[lilnaugrim]

It only looks crooked because he's wiggling in the photo. Try using flash and angle the camera down so it doesn't catch the glare in the glass when you use it. This way, your shutter speed is higher and you can catch him at full flare.

For HM vs. Super DeT, HM absolutely has to have the full D shape, that means straight edges from the peduncle and up to the corners of the D. That's what straight edges means technically. It can be difficult to differentiate between the edges on the straight side of the D and the edges of the curved part since we have no technical word for that. Having even edges all the way around generally means that there isn't overbranching which causes tail ruffling (RT/FT). But because your boy has short rays at the straight edges of the D part, it becomes rounded and no longer a sharp corner as it should be. That's what disqualifies him as an HM even if he makes it up to 180 degrees, does that make sense to you?

 

[HTageant]

Welp I do believe you get points cut off if your girl has a flat topline. So that's not me being subjective. As for fixing spoonheads, I'm not a breeder. But why not get a female with no spoonheads *and* a smooth topline? Kills two birds with one stone

Ha ha true Idk, perhaps I should look up the standards for females sometime. I have only really studied the standards for males... Anyway, thanks for holding an interesting conversation with me! You taught me something new

 

[anarchywulf]

Is he a good quality halfmoon. I'm really bad critiquing

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

^^
Please note this is a learning thread; not a critique thread. Once you tell us what you thing are your boy's pros and cons someone will come on explain where you are right or in error.

If you want a straight critique you could post in the Pictures section.

BTW, isn't your boy a double tail?

 

[anarchywulf]

Oh now i get it! Oops! He's not a double tail, it's just the moment his tail folded when i captured him on photo!

Pros
Long knife shaped ventrals
Smooth topline
Frontward angled anal fin

Cons
Stair Stepping at the dorsal fin
Uneven caudal - rosetail?
Short caudal fin
Uneven coloration with no symmetry

 

[BlueInkFish]

Although I'm not really a good "critquer," I do believe you have a double tail Betta. His dorsal is very big and he's got quite a stalky body. His tail also has 2 lobes. I'm 100% sure you have a Doubletail.

 

[anarchywulf]

Oh! I see! Thank you for pointing it out! I just got him a day ago and have been thinking that it was just the way his tail is folded against each other that made it look like that!

 

[lilnaugrim]

@Yoggiecast
This thread is to learn how to critique your fish, not have others do it for you. You can post in the Pictures section if you want that. But if you get a flare picture of your fish and give it your best shot, we can help correct or agree with you on what you've learned.

 

[Tourmaline]

I finally got my other HMPK male to flare after months. Asymmetrical or Traditional PK? I have a hard time telling.

Pros:
Caudal reaches 180° (a bit hard to see but it does)
Anal fin is pointed (not sure if pointy enough)
Dorsal reaches top of caudal
D shaped caudal
Strong peduncle
His fins look proportional (compared to my other PK)

Cons:
Ventrals are.. Weird. Not sure how to describe them
I'm unsure of his topline but it seems too flat
Body looks a bit thick
Spoonheaded?
Anal fin could be more sloped (I think)
His dorsal looks a bit messy

He's a marble so his color is all over the place.. The second picture was the best I could get for a side profile flare, it's been impossible to get him to flare up until now, and I can't get him to flare again.

Anything I missed? I know I'll need some correcting. I haven't really critiqued in a while.

 

[lilnaugrim]

He's Asymmetrical. Trad's typically have a small dorsal, is more rounded, and their caudal's also have rounded edges.

Yeah, his point is decent but just a little more dramatic slant towards the end would be better. He would do okay with his anal fin.
Caudal is very nice but the edges have a stubby ray which would have points taken off there.

His ventrals would be great if only the membrane extended further towards the white part. Basically his membrane just stopped and that's why they're stringy like that at the end, it's just a single ray. However, they would be perfect if the membrane just went on. He would have many points taken off for those.

I agree his topline is too flat and his body is too thick. A good HMPK should have a slender, streamlined body. Topline should arch gracefully and gradually, it should not go flat at any point or arch too dramatically. I don't think he's spoonheaded but his topline definitely isn't as good, I agree.

Scale wise he's kind of really bad. The thick scales should either fully cover the fish (minus a skunk stripe if not Full Mask) evenly with no openings or crooked scales. His partial genes caused the thick scales to only appear at the front half of him which is a big fault. If the blue continued throughout his whole body, his coloration wouldn't be as bad, but because it doesn't it's not as good.

And yep, you've got the Dorsal right; it is messy. It's a very good size, but it stair-steps too much and doesn't quite have the right shape for an Asym. HMPK.

Not a bad critique Tourmaline! ^_^

 

[Tourmaline]

Oh! I forgot about this. I've been wanting to critique my giant HMPK.

Alydar first because I bought him first

Pros:
-Dorsal meets top of caudal
-Dorsal points forward flared
-No stubby rays
-Caudal reaches 180°
-Pointed anal fin
-Ventrals meet longest point in anal fin

Cons:
-Rounded caudal
-Split ventrals
-Flat topline
-Anal fin has a split
-Anal fin not slanted enough

And Mako, is he a traditional PK? I know Alydar is an asymmetrical PK.

Pros:
-Dorsal reaches top of caudal
-Caudal reaches 180 degrees
-Pointed anal fin
-Anal fin has a decent slant to it
-Ventrals meet anal fin
-Topline is decent, not too flat

Cons:
-Web reduction in dorsal
-Stubby first ray I think
-Caudal is too rounded

He's hard to catch in a full flare, since he either doesn't have a beard or can't/won't extend it, I can't tell when he's flaring all the way. For his color, his blue band is fairly even, but I'm sure that blue bleeding into his fins is bad. I'm not sure.

 

[harY]

Any comments? Picked these guys up today!

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

@spanch-moss As explained in the first post, this thread is to help YOU learn to critique your own Betta so you will be better equipped when you go to buy your next one. If you want someone else to do it post in main Betta Pictures. All posts asking for straight-out critiques will be removed. All posts with photos that that are no longer visible have been moved.

You thread has been moved.

 

[spanch-moss]

oki

 

[GailC]

This is my new boy. I haven't been able to get him to flare yet but I'm thinking he is a OHM?
His peduncle looks a little stubby and his head seems a bit too pointy.
He is young though or maybe just small. He was half the size of the other bettas at the store.

What do others think?

He was marked as a copper but idk, almost seems too blue.

 

[indjo]

He is a nice copper, which belongs in the metallic color group. They often show different color by altering light angles.

His is body could be better - ideally top and bottom line should be similar, forming a bullet shape. He has a dipped head - top line should form a smooth curve from mouth to tail, no dips, no hunchback, etc. Though it's hard to see in real life, the picture shows his rear has slight lump. Penducle, IMO, looks fine though not exactly 90° body-tail.

Nice big dorsal. It should at least be a half circle if he were flaring. Caudal has rather excessive rays thus folds here and there (not good). Anal is a bit long - should be equal length to caudal. Ventrals are wide and looks to be ideal form (blade shaped).

 

[Moki]

Here is Ghost. Got him two days ago from PetSmart as a "premium male platinum". In just two days he has gone from all white to white with pink and orange hues, and black markings View attachment 1032774 View attachment 1032775 View attachment 1032776

 

[RussellTheShihTzu]

@Moki
As explained in the first post, this thread is to help YOU learn to critique your own Betta so you will be better equipped when you go to buy your next one.

If you want someone else to critique it will be moved to Betta Pictures. To receive a proper critique a full flaring photo that has all fins extended is needed.

 

[Kaye189]

Pretty late in the game here but I still want to show off my boy Patch. He's not winning any show awards anytime soon, but hes definitely won my heart and all the females in the tank as well.

 

[BTanaka05!]

Hi! Do you critique females too? I have a few that I am just curious about I do not think I will enter them in any contests or breed them. They are kind of basic as there is not much selection where I live, they are all blue with the occasional red but I love them just the same. Everyone has such beautiful stunning bettas here btw I wish everyone entering contests and breeding the best of luck!