Fishface

All information is taken from Labyrinth Fish: The Bubble Nest Builders
Written by Horst Link
Published by Tetra in 1991

Just in case some of you don't know, the veil tails and fancy bettas you usually see don't ever exist in the wild because they've been bred to look the way they do by natives in Thailand. I am going to focus on the wild form of betta splendens, the original form of the fancy Siamese fighting fish, as it is most pertinent.

Horst Link writes:

"In my opinion, the natural distribution range is very much smaller than had been supposed until now and is, in fact, restricted to central, western, and northern Thailand...Betta splendens lives in paddy fields and associated ditches, in marshes and flooded grass pits and in the klongs (canals) of the residential parts of towns and villages. At different times of the year, they may be very numerous."

"These fish are seen to best advantage in a smaller tank 70cm long by 40cm wide and about 30cm high containing plenty of plants in parts...(he goes on to list what kinds of filtration, lighting, heat...species of plants...the kind of gravel. He's very particular - but notice that he believes they should have all of these things to be healthy)

IMPORTANT:
"The view that fighting fish often live in mudholes and therefore can be kept in such conditions is not really tenable. The fish will exhibit their full finery in a well-established, balanced aquarium and it is only under such conditions that their keeper will be able to appreciate their beauty at its best."

---
All images were taken from google image search keywords "Thailand paddy field" or "Thailand klong"

Here is a klong:



Here is a paddy field:




Obviously, these aren't mud puddles!

Just because they have labyrinth organs doesn't mean they can live in a cesspool. It just means they can live in warm, shallow, slow moving water with a low oxygen content.

It is said that during the dry summer period, paddy fields and flooded grass pits may dry up, trapping fish in barely damp mud puddles. These fish often die, and it is in NO way an environment that they thrive in. I mean..there's no way that the klong pictured above could ever dry up to just a mud puddle..not when the natives use it as transportation.


So let's all give our bettas decent care, like other fish! Let's treat them with good food, space (5gallons at LEAST), heat, filtration, light, and plants..just like they should be!

Fishface

All information is taken from Labyrinth Fish: The Bubble Nest Builders
Written by Horst Link
Published by Tetra in 1991

Just in case some of you don't know, the veil tails and fancy bettas you usually see don't ever exist in the wild because they've been bred to look the way they do by natives in Thailand. I am going to focus on the wild form of Betta splendens, the original form of the fancy Siamese fighting fish, as it is most pertinent.

Horst Link writes:

"In my opinion, the natural distribution range is very much smaller than had been supposed until now and is, in fact, restricted to central, western, and northern Thailand...Betta splendens lives in paddy fields and associated ditches, in marshes and flooded grass pits and in the klongs (canals) of the residential parts of towns and villages. At different times of the year, they may be very numerous."

"These fish are seen to best advantage in a smaller tank 70cm long by 40cm wide and about 30cm high containing plenty of plants in parts...(he goes on to list what kinds of filtration, lighting, heat...species of plants...the kind of gravel. He's very particular - but notice that he believes they should have all of these things to be healthy)

IMPORTANT:
"The view that fighting fish often live in mudholes and therefore can be kept in such conditions is not really tenable. The fish will exhibit their full finery in a well-established, balanced aquarium and it is only under such conditions that their keeper will be able to appreciate their beauty at its best."

---
All images were taken from google image search keywords "Thailand paddy field" or "Thailand klong"

Here is a klong:



Here is a paddy field:




Obviously, these aren't mud puddles!

Just because they have labyrinth organs doesn't mean they can live in a cesspool. It just means they can live in warm, shallow, slow moving water with a low oxygen content.

It is said that during the dry summer period, paddy fields and flooded grass pits may dry up, trapping fish in barely damp mud puddles. These fish often die, and it is in NO way an environment that they thrive in. I mean..there's no way that the klong pictured above could ever dry up to just a mud puddle..not when the natives use it as transportation.


So let's all give our bettas decent care, like other fish! Let's treat them with good food, space (5gallons at LEAST), heat, filtration, light, and plants..just like they should be!

Red_Rose

One of the things that I really liked when I looked through this betta section for the first time was the caresheet. The absolute minimum that was suggested for a betta tank was 2.5g although five or more is better. I really liked that because for one, I always recommend at least 2.5g for a betta but not only that, you wouldn't believe at how many sites(even ones that mainly focus on bettas) that I've come across that recommend a one gallon tank/bowl as the minimum size.

Why is it that for every other fish, people go by the "one inch of fish per gallon" rule yet bettas always seem to get ripped off when it comes to tank space? Most male bettas(not all, of course) tend to be close to two inches in length at the pet stores so why put them into a 1-1.5 gallon tank that's obviously too small for them? I just don't understand some people.

joy613

A lot of people think doing 100% water changes are better than having a larger tank that is cycled. It is because most don't understand hows and whys to cycle a tank.

I also see people getting a common pleco and putting them in a 10 gallon thinking they will only grow as big as the tank is. Little do they realize they get stunted and stress leading to an early death. Last weekend I tried for over an hour trying to talk a woman out of getting a gold fish and putting it in a vase. I just gave up and walked away as I told her she should try to live in her bathroom for a week without being able to flush the toilet and still be able to eat. It is a good thing I don't work with the public. So it isn't only bettas it is a lot of fish that get crammed in little bowls and tanks.

angelfish220

people belive that thing, where bettas live in mudpuddles naturally, so they can live it this vase easy.

Have you ever seen a betta in a mud puddle? neather have I. They acctually come from CLEAN streams and creeks.

Red_Rose

I can understand why tank cycling would ward people off of it. Even though I know how to cycle a tank with a filter, I've never actually done so before because I prefer natural planted tanks. Cycling a tank with a filter kind of scares me. I know that sounds strange.

I've heard of people trying to keep goldfish in 2.5g tanks thinking that it will be big enough for the fish. As for plecos, I do know that some people have kept them in 10g tanks even though it's too small for them. I've never had a pleco before and to be quite honest, I don't even know what one looks like!

As for the mud puddles, you wouldn't believe at how many people believe that ! I think people are too quick to believe the salesperson at the LFS instead of taking the time to do some research on the fish before buying them. Rice paddies are far from being a dirty, small amount of water!

shellbell4ever

Way to go!!!When I got my first Betta's Bonnie and Clyde from a co-worker they were in vase's,when I got them there 5 gallon tanks (each) I saw such and improvement in there little selfs,color,health,personality I could never put them in anything less than a 5 gallon now!!As for the other websites I have been checking on a few and they do have a bunch of them with these poor babies in small containers and think it's just fine and dandy OMG!I have to admit before finding this forum I had No Idea about keeping betta's my goal is not to just keep them but keep them HAPPY!!!and Healthy!I love my little babies
Keep spreading the word!

Chief_waterchanger

That rule does NOT apply to most fish, but people seem to think that it does. It applies mainly to guppies, platies, mollies, and some swordtails, and even then it is not really a good rule of thumb in my opinion. Sadly people want what they want reguardless of what the ramifications are for the living thing they want.

WARNING: BLUNTNESS follows this warning, if you don't want to hear the truth don't read further: by and large, people are stupid

Thank you for bringing this up, it can't be repeated enough.

BettaGirl92

I hate going into the pet stores and seeing all the poor beautiful Bettas in thoes tny little jars.
If i had the space/money, i would buy every single one of them.
It makes me so sad to see them all like that.
They're not happy OR healthy if they stay in thoes stupid things.
I try to stay away from that section of the store, cause i know if i go back there, i'll end up buying ANOTHER betta.
It gets me everytime, i feel bad, i buy another. :P
Urg.
Stupid pet stores.
It makes me so mad.

Tazmiche

Well human does not mean intelligent life form!!! Please read my post re waste of a life that i posted today.

I have said MANY MANY times on here over the last few years that this site gives me hope in humanity. For too many these pets we bring in are seen as objects they just own and not as a living, breathing life that can sense,feel and suffer as we can. Idiots!! Whatever or whomever sparks life into us does the same for them, we should share respect! I REALLY REAALLLLY believe in karma!!!

Lucy

My daughter has a friend who has 2 bettas in 2 vases, They just won't listen.
I keep trying to get my hands on them.

Red_Rose

Thanks! I've also noticed a great improvement in my boy when I had moved him from his 2.5g to his 10g home. When he was in the smaller tank, he actually stopped flaring and he developed a really bad fin problem that wasn't fin rot. Once I had put him into his planted tank, I just couldn't believe the change in him. He was so much more active and he loves playing in his plants. The thing I couldn't get over was his fins. They started to heal up! They are now long and flowing again!

When I see him in there enjoying himself, I always wish that all bettas could experience the same thing.

I didn't know that that rule was mainly for livebearers. Some people may think it's nonsense but I think it's a good one to go by when setting up a tank because it helps to give fish as much space as possible, or at least, that's how I feel about it.

I'm the same way. I actually talk to the bettas whenever I go to the pet store! lol I know some people may think I'm crazy but I've found that bettas like being spoken to. If I couldn't my entire bedroom would be nothing but aquariums and I'd be surrounded by a ton of bettas!

I'll read that thread today. I know that fish tanks are nice looking but I don't understand how people can get one and fill it up with fish and then refer to those fish as ornaments. Just like you said, they are living creatures that deserve to be treated as such.

The one thing that really makes me angry when it comes to fish is when people say things like "fish don't feel pain". What on Earth makes people think that??

I hope you do get them, Lucy! They would be better off in your care.

Allie

Ignorant is more accurate. A lot of people see fish as decor not as living creatures. But when there is so much info out there on the internet...it's STUPID not to research.

mrsmuffin

I used to see fish as decor, until I set up my first tank and found Fishlore...

Angela_96

Well, even my husband that has a bachlors in enviromental science and wildlife management didn't understand that bettas have to have a tank w/ a heater and a filter.. in fact when I wanted a betta he thought it was a waste of money when I said I needed a 5g tank for it...
no he looks at the betta and asks questions about it.... and says well its color really is bright, it looks healthy and happy..
of coarse! its in a heated, filtered, 5g tank!
Then I had to explain why it still went up to the top for air.... that took a while!! He was thinking the water quality was off..


I think there should be an adoption process out there for getting a fishtank started! Then, once a person shows compitence w/ fish then they show a card and can buy more..... (I'd cause a lot of fish stores to close down huh) not only that there should be stricter rules for the person that is selling the fish..

COBettaCouple

Bettas are the most abused tropical fish and the the pet stores spew about their requirements has a lot to do with it.

Angela_96

Its sad that they get the shaft!! Bettas are way to beautiful of fish, do you think its because bettas are loner fish?
I don't know... I just can't stand it... If I stay worked up on all the misuse of fish rights out there, my BP would stroke me out!!
I just cannot take it!
I was going to get one of my moms baby bettas the other day and I ended up buying one because it was in a cup half dead at petsmart...
Now its my prized beautiful crowntailed fav pet...

she got mad I didn't take one of her fry, but I told her I had to rescue one... she said well I will still bring you one... I was like where am I supose to put another betta? I don't have another 5g tank?
she actually thought I would buy another tank.... yea ok... we are already trying to shift around fish...

COBettaCouple

Isn't there always room for another tank?

Angela_96

right now, im not pushing it... lol

COBettaCouple

I know.. I'm a bad influence.

Red_Rose

I remember hearing that the reasons bettas can live in such small amounts of filthy water is because they can breathe air so ammonia doesn't affect them as much as it would any other fish. Then what about gouramis? They can also breathe air and no one ever suggests that they live in a tiny bowl with dirty water.

COBettaCouple

True. They're not subject to all the misinformation that Bettas are.

BettaGirl92

uurghh, i wanted to save a little boy from the pet store today,
but of course, my mom was all "NO MORE FISH!"\

chickadee

Yep, there are the MUD PUDDLES that Wild Bettas come from. Now let me just explain one thing. The bettas that most of us have in our tanks have NEVER been anywhere near anything so large or so dirty as that. The bettas that live there have short fins and are generally larger and more vicious than our little darlings. If you have seen one of yours attack another fish, believe me, it is nothing compared to the fights that take place in the wild. This is why for the safety and preservation of the species, the Mud Puddles are not really that. They are dirty water LAKES. The dirty water gives cover and so do plants growing from the bottom of the silty bottom and the thing is full of natural places for them to get away from each other. The tanks we have do not ordinarily provide this type of cover and this is another reason that a community tank is not recommended.

MUD PUDDLES, Argghhhh!!!!

Ignorant people!




Rose

COBettaCouple

Yea.. it's just ridiculous.