In 2003 a pair of Gold Bettas commanded the record high bid for bettas on Aquabid.com -- $1,000.00! The new color strain took the betta world by storm. Not only was the color completely unique and beautiful -- a shiny, pure metallic gold -- but it also seemed to breed true: Spawning two gold bettas usually produced 100% gold offspring. Because of the ease of perpetuation (and inspired by the record sale), more and more breeders started raising their own lines of golds, and now they are a common offering from stock shops and auction houses alike.
The golds came from crossing Betta Splendens to other species of wild betta, namely Betta Imbellis and Betta Mahachai. The latter two species naturally have a higher degree of iridescence on the scales to compensate for the murkier waters of their native lands, and the subsequent outcrosses to Splendens produced a plakat betta with the first metallic scale trait. Asian breeders selectively bred the individuals which showed the most metallic, until the coppery color was very heavy and thick. The first batch of these that were breeding true were called 'Copper Imbellis', and although they became common on the overseas market in their shortfinned form, they didn't gain much recognition in the United States and Europe, where hobbyists were still too enchanted with the Halfmoon form to give more than a casual glance at the metallic plakat.
By more selective breeding, the zealous Asian breeders were able to develop the copper imbellis into a longfinned delta form, and elaborate on the finnage from there. Crossing the Copper longfin to Halfmoon green produced the first metallic green Halfmoons and Deltas, most of them with heavy red wash. Subsequent generations of brother/sister spawnings cleaned up the color, and then produced the green base with iridescent copper overlay, which appeared phenotypically as a bright gold color. Breeding these 'golds' onto pure iridescent turquoise, blue, and steel produced the 'masked' bettas -- fish that were green, blue, or steel, but instead of having the typical dark head of the pure iridescent betta, the copper gene caused the spread of color into the entire face and head area of the fish.
As of this writing, the IBC only recognizes the Solid Dark Bodied Copper Types for show purposes (gold, metallic green, metallic blue, metallic steel, metallic red, metallic black), but copper types are also available in 'Platinum' (copper over opaque), metallic bicolors, metallic marbles, metallic multicolors, and more.
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Copper Halfmoon Male movie See a copper in action! Click arrow to view or right click and choose 'Save target as...' to save to your hard drive.
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. HEJSAN FROM SWEDEN EVERYONE! Everything in Sweden is going well, although I'm still busy learning the language and coping with a newborn, so it will be a bit before I'm as active as I'd like with the fish. This is a Facebook update! I have created a new BettySplendens Facebook page that will be used exclusively for betta-related networking. On the 16th of August I will be going through and deleting most of the people on my personal Facebook page who are not actual friends or family (many of you have become friends through the course of the hobby, and of course will not be deleted). If for any reason you wish to remain on my personal page, please let me know by emailing bettysplendens@yahoo.com, or FB email. Otherwise, go to the new BettySplendens Facebook page and click the 'like' button for more betta-related news and updates :).
Tack så mycket (that's ''Thank you very much'' in Svenskie-land ;))! ~Victoria~
Slight change of plans! I have decided that, instead of reinventing the wheel, I'm going to create a personal FB page and use the old one purely for betta stuff. So if you're on the original page (now called BettySplendens Bettas), please stay put! :P
For all the betta inquiries: Just a reminder, I am not selling bettas in the US at the present time. I may begin to supply a few select bettas throughout Europe sometime in late Spring 2011. Cheers!
Spotting the Orange Dalmatian Ever since it first started being widely seen in pet stores around late 2004, the spotted orange betta has taken the hobby by storm. But what exactly is it?
Finnage Variations Bettas today come in a wide variety of forms, and new ones are being created all the time. Here are the most popular.
Choosing a Betta There are basically three ways of purchasing bettas. Buying them from a pet store, buying them from a breeder, or buying them online. I'll run through some important things to consider in each of those options.
Defining a Good Crowntail For the purpose of showing in the CT class, Crowntails are defined as bettas exhibiting at least 33% reduction in webbing versus ray length in each of the three primary fins (caudal, anal and dorsal). This requirement must be demonstrated in all three primary fins but does not need to be exhibited between all rays to meet the minimum requirement to be classified as a Crowntail betta.
