# U.S. Betta Breeders



## daynadsmall

Hi all,
Does anyone know of some good U.S. breeders who sell online without going through Aquabid? I've seen some on there in amongst the Thai breeders, but wondered if there are others I should check out.


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## lohachata

unfortunately there are very few US breeders of bettas that are offering anything outstanding...the majority of american bred bettas are pretty much mediocre...and some are just downright junk...i am no betta expert but i know what i like...most betta breeders are only interested in making as much money from breeding as they can...so they breed a bunch of ghastly fish and give them a fancy name and raise the prices on them...
my personal experience with them is that they are some of the biggest snobs in the hobby..
even some of my very close friends that i have known for almost 40 years are a bit snobbish.....


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## daynadsmall

Also, I guess a follow-up questions would be: Of the Thai breeders who sell on Aquabid, are there any that folks would highly recommend? And what has your experience been like with having the fish shipped internationally? It sounds like quite a procedure, so I've been a little bit gun-shy of looking at any of the international offerings.


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## lohachata

most thai breeders are pretty good....check their feedback....much to consider with international stuff....
add together.........
price of fish..... + shipping from thailand to us...usually about $5.00 per fish.. + transhipper fees + us shipping...so a $25.00 fish may cost you $40.-$50....
most folks that i know that have purchased from thai breeders have had very good experiences...


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## Betta man

I've heard good reviews about chard56, but never bought from him.


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## lohachata

for me ; the fish that i have seen from chard are not so great...and certainly not of any kind of champion stock..ok fish but not much to my tastes...same goes for a lot of other us breeders...trust my...nobody is going to sell champion grade stock for 5 or 10 bucks..
nothing against chard himself...just the fish.....but then again...many people = many tastes..does not make anyone right or wrong...


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## Betta man

He doesn't breed extremely high quality fish, but there was nothing in the post saying anything about quality. His fish are way better than petco's IMO.


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## daynadsmall

Sorry, I should have been more specific. I'd like to find a good quality breeding pair.


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## lohachata

you can check on aquabid or maybe even the IBC site... http://www.ibcbettas.org/

if you have any questions you may ask the sellers..i will try to help where i can...
bettas are not normally sold as breeding pairs...but you can ask a seller if they have a similar female available.


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## Fishy friend2

Betta man said:


> He doesn't breed extremely high quality fish, but there was nothing in the post saying anything about quality. His fish are way better than petco's IMO.


Lol. I guess I must have good petco's then I rarely ever visit Petco's and petsmart but the fish at the only 10 stores I've been at look better than his fish IMO. Even the one 300 miles away had better fish 

Anyways. I will have some juvies ready for sale in about 4-5 weeks for 15 dollars each.. Salamander HMPK big ear's. A pair would be 30 dollars + 10 dollar priority shipping. Or you can wait like 2.5 months for my show fish to be ready


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## Betta man

Petco's aren't good. I've seen salamanders dumbos at petco that only had one ear and terrible fin ray curl. I think this is safe to say, but I don't think chard breeds fish with fin ray curl and you know that the fish have decent genes unlike with petco where all you know is what the fish looks like.


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## Fishy friend2

I feel the same way about chard as I do with Petco, messy fins and bad genes. His fish are bred from pet store lines


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## Betta man

He cares for his fish better than petco. Also, I believe that he has had fish win IBC shows.


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## Fishy friend2

Betta man said:


> He cares for his fish better than petco. Also, I believe that he has had fish win IBC shows.


Lol. Funny. IBC fish are judged on form. Seeing the fish he entered he's lucky he won. They are nothing close to the standards. Just because you win doesn't mean your good. Look at the fish and see if they are close to the standards if they aren't like chards fish then they aren't quality and winning a category in a show is worth virtually nothing to people who know about standards


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## Fishy friend2

Looking at his awards they were all in new breeders. Not very impressive.


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## Betta man

But that still means that they are better than petco's.


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## Fishy friend2

No it doesn't. I've seen some quite nice fish from Petco way better than your average chard fish


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## Guest

Fishyfriend2: I bet that if you went up against chard in a betta contest, you would lose against him. You are no expert on bettas. Chard has been breeding for years and you just started. Quit dissing chard. Petco and Petsmart don't have good quality bettas but you can find them at the stores, they are hard to find.


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## lohachata

healthwise i think that people like chard do very well...his fish are quite important to him..he isn't cranking them out by the tens of thousands for pennies apiece...a small breeder depends so much on his reputation to have good healthy fish....so he puts more into their care than the big time breeders....
i may not care for the colors but cannot deny his quality of care....and ability to provide healthy fish...


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## Cory1990

I feel like my betta would be put into the "junk" section. Doesn't have the full fins. Beautiful color though  someday when I am aloud more then one fish I'll look fr a nice betta.

Also I know you don't want to go threw aquabid but there was some real nice ones on there last time I looked. 
If I can ask why don't you want to buy threw them?


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## Fishy friend2

Angelclown said:


> Fishyfriend2: I bet that if you went up against chard in a betta contest, you would lose against him. You are no expert on bettas. Chard has been breeding for years and you just started. Quit dissing chard. Petco and Petsmart don't have good quality bettas but you can find them at the stores, they are hard to find.


Lol. I'll be sure to show against him and tell you what happens.


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## Guest

I bet that Chard56 is going to win against you. But yes please do tell me what happens when you go up against Chard56 with your bettas.


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## emc7

Store bettas vary a lot. A local LFS was giving away okay bettas at its annual sale. Sometimes a breeder gets overwhelms and makes a deal. Or sells a store the culls from the show breeding program. And the yucky store fish of today would've been show winners years ago. The thing with buying from a breeder is you can ask for pics of parents and grandparents and have some clue of the genetics. If you do plan to breed and don't plan to put in with other fish (requiring a QT for store stock), buy what you like. I try not to dis anyone's fish unless specifically asked for an opinion. Not even the awful hybrids and deformed mollies, but ask me "how can you not love...." and you will get an earful.

Show people are all snobs. I don't mine people claiming they have nice fish. But suddenly all the other fish in the world are "trash". And the criteria are usually based on pleasing a human eye rather than an ideal fish. They try to make discus perfect circles and how does an ideal "half-moon" tail benefit a fish? And the Europeans are worse than the Americans and the Asians are super-competitive, worse than the Europeans. ACA (Cichild group) and TAS (Angelfish only group) held a joint show and both gave awards to angelfish. No fish won an award from both groups. They were all different. The criteria are so esoteric and specific.

Even so, shows are fun and I have medals.


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## Coolfish

They really have Betta shows?


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## Betta man

Yeah, they have betta shows. Just like they have dog shows.


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## Coolfish

Never heard of it.


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## daynadsmall

Cory1990 said:


> Also I know you don't want to go threw aquabid but there was some real nice ones on there last time I looked.
> If I can ask why don't you want to buy threw them?


I don't have a problem going through Aquabid. In fact, I've purchased some other items through there. I just wanted to buy something from within the U.S. rather than having to ship overseas. Since they apparently can't ship directly to the customer, but have to ship to a distributor instead, it sounds like a cumbersome process.

I wish there were some betta shows within a reasonable distance. I actually do show dogs already, and am accustomed to driving quite far for them, but I don't see anything anywhere near me for betta shows.


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## lohachata

probably the closest thing to you would be around boston areas..


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