The Beginning

I am about 2 weeks out from breeding my first pair of bettas! It's taken me several months and a few headaches to get my breeding stock to the remote island of Kodiak, but I am quite pleased with what I ended up with. My tank set ups:

2.6 gallon planted tank with male platinum halfmoon (Casper)

2.6 gallon planted tank with male mustard gas halfmoon (Neptune Nebula)

10 gallon planted tank with 6 females: 1 red cambodian (Ruby), 1 platinum red (Rosie), 1 mustard gas (Esmeralda), 1 platinum (Pearl), 1 yellow (Honeydew), and 1 blue-green female (Rain). 

I also have a 2 gallon heated bowl with live plants where one of the males stays temporarily during the conditioning period, so the chosen female can be given special treatment :)

I love the blues, so the pair I have chosen for my first spawning is the white platinum male and the blue-green female. 

Since (from what I have been reading up on) platinum is a mutation of steel blue, I am expecting to get various shades of blues and greens from this pairing. I wouldn't be surprised to see some red wash as well. Depending on the unknown genetic backgrounds of these particular fish I could also see some marbled or grizzled fish from this combination. I'm excited to see what I get! 

Just because I've decided these two are perfect for each other doesn't mean they will agree. In case they don't get along as well as I hope, my back up plan is to try breeding Sunny (yellow female) to Casper. If Casper just isn't a breeder, I'll move on to Neptune, my mustard gas. Both of my males have made some pretty impressive bubble nests, so I have high hopes! 

I can't believe it's finally happening! I'll be setting up my breeding tank this weekend; my fry food comes in the mail next week, and by next weekend I should be able to introduce the pair in the breeding tank and let nature take care of the rest! This is a first for me so I'm expecting some bumps along the way, but I am really looking forward to the experience!