Possible pairs?

[Iyamai]

Hello everyone!

I am going to start breeding here shortly and would like your opinion on what I have to work with and my plans.

I am planning on breeding for Combtails at this time.I do have pet store fish, but to be honest I am only planning on breeding them this first time to get experience. If all goes well this time then I will probably go to Halfmoons or Crowntails, bu I prefer the look of a Combtail to a Crowntail. If breeding is something I will seriously be doing then I will invest in better fish.

Right now I am going to be giving them away as pet quality to some local fish aficionados who I have already spoken to and are excited about the possibility of having a breeder in the area so they dont have to keep buying from Petco or Walmart or having to ship the fish from around the country or world. I am also thinking of giving the rest away on here to get experience with shipping.

I am prepared to cull, even though I dont like the idea of taking some of the lives that I brought into the world, because I know that it is a necessary evil. Even a pet quality spawning should be the best that it can be.

I am already collecting jars from various places. I am getting the 1 gal yogurt containers from my work and other .5-2 gal jars and containers from second hand stores, garage sales, and anywhere else that I can find them cheaply.

I plan on getting a 20 or 30gal grow out tank. I have a 10gal that is housing my male right now, but I will be getting him a smaller tank and using that one as a spawning tank.

I have read up and done my research, but I am by no means an expert. Which is why I am asking for your guys' opinions.

Now for pictures of the possible pairs!



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Sorry that the pictures are so large, I dont know how to make them smaller on here.

Oh, as a side note, Zeus is recovering from tail rot right now so his tail looks a bit.... icky... It also looks like he took a big bite out of it. I wont be breeding him until he is completely over the rot.

[ChoclateBetta]

Sounds good live plants in the spawning tank help.

[indjo]

Zeus is a copper - has similar genetic code to steel blue but with the additional metallic. For that reason, I'd breed him to Eos (royal blue) - If they have fairly stable genes, they should produce copper, steel blue, royal blue and even green (some metallic, most not).

Form wise; I can't see the female's form so I can't advise on that. IMO there is nothing wrong working with pet store fish as long as you know what to look for. Get the best you can, then later - when you are more confident and plan to get more serious - get good formed breeders and improve your line..... or you can start new breeding goals and just breed your new pair.

Combtails are not favored in my country.... we call them "gear effect" .... it is partially dominant and will appear for generations. So you probably only need to breed to a CT once in every few generations.

[Creat]

I agree with indjo with his pair comments Zeus and Eos would be my pair pick. Combtails is a good goal but takes a while to prefect in a line if you want to work with combtails petstore fish are a fine place to start. I started with petstore fish and when I had the chance bred more specialty betta in. In any case Zeus is close to HM it wouldnt suprise me if you ended up with half suns. I would look into getting a nice hm female later to cross to Zeus.

[Iyamai]

Thanks everyone on helping me figure out the right pair and what Zeus' coloring is :)

I'm waiting for him to get over his fin rot, which he still has (its very persistent) and then I will start conditioning the pair. I'm so excited!