Breeding specific bettas

  • Get the NEW AquariaCentral iOS app --> http://itunes.apple.com/app/id1227181058 // Android version will be out soon!

Industrial

AC Members
Oct 29, 2009
473
0
0
Buffalo, NY
So right now I have a white male betta and I had a white female betta but she died before she got large enough to breed.

My male is a super delta betta and I am wondering if I can just breed him with any female and get super delta fry or if I should find a super delta female.
 

halfmoonplakat

AC Members
Nov 7, 2009
654
1
16
OK
There are several different kinds of betta tail-types out there: Veiltail (VT), Doubletail (DT), Crowntail (CT), Halfmoon (HM), Plakat (PK), Delta, Super Delta, and 4 variations on the Plakat.
All of the above fish are compatible with each other (meaning that they WILL produce fry), but the fry may not be the fry you want...this is where caudal fin genetics come in.
Something to remember is that the Delta/Super Delta/Halfmoon/Over Half Moon/Rose Tail are variations of each other, differing only in spread, e.g. a Halfmoon spread is 180 degrees, Over Half Moon is more than 180 degrees, Rose Tail is more than Over Half Moon, so that the tail folds on itself to provide a rose-like appearance, and their genes are recessive, wheareas the Veiltail gene and its variations (Spadetail, Roundtail, etc) are dominant. If you breed a Super Delta with a Delta, you will most likely get fry that are Delta, Super Delta, and possibly some Halfmoon (as they are closely related). However if you breed a Super Delta with a Crowntail, you will get a cross of both- a "Half Sun". Half Sun bettas have the spread of a Delta-Super Delta-Half Moon etc, but have tiny frills at the end like a Crowntail, but shorter. Combtail bettas are different and are created via Veiltail + Crowntail. If you breed Super Delta with a Delta, Half Moon, Over Half Moon (OHM), or Rosetail, you will most likely get a mix of these tail types. Basically, tail genetics in the Delta line were created through selective breeding, therefore when you breed two fish in the Delta line you will have a chance of getting fish from any part of the line. However if you breed two Rosetails you will have a better chance of getting HM's, OHM's, and Rosetails than breeding Delta's and Super Delta's- which will yield you a higher crop of Deltas, Super Delta's, and the odd HM/OHM/Rosetail. Just stick to the Delta line, and you should be guaranteed a Super Delta spawn.
Also as a note- Delta+Super Delta= More Deltas, but Super Delta+Halfmoon= More Super Deltas, perhaps 25% are Halfmoons, and so on and so forth
As well: on plakats, crowntails and doubletails-
Plakats are used by a lot of breeders in their HM strains to allow for stronger fin rays (to hold up the actual fin), you might want to keep this in mind for the F2 or later generations that you may want to breed
Crowntails give the tail the look of a "half sun" when bred with an HM/Delta variant...not sure if you want this look or not!
Just like plakats, doubletails are used by many breeders in HM strains. Why? Well, the gene that makes doubletail bettas have a split caudal fin is a gene that copies finnage (not the ventral fins of course, lol) and duplicates it- you can see this in the caudal, and in the anal vs. dorsal fins. The anal fin is almost the exact same shape/size as the dorsal fin in doubletails, when you compare this difference tot he difference of anal/dorsal fins in other b. splendens variants. Anyways, breeders use the doubletail to increase fullness of the HM fry dorsal fins, you may want to keep this in mind for future generations as well
P.S. As a word of caution- try to refrain from buying your HM females frm a PetSmart/Petco/large chain store...I made the mistake of doing this once, turned out she was a VT, which complicated my breeding plans A LOT- because VT is dominant, HM is recessive- buy from a trusted breeder or site
Hope this helped
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Meyowmeow
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store