How Long Do Pet Stores Keep Bettas In Those Cups? What Maintenance Do They Do?

I went to my LFS for three weekends and I swear I saw the same betta three times in a row. It could be a different fish, but it got me curious. How long does Petsmart/Petco/etc keep betta fish in those cups and what kind of maintenance do they do on them?

How long can Betta even live in those cups?

 

I’ve heard that bettas can live in a muddy footprint for weeks, mainly because they breathe air, so not much maintenance is needed. A couple of the guys at my lfs said that if I had my betta in water and was feeding it once a day, I was doing almost everything right

Also, for all I know, the pet stores keep the bettas in those cramped cups from the time they are received to the time the are sold, or in some cases, die.

 

They keep them there until they are sold or they die. Maintenance usually consists of dumping the water and adding new stuff as often as once a day to maybe once a week or less. Considering people brag about how they can keep their betta alive for over a year in a flower vase, they live there until they die.

 

Some are better at changing the water than others. I asked at our petco and was told they change the water every other day except saturday and sunday. I would assume length wise till they are sold or die. Time frame I don't know.

 

The bettas remain in the cups until they are sold or die, I cannot say what the maintanence for petsmart is, but petco is supposed to do twice-weekly water changes (total changes), but they feed them way too much so it doesn't really do to good to have the water changes when they feed them enough for a community tank in a weeks time.
Betta don't live as long as they should in these cups because they are unfit environments and most get sick within the first month of being there.
Why a betta can survive in these conditions i'm not going to call it living, because it isn't. They should have the same treatment as other fish.

 

This gives me the perfect oppurtunity to use my new male, Legacy, as an example. He’s a Walmart betta I found last weekend. He’d clearly been there for a while and the employee just kept dumping food in his cup.

 

This gives me the perfect oppurtunity to use my new male, Legacy, as an example. He’s a Walmart betta I found last weekend. He’d clearly been there for a while and the employee just kept dumping food in his cup.

Impressive. Didn’t know you could max out the API kit. (Sarcasm if you can’t hear it)

 

Wow, my PetSmart/Petco feed one pellet every other day, and bi-weekly water changes. My fish I took for my Walmart, profile pic, I took his water to PetSmart and they asked if my fish were still alive. FROM A PETSMART who say 2.5 is normal for ammonia.

 

Impressive. Didn’t know you could max out the API kit. (Sarcasm if you can’t hear it)

Only time I’ve seen readings/water that bad, the fish were dead and had been for a while.

 

Only time I’ve seen readings/water that bad, the fish were dead and had been for a while.

Ya think?!

 

Ya think?!

I’m just glad I found him when I did.

 

I’m just glad I found him when I did.

No kidding... lucky guy. My boy was a pretty new one so he didn’t have to go though the same thing.

 

This gives me the perfect oppurtunity to use my new male, Legacy, as an example. He’s a Walmart betta I found last weekend. He’d clearly been there for a while and the employee just kept dumping food in his cup.

Poor guy! He's one lucky dude to have found you.

 

At my generic pet shops in the uk they keep betta's in heated filtered 4gal tanks, surprises me how some people can look at a living thing and say 'its fine its just a fish'
Makes me want to educate more shop owners and newbie fishkeepers on how fish actually don't have a lifespan of a few months and that you can't just put a fish in a unheated cup/tank, leave uneaten food in there and expect it to live long. May have to start redirecting people to this forum

 

Poor guy! He's one lucky dude to have found you.

He most certainly is! He’s going to be living out the rest of his days in a cycled 10 gallon with 80-82 degree water (transferred him from his old cycled 2.5 gallon with 77-78 degree water to the 10 gallon last night). I’ve been checking the water parameters constantly just to be sure as I want the best for him.

 

I'll bet he was confused when he got in that new home of his and I'll bet that new water felt wonderful.