Aquabid - Thai breeder vs U.S. breeder questions

[MrVampire181]

I've been getting from Thailand due to me living near Linda Olson. However it seems that they've introduced some sort of disease into my fish room. I'll probably stop importing unless I absolutely have to.

[Spazzfish]

First off, bravo for avoiding the temptaion to simply toss in a pair of random petstore fish and not give a crud about yhe quality of the outcome!

The Thia vs U.S has already been delt withh so ii will not beat a dead horse.

Its important to do your reserch on what you want. Like fin type, color and the such.
Betta breeders are awesome people! Try to look for a small group of serious breeders (pm me and i will give you a link to an awesome facebook group) most breeders are suprisingly tolerant of new commers who show some passion in doing things the right way. :D (and of course the breeders here are awesome as well)
i havn't bred yet but I am getting close to it!

[bettaluvinmom64]

Originally Posted by mursey

New to betta-keeping - I have a 2 part question:

1.) I want to know why the Thai bettas look leagues above all the USA ones. You'd think even if great bettas came from another country, someone in the US could order a few and breed them. Instead I rarely see US bettas on Aquabid that look better than the ones in Petco. Why? Is no one breeding Thai stock? Are there really great US breeders that do not sellon Aquabid, and maybe that's why I don't see them? I am really curious about it. I wanted to buy a US one for my birthday in several months. . but I don't see much that looks "order-worthy" from the US.

2.) Why do people breed fish they got at Petco? Isn't the point of breeding an animal to attempt to make something extraordinary, either visually or health-wise .. . or even temperament/personality-wise?

I am not a snob, I have Petco bettas but I would never think I should breed them, because it seems irresponsible when you could either get another one that needs a good home, or if you want one from a breeder, you'd get a more responsibly bred animal.

Am I missing something? I get that breeding something might be fun . .. but I still neutered every animal I owned and would never plan to breed a Petco or Petsmart or Walmart betta. Even my favorite one that has a great personailty .. I wouldn't breed him. I'd try to give some fishy that is already alive a good home.

Hope I don't offend those of you who are breeding box-store bettas, I am truly curious about this.

Oh- while we are at it- I am also curious as to why someone buys baby bettas at Petco. (Since you don't know what you are getting) Is it better to get a fish in its youth so you have a chance to raise it well? Or is it something we should boycott because they are so little? Thoughts?

This is one of the males


and this is one of the girls I will be breeding him to I will be having babies from these guys in couple months if you like their lines.

[bettaluvinmom64]

It is sad they sell them so young not every one is going to know how to care for them..

[bettaluvinmom64]

Originally Posted by Spazzfish

First off, bravo for avoiding the temptaion to simply toss in a pair of random petstore fish and not give a crud about yhe quality of the outcome!

The Thia vs U.S has already been delt withh so ii will not beat a dead horse.

Its important to do your reserch on what you want. Like fin type, color and the such.
Betta breeders are awesome people! Try to look for a small group of serious breeders (pm me and i will give you a link to an awesome facebook group) most breeders are suprisingly tolerant of new commers who show some passion in doing things the right way. :D (and of course the breeders here are awesome as well)
i havn't bred yet but I am getting close to it!

Oh can you send it to me too!

[mursey]

Aw, I started this thread a while ago and now I feel pretty bad. I have come to see some info on good people in the U.S. but so many businesses don't have good websites, or ANY website ... I live in a much smaller city ( doesn't seem like a city to me really) so my options are not that great, at least as far as I know.

1.) Linda Olson- that is who I would go through I think, since she is CO and I am AZ. Every time I look at Aquabid she seems to be the closest contact to me.

2.) I do try to find local breeders but none of them seem to have internet sites. The closest I could do was finding a GREAT natural planted tank store who sometimes have bettas from a local breeder called High Desert Bettas . . but this store (Arizona Nature Aquatics) doesn't always have bettas. (They do have the kindest betta jars I have ever seen, though. They keep them in those large mason jars with substrate, a live plant, and apparently they give them only frozen foods and Indian Almond Leaf extract as well. I guess I will just make a trip there every once in a while .. but they just don't keep a lot of bettas and the one time I was there they were all pretty much the same color group so maybe they are from the same spawn . . . and you just have to check back every once in a while.)