International Betta Congress | Facebook membership show standards IBC-Membership-Form PDF

History and Founding of the International Betta Congress

Dr. Gene Lucas, Founder of the IBC

Although there are many aquarium societies, no long-term established U.S. Betta fancier organization existed. In 1963, a hobbyist named Bunny Lorbiecki organized an all Betta exhibit at her local aquarium society's annual show. After a few failed attempts, the International Betta Congress was founded at the home of Dr. Gene Lucas, a biology professor at Drake University in Iowa, and his wife, JoAnne, with Ms. Lorbiecki as one of the founding members.

INTERNATIONAL BETTA CONGRESS : General Standard Of The Idea Show Betta

- The idea show Betta is in excellent health as shown by its faultless condition & vigorous deportment.
- The body & fins are unblemished.
- There are no body scars, spots & missing or misshapen scales.
- Fin rays are straight or smoothly curved.
- Fins are held rigidly erect & gills are fully flared.
- Movement is continuous & aggressive with violent response to any intruder.
- The idea show Betta presents nearly mirror-image symmetry above & below an imaginary mid-lateral line.
- This Betta is well proportioned with respect to fins & body size.
- The body is smoothly tapered towards the caudal peduncle.
- The dorsal fin approaches the anal fin in shape, width & size.
- There is 180 degree spread between first & last caudal rays.
- The outer margin of the dorsal, caudal & anal fins trace a continuous circular contour with no gaps between fins.
- Fins are broad & overlap at the edges.
- Secondary & tertiary divisions occur at even intervals along the lengths of fin rays.
- The idea show Betta exhibits brilliant coloration of uniform density.
- In solid color classes there are no off color washes in the fins & no blotching or speckling of unwanted colors on the body.
- Pattern types have dark & bright colors in shades that produce the highest contrast.
- The overall appearance of color on this Betta is one of vivid, sparkling beauty.

References

International Betta Congress Membership Form
International Betta Congress Facebook Page