Where do you buy your Bettas? Do you trust them?

These are questions for ALL you Betta lovers, but especially those of you who buy them online:
Where do you buy your Bettas? Do you trust them? How healthy are your Bettas? How long have they lived?

I think I can find room for one more betta tank in my home, and was really just curious.
(Also, what do you feed your Betta Babies?)

S.

 

I have never bought my bettas online, but I have been curious about that too!! I'm not sure if I'd ever do it or not, just curious!


I always buy mine at the LFS. I have quite a few near me that have bettas so I just go around until I find the healthiest looking one(s)!


I feed my Lilex HikarI Bio-Gold Betta Pellets. I started using this kind because it was the best deal for my money but I have really noticed a difference in his color!! He seems to like them better too! I don't think I'll ever use anything else!! (In the past I've used Tetra BettaMin Tropical Medley - flakes that Lilex refused to eat and made Raspy constipated, Tetra Freezedried Bloodworms - Raspy LOVED them and Lilex refused to eat, and HBH Betta Bites & Treat - both of the boys enjoyed those!)

;D ;D ;D ;D

 

I've never bought off the internet, either. I'm curious, too.... may try it one day, if I see one I simply must have and can afford the shipping.
I feed my Boys a variety of foods: Aqua Culture Betta Pellets as a staple, freeze dried bloodworms once or twice a week as a treat, frozen brine shrip enhanced with spirulina once or twice a week (not the same days as the bloodworms), and I know they all get a bit of the food for the snails, simply because they can't help but sample anything that's dropped in their tanks. Myst also gets some flake food sometimes, but only because that's what the other fish in the tank eat. I usually try to feed him his pellets first, so that he is preoccupied while I feed the others. He rarely abandons his food for the other, and the other fish seem to prefer the flakes.
Of course, there's also the bi-weekly pea treat. If the Bettas don't eat it all, I know the snails and otos will.

S.

 

ALL of my Bettas came off of eBay from different breeders and I have a favorite one who is very reasonable and was the one who sent me Marty.  He came from New York in the middle of the worst blizzard of the year and is supremely healthy and about 8 months old.  None of my babies is a year old yet as I buy them all as babies and raise them from little ones of about 3 months.  There have been a wide range of cost and shipping charges and Marty was the most reasonable at I believe $4.00 plus about $8.00 shipping.  That is cheap if you look around.  Then there was the girls - Sara, Jasmyn, and Emma who came from the same place in California and with the cost of shipping and price of the fish the total was $75.00 for the 3 fish.  Then of course there was my little love Alexander and being a Super Delta I paid more for him and (don't stop breathing here) ended up with a bill of $41.00 for the fish and $25.00 shipping and he came from Florida.  My favorite breeder is the gentleman in New York and I got not only Marty but Noel from him.  I do not blame the quality of Noel on his death.  He had been a perfectly healthy fish and I still believe there was a freak infection of some type that caused his death.  He has lovely fish and will work with a person to get them what they want as much as is possible.  He does pretty much specialize in Crowntails and will send very young fish if requested.  I am sending pictures of both of my boys as they were when I first got them.  He also advertises on eBay (plants) and occasionally fish.  That is how I first met him.  I will be glad to pass along the information:

His eBay ID is:  mikeswetpets - he will not be showing anything on eBay for a couple weeks as he is having surgery.

His e-mail is: 

My bettas are fed according to the following as of right now:  Breakfast and Dinner:  Marty and the girls get OmegaOne Freeze Dried Bloodworms and help themselves to some of the snail HikarI Crab Cuisine I know but I do not know to prevent this.  Lunch:  HikarI Freeze Dried Daphnia a pinch every day to prevent constipation.
Alexander:  Breakfast and Dinner  HikarI Betta Bio-gold pellets or Ocean Nutrition Atison's Betta Pro Pellets (Small Betta Food)  Lunch HikarI Freeze dried Daphnia a pince to prevent constipation  and the aforementioned HikarI Crab Cuisine  (the bettas love the stuff and I do not know how to keep them away from it.)  Alex gets a little more food than the others because as the baby of the family he is still really growing and needs an extra pellet for his meal.  But I feed half the meal then give him the other half in about 30 minutes.

Rose

 

Forgot to post the pix. Here they are:

The first one is Noel when I first got him from New York (mikeswetpets)

The next one is Marty when I first got him from New York (mikeswetpets)

the third one is Misty when I first got here from Texas (emiad)

the fourth one is Emma, Jasmyn, and Sara when they first came from California (petbetta)

and of course the last one is my little Alex from Florida (miamiaquariums)

 

Rose, you forgot Azul
well bruce came from a petsmart only be cause the had their fish in bigger containers his diet is hikitarI bio gold in the morning and evenings with the ocasional subbstitution of freaze dried blood worms (he also steals the corys food some times)

 

No, I didn't forget Azul as he was not purchased over the internet but here he is.

Azul was my first baby both Betta and fish. He was purchased in July of 2005 at Walmart and lived for a while in one of the dreaded 1 gallon tanks and had to cycle his own tank and was so mistreated by his ignorant mother. He lived with me and tried to tell me of his needs everyday for a few months before I found Fishlore.com and Gunnie and Butterfly and a whole bunch of other kind and generous people who helped me to keep my baby alive until January when he died of Dropsy. :'( I mourn him yet.

Rose
:'(

 

Rose,
All your fish, past and present, are so beautiful! Don't beat yourself up over Azul. You say "dreaded 1 gallon tank"....... but it was definitely better than a one- or two-cup bowl of dirty water! I'm sure he lived a much longer and better life with you than he would have! (go to Walmart, Meijer or another chain store and look at the sick or dying Bettas in the cups and bowls.....)
You have lovely fin-kids, and have so much wisdom to share with the rest of us! I am certainly glad you are here.

S.

 

AMEN!!!!!

 

Thank you for the compliments, but I was not "fishing for compliments", but rather trying to let you all know that I have made some errors in my little ones lives too and that there is no one here who hasn't had their failures and disappointments. I agree that the one gallon tank is better than the dirty cup, but I wish we could educate folks that rather than to ask the fish to live in the "half-way house" bowl or small tank, just to wait until you can get the home your baby will deserve before you buy the fish. There would be so many fewer disappointed owners and heartbreaks because the fish are not healthy. I get on my soapbox every so often and forget that I am trampling all over someone else's post. Sorry.

Rose
:-[

 

well rose i'm glad to hear that i'm not the only fool who kept their betta in a 1 gallon cup and then upgraded later it is bad to make ur betta live in a half way house but if it is well taken care it is more like a hotel 6 then when u get ur big tank its like living in an entire apartment complex that is probly the best way to say it however they should start out in the 5-10 gallon tanks they are so much more active and then if u get them some little buddies to pick on the entertainment never ends

btw fish r friends, how do u keep ur betta from becoming constipated from eating the other fishes food? ??? thanx
brent


PS sunnshadow I appoligize for stealing ur thread but when I read it I felt the need to comment and ask a few questions sorry

brent

 

I initially got a bowl with a betta that I called Franz Ferdinand, and he lived two years and then died. I had no idea about all the care you could give bettas, though I did feed him carefully,kept his bowl as clean as I could...not always, I do confess it. However he was healthy pretty much all that time and was a nice looking, 'classic' dark blue betta.

Then I got a 5 g tank with Darth Pisces in it along with two corys. They all died of a fungal disease, which horrified me. I came to really like him and felt really bad for how he died, such a disgusting and painful looking death in spite of my attempts at medication and changing water and all.

Finally, I have my 10 gallon with Rusty and his friends in it. So far I think I've had them for about 3 months now. I've had one cory die but that's it, and I'm not sure if it was finrot or Rusty taking a chunk out of his caudal fin.

I got all of these at petsmart. I initially wasn't going to get a betta again, I'd found myself too sad at Darth's death, but I happened to look among some of the little cups of bettas just out of curiousity, and most looked sad, some old, some just gravely sitting there, but there was this one that was wriggling about, and looking at me. He wasn't the nicest looking...in fact he is some sort of cross and has a funny looking tail. He looked healthy and curious, and I found myself buying him just because I didn't like the idea of him turning out like the others. I'm glad I have him, he has a lot of personality, swims all over his tank and is greedy as a pig.

Petsmart is not a bad place, but it hires all kinds of people, from fish lovers to people who sort of know that fish have fins and live in water. You have to know what you're doing before you go in and not expect that you'll get a lot of info save on pricing and what is available in the store. They certainly have a good variety and you can get most kinds of equipment there, they often have sales on stuff.

 

I will have to say that the only PetSmart I have been into had a better set-up than a lot of LFS that I have seen. They were clean and their fish were at least in CLEAN cups. Poe, Darth had a good life with you and you cared for him very much. He would be so glad that you have Rusty and are getting along so well with him. Rusty is a true success story and all you have to do is remember what he had to look forward to by remembering the others there in the cups. I wish I was as courageous as most of you in buying at the LFS or chain stores and rescuing these lovely fish. I just found that I was chicken hearted when I saw the poor quality situation and was too afraid to take the chance.

Rose

 

I have to say that I prefer buying Bettas at a LFS or even occasionally Walmart or Meijer. Then I can see the fish swimming (as best they can) and kind of get an idea on how they react to me. Like Myst, for example. He was the only one who went to the top of his bowl when I passed my hand over it, and he didn't freak out when I put my hand by his bowl, but calmly, if suspiciously, checked me out. Yesterday he let me pet him. Not the slight touch with him darting off, but my finger gently stroking him from head to tail, and then he wiggled against me before he swam away. Today he let me gently nudge him out of the way while I was rearranging some plants. He nudged back at first, as though either telling me that it was his space, and he wasn't moving, or maybe he was playing with me..... not sure yet.
Anyway.... what I'm trying to say is, while I'd like to buy from the internet, I would hate not seeing the fish and their "personality" first-hand. Would I have gotten a sweet little guy like Myst? Or an independent, vain guy like Draco? Not that I don't adore Draco, I do! He is on my desk flaring at me right now, and I don't think he'd be happy anywhere else. Obviously, he was not happy in the 20 gallon, but he truly seems to enjoy showing me who's boss and flaring his little chin at me.

S.

 

Ok, so I'm confused. Is petco/petsmart an ok place to get betta? Because I've been told countless times not to buy fish from the chain stores, but I sometimes see people on the forum buying their betta at places like walmart/petco/petsmart.

Why is that? This is simple curiosity. I have a lfs that sells betta at good prices, so I'm going to purchase there, but if I can't find one I like should I just go to petco?

 

I got my betta from Petco but I didn't know about my LFS then so in the future I will be getting from them instead.
It's ok to get bettas from petco/petsmart but I personally would prefer to get them from a store that treats them better.

 

I got my betta from Petco but I didn't know about my LFS then so in the future I will be getting from them instead.
It's ok to get bettas from petco/petsmart but I personally would prefer to get them from a store that treats them better.

Me too. Whenever I go to Petco to pick something up, I always check out the bettas. The water is always kind of dirty, and some of the fish look a little worse for wear. So I guess it's kind of a situation where if you can't get them anywhere else you should get them at Petco, right?

 

I go to my local fish store That Fish Place. they have hundreds of tanks. The bettas they have are all in big containers, or in 29 gallon tanks were they sell the plants out of. I never ever but from Petco.or PetSmart. There bettas always seem to look unhealthy. I can't give my money to a store that has such little respect for animals.

 

My closest fish store is a petco which is an hour away. 2 hours from me is a petsmart. So I get all my fish from petco. All things considered they seem to take ok care of the fish.

 

Ok, so I'm confused. Is petco/petsmart an ok place to get betta? Because I've been told countless times not to buy fish from the chain stores, but I sometimes see people on the forum buying their betta at places like walmart/petco/petsmart.

Why is that? This is simple curiosity. I have a lfs that sells betta at good prices, so I'm going to purchase there, but if I can't find one I like should I just go to petco?

Because of 2 main reasons.
1.) They usually don't take good care of their fish, including the bettas, they're more often than not riddled with diseases and parasites which'll be passed onto your other fish
2.) Because it puts money in their pocket and continues the mistreatment of their bettas. When people "rescue" bettas from big chains, they're usually doing more harm than good.

 

I get all of my Bettas from my local PetSmart. Their fish, or at least their Bettas, always are active and healthy, with clean water. My local LFS has decent Bettas, but they're overpriced (in my opinion) and aren't kept in much better conditions than the ones at PetSmart. And since PetSmart is closer and cheaper, I tend to buy from them more often.

 

I go to my local fish store That Fish Place. they have hundreds of tanks. The bettas they have are all in big containers, or in 29 gallon tanks were they sell the plants out of. I never ever but from Petco.or PetSmart. There bettas always seem to look unhealthy. I can't give my money to a store that has such little respect for animals.

Is that in Lancaster PA? I was considering going there for a betta, but wasn't sure of the conditions they were kept him. Do you know if the selection is a good quality selection, and if the price is too bad?

 

that's one place I have always wanted to go to but just haven't made it yet.

 

Yeah, I have always wanted to go their too, but I can never seem to get there, as it is almost 2 hours away.

 

Its a little over 2 hours from me. I have traveled farther for stupider reasons. Lol

 

I spend hours in That Fish Place!! Lol they are relatively knowledgeable and they have a wonderful selection!! I would say go!!!

 

Is that in Lancaster PA? I was considering going there for a betta, but wasn't sure of the conditions they were kept him. Do you know if the selection is a good quality selection, and if the price is too bad?

I go there for all my fish. I mean from what I've seen, they have some really really pretty bettas. Every now and again I see a koi betta or some other really nice ones. most are crowntail, dragon scale, and whatever the other common ones are. There's a bunch. I got mine here, he has purple blue, red, orange, almost black and white all in metallic shades. I believe they do change the bettas water unlike say PetSmart or whatever. Prices are usually between $4-$25. The people do a good job giving customers advice. If you want to buy fish that may not be compatible with other fish, they will straight up tell you the truth and whether or not its a good choice. Huge selection of fish. Saltwater,pond fish, African cichlids, American cichlids,and crazy amount of community fish. also for aquarium equipment etc, you'll find some really good prices.

 

If I told them my stocking I bet they wouldn't sell me fish. Lol

 

If I told them my stocking I bet they wouldn't sell me fish. Lol

I mean if you want a particular fish they'll sell it to you. But if your tank is for whatever reason incompatible with some other fish, they will advise against it.

 

I go to my local fish store That Fish Place. they have hundreds of tanks. The bettas they have are all in big containers, or in 29 gallon tanks were they sell the plants out of. I never ever but from Petco.or PetSmart. There bettas always seem to look unhealthy. I can't give my money to a store that has such little respect for animals.

I got my betta at Walmart cuz they had stopped shipping live fish due to freezing temps country wide about 6 weeks ago. He was gorgeous and bigger than the other 4 they had. I just had to have him... And last week when I was looking for stuff to go in his new tank.... I saw three DEAD BETTA fish at PetSmart... Where obviously they had just gotten in a huge shipment. I'm happy I got my boy... Less than $5 at Walmart!