Betta vases!!!

I was looking around for Betta art and found this appalling site. This woman is making Betta vases and as if the regular vases are not bad enough she even made a couple using those tall thin vases you would normally put a single rose into!! : > >
The poor bettas cannot even turn around and in the wider vases you see them desperately trying to find an empty space at the surface to suck in some air!

Here an insane quote from the site's "care" section: "Bettas in the wild lives in a minute space that is approximately 3 inches long by 2 inches wide and 1 inch deep of water. Using a one-quart vase makes it virtually a palace in comparison to the space of the Betta?s wild home."

Have you ever heard anything so idiotic? > I am having a VERY bad week and I am just in the right frame of mind to email this woman and tell her off! I doubt it will make any difference since it's obvious making money is more important to her than the health and well-being of the fish but I really want to give her a piece of my mind! Too bad there is no way to have her arrested for animal cruelty!

 

Appalling. Just sent them this feedback:

'Hello.

Please be advised that much of your disease information is incomplete and/or incorrect. Please revise that section rather than continuing to spread misinformation (e.g. your information about dropsy).

Please also be advised that it is not recommended to keep a betta in a vase, and most definitely not in one in which they can't turn around from its extreme narrowness. This is considered animal cruelty, and you are, consciously or not, promoting it. If you must sell betta vases, please make them at least big enough to allow the betta enough room to explore and exercise horizontally.

Thanks and regards'

 

Good, mine will be nowhere near as polite. People like this just make me crazy!

 

I find if I let my anger show on the message, people will listen less as they'll think am some activist. It does make me really mad, though.

 

I think she needs a link "what to do with your dead betta" on her page. She either knows nothing or lies through her teeth.

 

I read all this in the betta water care section.
'WATER CARE
? The water in a one-gallon vase should be changed once per month and only if feeding is not at an excess. Change the water even sooner if it gets cloudy.

? To change the water, remove fish first into a cup of its own water from its vase. Fill the vase with tap or spring water that has been conditioned. ( To condition the water, put into one gallon of water ? teaspoon of Stress Coat ?. Let the water set to room temperature. The Stress Coat will put a protective layer on the fish.)

? When filling the vase with the conditioned water leave 2 ? 2 ? inches of air space between the bottom of the plant cup and the top of the water line, remember Bettas are anabantoids and need that space to come up for air (oxygen).

? Do not put vase with fish into direct sunlight this will increase the water temperature to an unsafe level, resulting in killing the fish.'

I don't that much about Bettas, but that is outragous.
Tom

 

yea.. it's either ignorance, laziness or stupidity for her to put that up. a real mix of some good info and a bunch of bad.

 

GRRRRR!! that is so frustrating, how can people even come close to thinking that a space where the fish can't turn around is a good idea?? I mean, we couldn't stand it if we couldn't, why would any other living creature be any different??? ROARR, my letter to this woman would probably not be very nice either.

 

I think the worst thing about this is she gets so much right (compared to someone with NO knowledge of bettas) that she comes off sounding like a reputable expert to someone who knows nothing about the fish. She recommends bloodworms as food and doesn't tell people that bettas eat the plant roots, she points out that bettas breathe air so you need to leave them access to the surface, and she does recommend changing the water, though not frequently enough obviously. She does have a disease page, even if it's not completely accurate. And her water changing procedures aren't all that bad ... she recommends keeping the betta in the old water while you change the vase water, instead of throwing it into chlorinated tap water. She does mention treating the water ... though stress coat? Does that even remove chlorine and chloramine? And then she also says to let the water come to room temp before adding the betta.

I also agree about the keeping the vase out of direct sunlight. A water quantity that small could boil a fish on a hot day if the sun was hitting the glass right.

It's just that to give some good advice and then turn around and say that this is an acceptable way to keep a betta ... I have to think that this isn't ignorance. This is willful misinformation to promote the sale of her product. And that is probably sadder than ignorance, because at least ignorance can be cured with a little information.

 

sadly, she wouldn't be the first to want to make money off the suffering of animals. she's following the lead of these big chain stores that sell those tiny betta prisons. so now she's selling betta prisons of her own. the end result is the same - a dead betta that was never happy.

 

Well, maybe you could all write a comment on her page. I think Carillon's comments are really to the point and informative. Maybe am being naive, but at least the woman would no longer have the excuse of ignorance?

 

I sent a very strong comment to this person and along the way was particularly appalled to see how many of the "unique" vases were marked as "SOLD". I also invited her to come to the forum and defend her stand and explain her point of view and show us the error of our ways. We will see....

Rose

 

Great work, Rose. We'll see what happens. At least this lady will know a lot of people are questionning her methods.

 

if we could just place her into a shaped glass box that was proportionally equal to a human as those vases are to a betta, I think it would be effective at demonstrating how the bettas feel. just because a fish can't vocalize misery doesn't mean it's any happier than a dog living in a tiny kennel or a person living in a little closet would be. it's not just about proper care of a living animal, it's about having concern and respect for life.

 

"The water in a one-gallon vase should be changed once per month and only if feeding is not at an excess. Change the water even sooner if it gets cloudy."

The Betta would be dead long before the month was over! The ammonia build-up in a vase would reach toxic levels in a matter of two days. Using AmQuel+ or Prime as a conditioner would at least keep the water safe for a few days but never a MONTH!!
Those "one gallon" vases she makes have a lot less than one gallon of space for the Betta... the stones on the bottom take up some space and the roots of the plant take up at least 75% of the space. The fish barely have any space even at the top to find a hole to breathe!! She mentions nothing about giving peas as a prevention for constipation..
You cannot medicate a sick Betta in those vases! The stress of being in them is what makes them sick to begin with! The kind of cruel people who buy these things think of the fish as only a coffee table decoration, not an animal who feels pain! I've seen online people with Betta vases asking why the fish died after they added chemicals to the water to help the plant grow better! They actually cared MORE about the health of the plant than the fish!
Her validation for keeping Bettas in such small container are that Bettas in the wild live in tiny 2 inch wide 1 inch deep puddles! What???!!!! No fish lives in a puddle!! If a Betta is found in a puddle like that it is because it was accidently caught in there during the dry season. It doesn't live there, it DIES there! There is no way the fish can protect itself from the blazing hot sun or predators in a puddle like that! Common sense alone should tell you this is nonsense! The large rice paddies, rivers and ponds they live in have complete eco systems which keep them healthy and plenty of places for them to hide from the hot sun and predators. A quart of water soaked in ammonia and fish waste is not an eco system and the plant DOES NOT remove the toxins from the water. It is not a filter nor is it a "palace" by any stretch of the imagination! OUR Bettas live in palaces, of 5-10 galons of water with heaters, filters, plants and caves. They need space and things to explore to be happy. They are not tabletop decorations but much loved family members!
She claims Bettas should have water temps of 75-80F yet how is anyone to maintain this temp in an unheated vase! No one keeps their home that hot unless they are crazy!

I can't believe with all the controversy over the subject of Betta vases these past few years that there are still people selling them! How can it not be illegal to treat animals this badly? Why doesn't she just sell vases with plants and forget putting a live creature in there to suffer?
This woman claims to be a Christian yet I doubt God intended for us to use animals as decorations and let them suffer. Animals are God's gift to us to be cherished and taken care of! Putting them in a tall thin tube is not very Christian!

 

It doesn't surprise me one bit about what she's doing. It should surprise all you people either. People have been doing this for years, why should it be different now. People today care more about money then they do about any living creature, ya'll know that. I doubt anything you say will change her mind.

 

I know but at least I'll have felt like I did something about it, although indeed I'd be very surprised if she had some kind of a revelation. Do you know what? We should start our own company selling betta palaces, and put her out of business! Dreaming here.

 

I know but at least I'll have felt like I did something about it, although indeed I'd be very surprised if she had some kind of a revelation. Do you know what? We should start our own company selling betta palaces, and put her out of business! Dreaming here.

Don't hurt yourself thinkin to much about it


j/k

 

Well as long as I do something about it, no hurt, you know. I would feel bad just letting it slip. I know there's very little chance it makes a difference, but what harm does it do.

 

Well, you could use your time wisely, by buying 1 of her vases, when you get it, just crack it. Then, send it back for a refund!!!!

 

that wouldnt do a thing..shed just make a new one to replace it.

 

yea.. maybe it's in 2nd Genesis or something where the commandment to abuse animals is.

 

Well I very nearly got thrown out of a Petco in Lincoln for daring to argue with a saleperson that the bettas that they sold there had never seen a mud puddle and that she was crazy to tell those who wanted to buy them that they could survive in the little tanks and do just fine. Of course, she had had a potential customer there and I chased them off in a hurry and this just made the situation worse, but to "rescue" a betta into one of the "tanks" she was promoting was like waving a red flag in front of my face. Perhaps I should have let the sale take place and then hope the person would have found a place like Fishlore to learn from but it was just more than I could take at the moment.

Needless to say, I never did get a salesperson to help me buy the fish I wanted so I left.

Rose

 

Well I very nearly got thrown out of a Petco in Lincoln for daring to argue with a saleperson that the bettas that they sold there had never seen a mud puddle and that she was crazy to tell those who wanted to buy them that they could survive in the little tanks and do just fine. Of course, she had had a potential customer there and I chased them off in a hurry and this just made the situation worse, but to "rescue" a betta into one of the "tanks" she was promoting was like waving a red flag in front of my face. Perhaps I should have let the sale take place and then hope the person would have found a place like Fishlore to learn from but it was just more than I could take at the moment.

Needless to say, I never did get a salesperson to help me buy the fish I wanted so I left.

Rose

Wow. I'd just love to see someone escort me out of a pet store for being smarter than their clerks. That would soo make my day.

 

LOL.. way to go Rose! It's great to raise a ruckus at Deathco! I think any of us would do the same in that situation. it takes all our self-control to not just start smashing those little prison cells.

 

Well I also just wrote her and gave her a small lesson about them. Hopefully she will think about what she's actually doing to these poor delicate fish. I really think that she's doing it though for a quick buck and doesn't really care about the fish at all. I really can't stand people like that. It'll be real interesting if she comes on fishlore and reads about them and hears about all of our stories about them. maybe if she does she will have a change of heart. Natalie

 

Well the care section on that site was so utterly WRONG I couldn't decide whether I should be cussing or laughing. Some "Christian". Good grief, what an idiot. That makes me really mad. >

Hey Rose, somehow I can't quite imagine you being almost thrown out of a store. ;D Good for you. I'll have to try it next time I go to Deathco. ;D

 

to deathco. yea, it's sad when someone is ignorant or doesn't care about proper care of a living, feeling animal.

 

I was doing some "surfing" tonight and found this site. I am thinking this is a fun way to get the message out. Hope the link works. Val

 

great link!

 

I want one of those shirts!!!! Thanks for the link.
Boy would I get some funny looks for wearing a shirt like that around school. ;D
Who cares, I'm used to funny looks. :

 

yea.. funny looks from kids who paid like 10x as much to advertise for a store on their clothes.

 

yea.. funny looks from kids who paid like 10x as much to advertise for a store on their clothes.

ROFL x2

what a great society we live in.

 

I found a bumper sticker on that sight that says " Get out of my Way, Betta Rescuer aboard". That cracked me up. I want one! Val

 

I found a bumper sticker on that sight that says " Get out of my Way, Betta Rescuer aboard". That cracked me up. I want one! Val

lol.. that's a good one! ;D

 

I need that bumper sticker too!!

 

OK, they replied to my lette. Guys, please SPAM these guys with your opinions (please agree with me though)!

Check out how they spell litterature!

Here's their letter:

Dear ***,



I am sorry you feel this way.

We get most of our information about bettas from experience and library liturature.

If you had done a proper research about bettas you would have know a little more about the bettas' life.

We are licensed by the state, and have inspections and they know about us and what we do.

Sincerely,

bettafish.net

 

they're so full of it.. the state would license anything and couldn't care less about the welfare of fish. they haven't checked with liturature any more than they've checked a dictionary.

 

If you had done a proper research about bettas you would have know a little more about the bettas' life.

Wow very nervy... >

I would send her a bunch of links, everyone of which shows proper living conditions about bettas. Or maybe I would just write her off as a lost cause concerned more with money than with living creatures.

 

If you had done a proper research about bettas you would have know a little more about the bettas' life.

Wow very nervy... >

I would send her a bunch of links, everyone of which shows proper living conditions about bettas. Or maybe I would just write her off as a lost cause concerned more with money than with living creatures.

i'd vote for lost cause.. her desire to make money at the expense of suffering bettas is obvious.