Crowntail bettas enjoy great popularity. Although the breeding form was probably already known in the 1960s and the gene for the crowntail factor is dominantly inherited, the fish only made their breakthrough in Central Europe and America at the beginning of this millennium. Their exact history is not documented, the first known verifiable mention was in Jörg Vierke’s labyrinth fish book from 1978, but crowntails had already existed for a long time by then. Freaks differentiate crowntails according to the number of splits in the free fin ray ends and several other criteria. But these are cases for specialists, such fine distinctions are not practicable in the trade.
We occasionally have wonderful black crowntails in stock under the name “Black Orchid” from a Thai breeding company. Black fighting fish have always been a special feature, as the color is inherited in a double recessive manner (i.e. “concealed”) and breeding them requires a lot of skill and breeding knowledge. The “Black Orchid” also has glossy cover colors, which makes it even more attractive.
The black crowntails should be kept in the same way as all other Siamese fighting fish, so under normal circumstances only one male should be kept per aquarium and care must be taken when socializing that the other fish do not pick at the fins. Overly lively fish species are not suitable as companions for bettas, as are veil guppies, which are very often attacked by bettas.
For our customers: the animals have code 390163 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
