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Just wanted to share my Betta offspring to you. Father: Male PK HM copper, Mother: PK HM. One can clearly see that the juveniles grow in different speed.

Just a short update on my halfmoons; still looking for a new home

The next ‘European Halfmoon Betta Breeders Club’ betta show is within the „4th Heimtiermesse Hannover“, in Hanover (Germany). Around 250 Betta splendens in a large variety of colors and fin forms bred by various national and international breeders will be shown. High quality breeder’s fish and a trophy ceremony with main judge Stefan Nelte, many auctions and the possibility to get advice about maintenance and breeding of Betta splendens is awaiting you.

Joep van Esch

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My name is Joep van Esch (nickname on the forum: Joepmaster). I live in Schiedam, the Netherlands with my girlfriend Debby, my son Storm. I am a certified judge of the European Halfmoon Betta Breeders Club (EHBBC) and currently apprentice judge of the International Betta Club (IBC). Besides my personal website www.bettaterritory.nl, I am the founder and owner of the International  Bettas4all forum (www.bettas4all.nl).

When did you start breeding betta?

As a kid I used to breed Budgerigars and several Australian parrot species for shows together with my father. When I was 20 I moved out of my parents house to study medical Biology I unfortunately had to stop breeding birds. In 2001 I moved to a bigger student room and finally had place to keep some animals again. I started with a few small aquariums to breed guppies. I became interested in bettas in 2002 by accidentally stumbling on a Dutch Betta forum. I found out that the set-up I had was very suitable for the keeping & breeding Betta splendens too. In March 2003 I obtained my first breeding pair and have been breeding Bettas ever since. I started out with longfinned halfmoons but since 2005 my breeding program is completely dedicated to shortfinned halfmoons, the so-called halfmoon plakat. To this date I have raised >85 spawns in my “Betta Territory” and have participated in 12 shows (in Germany, Switserland, France and the Netherlands) where my fish won several prices).

What are your basic tips for beginners?

When you want to breed bettas please consider the following important notes in order to make sure that you are able to give them the best care as possible: (1) One single spawn can produce up to 300 fry; (2) Around 2 months of age the young males have to be separated and jarred individually to prevent fighting and improve their growth. So make sure you have enough room for this; (3) Off course all your youngsters need to be fed with the best (live) foods available; (4) Taking care and raising the offspring will demand a lot of patience and time before they will reach maturity(feeding, changing water, cleaning, etc). and (5) Make sure that you financially are capable of supporting this hobby.

Work with your fish! Everybody can buy quality fish, but not everybody can breed quality fish! Usually the real breeders will stand up from the crowd as they are able to at least maintain or improve the quality of the line they initially acquired. Improving a line usually also means outcrossing to fish from another line in order to bring in the new desired traits you want to fix in the generations to come. At this moment people actually are creating their own unique line. Usually a breeder gets more satisfaction from working with the fish that he/she has bred him/herself. Working with your own fish also has a big advantage as you will get to know the genetic potential of your line. It sometimes can take multiple generations in order to find out what traits are hidden within a certain line. Do not be afraid to cross different colors and finnage types. We all want to reach our goals as quick as possible but usually this will need several generations. Several generations, means several years of work and this will require a lot of patience which is not always easy, but it is definitely worthwhile. Finally, I will end with one of the most important points when breeding bettas: Enjoy your hobby!

Which faults are made often and easy to avoid?

New hobbyists often underestimate the time it takes to breed and maintain a quality line of bettas. In their enthusiasm, they are easily tempted to purchase several color and finnage varieties to start with. By the time that they realize that they do not have the space and lack the time to raise all these youngsters it is often too late. Overwhelmed by the amount of work, the hobbyist is not able to give the fish the necessary care which will negatively influence the outgrowth and the health of the fish. Sick fish and disappointing results are often the cause of the fact that many promising new hobbyists quit our hobby. In the long run it therefore might be better to keep your focus.

What are your plans for 2010?

To further improve my red and iridescent HM PK lines towards a more symmetrical type (strong bodies, broad dorsal and short parallel anals).

Three webpages you find useful:

• EHBBC.org: Website of the European Halfmoon Breeders Club (Germany).
• bettysplendens.nl: Website of Victoria Parnell-Starke (USA)
• siamimbellis.com: Website of Sarawut Angkununawat (Thailand)

The next aquaristic trend is/are:

In general, I would say nano tanks. With respect to the betta hobby, new trends are dragons, crowntail plakats and symmetrical halfmoon plakats.

Your personal motto is?

Work with your fish!