Betta Fish Forum banner

Possible Blue Dragon Project

8K views 76 replies 24 participants last post by  Junglist 
#1 ·
So I've made the decision that when I move into a bigger house at the end of the year, I'm going to dedicate my whole fish room full-force to figuring out how to breed true blue dragon bettas. Not blue bodied, but real silver-bodied, blue finned dragons-



This image is fake, but it represents the goal. So far, no one has successfully been able to create these. I believe that starting the line with a blue cambodian crossed with a dragon with thick scaling and plenty of selective breeding might get me to my goal. Dragons came about by crossing betta splendens to wild type bettas, to try to cross over the genetics of the wild types that contain the heavy iridescence on their scales. Every dragon betta has a soft iridescent sheen across all of their scales, it's just more difficult to see on some than others. Original blue-bodied blue dragons have a lot more body iridescence on them, which is what causes the blue cast across the body. I believe that crossing a dragon with a blue cambodian will encourage the fleshy colored body, while at the same time causing blue fins and thick, light colored scales. This won't become apparent on the F1 generation as cambodian is recessive.

It will be difficult trying to find a blue cambodian as they are pretty rare, but if this project fails I plan on breeding blue cambodians anyways to make them more accessible in the betta community.


Any opinions or tips?
 
See less See more
1
#34 ·
The pictures I sent BL2033 were not fake. They were purchased by a local..... he would have made a big deal out of it if it were fake. Another person made a better blue drgn but I couldn't find the picture and couldn't remember who it was. But the blues don't breed true.

Yes IMO marbles are needed to change the body into a silver/white color.

Blue cambodian rare? Really ..... what do you mean by blue cambodian? Pale body with blue fins are rather easy to create. Simply breed a red cambodian to a blue. Eventually you will have blue cambodian.

I think this is a superb project to work on. And I know it isn't impossible to achieve. So best of luck to everyone taking on this project.
 
#35 ·
Woooow that first picture...it doesn't look right, I know they're not fake but they look sooooo fake!Indjo, I was wondering about breeding a red cambodian to a blue, I thought that might work...
 
#36 ·
Creating blue cambodians - yes (probabilites: red cambodian, royal blue, a mix between the two, pastel, cellophane, and a blueish cambodian). Continue the line and you will get your blue cambodian, along with white opaques.

But this won't work for dragons. As far as I can tell, you need marble genes for the body to turn light colored (the creators aren't revealing their secret). The only two genes I'm sure of is blue dragon and marble. I don't know if cambodian or any other genes were introduced into the line. IMO, instead of using cambodian, I'd use red dragons x blue dragon (either with marble background). Better yet, use those blue dragon marbles - the ones that look randomly blue and white.
 
#39 ·
I'd love to help/get in on this, they seem beautiful! The fish pictured just look more like marbles to me, and that they'd change over time. Which I'm guessing isn't Kaden's intent, she's wanting a fish who will stay that way its entire life? I could be wrong, but I've owned lots of marbles. Regardless if it is done or not it'd be a great project.

I'd even be interested in just some blue cambo's in general. I'm going fish shopping Friday I'll have to look for some good fishies. Also waiting for some of Chard's spawns to grow and purchase some of his purples. =)​
 
#42 ·
Blue Dragon

Remember the photos I posted before? Well those pictures were taken a about a year and a half ago.

I just saw this true blue dragon posted on Facebook:


See how it was perfected and as I said before was a work in progress. This is a true blue dragon. From what I can see, there is no kind of marble pattern on him.
 
#46 ·
I made an attempt to restore the fish back to its original color-



As you can see, it was a normal red dragon. The editor simply morphed the "red" pixels in the image and switched them to blue, not realizing that it also morphed the fingers in the image. It's not uncommon.
 
#50 ·
Kaden, my blues are spawning right now! Masked guys. They should produce some decent outcross fish for you! They do not carry marble.
 
#54 ·
Yes an update! How's that little dragon juvie I gave you?
 
#58 ·
I've had this happen. I can speak from experience when I say, it really is annoying and frustrating. Even when you try anything possible. I don't know if it's me, but does that female have a little red wash on her too? Possibly the anal fin? It almost looks like its lightly colored and rusty looking?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top