I've been interested in fish for a great deal of my life; I can't tell you how many goldfish I must have had in my childhood days. I decided when I was in the 7th grade (in 1990) that I would like to have an aquarium.  Needless to say, from then on, I was hooked. I even lugged my aquarium, in all of its 10-gallon glory, back and forth from my parents' house to my college dorm, because I hated not keeping it up and running. I don't know if it's more the challenge, or the enjoyment of the result, but I have never gone very long without keeping a tank up.

I had some bettas during my "aquarium days"; I would occasionally place a male (or perhaps even a female on occasion if I was lucky enough to find one at Wal Mart, the only place I could get fish at the time), in my community tank. Not until much later on, did I start keeping them in their own gallon jars.

You probably know of the Lily vase horror. If you don't, you should. It looks like this:

I had one in 2001. They were quite popular at the time and since I didn't know any better, I made one for myself. At least the instruction kit mentioned leaving an airspace for the fish, but the poor thing had to constantly compete with the roots. I feel so bad for that fish, looking back, but at least it allowed me to learn, and even opened the door to a whole new world. For those who don't know, the fish does NOT eat the roots, it DOES need to be fed, and it DOES need its water changed at least once a week in these things! The fish MUST have at least an inch of air to breathe above the water surface, and you need to cut the plant roots if you insist on keeping it there, so that the fish can SWIM. It's a fish, for goodness sake, it needs to swim. ;) Not be crammed into what would be like you stuck in the closet area of your house. Don't you prefer roaming around? So do they. A better plan would be to put the plant in its own pot of dirt, and give the fish its own gallon of water. Yes, they can survive in small amounts of water. But the key is "survive," not "thrive." In the wild they are capable of living in small puddles for small amounts of time to survive unusual circumstances. However they do best in, are easier to maintain in, and prefer to have, at least a gallon of water. :)

I decided after having a couple of losses that I'd do some research on the proper care for bettas. And, being the internet addict that I am, of course I searched the 'net as my first resource. I stumbled across the most beautiful bettas in photographs, in colors and patterns I'd never seen or heard about before. The white ones particularly fascinated me, as I had no idea it was even a possibility for them to exist in that color. The further I read, the more immersed I found myself. And after I found some breeding documentation, that was it. Betta Barracks was the first site I found breeding info at. Linda's help file was written in a way that spoke directly to me, in such language that made me feel as if I had already DONE a spawning. It made such perfectly clear sense! I knew I had to try it for myself. So, I started gathering supplies, and went out and found myself a female at a LFS (local fish store), and set to work.

Well, months later I ended up with a dozen or so adult bettas, and began spawning.  With some experience, observation, and study under my belt, I became ready for serious breeding of IBC show-quality fish now.  My timing could not have been better as I got in touch with a local state chapter of the club and found that they are rather inactive at this time.  As a result I was able to obtain some very beautiful halfmoon/geno fish to breed and continue the lines, including steels/blues/greens, yellows/reds/cambodians, marbles, and pastels. This was a most exciting opportunity for me!

Unfortunately many of those fish were too old to spawn. I easily got a marble and yellow spawn, but lost all the red, blue, green, and pastel fish without a spawn, although it wasn't for lack of trying to spawn them. I have since purchased other stock, a lot of which came from BC Betta, as well as others from here or there. Not only do I breed show quality fish, but also veil tails. Breeding bettas is a hobby for me. It is not a business or competition. I enjoy all the fish won't shun one type simply because show standards and hig-dollar breeders do. The colors and patterns found in VTs are quite often unmatched, and they are no less of a fighting fish. I like to enjoy a little bit of the best of both worlds. ;)