Opinions wanted! (New here =])

[Smr2892]

Hello everybody!

I'm relatively new to the forum (relatively being I've been browsing it for about a month; researching, just haven't posted anything)

And after all this reading and researching, I have a question. I plan on breeding my bettas. Now now, give me a second to make you comfortable with my plans. I have a ten gallon tank, half full, no substrate, LOTS of live plants on one side, bubble wrap on the opposite side, a heater (water is at 82, no fluctuations) homes for the babies, a growout tank, (and a second growout tank, just to be safe) [no jars yet, I'm going to see how many fry there are before buying the gallon jars] I DON'T plan to try and profit off of the babies, I'm doing it for the experience and because I love my fishies, and I know someday they're going to have to leave me, and I'd love to keep their line alive and to keep a few of the lil guys seems amazing. I also have the tanks for the ones I will be keeping.

Whew! That was a mouthful, Sorry about that

Now for the question. Which male should I breed my CT female to? She's purple and red, petstore bought. My males are as follows:

Prince: Deep purple VT with bits of red in all fins, and his body is splotchy. (Marble, I believe)
and
Rhyder: He's a super delta tail. Black fins with white lacing on the edges, and blue iridescense on his body.

My thoughts are this: It is NOT recommended to breed veiltails, and Prince is slightly older. On the other hand, if I've read correctly, purple is a rare find in bettas, and I mean, he's PURPLE. I'm not so good in genetics, but if she's got some purple, and he's purple, wouldn't there be a chance for purple babies? I have read that purple is hard to preserve and very unpredictable, though, as well.. Also, I don't mind the look of combtails, I think they're interesting.

Now for Rhyder: I'm not sure if he's a lace black. But if he is, would he still carry the melano gene? I know melano females are infertile.. (the babies)
But I know halfsun bettas would be gorgeous in an interesting way. (I like things that are a little odd or different)

So, opinions? I'm so sorry that was so long!

[MrVampire181]

Sounds good. Now VTs...I wouldn't breed them. Purple is rare but a few breeders (including myself) are working on the color. Now with blacks you need two blacks of the same exact kind. Black Lace + Super Black dosent equal black. There are three kinds of blacks...iridescent (melano), copper (super), and marble (lace).

[Smr2892]

I do think I remember reading that black is recessive as well. So there's no chance that the female fry will be infertile if I breed my CT female with Rhyder?

[bettafish15]

Breeding CT to anything but another CT creates messy fins that are generally unwanted :/

[Smr2892]

=( aww.. That sucks lol. Well then, I may just have to go buy a CT male =) you can never have too many bettas anyway, right? Since she's purple and red, what color would mix well with her?

[dramaqueen]

Hello and welcome to the forum. You came to the right place to get your questions answered. lol We have some very experienced breeders here that will be happy to answer your questions. One of them already has! lol You might want to take a look at Aquabid to find a good match for your ct female. They have some beautiful fish there.

[Smr2892]

Thank you for welcoming me, dramaqueen :) and thank you to the people who responded and gave me advice, as well. I browse aquabid a lot, almost daily lol! But the breeding may have to wait.. Anyone who knows anything about velvet could be a huge help! Rhyder was swimming kind of eratically when I got home today, so I thought maybe he has velvet.. I dimmed the lights and shone a flashlight on him, and he shimmers, but it's not really gold.. I tested his water, eveything is okay. I'm still not sure if I'm using him for breeding, but even if I decide not to, I think it's possible that I mixed all three of their tank cleaning sponges up yesterday =/ so if I'm treating one, I'm treating them all!