Bettas Becoming A Touchy Subject

Hahaha! I totally would. I only have two tanks (they are causing me a lot of stress all the time) and my sister has two at college. My parents said we have already spent way too much money on them! I still want more though, because they are such rewarding pets. The only issue is one of my fish is sick and I don't have a quarantine tank, so I guess the downside of having a zoo is that it's hard to be able to keep spending money without causing issues because I doubt my parents are going to let me get another 20 gallon+ tank.

 

Those small tanks do work I know someone has had one doing well for about 3 years.

 

Yeah, for a betta that's perfectly fine! The issue is that it's a cichlid who needs around 40 gallons instead of my beautiful betta.

 

I see very few long term success stories with bettas in small tanks. They need room to swim and a small tank can't offer that.

Those small tanks do work I know someone has had one doing well for about 3 years.

 

Those small tanks do work I know someone has had one doing well for about 3 years.

It would be almost impossible to keep up with water changes. You would have to do a 100% every day for your fish to be happy.

 

Those small tanks do work I know someone has had one doing well for about 3 years.

Just because they don't die doesn't mean the conditions are good enough... bettas are pretty hardy but that's still not a very good excuse to keep em cooped up in a quart of water.

 

KakeHugs and Kamaile those are awesome ideas. I've always had ideas similar to you guys'. I've always wanted to start a "betta rescue." There are a few out there online, but they all seem to have closed down for one reason or another. Taking in the unwanted, sick and abused bettas out there and nursing them back to health has always appealed to me. And when I let them go into another home, one thing that would be very important to me is making sure of the conditions they'd be in once they left my care - I'd have the potential owners fill out an adoption application just like they do for dog and cat rescues.
I think fish matter just as much as any other animal and should be treated as such.

I think the issues with rescues online is shipping
No one wants to pay $15 to ship a $3 rescue fish who is already probably a year + old and you can buy at your own local store sadly ):
I like the idea of having a rescue betta area where people give up their bettas when they don't know what to do with them anymore and they can be "resold" with adoption papers. I know petsmart does that with adoptable bettas.

 

Adoption papers for fish???

 

Adoption papers for fish???

I would love that lol would it be like business card size to match the size of the fish?

 

Yeah, It says sign on the dotted line. You're like that's not dotted!?!

 

What is a dotted line? I don’t see one.

 

What is a dotted line? I don’t see one.

I think he meant if the paper were that small then the dotted line would look solid.

 

You know I kept bettas off and in for years the “wrong” way. I just didn’t know any better. Then I recently inherited a 10 gallon tank and decided I would get one but wanted to see if I could keep other fish with it before I did. Well then I learned a lot about them and how horribly I’d been keeping them. I was good about water changes but they never had the right amount of room or heaters. I feel so bad. But if someone had told me how to properly care for them I probably would’ve listened, because I’ve always tried to do right by all my pets. I think the fact they are presented in tiny cups is part of the problem. It makes it seem like they. Require very little.

 

Unfortunately with animals it's all about compartmentalizing. We want to save them all obviously, but at the same time we can't save them all. What we can do is focus on those who we can educate, and give our own pets the best we can to make up for the wrongs we cannot right.

 

Why don't they keep the bettas in larger tanks like the others???

 

I guess it's because it's cheaper and they can. I'm sure the large betta companies that have studied it a lot know that presenting them in those small cups will make them more likely to be kept in smaller tanks and die faster bringing in more business for the company.

 

Once while at a friends house I mentioned my betta fish and a friend of the friend that was also there immediately asked what I kept it in. I could see the fear written all over her face and the relief when I said "oh no don't worry he's in a heated, filtered, planted 10 gallon" was so beautiful. I think her exact words were "oh thank god." So, there is hope and (slowly) things are changing.
Another story, I had a roommate who's mom got a betta as a gift at work and kept him in a bowl on her desk. But I gently encouraged my roommate to mention how I kept my betta. Eventually the mom's betta got a little slower, and the mom got worried it was sick, and it got upgraded to a 2.5 gallon with a heater and a filter. You can't force people to change, but just sowing the seeds is enough. Put the idea in their head and eventually a lot of people will change their minds on their own.

 

I still have night mares how my DH's son's new wife's child treated her betta and murdered that poor creature....
Kyleaz

 

I have such a hard time whenever anyone brings up bettas. It feels like everyone around me has a betta and is taking care of it poorly. My cousin, for example, even though my father and myself have both tried to explain that a small vase with literally nothing but water in it was unsuitable for a fish, and that no, bettas don't like dirty water, is still keeping his betta in that tiny tiny case. They ridicule me for having 10 and 5gs for my bettas, saying "but our first betta live three years in a vase!" And "the pet store people said the smaller the better". I recently came into possession of a 2 gallon bowl (long story, it's what happens when you get a fish at a white elephant party at 10pm and have to go to wal-mart) that could hold a heater and a filter easily. I'm considering giving him the bowl, along with the heater and filter, for a late Christmas present. If they're not going to let go of the whole bowl idea, maybe they'll at least accept a bigger one. Then again, I might get yelled at about how crazy I am and how that's too much water for one fish. It's 50/50.

Tl;dr I'm happy to know that other people are as passionate about bettas as I am, and that other people have the same difficulty holding their tongues.

 

I have such a hard time whenever anyone brings up bettas. It feels like everyone around me has a betta and is taking care of it poorly. My cousin, for example, even though my father and myself have both tried to explain that a small vase with literally nothing but water in it was unsuitable for a fish, and that no, bettas don't like dirty water, is still keeping his betta in that tiny tiny case. They ridicule me for having 10 and 5gs for my bettas, saying "but our first betta live three years in a vase!" And "the pet store people said the smaller the better". I recently came into possession of a 2 gallon bowl (long story, it's what happens when you get a fish at a white elephant party at 10pm and have to go to wal-mart) that could hold a heater and a filter easily. I'm considering giving him the bowl, along with the heater and filter, for a late Christmas present. If they're not going to let go of the whole bowl idea, maybe they'll at least accept a bigger one. Then again, I might get yelled at about how crazy I am and how that's too much water for one fish. It's 50/50.

Tl;dr I'm happy to know that other people are as passionate about bettas as I am, and that other people have the same difficulty holding their tongues.

I honestly couldn't agree more. This off topic about bettas, but I feel the same way about hamsters. A lot of ignorant (not in a mean way) people house their hamsters in a Crittertrail, tiny tank, or a small bin cage. Dwarf hamsters, the ones I own, need at least 650 sq. in. of floor space which is equal to a 40 gallon breeder. It still gets me upset when I see people feed their hamster the wrong diet, wrong sized cage, and unsafe bedding. Petstores will say: But hamster like small cages! Me: No, they don't. Hamsters in the wild can travel miles each night, and a pitiful cage like a Crittertrail cannot offer that. I recommend 2000 sq. in. of floor space for a hamster to be "happy." Petstore: That's too big!

About bettas, Petco once told me that bettas can live in like a litre of water. A litre. I don't mind bowls at all, as long as their at least 2.5 gallons or larger. I'm against housing really any fish in a gallon bowl excluding shrimp or maybe snails (or baby fry, depending on the fish.) My biology teacher owned a large male Crowntail betta in a tiny 1 gal bowl, and it was always overfed (also fed the wrong food, and the enclosure was never cleaned like it should've been.) The poor guy died within a year.. I don't think she used water conditioner again when she FINALLY cleaned that bowl. I felt bad for not being firm with her about proper betta care..

I've housed bettas in vases before, terrible mistake. After finding this forum, my whole knowledge about fish have completley changed!

 

I just got a ton of grief as people visited over the holidays about all my betta boys in their individual heated & filtered tanks
Really kinda made me feel bad. And angry. & I got pretty defensive

 

I just got a ton of grief as people visited over the holidays about all my betta boys in their individual heated & filtered tanks
Really kinda made me feel bad. And angry. & I got pretty defensive

Good on you for getting defensive! It's the life of another animal, shouldn't we all try to give it the best life possible? I know my parents think I'm crazy for giving my betta a huge tank, but I'm sure he's not complaining lol

 

I just got a ton of grief as people visited over the holidays about all my betta boys in their individual heated & filtered tanks
Really kinda made me feel bad. And angry. & I got pretty defensive

Same. My family doesn't understand why I like bettas and why I have it in a huge tank when they can apparently live in bowls. So I get a lot of grief whenever I talk about it. They were so mad when I got my 5 gallon tank for just a betta or why I spend money on it

 

Same. My family doesn't understand why I like bettas and why I have it in a huge tank when they can apparently live in bowls. So I get a lot of grief whenever I talk about it. They were so mad when I got my 5 gallon tank for just a betta or why I spend money on it

Someone in my family told me to flush my betta down the toilet and get saltwater fish for my new 40 gal instead of a community with my betta in the tank. Like.. really? My betta lives in a 2.5 gal tank right now and he looks so depressed in there. I've spent as of now 300 dollars and counting to get him a better home so how dare they say flush him down the toilet. I get so much harsh comments whenever we have a gathering and they see some of my animals in such big enclosures.

 

Betta people are starting to remind me of crazy cat people

 

I never had a betta till recently. I was always told just one in a tiny tank or bowl and I could never do that to any fish. Once I learned the truth I kind of took it to the extreme but I had all the equipment any way. Lol

 

Someone in my family told me to flush my betta down the toilet and get saltwater fish for my new 40 gal instead of a community with my betta in the tank. Like.. really? My betta lives in a 2.5 gal tank right now and he looks so depressed in there. I've spent as of now 300 dollars and counting to get him a better home so how dare they say flush him down the toilet. I get so much harsh comments whenever we have a gathering and they see some of my animals in such big enclosures.

Ugh luckily I haven't been told to flush mine yet. I don't understand how anyone can say something like that to someone, it's drives me nuts lol. I've been told to get rid of mine and to get something else more interesting

 

I never had a betta till recently. I was always told just one in a tiny tank or bowl and I could never do that to any fish. Once I learned the truth I kind of took it to the extreme but I had all the equipment any way. Lol

Extreme is good especially if you have everything for it

 

I'm only up to 14. Probably going to get about 10 more. Then I think I'm done. Lol

 

Ugh luckily I haven't been told to flush mine yet. I don't understand how anyone can say something like that to someone, it's drives me nuts lol. I've been told to get rid of mine and to get something else more interesting

I get told to flush them every time I get a new rescue. It really makes me upset l o l. "It's just a $5 fish" is people's favorite reason. I don't care how much it cost, it's a living feeling creature!

 

Been meaning to find a place for this sticker...

 

Why don't they keep the bettas in larger tanks like the others???

Large companies don't care how long the bettas live for lots of reasons, they don't have the room to keep each betta in its own real tank, and they'd have to put so much more work into these "simple" fish...

 

I honestly couldn't agree more. This off topic about bettas, but I feel the same way about hamsters. A lot of ignorant (not in a mean way) people house their hamsters in a Crittertrail, tiny tank, or a small bin cage. Dwarf hamsters, the ones I own, need at least 650 sq. in. of floor space which is equal to a 40 gallon breeder. It still gets me upset when I see people feed their hamster the wrong diet, wrong sized cage, and unsafe bedding. Petstores will say: But hamster like small cages! Me: No, they don't. Hamsters in the wild can travel miles each night, and a pitiful cage like a Crittertrail cannot offer that. I recommend 2000 sq. in. of floor space for a hamster to be "happy." Petstore: That's too big!

About bettas, Petco once told me that bettas can live in like a litre of water. A litre. I don't mind bowls at all, as long as their at least 2.5 gallons or larger. I'm against housing really any fish in a gallon bowl excluding shrimp or maybe snails (or baby fry, depending on the fish.) My biology teacher owned a large male Crowntail betta in a tiny 1 gal bowl, and it was always overfed (also fed the wrong food, and the enclosure was never cleaned like it should've been.) The poor guy died within a year.. I don't think she used water conditioner again when she FINALLY cleaned that bowl. I felt bad for not being firm with her about proper betta care..

I've housed bettas in vases before, terrible mistake. After finding this forum, my whole knowledge about fish have completley changed!

Another one that kills me is rats. I haven't had a hamster since I was a kid, and (though she was better taken care of than most hamsters) she was not properly taken care of. Granted she was my first pet that was MINE...
I now keep rats, and my rats live in a huge bird cage with hammocks, toys, and litter boxes. They get fed a healthier and more varied diet than the majority of humans, they get play time, and yet I still feel bad that I don't give them enough. These animals should be able to RUN and they should have constant stimulation, and I can't give them either of those. I feel bad that I can't give my rats more, yet there are people that think they're perfectly fine in cages that are 1' x 1' eating pellets and living in an environment with nothing but dusty, dirty sawdust.
It is a lot like the betta thing. People think of rats as dirty creatures (which is wrong, my rats groom themselves more frequently than even my cats) and see that they live their full life expectancy in that tiny cage. And it breaks my heart.

 

I get told to flush them every time I get a new rescue. It really makes me upset l o l. "It's just a $5 fish" is people's favorite reason. I don't care how much it cost, it's a living feeling creature!

The actual flushing of a fish is also pretty upsetting. Can you imagine what it must feel like to be flushed down the toilet??? And yet people do it to live fish all the time. I do flush my fish, as I don't have a yard to bury them in yet, but I always either do it after they've passed or I properly euthanize them...

 

You could do what my daughter did. We found a little mouse in our bathtub so they put it in a 10 gallon tank. Daughter decided it need more room so we said well let it out. Meant outside but no she left it go in the house. Lol

 

Someone in my family told me to flush my betta down the toilet and get saltwater fish for my new 40 gal instead of a community with my betta in the tank. Like.. really? My betta lives in a 2.5 gal tank right now and he looks so depressed in there. I've spent as of now 300 dollars and counting to get him a better home so how dare they say flush him down the toilet. I get so much harsh comments whenever we have a gathering and they see some of my animals in such big enclosures.

I've never been told to flush my bettas (probably because anyone that thinks it knows I would tear into them for it) but people do think I'm crazy for having so many in such huge containers. The first time my mom care over and saw them she was upset because when I said I had so many bettas, she assumed I meant bettas in bowls...she doesn't think I should spend so much money on fish...

 

You could do what my daughter did. We found a little mouse in our bathtub so they put it in a 10 gallon tank. Daughter decided it need more room so we said well let it out. Meant outside but no she left it go in the house. Lol

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! Haha...I've had a couple mice get out in the house, and it scared me to death! Luckily my cats helped me find them. And my cats know that anything they find in the house is not for them to kill, so they just stalked them until I came and picked them up.

 

I am very lucky I think - my family and friends may not know much about fish in general (My uncle thinks he does but now that I'm older I'm not sure 3 wild-caught adult bluegill in a 55 gallon tank was the best decision he ever made) but they do know that if I have a pet I'm trying to do the best by it that I can, and while they may actually think I'm insane, they're not saying so where I can hear them. xD

The only exception to this is my mother-in-law, who heard about my Leviathan and showed me her betta in the 2.5 gallon tank. I'll give her this, the water was filtered and pristine and it wasn't a vase, but she didn't have a heater in it at all and told me that normally she kept two in there with a divider. Telling her how much better the fish would do in a larger tank netted me a lecture on how much older than me she is and she knew perfectly well that those little vases weren't sufficient but a gallon apiece was plenty and they'd done fine etc. You guys know the drill. But that's my mother-in-law, and this is so in character for her that I'd probably have fainted if she said anything else. She knows everything about EVERYTHING. I get the feeling that this is similar to the experiences most betta owners have and I'm grateful she's the only person in my life who is that way on this subject.

 

I am very lucky I think - my family and friends may not know much about fish in general (My uncle thinks he does but now that I'm older I'm not sure 3 wild-caught adult bluegill in a 55 gallon tank was the best decision he ever made) but they do know that if I have a pet I'm trying to do the best by it that I can, and while they may actually think I'm insane, they're not saying so where I can hear them. xD

The only exception to this is my mother-in-law, who heard about my Leviathan and showed me her betta in the 2.5 gallon tank. I'll give her this, the water was filtered and pristine and it wasn't a vase, but she didn't have a heater in it at all and told me that normally she kept two in there with a divider. Telling her how much better the fish would do in a larger tank netted me a lecture on how much older than me she is and she knew perfectly well that those little vases weren't sufficient but a gallon apiece was plenty and they'd done fine etc. You guys know the drill. But that's my mother-in-law, and this is so in character for her that I'd probably have fainted if she said anything else. She knows everything about EVERYTHING. I get the feeling that this is similar to the experiences most betta owners have and I'm grateful she's the only person in my life who is that way on this subject.

My family on my dad's side is exactly like that! Except that they think that unfiltered, unheated, quart-sized vases with filthy water is sufficient and that anything else is ridiculous and unnecessary. I'm scared to even bring up the nitrogen cycle lol. (My dad had them hide the betta when we came over for Christmas, but I still found it and I'm mad).

 

Having anxiety, I find I hard sometimes to tell someone (especially someone I’m friends with) that they’re doing everything wrong with their fish. It took me about 10 tries before I convinced my friend’s mom to move her goldfish out of an unfiltered, 3-gallon tank with insane levels of ammonia. Luckily, now that I’ve gotten through to her she is taking interest in the whole “fish keeping” thing and has moved them temporarily into a 20-gallon and will be relocating them to my pond in the spring.

But I haven’t had the same luck with everyone. I’ve been dropping hints to my neighbor that she needs to move her betta out of the tiny, unheated, unfiltered tank he’s in now. He seems super depressed. They even think he’s dead sometimes, he’s so inactive. At this point I don’t think there’s much of a point to talking to her, the betta is reaching the end of his lifespan. If she tries to stick a new one in that tank I’m really going to try and talk her into a bigger tank, I might even buy her one because it makes me sad every time I walk into her house and see him.

I get what a lot of you guys are saying, that sometimes it’s just tiring and annoying to try and talk everyone you meet into giving their fish a better life. But I think I’m going to continue doing it, no matter who it is or what their relationship to me is, because even if I save one fish I’m going to feel accomplished.