How we got Started

A little bit about me..

As a kid I had tropical fish. Mostly livebearers like guppies and swords. Through out life I always had a tank of these kinds of fish as they were low maintenance and enjoyable to watch.

In 1991 I ended up in Texas. There I bought some Bettas and bred them on my patio. They were bred and raised in galvanized wash tubs and as they matured they were housed in 2 liter Pepsi bottles with the tops cut off on some shelves I had out there. The water got green with algae, I fed mosquito larvae that appeared in a saucer I had for my plants and traded them to a local fish guy for more brine shrimp eggs and food. When the weather cooled I shut down the operation and started again the next year.

In time I moved on to other things but maintained a community tank. Eventually I ended up in Ohio and my son wanted to have a fish tank in his room. We set it up and went looking for fish and he wanted a Betta. It is understandable as they are brilliantly colored, have neat personalities, are fairly easy keepers and it is cool to watch them flare. So we got a Red Cambodian Crowntail male and a Cambodian Veiltail female. I then got cruising around the internet and found the IBC and the Halfmoon Betta. All I could think was WOW!!

It was not long before I wanted some of these fish for myself. I really liked the metallic colors so went looking for some quality fish for breeding. Our search led to Thailand where we bought and imported a couple of pairs. That was the beginning of our lines.

Our first spawns produced some very nice fish so we started to show them in the Fall of 2009. My son went into the New Breeder classes and pretty much cleaned house. He was the Best of Show male and female in New Breeders the first two shows he entered. I jumped right in with the sharks in the open classes. Getting a placing against others that have been doing this longer than I have has been just as much a thrill as my son’s BOS. We made many friends, learned a lot and enjoyed our first season showing our Bettas. I finished the 2009-2010 season in 14th place and my son was 2nd place New Breeder.

We have moved back to Texas and are getting our fish room setup and producing quality Bettas once again. We will be regular entries in the shows and hope to place in the top 10 the 2010-2011 season.

Where did the name come from? When I started I had a 3300 sq ft [per floor] historic building with 3 floors and a basement. My retail shop was on the first floor and I intended to put the fish in the basement.. Basement Bettas. But a friend suggested the room on the 2nd floor that had 3 large windows and a bathroom. Deciding to take advantage of the plumbing and the natural light and heat.. we put the fish up there.. but liked the name enough to keep. Now, in an apartment, we continue to breed our fish for shows, sales and breeding. Maybe one day we will have a basement fish room.

Our desire is to produce high quality Coppers and Metallics as well as nicely patterned Marbles and Butterflies. In time we are looking to add Black and Reds to what we are breeding. We hope to have fish for sale for both the serious breeder as well as those just wanting a Beautiful Betta to enjoy around the house. Feel free to email us at any time with questions or requests for fish.