Saw some bettas in cups :-(

Just a bit of a vent. One of my birds sadly died in her sleep last night. I came in this morning and she was sitting in her nest with her eyes closed. It was a bit of a shock as I've had her for a few years and she was perfectly normal and bouncy yesterday, with no signs of illness.

Anyway, I went to a local family run pet store to pick up a new bird so the other one wouldn't feel lonely. I noticed that they sell fish too. The tanks were pretty average, and the baby goldfish were way overstocked. I had to point out a dead one to a staff member and saw another dying on my way out.

When I was paying at the counter I saw bettas in tiny cups and went over to have a closer look. It was a bit of a shock to me as I've only seen them available in divided filtered tanks in my local chain store, and I didn't think they were sold in cups in Australia.

Anyway, a few of them were practically comatose and one had really bad fin rot with its cup full of debris. I thought about taking it home to help it but not sure if it's good to support that kind of thing from pet stores. Sorry, just had to vent a bit!

 

Pretty common practice in the US. Either buy them here in the cups or order them for like $80 or more a piece once you figure in shipping.

 

It's a worldwide thing to keep bettas in small cups or other small housings. So, it's not just in Australia. This is something they do with more labyrinth fish. For they can stay in water that is poor in oxygen. But also in dirty water. But I do think that at the store you went to, the water hasn't been changed in a long while. It's still water. They can live in there but that goes only for a certain range of time. And you do need to do a water change.

 

One of the sadest things is that it doesn't have to be that way. It comes down to cost, imo.
Here's a store I like to visit even though it's quite a drive from me.


Skip to 16:28 to see how they keep their bettas (the store is super nice so the whole video is worth watching)

 

The weak condition of fish kept in stores like this is one reason you read so many threads about sick bettas.

 

It's a worldwide thing to keep bettas in small cups or other small housings. So, it's not just in Australia. This is something they do with more labyrinth fish. For they can stay in water that is poor in oxygen. But also in dirty water. But I do think that at the store you went to, the water hasn't been changed in a long while. It's still water. They can live in there but that goes only for a certain range of time. And you do need to do a water change.

I think that's the problem, yes. If the water was being changed regularly I could understand it more, but these ones were really bad condition. In the other pet stores here they are in tanks, not cups.