Help me convince my dad please!

My sister recently got a betta. She put in in a 0.5 gallon tank without a filter or heater and loves it. My dad is being stubborn and won't believe me when I say it's cruel. I gave him an analogy of being stuck in a bathroom for the rest of your life, but nothing is working. Can you guys give me some info on what to say or show him? I'll get some pics of the betta when I get home.

Edit: forgot to mention. He wants to get my cousin another betta with another 0.5 gallon non filtered tank. I'm really worried. I feel bad because when I was young, I kept a betta in such a small tank for 5 years,

 

Use this

(Screenshot from Pinterest, I can post a link if you want)

 

There is tons of articles online you could probably find.
You can bring into light that (depending on your sisters age) she'll be upset if it dies. I always use the analogy of a large dog like a german Shepard in a chiwawa cage.

 

Made a small breakthrough. Convinced my dad to get my cousin a 2 gallon with a filter, and a light.

Use this

(Screenshot from Pinterest, I can post a link if you want)

I kid you not, he freaking said "yeah that's perfectly okay. Can we put a cat in a box?"

 

Why's he so opposed?

 

Why's he so opposed?

I have no idea. It's not like it's super expensive. I saw a 2.5 gallon for like 20 bucks that includes a filter and led.

 

You got a result. Well done. Stay positive!

 

You got a result. Well done. Stay positive!

I am just so sad looking at my sisters betta.

 

Age = Knowledge

Apparently.

 

Age = Knowledge

Apparently.

So he thinks...

 

You gotta understand that some people think that all you have to do is put a fish in a tank, add water and you are good to go. It's worse for Bettas when stores displays them in those small jars. It makes people think that's all they need. Some people will never understand how hard it is to fish keeping, its more about science and water than about the fish themselves. My wife is now realizing that it's wrong after having her Betta, now she wants to save every one she sees.
At least your Dad did do something more for the Betta.

 

You gotta understand that some people think that all you have to do is put a fish in a tank, add water and you are good to go. It's worse for Bettas when stores displays them in those small jars. It makes people think that's all they need. Some people will never understand how hard it is to fish keeping, its more about science and water than about the fish themselves. My wife is now realizing that it's wrong after having her Betta, now she wants to save every one she sees.
At least your Dad did do something more for the Betta.

No, just for the future betta. He is keeping my sisters in the 0.5 gallon.

 

Here's the little guy ;(

 

I don't know if I can help you get your dad to understand, but I think I can help you understand your dad a bit.

Your dad is probably around my age, so that means his knowledge is old school. Which means in the 80's and early 90's, it was just fine to toss a gold fish in a large brandy sniffer with some dechlorinate water and all would be well, to now that is considered inhumane. So past sets precedence, because these fish just lived just fine back then in these kinds of conditions. Now fast forward 20 plus years and over half of what we learned from our parents and pet shops are wrong. No one wants to be that wrong unless it is done by choice like I'm doing now.

Now how to get him to change? I have no clue. You could try giving him facts such as life span in a half gallon vs a 5 gallon. Using also money saved in replacing the fish every time it dies will be cut and food cost would be less then the replacement of the fish.

Another suggestion is, (not knowing your age or life style this could be out of line), buying another tank yourself.

Old school is strong in him it is.

 

I don't know if I can help you get your dad to understand, but I think I can help you understand your dad a bit.

Your dad is probably around my age, so that means his knowledge is old school. Which means in the 80's and early 90's, it was just fine to toss a gold fish in a large brandy sniffer with some dechlorinate water and all would be well, to now that is considered inhumane. So past sets precedence, because these fish just lived just fine back then in these kinds of conditions. Now fast forward 20 plus years and over half of what we learned from our parents and pet shops are wrong. No one wants to be that wrong unless it is done by choice like I'm doing now.

Now how to get him to change? I have no clue. You could try giving him facts such as life span in a half gallon vs a 5 gallon. Using also money saved in replacing the fish every time it dies will be cut and food cost would be less then the replacement of the fish.

Another suggestion is, (not knowing your age or life style this could be out of line), buying another tank yourself.

Old school is strong in him it is.

I don't know how you did it. But you just described my dad. I'm 14, (not able to buy another tank by myself). I can't use that point because I had a betta live in that same bowl when I was young love for 5 years, way past the lifespan of a normal beta...

 

I don't understand how he isn't enough of an adult to see that if he's not going to provide properly for it that he shouldn't get it in the first place. Seems like a pretty simple thing to me.

 

I don't know how you did it. But you just described my dad. I'm 14, (not able to buy another tank by myself). I can't use that point because I had a betta live in that same bowl when I was young love for 5 years, way past the lifespan of a normal beta...

In all my research, and there is a lot I've done, your Betta lived longer then it should have in that tank. Normally will last about 2 to 3 years if lucky. Also in my research, Bettas can live for over 10 years in a large tank well maintained. And there is some that have made it past the 15 year mark in 10g. So if your pushing for it to be moved to a 5g, use those facts that I've found all over the net. 7 bucks for the fish to die in 2 years, then replacing every time will equal 21 bucks or more in the same time span the fish could live in a 5 gallon tank with only food purchase at the cost of maybe 6 bucks. Not counting the buying the tank, prime, etc.

Hopefully that will help you out a bit.

 

I don't understand how he isn't enough of an adult to see that if he's not going to provide properly for it that he shouldn't get it in the first place. Seems like a pretty simple thing to me.

It's not really that Dovah. Let me see if I can explain better the mentality us older generation has.

Our parents learned it was on to keep a Betta in a small container, which was passed along to us. You know the old myths of the Betta, well where do you think we got it from? Our parents, and their parents before them. Well, this goes into the old moto, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" type thinking. It worked well for them, so it should be fine now. You also have to remember we only had the word of mouth. If the pet shop or fish store didn't tell you, you just plain don't know it. There was no internet to do searches, and what was the net back then was mainly business portfolios to get business or trade. Everything was local and by word of mouth. So you can't really fault him in his thinking. It worked back then and the fish lived x many years just fine in that bowl, I don't see why it needs a 5 gallon with a filter and heater. That's where he is at.

Now fast forward to today. There is a smorges borg of info on the net. Your able to research anything and gain great knowledge on any topic your hearts desire. It's now the matter of if he wants his parents and himself proven wrong. He's not being unreasonable IMHO, just stubborn to stick with his old knowledge. "If it wasn't broken back then, it sure ain't broken now"

 

Fish bowls are bad

Show him this.

 

It's not really that Dovah. Let me see if I can explain better the mentality us older generation has.

Our parents learned it was on to keep a Betta in a small container, which was passed along to us. You know the old myths of the Betta, well where do you think we got it from? Our parents, and their parents before them. Well, this goes into the old moto, "if it ain't broke don't fix it" type thinking. It worked well for them, so it should be fine now. You also have to remember we only had the word of mouth. If the pet shop or fish store didn't tell you, you just plain don't know it. There was no internet to do searches, and what was the net back then was mainly business portfolios to get business or trade. Everything was local and by word of mouth. So you can't really fault him in his thinking. It worked back then and the fish lived x many years just fine in that bowl, I don't see why it needs a 5 gallon with a filter and heater. That's where he is at.

Now fast forward to today. There is a smorges borg of info on the net. Your able to research anything and gain great knowledge on any topic your hearts desire. It's now the matter of if he wants his parents and himself proven wrong. He's not being unreasonable IMHO, just stubborn to stick with his old knowledge. "If it wasn't broken back then, it sure ain't broken now"

Willful ignorance in the attempt to not be seen as having done something wrong in the past is ridiculous. You'll be doing it wrong in the future, too.

 

I wouldn't be surprised that if you convinced your sister that her Betta needed a bigger tank she could convince daddy. You gotta be sneaky sometimes.

 

Willful ignorance in the attempt to not be seen as having done something wrong in the past is ridiculous. You'll be doing it wrong in the future, too.

And the Betta myth will continue as well, because even this generation of children are learning the same lessons I learned as a child from my parents. Trust me, before I started to do my searching to figure out why my son's Betta was dieing, I was still going by that old knowledge. Mine only changed in the past 2 months and I'm still learning that over half of what I was told was wrong. I'm fighting the same stigmatized knowledge in my husband right now trying to reset up my 29g. There is really no way to break the cycle in this type of thinking unless it is willfully changed.

 

...and don't forget a heater. They are tropical fish, after all.
BTW good for you for doing research and treating your animals with respect. I have to admit, as a kid, I kept bettas in pint jars for their entire (short) lives. I know better now through reading about all kinds of fish care. I wish I had know better then.

 

...and don't forget a heater. They are tropical fish, after all.
BTW good for you for doing research and treating your animals with respect. I have to admit, as a kid, I kept bettas in pint jars for their entire (short) lives. I know better now through reading about all kinds of fish care. I wish I had know better then.

Teehee You're not the only one. When I was a kid in 78, my mom bought me my fist fish tank. Was a 10 gallon with an under gravel filter, no heater, and was stocked with 2 angels, 6 neon tetras, and a red tail shark. That started my love for fish even though they didn't last long. If I knew then what I know now, I doubt I would of killed off so many fish and had better fish to sell back when I was breeding them in the mid and late 80's. Did a lot of breeding in 10 and 20 gallons.