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I am Heather Bea and welcome to Bea's Bettas! I am a hobbyist betta breeder and enthusiast based in Raleigh North Carolina. I fell in love with bettas during my time working from home in 2020. What started as a hobby to keep me busy during the pandemic quickly grew into a passion project that has spanned 5 years!
My bettas are born and raised in my greenhouse in Raleigh North Carolina where they get round the clock care. I only have a few spawns a year, typically during the spring and summer, where I can keep my fish outside. My mission as a breeder is to raise vibrant and healthy bettas who live long lives. I stay in touch with as many bettas from each spawn that I can so I can keep detailed records of their age and any health issues they may face. This helps me make informed breeding choices that strengthen the vitality and well being of every generation, and work towards the bettament of every fish I raise.
I am a small breeder who does not import bettas for the purpose of selling. Every betta listed for sale comes from my spawns unless otherwise noted. Because of this I typically only have a handful of bettas available at a time, mostly during the summer and fall. If you would like to support me and my mission, but I don't have any bettas available, feel free to follow my facebook or instagram, or email me to be put on the waiting list!
Along with breeding bettas, I enjoy gathering and sharing knowledge. My Resources page is filled with what I have learned over the years and is ever expanding. I am an open book so always feel free to reach out with questions.
Thanks for visiting and happy fishkeeping!
The Betta Process
The Betta Process
First I select the bettas I want to breed and import a couple of them. After observing and conditioning them in person for a few weeks, I select the best pair for breeding. They are placed in a breeding tub for spawning.
The betta fry are hatched in smaller 5 to 10 gallon tubs to make it easier to feed them. The dad stays in the tank to take care of them, and they are fed a variety of live foods for the first few weeks.
Once they get a little bigger, the dad is removed, and the fry are placed in 25 gallon ponds. This allows for more space to grow. Around 2 months of age I will move them to my 100 and 300 gallon ponds for more room.
Once the males start hitting maturity, they are separated into their own 1 gallon heated and cycled jars. They get 100% water changes every 2 days, and flare exercise 2-3x a day. It is at this point they become available for sale!
My Spawn Log
My Spawn Log
2025
2025
2025 was the year of the hybrids!
Parents : Yellow Wild Splenden M1 (FB's) x Nemo HMPK
After producing some amazing bettas, I decided to give this male second spawn with a nemo girl. So far the fry look great!
Hybrid Bettas 01b
Hybrid Bettas 01b
Hatched : 03-05-2025
Parents : YK05 Gold Plakat x Yellow Wild Splenden 1 (FB's)
I had one remaining male from my yellow koi line that I wanted to try with a wild, hoping her genes would add in good health. It did not work and most of the fry had issues with rear end strength/SBD. I did get two gorgeous fry from them who are healthy, but will not be bred.
Parents : Yellow Wild Splenden M1 (FB's) x Yellow Koi HMPK
This is my first venture into wild hybrids. The fry came out with lovely form and a variety of tail shapes. The marble males turned blue by 6 months of age, but the marble female is a gorgeous orange. Continued with Hybrid Bettas 02a.
2023
2023
2023 was the year of focusing on yellow koi. I had my largest spawn ever (97 bettas) and produced fish that were everything I wanted in terms of color and form. However, I noticed a trend in the lifespan of my bettas from the previous years. My bettas were only living 1.5-2 years, much less then I am ok with. I had to stop breeding in 2024 and took this opportunity to rethink what I am doing as a breeder, and what my goals are.
Parents : Yellow Koi 2a (Mango) x YK3af72 (Strawberry)
This was my last spawn with Mango before he retired, and also my frist line breeding. They created some of the most beautiful fish I've ever made and were everything I hoped for! They kept their colors and never marbled to blue.
Parents : Yellow Koi 2a (Mango) x Yellow Dumbo
Some lovely solid color plakats came out of this pairing, no dumbos which was expected, but also no koi spots. I kept a gorgeous white male to continue the line with.
Parents : Yellow Koi 2a (Mango) x Fancy Yellow
This was my largest spawn ever with 93 fry!! They created a lovely array of bettas with great form. Lots of reds, coppers, and pinks. Line continued with Yellow Koi 05.
2022
2022
I had a ton of spawns in 2022, with a focus on Yellow Giants and Candy Halfmoon Dumbos. I experimented with having multiple spawns all at once, which was a terrible idea and not sustainable for me. I also created two of my favorite fish ever! By the end I was confident in the types of fish I wanted to work towards.
Parents : Multiple Dumbo Bettas
This group of dumbo bettas will probably my last ever. It was so difficult to source quality bettas to breed, the ones I got were finicky, and the spawns themselves were cursed. I did create some lovely blue dumbos with nice form.
Parents : F1 Giant Marble Male x Giant Yellow Polkadot
This pair created large bettas, but their form was questionable. Their colors ranged widly, but all turned blue by 9 months of age. I did not continue this line.
Parents : Multiple Spawns
This was a bit of a disaster, but created a few gorgeous bettas. I bred multiple bettas all at once for more variety. It was not easy to maintain live food for the amount of fry I had, and one of the pairs created very sickly bettas who did not thrive. I did get Mango out of the second yellow koi pair who lives on with most of my spawns today. 0/10 would not do again.
2021
2021
2021 was my first year breeding betta fish. I was lucky to have some amazing mentors who picked out a pair of giants for me and held my hand through the process. I explored 3 different types of bettas for spawning, and came up with a breeding goal of making Candy Halfmoon Dumbos, as well as more Giants.
Parents : Copper Nemo Dumbo HMPK x Lavender Dumbo HM
Lovely dumbo bettas were made, with one female in particular meeting my goals. Continued with Candy Dumbos 02
Parents : Orange Dalmatian HM x Fancy Koi HM
These guys produced beautiful halfmoon bettas with lots of reds and pinks. They were a great learning experience as my second spawn! Continued with Group Spawn 01
Parents : Giant Male Tiger Plakat x Giant Female Fancy Plakat
I am super happy with the outcome. They created several nice yellow bettas, and were quite large. Continued with Yellow Koi 02
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