I have no problems with breeding pet store bettas either....Heck if I start breeding again down here, I'm pretty much forced to use pet store bettas. All I'm trying to say is that if you're not really against it, then you should've wrote that on your original post instead of saying they carry diseases or whatever. I remember one time in Petco they were getting their shipment in and there was a beautiful orange dalmatian HMPK. With common sense, you know this male is from an orage dalmatian line. So, if he has good fins, nice color, healthy, and ready for a spawn, why not breed him? So yes you just gotta know what you're looking for and it's not always a bad thing to look around for new experiments....
I think what everyone is getting at is that you should breed responsibly. As in don't run into the pet store grab a two random bettas and throw them in a tub. You should put some thought and research into it. We, as Betta lovers, should be trying to better the species and do our best not to breed deformities into our bettas. Whether they be for show or pets
Just my two cents!
A lot of people with nice things are snobby, DQ. It's just life, fish, dogs, cars, whatever.
What gets my goat is when people breed bad fish, like unconditioned fish, and ones with bad spines (this upsets me a lot more than fins as this can actually lead to problems). And, those people that ask questions without reading the stickies right on this site, or "my betta eggs hatched what should I feed them?"
Most people are looking for pet quality fish.. Breeding show quality fish does produce pet quality ones. Breeding pet quality fish also produces pet quality fish. All most people want is some nice colors, hence the popularity of aquabid. Many IBC members would never sell a show quality fish with good genes to a pet home, which is why we need pet quality fish.
Pet quality, or just hobby breeders not interested in show are a different dynamic. There's nothing like reading a spawn log filled with photos from day 1, updates on individual fry, naming some that stand out, filming them just so we can see how they're doing. This is a whole other level of dedication, just of a different kind. It's growing to love them for their feisty personalities, having a secret favorite, the sad news of one fry that was lost..
Breeding for pets or for show, you gotta love the fish and dedicate yourself.
Also, I find the comments comparing fish to dogs confusing. I thought we were trying to stop stores from selling them by not buying them? Where does "over population" of pet store fish come into this? If you're one of those people, you should be buying from a breeder directly, local or on the other side of the country, whatever, just knowing that the fish are well cared for. Just like with dogs and other pets.
If you're one of those people that believes mass production of these fish will never stop (yes I am one of those people), then that point is somewhat invalid.
Know that if I had a local breeder of pet bettas I would ditch the pet shops for good. Posted via Mobile Device
I'm well aware of pet quality fish being produced by show quality fish, as I stated. So if low quality fish are being culled, what are pet owners supposed to buy? Breeding stock?
Not all show breeders go through the trouble of selling off pet fish. I once tried to find good breeders in Canada, don't think anything turned up, just people selling Thai imports.. I'm personally getting sick of red and blue VTs and CTs, don't want to pay to import a pet fish from Thailand, don't think any of you American breeders will ship fish to Canada. I'd love a local breeder of some lower grade betta around here for a pet.
Also, totally off topic side question- if breeding show quality fish tends to produce low quality fish, are we getting anywhere? Posted via Mobile Device
They produce a mixture. Four or so will be promising and be the breeders keepers. The next best are sold as breeders to others and the lowest quality as pet or culled.
I would consider breeding pet store fish first before messing with high class fish, It's like saying "here try out my new Lamborghini". You must do it to learn, It takes practice to make perfect.
Most of my stock come from pet store.
I just work with what they got.
N improve it.
Top quality pair
Will throw u pet quailty fish
If u decide to cull them early then it's fine
But if u wait till there a little to bigger to see if they will improve n it's not your liking(sell them to- cost of rearing)
I'm a breeder
I hold back what I've call quality for future breed even if I've don't breed them
The rest is cull or sell
Breeding hm with a 30% hm
Batch of 150 with 45 hm
I'll only consider 2-4 of them breeding quality
No breeded will let go there pick
Those are the fish you want to breed
Not second rate fish from the same line
How to start
Don't fall into the trap to get a quailty pair to start
You'll spend more then u expect n might not get any fry out
Start with a decent pet store fish with decent form n fin n work with it for a few generation
To get the felling for it.
U might be lucky n get a quailty fish with in a year of breeding(3 generation)
If everything goes right in the long run
quality pair will save you more money
Pet store u will gain you more knowledge( room for improvement)
Bottom line if you know what your doing
You'll end up with the same looking fish
Pet store will take u a bit longer to get there
Ibc
Not a really big fan of it
Last edited by Curlyfatbottom; 05-16-2012 at 05:53 PM.
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