King Male vs Giant

[iheartmybettas]

Ok I know I have heard some people saying that a Giant betta requires different care than normal bettas. I tried hunting around the internet and haven't really found a whole lot. A thread from UB came up and they were saying the care is the same. So now I am not sure. I found a page that was a history of giants and it just looked like Giants are the biggest normal bettas bred. Then the biggest from that spawn is breed and so on until you get the Giant betta.

Also, what is the difference in the King Male and the Giant. I have a King Male that is a sausage and about 3-3.5 inches long, mostly body. He is doing great eating the same foods as my other bettas (just a little more). He blows bubble nests and wriggles around when I come to his tank. I just love him.

I would really like a Giant but I want to be prepared before I even consider one. (I have my eye on one of Hopdiggity's). I haven't been able to locate a lot of info though to inform myself...

I would appreciate any links you might now of with good info. TIA!

[indjo]

I don't know any links to giants, but this is from my local forum;

If you're buying a giant DO NOT BUY YOUNG fish. Giant x giant spawns DO NOT produce 100% giants. They might grow rapidly the first few months, but then suddenly stop growing. Their genetics is still unstable. And they're usually sort of hunched back (the PK.... there are no HM giants here).

Giants usually reach 5.5cm in 3-4 months. But wait another 2 weeks and see if it still grows. If they don't, they won't reach the 12 cm mark (almost 5" - body only).

Treat giants like normal bettas. The only difference is the appetite. They would eat a whole lot..... if you buy a young giant and hold back on feeding, they won't grow to max size...... But this may become their weakness as well - easily get digestion related problems. Besides that, more waste is produced thus they need frequent wc...... but that's not a problem since most people here keep their bettas in 5g cycled and filtered tanks. Anyway another common disease is swollen head (?) initiated by stress due to water condition shock or dirty water. Then there is the infected gills that usually kills them.

To avoid this you have to keep the water as clean as possible. It is suggested to soak their food in methelyn blue for 5 - 10 minutes before feeding (here they're fed live or frozen - seldom pellets).

Hope this gives you a general idea on what you're getting into.

[iheartmybettas]

That is very helpful! Thanks Indjo!

Do you know what the purpose is of soaking the food in methelyn blue? Isn't that a sanitizer?

The Giant I want is 3 months. Is that too young?

http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/aucti...hmp&1303341004

[indjo]

Yep, to sanitize their food to avoid food related problems.

He does look like a giant (body form - notice he has a rather hunched back and his tail is short). And if he is 3" in only 3 months, he should be a true giant..... TBH I don't have any real experience with giants because the "giants" I bought all stopped growing. Now in the process of ordering but have to wait.

[iheartmybettas]

Thanks for the responses! I really appreciate it!

[indjo]

No problem. GOOD LUCK !!!

Don't forget to share your experiences when you do get them.

[iheartmybettas]

Oh I definitely will! I just have to convince the husband I NEED it! Lol!