From cup to healthy tank

With all the questions and comments about bettas lately, I thought I'd share Prissy's pics, what a difference a heated, filtered tank with lots of room to swim can do for a betta.

Before
She's in the bowl, just to get her out of the cup



In her 5 gallon a couple days later



After (In her 10g)

 

hey lucy, id love to use this thread as cup life and after if we could?

AMAZING transformation!

 

OMG Lucy, she looks so beautiful! I hope the betta I choose will enjoy his new home and recover like your prissy did!

 

Let's start a sticky thread and post before and after shots...That's a great idea Shawnie!

Lucy, I just LOVE Prissy!

 

hey lucy, id love to use this thread as cup life and after if we could?

AMAZING transformation!

Yes, of course Shawnie, I'd be honored.

OMG Lucy, she looks so beautiful! I hope the betta I choose will enjoy his new home and recover like your prissy did!

Thanks alessa, I have no doubt you'll give your new baby the best and will show you it's beauty in return.


Edit: Thank you Martinismommy! I'd love to see the difference in everyones bettas

 

What a difference! She is beautiful!

 

Well here are my before and after of Crystal. The 1st pic is her cup... that is after the water was diluted with tank water so is not quite as filthy as it was when I got her... the next is her right away in her new home...( clean water ohhh boy!!!) 3rd and 4th pix are her a few days later

 

These pix I just took of Crystal a few minutes ago.

 

Prissy sure did a transformation to...she is really one of the prettiest females I have ever seen...( oh sorry Crystal ...put your little fins over your ears...umm..if you have any...lol)

 

Prissy sure did a transformation to...she is really one of the prettiest females I have ever seen...( oh sorry Crystal ...put your little fins over your ears...umm..if you have any...lol)

Thank you, Crystal sure is a beauty.

 

She doesn't even look like the same fish!!! I am keeping my fingers crossed that my hubby is playing poker toinight, because if he is I am planning on going to rescue another little cup baby... >

 

Here's Crush the 1st day:



Crush now:



Dunn 1st day:



Dunn now:



Kix 1st day:



Kix now:



Lenox 1st day:



Lenox now:



Here is another example of what proper care can do...This is my boy Will after he gor chewed up by 2 tiger barbs (I didn't know any better in the old days)



Will now: Talk about fins growing back!



I'll post more later.....I think these are some excellent examples of the transformation that takes place after proper care is given...

 

Your betta are awesome, Martinismommy.

Mrsmuffin, I have plans my husband doesn't know about too. lol

 

Wow.

There is a very noticeable change in all of them! You can really see in all of the "before" pictures they are looking down, seem listless & pale, & in the "after" photos they look like little terrors! ;D Wonderful photos, thank you.

 

and as you can tell, even the plakat's as in mufasa's pic, they like the 5 gallons also

 

There is always a HUGE change from tank to cup... All the examples here show lovely Betta becoming even lovlier!

 

I'm tempted to take these posts and print them up in full colour... take them to PetCo and plaster them all over the betta torture racks... ah, I feel some animal rights vigilantism coming on...

 

I'm tempted to take these posts and print them up in full colour... take them to PetCo and plaster them all over the betta torture racks... ah, I feel some animal rights vigilantism coming on...

Go on! If they did cups in the UK (THANK GOD THEY DON'T!) I'd be so annoyed/sad/emotional. That's just the right sort of thing to help people realize how bad it is...

 

Someone in another post mentioned that their LFS had gone from cups to larger bowls. Not the best thing for the bettas in the world, but an improvement. It should be illegal to keep them in less than 1 gallon of water, even temporarily. This is a topic I get really steamed about, so I'll quit this post now...

 

unfortunately, betta's are always going to be around in those cups as its economical for business's to keep them that way...boycotting works mainly for our own sanity, not so much for them as many more come along to purchase them...my concern is the people around different forums that post about betta's and educating them...once they decide to get these lil guys home, and learn the proper way to care for them, that each of those betta's live healthy and happy..as well as other fish like goldies, and cichlids etc...or that person keeping 2 oscars in a 30 gallon (THAT WAS ME!!)..that's where our knowledge comes in good hands..on these forums

 

Shawnie, your finbabies are adorable, a fine example of what good care does foe them.

 

so are yours lucy ...they attach to our hearts and even after all the hard work to keep them looking spiffy, its well worth it isn't it

 

[...] my concern is the people around different forums that post about betta's and educating them...once they decide to get these lil guys home, and learn the proper way to care for them, that each of those betta's live healthy and happy[...]

I just gone done posting to another thread about the first fish I ever had... and confessed what horrible conditions I had kept him in (he was a betta... may he rest in peace.) I was 16 and terribly misinformed about how these wonderful and beautiful little creatures need to be cared for. I look back with no small amount of guilt for it.

I agree that education is the answer... people need to be informed about how to care for their fish, that is the most important thing. I just can't bring myself to take my business to companies that keep those little guys like that... I want to cry every time I see the wall of betta cups there. :'( It also helps to perpetuate the "mud puddle" myth that so many unfortunate-pet owners seem to be victims of...

 

I agree devon...but grrrrrrrrr I'm not that strong...today was the first time I went into walmart and DIDNT go near the fish...and god knows ive been to walmart ALOT ...My bf even said ill meet you in the fish section..I said NOPE I refuse because I know I have NOOOOOOOOO willpower...even tho that vicious cycle is in my mind, I have 9 betta boys and just really no more room without another tank..and id have done both if I went there ...so I'm patting myself on the back and whispering a soft "sorry boys" because I might be learning just a lil bit of willpower lol

 

My new LFS, post-move, actually keeps the bettas in those floating plastic boxes in the tops of the tanks, so though the bettas don't have much more room than the did in cups, at least they benefit from the filters and get some water movement without it being overwhelming for them. I was very happy to see this A few actually had tanks of their own, if whatever was in that tank before was out of stock for the time being.

Anyway, Hollywood fresh out of the cup:



Now:

 

Wow Shaina he is a beauty for sure!! What a wonderful colour combination he has.

 

hollywoods name certainly fits him!! such a great transformation

 

Thanks guys I set up his 10 gal on its iron stand right next to my computer desk now...he seems to like seeing what's going on all the time

When I got him, it was mostly just because I had an empty 10 gallon and he had a look about him...hard to explain I suppose. I never expected him to turn out so handsome...

 

I set up his 10 gal on its iron stand right next to my computer desk now...he seems to like seeing what's going on all the time

They love to be wherever you are at most. I put David Bowie's 6.6 gallon on my desk too, so he's right next to me there. We play this little game where if he's sleeping behind the bubbles when I come home, I try to see how close I can sneak to the tank before he hears me and comes swimming up for attention... and dinner. ;D That little boy has some sharp hearing, let me tell you!! He almost always catches me before I get to sit down at the desk.

 

Wow Shaina, Hollywood, she fattened up nicely, what a beauty!

 

sometimes the change is not due to the difference in care but just them growing up and being more filled out. Here was my boy Alexander when I got him and he was well cared for when I bought him and until he arrived but then what he looked like when he got to be a "big boy" (I got them turned around the first one is him when he got full grown)

Rose

 

that boy is some blue and handsome !!!! don't think ive seen that much dark blue on one before...all of mine were from the care, as its only been a few months...unless they grow that fast? ..what is a betta's growth rate ?

I don't think ive ever owned a betta who had great care prior...I'm not sure to be honest, if they did, id own them...maybe that's shallow of me, but my "pitty" streak is too big to not take over the "just because I have to have them" streak..I only have one betta because I wanted him...

 

Rose.....Alexander was a VERY handsome boy...

 

Yup thank god theyren ot in cups in the UK, at my local fish stores they are always in the tanks with the livebearers!
Ive liked bettas for ages, would love to have one, but my mum won't let me have anymore tanks rofl

 

I am limited as I do not have the ability to go to the pet stores so I have only owned one betta who did not come from an online source. I am disabled and do not have the transportation to get to the pet stores so I cannot really rescue bettas as some of you do. I really applaud you for doing it but if I did not purchase bettas the way I did I would not have bettas. Since I pay so much for them I make myself go to the best sources I can find. I made a dreadful mistake not long ago and bought from a vendor who was selling for the first time on aquabid and while I loved Marty very much, he showed that he was not the quality betta that I paid for. The breeder I bought him from has issues with his bettas and I sincerely pray that he does not breed and sell anymore bettas as they are not good bettas and are not healthy. But for the most part the bettas I buy this way are healthy and happy little guys that are loving and well cared for.
I wish this was not so shallow but when you start out paying $35 to $65 for a betta I think you have a right to buy one that has been taken care of. If I could go to the pet store and purchase a rescue betta I would be happy to, but this is not an option for me.

Rose

 

I wish we lived closer!!!!!!!! now that all my girls are just about grown and gone, id love to be near and go on shopping spree's!!

I have a neighbor who just started getting out of the house as shes totally wheelchair bound..and she thinks it was a pain to ask anyone to help her get out..well one day walking my massive chi, and his noisey mouth started at her poor cat, she was on the porch hollaring..that's how we met...now I make her go out with me at least once every other week as I don't wanna be that pushy and upset her life and lifestyle, but we load it all in the car, and I make her hubby help me with her then off to the stores we go..,,I think now she looks forward to it..either that or I'm to proud to admit she might not like it and is doing it to please me...either way, I love seeing her face when its time to just get out for a ride or whatever...

 

I don't know...

with all of these posts about being it "good" or "bad" to buy cup boys... I don't know anymore if I should rescue a betta or get it from a respectable place where they keep them in good condition... (sigh).

 

Wow Shaina, Hollywood, she fattened up nicely, what a beauty!

Thanks

sometimes the change is not due to the difference in care but just them growing up and being more filled out.

I suspect mine was a combination. Looks-wise, most of his change was growing up and maturing I think; I suspect he was quite young when I got him. Behaviorally, (which you can't see in pictures of course) he changed for the better as soon as he adjusted to having space, clean water, good food, and lots of attention.

 

Well done Lucy!!!

 

Here's Crush the 1st day:



Crush now:



Dunn 1st day:



Dunn now:



Kix 1st day:



Kix now:



Lenox 1st day:



Lenox now:



Here is another example of what proper care can do...This is my boy Will after he gor chewed up by 2 tiger barbs (I didn't know any better in the old days)



Will now: Talk about fins growing back!



I'll post more later.....I think these are some excellent examples of the transformation that takes place after proper care is given...

Karen......
I think you're giving those betta boys STEROIDS!!!!!!!!

Geez they're HOT!!!!

Nice job everyone on the "CUP KIDS" Makeovers!!!

EXTREME MAKEOVERS for sure....we need to have our own show on animal planet.