DRODESA@aol.com wrote:
>
From:
DRODESA@aol.com
>
Date:
Thu, 15 Nov 2001
01:38:04
EST
>
Subject:
Why giant plakat is
important
>
To:
wasanbetta@yahoo.com
>
CC:
ghenry_id@yahoo.com
>
> I
will be promoting giant plakat in America.
>
This year after the French betta show, every betta
>
breeder in Germany
> is
convinced that half moon betta can be improved
>
only by crossing to plakat
>
male.
Rajiv Massilamoni
started this experiment in
>
1994 and now is able to
>
migrate the color of half moon to red.
This
was
>
impossible in 1994.
>
The germans call the hybrids Kamposhka.
the
problem
>
they encountered is that
>
they were able to create 180 degree Kamposhka
but
>
the fishes became smaller
>
than ordinary betta.
This became a problem
in
>
america for america wants large
>
bettas not small bettas.
> In 1980, a breeder here by the name of
Warren
>
Young originally
>
developed a
>
supersized betta and named it after his wife.
He
>
called it the Libby betta.
> It
was a veiltail betta but 3 times the size of
the
>
regular Thai veiltail
>
betta.
This type of betta was
very nice and I got
>
interested in bettas in
>
1989 because I was able to buy in
>
San Diego California 3 giant bettas.
I was
browsing
>
bettas in a pet store
>
with my mother when I saw these Libby betta.
The
>
fins were no good but the
>
size was spectacular.
When I met
Dr.
Gene Lucas
for
>
the first time in 1990,
> he
was very proud of the Libby betta for Warren
>
Young was his friend.
Libby
>
betta only came in turqoise and blue/red multicolor.
> In
Walter Maurus book, a
>
picture of two
>
Libby betta is photographed.
> Next came inbreeding of half
moon bettas.
Since
>
1987, Guy de la Val of
>
France has been developing the half moon bettas.
In
>
the beginning the fishes
>
were large.
> I
imported Guy Delaval half moon bettas in 1994 and
> we
became partners .
The
>
fishes he sent me were super large.
However,
later
>
due to inbreeding, the
>
fishes became smaller.
Then Rajiv started
crossing
>
the half moon to plakat so
>
the fishes got much smaller.
Another breeder
in
>
California Gilbert Limjenco
>
inbred to plakat some more and now the half moon
>
betta in the united states
>
were supersmall except the ones that were kept by
>
Paris Jones and later
>
continued by Peter Goettner in 1994 because they
did
>
not introduce plakat in
>
their lines.
Peter was very careful
in keeping his
>
lines clean so he just
>
linebred to earlier version of
>
Delaval fish mixed with his supersized bettas.
> When crowntail bettas
was introduced by Henry
>
Yin, the bettas he showed
> to
the public was supersized bettas too.
The
bigger
>
the size, the better it
>
sold.
>
The fishes that he sold in Aquabid for
top price
>
were large bettas, namely
>
the Red Orchid Black(BGR)
and the
crosstail
>
red/black.
Even if there are
>
other
>
breeders selling crosstail, the size were small.
>
Henry's crowns are superior
> to
any other crowntail bettas because of size and
>
quality of finnage.
> I have female
bettas that I got from Curtis Low
> of
Hawaii that are 4
>
inches big.
> No
one can breed these bettas for they are too
>
large.
With the giant plakat,
> it
solves two problems.
This large half moon
females
>
can be bred to giant
>
plakat.
>
Half moon females bred to plakat shortens the caudal
>
which is important in
>
half moon selection.
In half moon, the
caudal must
> be
short but increase in
>
height.
> The most
important plakat color right now is
>
the solid black.
Even the
>
germans are looking for this color.
Nobody has
yet
>
produced a large solid
>
black 180 degree half moon betta with solid
color
>
like steel blue from peter
>
goettner.
Most of the half moon
black betta in
>
singapore are Bonnie Mckinley
>
stock which was developed from black lace marbles .
> It
was not developed from
>
Turqoise , steel blue, or royal blue.
This is
why
>
you do not see Peter
>
Goettner black because he does not want this type of
>
half moon black.
When he
>
went to France this year, he was more interested on
>
the half moon black
>
plakat but the one german breeder
did not want to
>
sell.
Another breeder who
>
showed black this year in the IBC convention is
>
Richard Yu but Richard Yu
>
developed his half moon black by crossing his
>
perfect royal blue stock (
>
originally from Peter Goettner stock )
to
>
regular black.
He was able to get the
correct color
> of
the finnage but the
>
body became dark royal blue.
It was impossible
to
>
remove the irridescence in
>
his stock and this are not perfect
blacks.
> Curtis Low of
Hawaii was able to refine the
>
blacks better than anyone
>
else but his blacks are inferior to the steel blue
>
from the same spawn.
This
>
bettas are originally Peter Goettner steel blues but
> he
was able to introduce
>
and refine the Mckinley color in the stock and now
>
the steel blue line
>
carries melano.
I still use the cross
between Peter
>
Goettner line and the
>
Curtis Low steel blue to produce the half moon
>
melano.
But if I can produce a
>
solid black plakat , then I am sure to have a good
>
line of half moon melano
>
from the black plakat.
At the same time the
size
>
will be developed.
> We have to bear
in mind that the most important
>
color in bettas in the
>
world today is the black (melano )
betta.
and
most
>
expensive bettas in the
>
world today is
> a
true half moon melano betta if you can find any
>
breeder willing to sell.
> If
Henry Yin develops the large solid black
>
crowntail betta, that is another
>
very expensive bettas to come.
Henry already has
the
>
best black crowntail in
>
Jakarta but if he can remove the blue irridescence
>
and increase the size, he
> will have the most expensive black crowntail bettas
> next year.