http://forum.aqua-fish.net/ A forum devoted to aquarium fish, plants, techniques and fish keeping as a whole. en http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=hi-everybody-so-happy-i-found-this-site#1 Just starting to say that I am new and looking to learn and share my knowledge of fish . I am 33 years old and I have had fish since my dad took me too my first pet store. The male betta was my first and still is my favorite. I am very interested in learning about the black and yellow bettas. How rare are they? Where can you find them ? Does anybody have one? Would love to know. Thank you JRSCARLET 2009-05-31 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=hi-everybody-so-happy-i-found-this-site#2 The ideal colour of a true Black Betta splendens resembles that of the Black Mollie. Black in Bettas is often a smoky black. Black Lace forms have transparent, smoky fins. Black is one of the most difficult colours to achieve, as the melano gene produces infertile Black females. Several crosses with other colours have tried to alleviate this problem, e.g. Melano x Celophane or yellows. The Melano x Black Lace lines are infertile; Steel Blue females x Melano males and Royal Blue females x Melano males have produced Blacks with considerable iridescence present. Brilliant lemon yellows or even a butter yellow are the best yellow colours produced so far, although some breeders claim to have produced a golden yellow. Colours that tend to be either a very pale yellow or a yellow-brown tinted are inferior colours. Yellow results from a gene that transforms red so sometimes the presence of red is also visible. Golden yellow Bettas, with golden iridescence, are rare. In my yellow/apricot strain, only the operculum is iridescent gold. A lutino form exists, in which the eyes are yellow, too. - from watershed3.tripod.com for a minicourse you can check THIShttp://freshwateraquariumsite.com site. it will help you get through the hobby. janisE 2009-06-01 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=hi-everybody-so-happy-i-found-this-site#3 when breeding a 'black' betta, some options to try are deep brown, smokey gray and steel blue. because you probably wont know exactly what genes you betta has before seeing its offspring it is good if you can see its parents. If you are unable to do this, chances are you will wind up with a strange combination. The best way to breed relatively 'predictable' fry is to buy bettas from a breeder you know, with a good idea of lineage. If you are just breeding for fun, unless you know a breeder, its probably not worth the hassle. enjoy and remember to check out this info on breeding, it could save your betta's lives! http://www.fishtankforum.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=342 weirdartist 2009-06-01 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=hi-everybody-so-happy-i-found-this-site#4 janisE , weirdartist : Thank you so much for your respones. I have a better aprecciation for this species. I had a yellow betta described by janisE to a certain degree. He was all yellow except under his jaw and 2 dorsal fins . They had a tint of red. Unfourtantly he jumped out of his tank overnight. Found him on the floor. I was so sad and confused. Why would he jump? I never had a fish jump out of a tank before. Granted he was very active and only rested for brief periods at a time. The night he jumped out I fed him and he seemed alright. When I purchased him he was the most active out of the bunch. On a lighter note I would love to share that Scarlet seems to be very friendly. I can pretty much hand feed him and pet him on his head (I konw its a no no to touch a fish). He doesnt shy away. In a way it may sound crazy but I think he knows who I am. I do talk to him and always make sure he has a clean tank. I feed my fish every other day at around 10 pm. I feed them like clockwork and they all know when they are goig to get fed. I feed them frezze dried blood worms. They wont eat anything else. Is this okay? I am very thankful for your info . Thank you very much and look foward to hearing from both of you. I also look foward to hearing from others. JRSCARLET 2009-06-01 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=hi-everybody-so-happy-i-found-this-site#5 fish do like routine unfortunately bettas do jump out of tyanks, some theories say that the air outside looks like a bigger tank, maybe? we arent really sure. Its a good idea to cover every bettas tank for this reason, sorry for your loss. Its not crazy to think he knows who you are! bettas are very intelligent fish and do recognise their owners. mine knows when the food is on its way before i lift the lid, as he sees the pot outside his tank With food i suggest using either Hikari Betta Gold, or tetrabetta flakes, as these contain all the nutrients your betta needs. I would recommend bloodworm/brine shrimp (artemia) or Daphnia as a once or twice a week treat! too much meat will cause constipation/bowel problems. If you do notice him looking sluggish, with tailing poo, feed him a de-skinned, mushed up garden pea (frozen are fine, as long as the inside is mashed up with fingers/knife so he can fit it in his mouth). I like to feed this to my betta as a treat each week or so anyway :). keep us posted! weirdartist 2009-06-02