Stunted betta?

[Aussie_hippie_2]

I have two female bettas (Sing-Li and Li-Sing) and one is allmost twice the size of the other. I've had the bigger one for about 3 months and the smaller one for 2 months, and I've been waiting for the smaller one to get bigger and it's never happened. Is she just genetically smaller or could she be stunted? I mean she clearly has stopped growing. It kind of sucks because I'd like to breed her but can't because she'll get torn up to badly.

[NinjaPirate]

The chances of any two bettas growing to be about hte same size is slim. It's something that we commonly have to deal with in breeding because you need find a pair that is similarily sized. In short, it's fairly common to get bettas of varying size.

When considering breeding a smaller female, just find a smaller male if possible. Ideally the female should be slightly smaller than the male anyway, because it's hard for males to properly wrap a larger female.

[Aussie_hippie_2]

The male and the larger female are perfectly sized so I'll just pair those two up. I just hope her dark colour dosen't overshadow his beautiful cream colour. Do you think it will?

[NinjaPirate]

That really depends. Some light colors (cambodians) are recessive, so both parents need to carry the gene in order to produce them. However, some genetic mutations produced colors like opaques, which are light but dominant, so only one parent needs to carry the gene to produce (atleast some, usually 25%) offspring.

[Aussie_hippie_2]

Thanks. I'm really hoping for some opaque little babies. I find the light bettas the most attractive.