

[Art by Stef*]

Originally Posted by @marko@

imagine getting bettas with 3 parallel anal fins, and then eventually getting it to spread to the other fins. a triple finned HM fish, perhaps with some amount of transparcy in the fins so that you can see the other fins flowing through the first one in view

I swear I can hear a "Muhha...ha...haaaa" after that remark, Mad Scientist Marko

I will condition "Hook" and search for a suitable mutant mate for him.
If anyone sees or knows of any candidates, please pm me. (He is average size (2 inches), don't know his age, fiesty, acts young)
Also, I will try to get better shots of his "hooks".
I'll keep yous posted and probably be hitting you up for advice.

tekkguy: If breeding is a success, and I get a few viable fry, you are welcome to one. Just don't blame me if it looks like "Blinky."

-Stef*

[Scottyhorse]

I would also like one

[Kehy]

He's pretty enough that I'm almost reconsidering getting a scarlet badis for one of my small tanks I'll pass on a baby, but I want to see what pops up

[Art by Stef*]

Update on Hook:
I tried to get better shots of his "extras". This pics were taken in natural daylight, and my photo abilities and the camera are lacking.






I had my eye out for a suitable mate for him, and came across this special gal, with extra forks and very unusual ventral fins:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...Y&noredirect=1

She arrived today!
She displayed breeding stripes immediately.



Also got 3 siblings-2 DTs, and 1 Single Tail Halfmoon.
One of the Doubles has unusual ventral fins. (they are forked)
A couple crappy (sorry) shots of them:




My first candidate was special gal, being she has more mutation and branching.
Also, she is closer to Hook's coloring. The females are a bit more of a turquoise multi but "bluer" than the photos show (color truer in her video). He's a royal blue, but can't have everything. I happy I found some with unusual fins and good bloodlines.

Any suggestions of where I go from here?

Hook is being exposed to my first choice, getting acquainted, and all newbies are under observation before adding them to sororities or breeding. (QT)
-Stef*

[aokashi]

it happens sometimes when a betta splits his fins and the fins dont heal back up properly....

[Art by Stef*]

That possibility crossed my mind at first, but it's kinda coincidental it's exactly the same on both sides (ones a little thicker) and doesn't interrupt the fin arrangement. Also, he doesn't appear to have any war wounds/tatters/frays/broken fins anywhere else.

Since he came from a pet store chain, shipment from Thailand, I find it unusual also that he might of had injuries, breeders took the time to heal him up, put him in an American bound cup (where his wounds might have healed crossing the ocean?) and he arrive in what-you-see condition. But, stranger things have happened.

If anyone could post pics of a similar deformity with the same mirror image, I would LOVE to see them! The main reason I started this thread
-Stef*

[aokashi]

I had one with the same "deformity" but not mirror image. I wouldn't find it odd if two rays grew back the wrong way....

[Art by Stef*]

I never seen it, and I searched the net for any info before posting. I'm new to the halfmoon betta, (owning them) and have fallen for them bad Maybe this is something breeders keep quiet about?
I kinda got used to and like the way his curls "bounce" around the tank like Shirley Temple.

-Stef*

[@marko@]

i like the first female better. she has a better topline, and red in her dorsal, which your male lacks and would make his colors more balanced.
but you can breed to both. breed first to one, then to the other, and then mate from one brood into the other. thats what i plan to do with my mustard gases.

[Art by Stef*]

Originally Posted by @marko@

i like the first female better. she has a better topline, and red in her dorsal, which your male lacks and would make his colors more balanced.
but you can breed to both. breed first to one, then to the other, and then mate from one brood into the other. thats what i plan to do with my mustard gases.

Thanks for the reply! Do you think I should still take a daughter back to the sire?
He's gonna be busy...
Maybe putting the cart before the horse. He might want to do his own choosing, but I was going to go with female number one first go 'round
-Stef*

[@marko@]

a backcross would probably be best, yeah. i would do that first. that way if it is genetic, it will likely show itself in some of the resulting offspring.
if not, you still get pretty fish, standard blue red butterfly HMs, which are a staple of the market.

bettas can reject certain mates, even when both are in condition, and consistently reject a particular fish, showing that they do have some 'tastes'. but its not common. generally if both fish are ready, you get a spawn.

[Scottyhorse]

Yay, there's gunna be babies

[auban]

my favorite way to spawn picky bettas is to float the female in a betta bowl or other clear container inside the tank with the male. that give the male the impression that she is in his territory. if she doesnt show signs of submission then pull her out and try again tomorrow. if they both look like they are ready(he is flaring, she has her head down) then they will probably spawn the night or morning after.

i have been able to entice many pairs that wanted nothing to do with each other to spawn by doing this. after a while the teasing just gets too much i guess.

[Art by Stef*]

Oh, I've been doing my homework, or rather, the fish have been "doing it"
I've raised guppies and glofish (unexpectedly on the glofish) before, but never bettas, and currently raising my first betta fry. It's a dry (wet) run. I want to see what mistakes and successes I make, learn from them, before breeding my better quality fish.

This is Jazz, the Delta tail, and his mate, Betty Boop the Halfmoon (she's the one sporting red eyeshadow and lipstick):



Their coloration carries the "jumping marble" gene. They switch color weekly, it seems.



I used your method, auban, only in a clear plastic shoebox with a heating pad under it. Put Betty Boop in a betta cup for a day in the shoebox. They did the nasty continuously for 10 hours when I released her, but neither got nasty-very minimal damage.

Here are the fry, they were free swimming March 9th, so they are about 2 1/2 weeks old. Sorry for the crappy pics. Dried leaves are banana from my tree.







There are about over 100, and I dutifully turkey baste the waste daily. Been feeding microworms and just added fine powdered fry/betta food. Finding about 2 dead a day-don't know if this is normal? Haven't posted this until today, because I don't want to jinx them, lol. Being my first betta brood, it's been nerve-wracking, and you might think the eggs came out of me!

-Stef*

[@marko@]

daily losses are NOT normal. something is wrong. i dont see a sponge filter... is the tank cycled? if not, thats a huge issue.
also, that tank looks small, how big is it?
and where is the heater? temps should be 82-86F, and very stable.

if you really want to see good growth, and raise large spawns, you need to hatch BBS. i didnt want to do it at first, didnt do it for my first spawn, got [censored][censored][censored][censored]ty results. then i caved, and it was much easier than i thought. takes all of 2 min to make a hatchery. just cut the bottom off a soda bottle from a vending machine or such, stick an airline tubing through the cap, invert and make a base. i have 2 hatcheries going on 1 air pump with a splitter, check valve, and flow valves. dump salt enough to fill the cap, fill the bottle with tap, add eggs (technically they are cysts), wait 36hrs. i use 1 hatch for 3 meals (and feed 3 meals a day), and then restart. this way each hatchery give me food for every other day. and then i feed MW as snacks, along with atisons betta starter, and later daphnia and cut up bloodworms.
works great.