Half Sun bettas

I am going to start a betta breeding program breeding half sun Bettas. I have 3 pairs currently. 4 males and 3 females. The males are all half moons and the females are all double ray crown tails. My males include a rosetail, 2 double tails, and a butterfly triple tail. I am planning on getting a regular half moon for my last male.
Currently I have a turquoise pair, a red paired with a white, two cellophanes and my single male is black and I'm going to breed him to a blue or turquoise female. Any idea on what I should price the babies for?
Oh and plus, I might be getting a job at Petco I hope I get to help out with the fish!!!!! Oh yeah and I am back. Please no arguments or I'll have to leave again. that makes me sad

 

Hey,it's not wrong to breed halfsun/combtail bettas.Two years ago,I also breeded half sun bettas.I spawned my royal green crowntail male with my blue female half moon.First,I thought my blue female half moon was a veil tail as she look like one and decided not to breed her because if I spawn her,all the offsprings would end up with veil tail. Finally,I found she was a halfmoon as she had 4 rays in her tail and veil tails usually have two rays only.So ,I decided to breed them.I obtained some green,steel blue,and reds as the female had some little red stripes on her tail.They grown up into beautiful bettas and I sold 13 males to the local pet store.The shop owner told me that they were really beautiful and he gave me 15$ for each.I keep two beautiful males with me and now,unfortunately, I have only one male as the other male died three months ago.He is a really beautiful betta .He have some red spots on his head and a dark blue body.Now,I have only one male betta from the spawn.He also have red spots on his head but white bodied.I stopped spawning combtail as the offsprings start to have missing ventral fins.Recently,I decided to spawn my own line of half moon plakats.Anyway,good luck with your halfsun betta breeding program.I am sure you would get beautiful halfsun if you choose the right pair for the spawn.

 

Yeah all my Bettas are really pretty. I'm currently trying to breed a half moon double tail with huge fins to a blue female with a white mask and red splotches near her gills. The male has spots on his fins and the females fins are tipped with white. I'm hoping I get some pretty fry
I'm going to try to sell them on my own, I'm going to start my own fish business/ farm soon. In the next years we will probably have a koi fish that I'll breed as well as some chickens and I want to have a bunny farm and maybe a Guinea pig farm. I hope to get a couple of horses to breed. And maybe a whole bunch of miniature horses. I am currently pursuing a job at Petco helping out with the fish. But it might not last long because I'll have the farm to worry about.

 

Not trying to argue here!
It is considered unethical to breed rosetails. They are more susceptible to health problems such as broken rays. If you are set on breeding half-suns(which are not desirable for breeders and people showing) I would pick a HM or delta male, no excessive finnage, that is similar in color to one of your females. Personally, I would recommend either CT or HM's not half-suns.
Some things to consider.
Do you have jars for the males?
Do you know you will be able to sell them?
What are your motives, improving color or form?
Do you have the time, money, and space?
For prices.
Half-Sun~ $10, like I said. They aren't really desirable for breeders/shower's. Pet-grade fish are cheaper than show-grade.
HM~depending on if it is an OHM, HM, or delta, between $15-$25. You would be able to get more money for OHM(over half moon, or more than a 180 spread). It will depend on form, gender, and coloration. Since this is a desirable fish, you can charge more than a pet grade one.
CT~$15-$20. Again, depends on form, coloration and gender, more money since these are more desirable and not pet-grade.
I recommend buying fish from breeders/AquaBid instead of the pet store. They will have better form and known genes, unlike the pet store ones.
Again, not trying to start an argument, just my $0.02

 

I know your not trying to argue but I understand all of this. I am still making the decision to breed this type of betta and to breed my rosetail male. Plus I think half sun Bettas are really pretty and I'm sure there are people out there who think the same. I don't feel comfortable with buying fish online, and I think my Bettas are just fine. They all have nicely shaped bodies and fins. I would breed half moons if they were easier to find but they aren't, so instead I chose to breed this type of betta. I'm sure I will get many pretty fish.

 

I understand wanting to breed the half suns, but breeding rose tails is wrong. They are prone to ray collapses, fin biting, and their lifespans are generally shorter. Think of it this way. If YOU were born, and had health problems your parents knew you would have if they conceived you, would you want to be alive? It isn't fair to the fish, and any educated buyer would never purchase a rosetail, as pretty as they are.

 

While you might get pretty fry out of whatever pairing you are planning - health is the main issue whenever you are breeding. Half-suns might be attractive to some people but make sure you have homes lined up before you breed that way you aren't stuck with unwanted bettas you can't care for (please never release captive fish into the wild as well!) Feather tails have excessive folds/rays in their tails, the weight makes them "lazy" fish because the amount of finage tires them out much quicker than an HM or CT; that makes them unhealthy and possibly not very beautiful because the person who owns it might get bored if they only see their fish laying on the gravel or on plants in the tank - if they give it a tank, breeding for heavy finage only helps those people that say bettas are lazy, this could potentially have your "beautiful fry" stuck in a glass bowl because the person believes they don't need as much space (untrue). Or it could lead to your babies ripping out chunks of their own fins to get rid of some of the weight so they can swim.

If you can't find halfmoons, get super deltas - many stores carry HMs and are not that hard to find. Pretty, maybe you can never make it a definite. Healthy, probably not with unknown genetics and fin type crossing. You are probably going to do it anyway, we are just trying to advise you on what you should look into before you potentially breed a spawn that doesn't make what you are looking for; pretty bettas...

 

I agree about the rosetails. I have a betta who I suspect might be one (he was only labeled as a butterfly when I got him, and his fins have grown SO much)- and I mean it's hard for him to swim around the tank because his fins are so big, and I can see it's difficult for him to hold up the top part of his tail. It makes me sad because he used to be so energetic. Regular Half-Moons (or Half-Suns) are still really gorgeous, so please just consider the health of the fish. Rosetail fins are just too big and heavy for the fish, and it's something people created. It's not fair to the fish.

 

His fins aren't heavy though?? He swims around just fine. He doesn't have huge fins at all. I don't know. That would mean I would have to get another cellophane male and I would have anywhere to put him

 

Could you post a picture?

 

Yes. The one I'm more worried about breeding is Coco, who has a lot of trouble swimming and lays on the sand sometimes. Frosty is not like that at all.



This is Frosty, ignore the name tag. I had to move my fish around.

 

His fins are a little heavy. I would try and find one with lighter finnage.