Unfortunately, cutting fins (also known as "grooming") is a practice used to achieve perfect form without dealing with rigorous selection for many generations. Below is a video detailing the process. Warning: it is uncomfortable to watch.

The IBC and Bettas4All DO NOT condone fin cutting or artificial alteration in any form. It is considered a cruel practice and is not tolerated in any show fish. The only time cutting fins is considered acceptable is if the fish is suffering from fin rot and cutting off the damaged and diseased tissue would help it heal (think surgical removal of gangrenous parts) or if the fish is so overburdened with finnage that cutting it to relieve weight bearing would improve their quality of life.

Check out the convention show report in the show reports section! We also have the hashtag #IBCConvention on both Facebook and Twitter!

Fish nerds have drinking games too!! The goal is to double bag as fast as possible. My record is at a shiny 27 seconds (although I probably wouldn't have sent any fish in the result...my 32 second bags were much sturdier). Here I go against the legendary Jeff Hiller!

Phew! Chairing my first show was a blast! My favorite was that everyone showered me with delicious brownies and french fries. For the most part, everything went pretty smoothly. I just love love love my home club...CBS really is the best!

Since I was basically chained to my computer the entire time, all of these photos were taken by my friends at the show. We have such a wonderful core group of people that make these shows happen. 

Come join us on Saturday, May 23rd for the IBC International Show hosted by California Betta Society at the Embassy Suites in Santa Clara - Silicon Valley! If you're in the area, we would love to see you, and if not, we would love to see your fish in the show! For help sending your fish to the show, check out the How to send bettas to a show page.

- 8am-noon: Judging (judges and volunteers only)

- noon-2:30pm: Show room open to the public

- 4pm-6pm: Auction and Raffle (including the Breeder's Cup Fish!)

A video of each show fish* will be shown at the same time it's up for auction!! 
*as long as they’ll pose while filming ;D

Show info can be found at http://www.cbsbettas.org/shows.html

Come one, come all, to the first ever online betta show! Hosted by California Betta Society, this is a rare opportunity to receive feedback from judges all over the world! Please refer to the show information in the flyer, and remember to take the BEST video/pictures that you can. Videos or pictures that are blurry, hard to see, or have fish that are not flaring will be extremely difficult for judges to critique. Note: We will be using the IBC standard for this show, since CBS is an IBC-associated club, but this show is not affiliated with or sanctioned by the IBC.

For videos, please say you have videos in your email and send them to me via GoogleDrive (preferred!!), Box (second preferred!) or dropbox.

We hope to see your fish at the online show! I would love to see any bettas from my followers here :) 

I finally got up off my butt and wrote up the CBS Fall 2014 IBC show report. It can be found in the Show Reports section.

Check out the Show Reports section for the latest and greatest in the betta show world! The 2014 IBC Convention was a complete blast and I was very sad to see all of my wonderful betta friends leave. Until next time!

The IBC Convention is setting up today! Some of out attendees are out enjoying the Monterey Bay Aquarium, while others are setting up the masses of beanies and fish. There are 536 show entries!! Excited for this big show to start!

I forgot to post in the blog that I re-worked the Show section on this site to include a "How to send bettas to a show" page. I am absolutely thrilled with the number of new breeders starting to show this year! After answering so many questions on how to send fish to a show on facebook, I decided to take matters into my own hands and create a centralized location containing all the steps that I go through when sending a fish to a show. I hope this proves helpful to many people, and smooths the process of sending in those first precious bettas!!

Check out the new page in the Showing Bettas section!