mini bettas?

[finnfinnfriend]

is it possible to breed mini bettas since it's possible to breed giants? I personally think that would be really cool and adorable and I'm pretty sure many people would agree :)....

[ZackyBear]

I think it would be the same challenge as it is breeding giants, though. Genetics and everything....

Never head of a mini bettas before o.o

[BeckyFish97]

I think as with anything it isn't impossible but the chances of "mini" fry living to adulthood is 1000000:1 It is actually considered a deformity or a mutation by most breeders, and these stunted fry tend to be culled for this precise reason!

[Crowntailed]

Makeing mini bettas is a little diffrent then makeing giants. They would have a lot more deformed bodies and other problems that giants didn't have.

[finnfinnfriend]

even if they were proportionate but just a little smaller?

[Junglist]

Mini Bettas? never heard of mini bettas besides juvenile fry's. Is it some kind of dworf betta species?

[Crowntailed]

Originally Posted by finnfinnfriend

even if they were proportionate but just a little smaller?

I dont know about that. But i do know its harder makeing fish smaller then it is larger. Because fish bodies are made to try to keep growing so makeing them smaller would meen stunting. Its possible to make a mini betta but it will probably be a lot harder then makeing a giant.

[bahamut285]

Finnfinn: It is as Becky said, I have a "mini" betta but he is actually just stunted. I think my petsmart wanted to sell younger bettas because then they'll "live longer" but the growth hormone ended up polluting their cups so they stayed stunted.

I can only feed him about a third of what I feed my other boys because he's so small. his body is barely over 1.5" while my other boys are EASILY 2"

[finnfinnfriend]

Originally Posted by bahamut285

Finnfinn: It is as Becky said, I have a "mini" betta but he is actually just stunted. I think my petsmart wanted to sell younger bettas because then they'll "live longer" but the growth hormone ended up polluting their cups so they stayed stunted.

I can only feed him about a third of what I feed my other boys because he's so small. his body is barely over 1.5" while my other boys are EASILY 2"

Well my guy is definitely fully grown by now (had him for 5 months) and his body is only 1.25".....Is he stunted? I thought regular betta get to be about 3" TOTAL including their long tails....(non-plakat)

EDIT: "full grown" as in adult size. I know they keep growing....

[bahamut285]

It would be similar to breeding "teacup" bettas, a la teacup dogs. They will have a phenomenal number of health issues regarding their size. Smaller body means smaller organs. You would have to constantly feed them BBS or microworms and would never be able to switch them to pellets unless you take the effort to crush it into a fine dust.

They're already fairly small fish, why would you want smaller ones? Because it's cute? Teacup dogs are "cute" too but I'm sure you know the controversy behind them.

I would personally try to maximize the health of a regular sized betta rather than experiment with lines just to get a dwarf betta or something. As Becky pointed out, they are culled for a reason, unfortunately :/

Also RE: I just checked, my CT is barely over one inch


I hope he'll grow eventually