There seems to be three ways to breed bettas.
And when I say this, I am not talking about spawning techniques. I am talking about reasons for breeding.
First you have those who breed betta to gain experience. These experience gainers are usually VT’s though every type has been used.
Usually there is no more thought in mind than let me see what happens..
It is a learning experience, and a very valuable one.
Armed with the knowledge that you have done it once, you have the confidence to try again.

And then there are those who are breeding for pretty fish. There is no rhyme or reason to their breeding, just this pair looks like they would go together well, and I’ll have some pretty babies. And there is nothing wrong with that at all.

Lastly is the show breeder. When breeding for conformation or competition, it requires more than just a couple pretty fish. You as the breeder need o develop your “eye” so that you know what is a good fish and what is a bad fish, and what flaws each fish carries. You need to breed with the results in mind, and compensate for those faults.

First you need to know and understand the show standard for the betta, and for the type of betta you are breeding, as each type has different markers you need to be aware of. With in the show world, you have the Plakat (PK), which is divided as I know it, into three classes, Traditional (Trd) Show, and Symmetrical (Sym). There may also be a class for the Crown Tail Plakat (CTPK), but they might be shown in form variations. I am not sure. The same may be true for the Double Tail Plakat (DTPK). Again I am not sure, as I am just learning the PK types, standards and how to show them.

Then you have the long finned bettas, The Half Moon (HM), The Crown Tail (CT) the Double Tail (DT), and in the form variations class you have the Rose Tails (RT) and the Feather Tails (FT)..

Once you have figured out what type of betta you are going to specialize in, and please as an aside, when you are beginning, it is best to try to pick no more than 3 types, including color, as it is very easy to get overwhelmed, it is time to learn about the standard for that type.

If color is going to be a major factor, you should also take the time to learn the genetics of that particular color. It is good to know the generalities of the different color genetics, but again it is easy to become overwhelmed.

Using myself as an example, I decided that I wanted to breed primarily the orange dalmation. That meant learning about the NR genes that produces orange, learning about red, which is what the NR2 gene is a mutation of. Red and produces orange, and also learning about the NR1 gene, which is closely related and produces the yellow coloration. Having done that, I have had to learn as much as I could about the spotting of this line, I thought myself ready to tackle the breeding of this color type.

The next thing, however is the conformation of each individual fish. How does one fish compensate for the deficiencies of it’s mate? It is said that the male passes on color, the female fins. I think that is a load of malarkey. As far as I know the laws of genetic inheritance has not been suspended for the betta fish, so each parent contributes equally to the final genetic make up of their fry. True, if you use a female with poor fins, you are going to have fry with poor fins, but the same can be said of the male. If you have a female with poor color, you are just as likely to have fry with poor color, as you would with a male with poor color.

That being said, you should try to look at your fish with an objective eye. Look for your fish’s flaws. If you have been diligent about learning the standards, you should be able to find where your fish needs help. The next step is to find a partner that will help correct this flaw. As always, using a closely related fish is always best, as that will help to stabilize the genotype while you are trying to correct the phenotype.

Learning as much as you can about a particular fishes genetic inheritance is going to help you immensely. But the fact is, most of the time you are not going to have a clear picture of the genetic background unless you have bought form someone who keeps correct records, and who doesn’t have a problem sharing that information.

Each breeding when breeding for show fish should be made with a specific goal in mind. Not just the goal of getting pretty fish. If you have line with stunted front dorsal rays, perhaps you should look for an outcross to a line with superb super straight dorsal fronts. If your line has a problem with over long anals, you would want to look for a fish that will help to correct that.

My favorite male is too voluminous in his fins, too tall in the dorsal, and long in the anal, and it overwhelms his body, but this is something that is typical of Sawarut bred fish, especially when they are young… However he still lacks that balance.
To correct that problem, I have a Suporn bred male who is just a tad short in the fins, especially the dorsal. But breeding this male into the pure Sawarut line, I should b able to reduce the volume of the fins by the F2 cross while still maintaining color.
This is breeding with a goal in mind.

This is what you must do if you plan at all or breeding for serious competition

I'm a mix of the first two types, I think. I breed mostly for colour but I am working on improving the finnage... I am not afraid to try new things though! I have an opaque male showing marbling that I am going to breed to a marble for opaque marble babies... opaque on a marble is a major fault by show standards, but I like it and they look nice. I am also breeding my main marble line down in size purposefully, and it will probably get to the point that they are too small for show (I hope!) I think it's important to try new things, otherwise we'd never develop anything different :)

I too am a mix of the first two. Though I am hoping to make a small business out of suppling the local pet shops with 'better than veiltail' bettas. Even my 'trail' spawn of Crowntail x Veiltail will be readily accepted as something new and different in shops around here.
Oh by the way, I live in Tasmania, Australia. Crowntails are still too new to be recognised, ripped by cats claws is the discription for them that I have heard in a few petshops. Oh and my beautiful doubletail female that is my luckiest find was sold to me as a sissor tail! :blink:

Yea, i like to cross VTs and Ct too :wub:

I have a picture of the female i got out of it, but..breeding takes a toll on fins..so they are a bit ripped

Just removed her from the 20 gallon

but this post is REALY helpfull, i feel I will be reading a few more times lol

I breed for color and finnage, mostly what catches my eye, but also I experiment to see what I will get if I mix fish a with fish B ..I enjoy breeding..As I'm sure a few of us here do too lol..Its just somehting about watching them change everyday, untill they are fully finned beautiful adults ^_^

I'm breeding for "Show" quality bettas, I think its fun trying to get a perfect HM betta for me, i also want to have fancy marbles and breed for pure enjoyment.