"cross" breeding

[JayJo]

Hey, guys! I was just wondering if breeding Bettas is kind of like breeding horses - you go for the most cleanest, purest lines!? Is it better to breed CT x CT, HM x HM, et cetera than to breed CT x HM and such? Or does it not really matter?
I couldn't find any threads on this, so I thought I'd just ask.

Update on my Bettas!
New CT named Badger. Black that fades into a pastel blue. So pretty! He has been making bubble nests and I'm so proud of him! Lark loves his heated 2.5 gallon tank. Hollywood is acting funny and he's being treated for fin rot. He just chills on the top of the tank all the time, doesn't really move much. He's not eating pellets, just blood worms. :/ Boss (wal mart CT Betta) is wayy healthier and is starting to interact more happily, he's shining up again and his fins are always stretched up. Very pretty! Purple body with blue and red fins (: And he loves to eat! (:

[purplemuffin]

In general you do want to keep pure lines. If you look at petstore veiltails, often times they will be scraggly looking as they were likely crossed with a crown tail at one point. Kind of makes a messy mix between the two with a lot of bad fins!

Some people will cross fins for a specific effect--Like mixing crowntails with plakats to make the ctpk.. Or because they want a certain color mixed in with their other tail types. But those are still sort of unreliable because they are so new and there is so much variety. If you're going for the best form and finnage, get the fish that you want your fry to look like that have the best health, form and then the best color! :D

[JayJo]

Ahaaa! Okay, thank you so much! I so bad want to start breeding Betta fish! But I'm learning EVERY THING first. I'm even gonna like... have my own little pedigree book, too! Complete with pictures and what not.
Another thing, I live in Montana (Helena, Montana) and not a lot of people are into fish. Think I should try it anyway?
And does anyone know if Petstores will let you volunteer (take care of their Bettas for them and even breed up Bettas for them to sale)?

[Curlyfatbottom]

only ma n pa store will take in fish....
big change store won't.....
if your going to breed and want to cross breed....
go with dtxhm or hmxpk then back to dt....
breeding should be fun....
look at it as a hobby and not a money maker.....

[Bambi]

Yeah..if you're breeding for showing then you may want to keep your lines cleaner.
But, say, you would never breed a DT to a DT because of the deformities you'd get.
And if you bred for long find you wouldn't want to add a short finned fish to the line as a couple may pop up down the line without you meaning to get them.

But when developing lines, crossbreeding happens alot. if you're breeding for a nice copper HM you might introduce a copper DT to the line for the extended dorsal.
Depends on what is available when you're breeding and such. xD generally people avoid crossing CT to non-ct because it can make the fins look messy. And they avoid VT's because you'll loose alot of the branching and form in the fry(and VT's are harder to rehome).


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I doubt petsmart will let your do that, but if you have a local family run or non-chain fish store sometimes they'll let you ^^ These stores will also sometimes buy you betta fry from you to sell instead of ordering them, or ifnothing els take them off your hands and sell them if you can't rehome them.
If you have one nearby it might be good to get to know the owner.:) you may be able to volunteer or even get a job xD