I got the little "emerald betta" from the pet shop, but on closer inspection, I realised he didn't look very much like any of the pictures of Betta smaragdina I had ever seen, and the Fish Forums confirmed this. He's actually a little copper spadetail plakat, but still stunning and, by popular opinion on the forum, worth more than the price I paid for him. I think I'll breed Mini to him next time rather than Lil because I'm afraid of Lil eating the eggs again and I'd like to have a successful spawn as soon as possible... but I will try to breed Lil again as well, since his owner (he's on loan to me) said she'd like to have some of his offspring and doesn't mind me keeping him a while longer to accomplish this. He really is a pretty fish and would probably produce some nice fry; plus, there's no telling what the colours would end up being like and I like surprises.

Here's Ipos, the new boy:

Lil ate the eggs. Every last one. He also destroyed the bubble nest, and did so the day the eggs were due to hatch. I'm told that sometimes first time betta fathers will do that, so I'll give him another chance. I'm going to recondition the pair and try again, but I'm warning Lil... if he eats them this time Mini is just going to have to find a new beau.

The Texas Betta Society is having their international show next weekend, June 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The actual show starts 10:00 AM that Saturday, and the following Sunday at 10:00 or 11:00 will be the live auction. Megan and I are going to get to Dallas late that Friday and spend two nights in a hotel so we can get to the show early Saturday and Sunday. I'm really, really excited. I'm going to waste sooo much money. I'm planning to look for a few nice females since I've sorta become interested in breeding and the only female I have at this time is Mini. Some of the females I bought from Wal-Mart brought disease to my female betta community tank and wiped out all the bettas in it. I know, I should have quarantined them, but they all looked healthy and I've never had a betta bring diseases in before. Oh well, c'est la vie. I'm sure I'll also see some males I can't live without, but I'm going to try to buy no more than 5 fish total. I'm mainly looking for plakats, since I rarely see them around here and they're just so darn spunky.

Speaking of which, The Fish Gallery (a local aquatics shop,) got in two gorgeous black marble plakats today; one double tail and one single tail. It's a good thing I'm broke, because I would have probably walked out with at least one of them. Having time to think it over, though, I realise that I'll probably see fish I like even better at the upcoming betta show, so those little lovelies are just going to have to stay at the pet shop. This is not true for the other betta she got in this week -- a little Betta smaragdina, also known as an emerald betta!! The Siamese fighters we all know and love are actually the species Betta splendens, and I've been wanting a wild species like smaragdina forever! I'm going back to the shop tomorrow with some more cash and am taking that boy home. I don't think there are going to be any smaragdina at the betta show, and even if there are I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one bidding on them, so this is a great stroke of luck.

I'm totally stoked. After three tries (yes, three,) Mini has finally produced some eggs!! I tried her with Lil twice, then with that small red CT boy the nice lady from the Fish Forums sent me, and finally once again with Lil... I guess the third time was the charm! I had to remove her before they were finished spawning because every time they'd try to wrap they'd destroy part of the nest and knock some of the existing eggs down... and once they were down, Mini would eat them. Lil was too preoccupied with courting and showing off to fix the nest, so he'd just pick up the eggs and spit them back where the nest used to be, meaning they'd just fall down again at the slightest touch. Anyway, because of this, it's going to be a small spawn. It's hard to tell with any degree of accuracy how many eggs there actually are, but my best guess is 50, and some of those may not hatch. Mini was just dribbling eggs everywhere, so some of them fell several seconds after she wrapped with Lil, meaning they may not be fertile.
The eggs are due to start hatching late tomorrow, so I guess we'll see.

I have no idea what the babies are going to be like, so it will be neat to watch them grow and develop. Mini is a double tail plakat, so the babies will carry those genes for sure since both traits are recessive. Whether any of the babies are actually double tail or plakat themselves all depends on Lil's genetics, which neither I nor his owner know anything about. He's a delta tail, but he could easily be half double tail or even half plakat; we'll see.
The colours are what is going to be a real surprise. Mini is red cambodian and Lil is white opaque. Lil also has some red and blue wash, some blue "freckles" on his body which suggest marbling, and his spawn brother is mustard gas, so who knows! It's totally up in the air, and that's what makes it so fun. Can't wait for those colours! I'm hoping for something spectacular... which I probably won't get, but it's fun to dream *lol*

I also can't wait to see if I get any minis. I'll have to get someone else to judge that for me probably, since I see all my little bettas every day and am kinda used to their size. I don't think of them as being particularly small anymore, but Katherine came over the other day and said something to the effect of "Oh, how teeny!" so I guess they are. It'll be about 9 months before I can judge that for sure anyway... they'll all supposed to be mature by 6 months at the latest, but some are slow growers. If Mini's size is a mutation, I'm expecting about 50% minis, so we'll see. If I can successfully make a breeding line of minis I may start hybridizing them with Betta imbellis to make them more peaceful. Could you imagine a tank full of tiny long-finned male bettas who didn't constantly fight? Awesome.

The girl who sent me my mini betta was kind enough to send me a small red crowntail male to breed with the mini girl if Lil doesn't prove a good match. Mini and Lil didn't produce any eggs on their first try, so they are separated for a week or two to calm down, then I'll try it again one more time. If they don't spawn on the second attempt, I'll be trying it with the new boy. I really want to get some fry out of Mini to see if her size is genetic, so I'm hoping it works out one way or another.
The new boy ended up staying in the mailbox overnight. He was shipped on Wednesday and hadn't arrived yet by Friday, when my mother and I left to go to Canton and visit my grandmother. I thought dad would get the mail Saturday, but he didn't, so on Sunday my betta was still sitting in the mailbox. He's pretty obviously stressed and hasn't eaten anything yet, but he looks better today than he did yesterday, so I'm hoping that by tomorrow he'll be well enough to eat something. I've been keeping the light off in his tank so he can rest... the poor little thing had a long, difficult trip.

The Texas Betta Society is having an international show near Dallas June 3-5th. I'm hoping I can get Megan to go with me. My plan is to drive there on the 4th and spend the night nearby so I can be there when the auction starts on the 5th. I'm hoping there will be some wild species available for auction... I have my sights set on a pair of kapuas, though of course, I'd rather have Betta albimarginata. Can't say I'd mind getting a pair of Betta brownorum either! Heck, I like them all.