# HMPK's?



## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

Hey, I was wondering if anyone knew if there were any breeders or stores currently selling halfmoon plakat bettas around Oakville, Mississauga or Toronto?


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

Nope! I am going to be doing another Betta buy for the next tranship so if you want a particular color HMPK single male or pair let me know and I can see what I can find for you. Not sure what the price will be yet as transhipping fees have gone up, but can at least check it out for you.


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## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

Interesting, where do you tranship from?


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## Ebi-Ken (Jul 9, 2010)

There's tons on aquabid. Just make sure there is a transhipper in Canada and check the reviews: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?fwbettashmp


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## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

I love browsing aquabid! Only thing is, I do not have a paypal account just yet and the whole thing of payment just confuses the heck out of me anyhow. Or maybe my brain is making it more confusing than it is. Anyone here have experience buying fish off any of the sellers on aquabid?


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I am a long time Betta breeder and can safely say you can definitely buy Bettas from Aquabid. I purchase all of my Bettas from well known breeders on Aquabid. Some have become friends of mine over the years and I can usually ask them to find me what I want. ie: as in the gorgeous CTs I recently brought in.

However transhipping is *very expensive!* You will be paying the transhipper ( person that will pick up your fish from the airport and pay all of the duties/fees etc) then change out the water for you and re-bag them (*if *they are good transhippers, some don't re-bag the fish!) a fee for every Betta you have purchased. In Canada it was $12/15 per fish 

Add to this your shipping from whatever location the transhipper lives in. The Canadian one is in Montreal, there are others in the US.

With the heat now above 20C most of the transhippers will only ship express courier ( very expensive).

I bring them in occassionally, but with the express shipping charges being so high ( $100 for a box of 8 fish) I am not going to be doing this until the fall when it is easier to get them shipped Priority which is much cheaper!

Either way you are looking at a final cost of $50+ per fish.


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## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

The cost of shipping/transhipping is certainly one reason I'm a bit shy of buying off aquabid, seeing as I will only be getting 3 or so bettas as pets, not as breeding stock. 

And the cost of shipping is calculated per fish, not per box (assuming one is ordering multiple bettas at a time)? 

You mentioned in your first reply that you were placing an order for the next tranship, and can bring in bettas for people along with the ones you order. This certainly would be a good option for me if it would save a bit on shipping. Which sellers on AB do you buy from?


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

*black dragon*

hi im going to breed black dragon plakat over halfmoon this week itll be ready by september I'm selling each for 15 around


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

*sorry*

I live in mississauga
-sorry for double post!


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## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

^ I'll be sure to ask about those black dragons in Sept if I still have room for more bettas. You don't happen to have pictures of the two you are breeding?


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

here we are well you can see the male is making a nest that was a month ago when he ate all his eggs because they werent going to hatch due to some heater problems that increased the temperature too high for eggs to handle stupid old heater...but anywho the babies will be all black dragons halfmoons


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

oh yes when i bought him he already had this tumour looking thing on his left side with nipped up tail that is healing quiet nicely at the moment his tumour should not affect the fry though he's doing great relaly active and guarantee you quality plakats. at the moment i have 30 combtail fry red/turq around 2 months old


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

In answer to your question. I was going to bring in some more Bettas, but due to the heat, the transhipper will only ship express which is very expensive right now, so I am going to wait till the fall to bring them in....then It will be cooler.

I will post on here when I am placing an order. I have a couple of HMs for sale right now, sold all the CTS.

Black Melano Butterfly HM $ 35
Raspberry Butterfly HM $ 35

Both have very nice finnage.


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

*o.o*

do you happen to have a pair^? and if so for how much?


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

No I only have the males sorry.


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

*=]*

no problem thanks!


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## NomiGold (Jan 22, 2011)

Thank you all for the replies! Seems like most everyone is going to have their bettas ready to go in the fall. I'll keep a lookout for your betta order bettaforu!

(It has been very warm, hasn't it? Blah).


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I had to put off shipping out of Province because of the higher temps.....best to just wait till Fall. I will be bringing in some in Sept ish...


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

will you be carrying any 5 star fighters?


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Hi Everyone,

I would very much so like some bettas too!  I will keep a lookout for your posts bettaforu. 

I do have a question though. First I don't condone fighting but I like to keep plakats (recently trying to breed them) for personal preference. My question is, do the plakats that are bred with thicker and harder scales look any differently than the ones without this gene expression? Is it physically noticeable when one has thicker/harder scales?

Thanks!

iBetta


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

I own two plakats. One is a fighter and the other one is show and my opinion it doesn't unless you were to let him or her fight which i too don't do. Shinier scales can mean healthier scales. I think it's a good sign if the scales are tightly fit together.


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I think you are meaning the dragon HMPKs! If that is the ones you are talking about usually the scaling is thicker! You can see a color difference too. Many times the fish with the dragon gene (the heavier scaled version) has made the body of the fish lighter, or changed its color completely.

Say for instance a black HMPK normal one would have a black body, but one carrying the Dragon gene will have changed the body color to a silver, or even whitish coloration, making the fish look more denser.

Here is a couple of comparisons. Both of these fish are orange HMPK the first one is a normal one, the second picture shows the fish is a dragon HMPK...note the thicker scaled look and the overcoat of whitish color which makes it look more exotic.

Dragon scales are usually only on the body of the fish, the fins stay the same.



















these were both mine.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Oh so the scales are actually the same size, just that the dragon gene makes it LOOK heavier and thicker? There is actually no "heavy/thick" scale gene that people breed into fighter plakats? I'm even more interested now, I've never own a dragon before 

-ibetta


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

yes there is it really depends how people breed them...there are downsides of each blood line lets compare viet, malay, and thai blood lines of 5 star plakats...some may be faster and have stronger hits but he/she may have weaker scales than some other bloodlines I heard thai bloodlines plakats and viets are the best some even mix them. Another way is to use indian almond leaves they actually harden the scale a bit that's how people train fighters before a fight I'm not too sure but i heard it gives a protective "shield" and other beneficial things from the leaf. and yes dragons do actually have thicker scales through a long period of inbreeding from metallics to finally dragons. The way they created dragons i beleive was using a wildtype mahachai crossed with another plakat and they're trying to capture the mahachai's scales because of its metallic look. They went through a lot of line breeding and outcrosses back to parents and F spawns in order to bring out the genes. line breeding really helps =] 

-If you weren't aware that bettas do fight in wild *no brainer* BUT they can't fight as long as the fighter plakats that breeders inbreed them so really they improve their scales and body structure to fight for HOURS! compared to 
wildtypes which can only fight for 30 mins.

-im sorry i talk too much


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

wowwww, no worries im learning a lot! *.* betta breeding is so interesting! can i ask a stupid question? what is line breeding really? is it to breed a certain gene expression through inbreeding and outcrosses/backcrosses?
sorry im new at this . just had my very first spawn of bettas last week! 

thanks!

-iBetta


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

*hi^^*

yep =] you're right! At the moment my copper dragons are spawning =D if it does succeed im selling one for $8 =] female for $10 not too sure right now no eggs coming out so not quiet sure

-gratz =D what fin type and color are the parents? you do know how to raise them right? my first spawn only 60% lived because not enough brine shrimp and no it does not cause swim bladder like many say I guess its really monitoring how much you put xD


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

wow, i want one! *.* 
well right, now i only have about 3-5 fry left (though healthy). it was the first time for my male to care for the fry so he almost ate all of them by mistake when he was cleaning the eggs/putting the fry back up the nest . ive researched online on all the possible food to give them and right now im using a combination of green water and microworms that im culturing myself. i can't see them eating (since the microworms are so small and they fall down the floor). my tank is a 10g breeding tank but having 3 fry in there is hard to spot XD. but they are all healthy and their bellies are full. its been a week now so im hoping they're ok and eating?

it's my very first time spawning (successfully) betta so i didn't want to go all out and buy expensive ones lol. my male is a plakat bicolour or green and red (red body and fins with green rays and a green iridescent wash on the body). my female is almost the same as my male but the colour isnt as vibrant (being a female). both are around 5-6months old. 

sorry for my long message, i get curious and excited talking about betta XD


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

ahah i get excited too D : !!! aha =] im 17 and still learning much more about them as I breed =]
-wow 3-5 my first spawn...crowntail male ate half the eggs and the ones that hatched... half of that survived because some were starved i beleive X_x
-i had 35 all together
-microworms...some people say its great but I used them and they don't really promote growth not as much protein as brine shrimp you can actually get some brine shrimp eggs from Big Al's just dont waste your money on a kit ;p just youtube how to make brine shrimp hatchery unless you know how=] I guess microworms are fine for first week 
-nice i love plakats =] my next goal is breeding my super delta with my HM dragon female to get some halfmoons i hope =]
-great they're young =]! I'm sure you can spawn them again after 2-4weeks of healing i recommend 1 month but that depends on how much nipping was involved.
-yea I started out with pet store bettas but breed them without knowing what tail type my female was so i got combtails ;p still great =] im selling those for $4 red/blue


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Hey 8nappy, 

i JUST got back from a lfs to get some baby brine shrimp (already hatched) since i know the owner. gonna feed them now! XD 

ya, i want to see whether i can breed these guys successfully then try to breed plakat dragons *.*

are you selling combtails you said? got any pics? 

Thanks!


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## 8nappy (Apr 14, 2011)

*hi=]*

oh yes brine shrimps =] i still recommend getting eggs as you need this everyday... and brine shrimps typically don't live that long recommended that u feed fry 12hrs after hatch because they're still feeding on their egg yolk therefore really nutritious for them

-as for combtails yes i do =] they're a lot bigger now =] $4 each i can't sex them but i know for sure the longer fins are males XD
-my copper dragons just released eggs should hatch tomorrow =]


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