The Sire is a non-metallic steel blue grizzle HMPK with a nice smooth topline and nice balanced appearance. The dorsal fin is nicely directed forward. The caudal fin has a >180 degree spread although branching is a bit heavy. The anal fin and ventrals are nicely matching the rest of the fish. The Dame is a non-metallic royal blue HMPK with a nicely slender body, smooth topline and balanced finnage. 
With this cross I hope to create a strong base in order to work towards a quality line of non-metallic iridescent fish with strong bodies, smooth topline and balanced finnage. The offspring (F1) will be both dark- and lightbodied non-metallic steel blue and royal blue based HMPKs. 

29/12/13: The pair spawned. Eggs in the nest.
30/12/13: The fry hatched. Seems to be a small spawn.

01/01/14: The fry entered the free-swimming stage. Removed the male.
13/11/13: The fry is feeding well on vinegar eels and BBS.
31/01/14: 5 weeks old and growing well on BBS and tubifex.

10/02/14: Overview of the fry. As expected all fry are indeed steel blue and royal blue based. Some fry show a slight red wash, but I expect this will dissapear when they mature due to the red-loss trait.

14/02/14: They fry is now 7 weeks old and have been transferred to a bigger grow-out.

18/03/14: 12 weeks old.

06/04/14: 14 weeks old.

23/04/14: Jarred the first males this week. Here an impression of 4 youngs males now 17 weeks old.

12/05/14: 19 weeks old, can not get enough of these fish!

24/05/14: Some headshots!

30/06/14: Three fish of this spawn were send to the 6th Betta Freaks Show in Schwalmtal, Germany. One of them won a prize:
- 5th Asymmetrical HMPK male class - Unicolor

05/07/14: 27 weeks old. The branching in the caudal and ventrals (multiple tips) is quite extensive in some of the fish of this spawn, but I think there is some great material to work with.

01/08/14: Two males now 31 weeks old.