BettaSlave

55gallon- I have talked to quite a few stores, and so far no one can get any in for me... Aquarium Central said they would try to get some HM girls in for me, which is really nice of them.

Wingin' It- I'm looking for just one, POSSIBLY two, preferably a solid red or blue... something close to this color-

That's the trouble... the parents won't allow me to. They did previously, but they don't seem to think much of the idea now.

They don't tend to care much about their bettas... not kept in very good conditions. Honestly, I've seen better care in PJs Pets.

I've been having so much trouble with this... Edmonton is not a good city if you want a diverse selection of bettas.

Does anyone know where to get ANY female plakats, deltas, and super-deltas? I've yet to find one that matches my super-delta plakat male.

And I know this will really limit my choices, but preferably NOT Big Al's... all of the females and quite of a few of the males I've gotten there have had internal parasites of some sort... I went to check out the giant females they just got in and all of them had tapeworms, by the looks of it.

I understand most people are against breeding pet-store bettas, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Unless, of course, you don't provide them with adequate homes.

I'm still deciding, though, not 100% sure yet.

And regarding the shrimp- I guess it depends on the shrimp. I've had a few friends/people on other forums have trouble with their shrimp.

Alright. I just assumed since he was in a tank full of nippy shrimps he would have some fin damage- I've heard too many horror stories about shrimps nipping fins.

Thank you! I think I'm going to start looking for a female for him, possibly breed him once I've quarantined him. He's such a character, I'm already very attached to him.

Not sure. He came from Aquarium Central, and since they just opened up, think he might be not quite full grown. Of course, the fact that they just opened doesn't necessarily mean anything, but...

I think he might grow out a bit more, since the shrimp in his tank were nipping at his fins when I saw him and bugging him... and he's not quite a HM when he flares. He's kind of confusing. lol I'm hoping his fins will grow out a bit more though.

AvianAquatics- thank you.

Sorry for the double-post, but have come to a conclusion he's either a delta/super-delta... hoping he'll turn into a HM once he grows out a little more... his caudal's pretty close.

Usually I'm pretty good with this stuff, but I'm completely stumped.

Apparently he's a CT, but I'm really not sure. His fins need to grow out a bit, as he was in a shrimp tank. The only CT I see in him are his two elongated rays on his dorsal.

So here's Dallas, flaring away... sorry for the big pics. If you look at the second pic you can see his dorsal and the two longer rays.

On another forum, someone suggested delta... but I'm puzzled. Can anyone help?

Thank you... I went in today to see a lovely HM boy with some nice dragon scaling/masking... I'll see how it goes. Might just go for a super-delta.

That's really wierd... glad he's okay.

Good luck with the spawning!

Great, thank you all for the information.... I'll have to go to Big Al's soon!

Oh, ok... I'll have to keep my eye out. Thank you.

Fishclubgirl- oh, that's cool! I'll have to look in to that...

Sierra- Really? Are you sure they're HMs? I bought a delta there and he was the same price, marked as a delta.

Fishclubgirl- I'd definitely order but don't have the shipping money...

I'm contemplating buying one, actually. For spawning.

Yes, they are indeed $50... but they're gorgeous. There was an orange marble melano the other day.

So what I'm wondering is, have any of you actually bought one? If so, any illnesses or parasites present?

The last thing I want is to buy a $50 fish (Yes, I know, that isn't that much... but I don't have very much right now) and have to treat it for parasites... 8/10 of the fish I buy already have parasites of some sort, so I'm treating quite a few bettas already.

I've bought quite a few bettas from Big Al's- a few dragons and a giant- none of which showed signs of parasites... but then one of the females I bought had tapeworms. So I suppose it's a 50/50 chance...

Thanks, I'll go take a look within the next few days.

I've been doing a bit of research on this plant, looks lovely for small fish/fry to hide in... haven't been able to find any though. Does anyone know a store that sells them?

Oh, if only!

Bought him a few shrimps, doesn't take much interest in them... he just looks them over and goes on doing his usual fishy stuff.... I guess if he hasn't taken interest in the shrimps in a few days, I'll give them to a few of my other fiesty bettas as a treat.

I can't think of anything else to do...

Wingin' It- Yep... it's rather common with the long-finned bettas, so I've heard... (plakats can't reach around that far I don't think, I've never heard of a tail-biting plakat.) It's so frustrating! Argh! I know I've made that quite clear in this thread, but his fins are completely in shreds now...

And BettaFishMommy, I've tried moving the females away, doesn't seem to do anything... meanwhile his lovely clear fins are just getting shorter and shorter... I will definitely try the shrimp, though, thank you for the idea!

I'm so mad! Cass, my turquoise/green marble cellophane doubletail, is tail-biting... I was planning to breed him sometime this March, too.

He's looks happy, he's marbled a ton since I got him, he's blowing bubblenests, eating like a pig, showing off to my other girls... this is just so frustrating!

Since it's usually caused by stress or boredom (not stress, he's a pretty happy little guy)- I put a ping-pong ball in there for him to chase around, I have lots of plants for him to hide in, I've experimented with the length of his amount of "excercise" time (flaring), I've put him closer to the other bettas, I've moved him away, he has a little snail buddy in there with him, he has a cave... His temperature's at 78, and his tank is a 2.5 gallon, with 75% water changes every other day... with a bit of IAL in there too.

What else can I possible do?! He's pretty spoiled (his tank is a jungle- he still has lots of swimming room though), so what am I doing wrong?

Like... VT vs. PK? This link should help...

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=29868

No... never. I bought a gorgeous pastel turquoise delta from PJ's, much nicer color than the others, and his price remained the same.

I find that males have a tighter jaw too, if that makes any sense... and on the females I've seen, their dorsal fins are also a bit shorter. This sometimes applies to the anal fin as well.

Edit- Just came back from both Petsmart (near Chapters... don't know exact address) and the PJ's on Calgary trail... Nothing much. At the PJ's, two rather dull females, red and black-ish, two gorgeous DBT's, one a red butterfly I believe (didn't look very closely) and one a turquoise marble, and a blue cambodian VT... not much. A few nicely colored CT's.

And at Petsmart, big dark females as usual... Most of the males half dead. They should be getting in a new shipment in though, the shelves are pretty bare.

Oh, and PJ's on 23rd Ave sometimes has really nice bettas too... I saw a few butterfly CT's last time I went, and a bunch of DBT's...

Seriously? Dragon coloring? I should have went, I really need a dragon :/

I saw that HM melano, I was contemplating getting him... I'm sorry about his parasites :/

Sorry to barge in here, but PJ's on Calgary trail sometimes has some nice bettas... don't know if you're looking for males or females, but sometimes they have some plakat females, gorgeous doubletails, the occasional delta, and even rosetails. Coloring ranges from the regular mutt/mismatched mix of colors, to solid melanos, dragons, marble cellophanes, dalmations, butterflies, etc... The deltas and rosetails are more expensive ($15 and up) but they don't charge you for the colors. Doubletails are $13.99, if you like that variety.

Unfortunately, there are a few health issues, the majority of which are very easy to treat- ich is not uncommon, but parasites, in the many fish I've purchased from that store, are scarce.

My boys love Hikari Betta Bio-Gold. New Life Spectrum is also one of their favourites. I've never had a betta turn down Hikari though.