A Betta Rescuers Rant!

[Knox213]

i have a budget of £50. ( around $100 )

for my fish tank. I Spelt £100 ( approx $200 ) On a Rio 180.

 

[Amberleaf]

(How many gallons is a Rio 180? And, btw; only around $50-$70 worth of that stuff was for me. XD)

 

[Knox213]

48 UK Gallons I Will proberly divide it when i get my Rio 400 ( I Hope XD! )

 

[Amberleaf]

I don't know anything about how many gallons and things these tanks with all these fancy numbers after them are, all right?!

I mean, seriously; at Big Al's they have names like, "Tetra Starter Kit 10," for 10 gallon tanks and otherwise. ^-^;

That's roughly.... 57.6 US gallons, right? XD If UK gals are Imp gals. (Just checked the calculator. XD)

I got my 55-gallon tank for $100 with fish and gravel and some ornaments!! And of course, then we spent over $300 on other accessories for the #41#### thing. XD

 

[Honeythorn]

Many male bettas actually get pretty stressed out in large tanks. Everyone thinks they're being wonderful by providing their betta with a 10gal or larger tank, but in reality male bettas have a natural instinct to patrol their territory and having a large tank to patrol doesn't give the betta a lot of time to rest because they are constantly guarding such a large space. This can cause them to get very stressed out. I feel that the perfect tank size for a betta is between 2.5 - 5 gallons.

10 gallons is a small space. It's a small tank basic fact. And it's nowhere near "too big" for a betta. Effectively no space is too big if the tank is set up properly to begin with.

As stated the tank hould be heavily planted. Not 2 or 3 plants, LOTS of plants and a cave or two if the fish is known to prefer such a thing. Bettas don't like small spaces, they like enclosed spaces. That's quite a difference.

The fish we keep may no longer be wild but they have the same instincts of their wild counterparts, as you say one instinct is to patrol their territory.

In the wild these fish inhabit shallow waters ( yes shallow in depth but thousands of gallons in volume, if not millions depending on the area ) containing a lot of vegetation both live and fallen. There are a lot of places to hide, lots of plants, leaves, twigs ect in the water. Not a bare open space with a big silk plant in the corner and a spongebob squarepants ornament.

I've always tended to think of bettas as being rather like an agoraphobia sufferer. If you take such a person from their small safe enclosed room and dump them in the middle of the Calahari desert, they're going to feel pretty unsafe and react badly.

Likewise for failed tank upgrades in bettas- if you take a betta who has lived all it's life in a very small tank, jar or cup, and put him into a larger tank that's too bare without acclimating him to the environment, he's going to sulk, perhaps not feed, or even become so stressed as to be ill.

I've found in my experience that bettas who are upgraded from a thickly planted tank of one size, to a bigger planted tank of a larger size, do not suffer that kind of stress nearly as much if at all. I've done it before in the past , and now I'm back into fishkeeping ( I stopped for a while in my late teens ) I've done it again only last week.


It's highly unlikely that each wild betta only has a territory of a couple of gallons. And while we who own these pet bettas obviously don't have a massive rice paddy or stream to offer, a 5-10 gallon tank is not remotely large and can fit into all manner of places in a bog standard home.

This is what aggravates me so much about people who keep them in tiny 2 gal tanks. I'm, willing to bet my last quid that I could find at least one space to fit a 5 gal tank in a home for a pet betta. Even in the smallest flat or apartment.

But because people are still falling for the myth that bettas are fine in tiny amounts of water be it filtered or otherwise, because " they live in little dirty puddle in the wild " ( wrong!!! ) they are perpetuating the cruelties and effectively giving a green light to the makers of those hideous gimmick tanks that barely hold a gallon.

Likewise bettas are often sold as a beginners fish, people are given the impression that they are very hardy fish, nigh on unkillable, it's ok they don't mind a bit of dirty water, they can breathe air! - never mind the fact the ability to breathe air has no bearing on the effects waste has on these fish , which is the same effects as any other fish ....disease and death.

People are given the impression that such a small tank is oh so easy to care for, when the absolute opposite is true. More water changes , which we know are stressful and many bettas sulk, larger water changes, and because little tanks are easily moveable, you have people picking up tanks and pouring water down the plugholes and other similar activities. All the vibrations, frequent moving and so on again, stress the fish a great deal.


It's very apparant to me that many people are lookiung for the easy option for themselves and not thinking very much about the common sense way to keep the species they have chosen, how to re-create a more natural environment for the fish in order to keep it happy and healthy with room to move. Surely a large part of keeping a fish is to observe it behaving as naturally as possible/ To have a little slice of a river or lake ect in the home? I'm pretty certain a 2 gal tub with multicoloured gravel, and a fake plant or two plus perhaps an ornament, is as far from natural as you can get.

I appreciate the natural look may not appeal to some people, but if you're trying to keep a pet happy and to have it behave naturally, is it not better to think of the environment needs of the pet in queastion instead of your own visual tastes and wether your gravel matches your curtains?

As said here in this thread - People who keep dogs and cats in tiny cages their whole lives with only a tiny space to live in, are condemmed, and rightly so.

Here on this forum, if someone pops up saying " I have an oscar in a 20 gallon" people have an uproar. With the right care an oscar ( for example ) could survive for quite some time in a 20 gallon tank. with regular water changes and filtration it could do this but would it be "happy" ? Would it have enough room to swim? Wouldn't it find all the nessescary frequent water changes in the small tank quite stressful?


People would complain at such treatment of that fish, but people pop up in here with a betta in a 2 gallon tank or whatever, and they get praise heaped upon them as though 2 gallons ect is some sort of extravagant lavish setup. And it blatantly isn't. Ok it sure beats being in a walmart cup I certainly won't deny that, and yes, filtered and hated the small tank would allow a betta to survive as survival is an instinct every living thing on earth has. It can't escape from it's tiny tank so it survives as best it can. Logic.

But does that make it a right thing to do to keep it in something so small? Just because it can survive with the right care ?

I say no it doesn't. So far no one has bee able to provide a logical common sense reason to keep these fish in tiny tanks.

And just as a disclaimer because I know the mods will be all over this sort of thread like a rash :

It's a view I express frequently on here much to the dismay of many, but frankly I'm not going to sit here and applaud something I believe to be inhumane. I guess that will no doubt raise hackles in those who keep such tanks but my opinion is my own and I have a right to state it , just as those with a differing opinion have the right to state theirs. We all also have a right to disagree with eachothers methods and to debate such things. I for one may be opinionated but I don't flame people (despite vauge insinuations of such )

No one is under any obligation to agree with what I or others write here, just as no one is obligated to follow advice given here. They do so , or indeed do not as the case may be , at the risk of their fish.

i have a budget of £50. ( around $100 )

for my fish tank. I Spelt £100 ( approx $200 ) On a Rio 180.

You can get a complete setup for that easily if you get most of the stuff , tanks espescially second hand. You just have to be paitient and keep a sharp eye for bargains in the usual places ( ebay car boots newspapers ect )

The 12 gallon I just moved Bronson into cost me £1 from a car boot sale. The filter came with it, the heater was free from a friend who had a spare and the plants (some of them ) and gravel cost me around £15 all told.

So all that cost £16 in total.

 

[Knox213]

I don't know anything about how many gallons and things these tanks with all these fancy numbers after them are, all right?!

I mean, seriously; at Big Al's they have names like, "Tetra Starter Kit 10," for 10 gallon tanks and otherwise. ^-^;

That's roughly.... 57.6 US gallons, right? XD If UK gals are Imp gals. (Just checked the calculator. XD)

I got my 55-gallon tank for $100 with fish and gravel and some ornaments!! And of course, then we spent over $300 on other accessories for the #41#### thing. XD

eeh?

57 gallons??

Tbh. IDont know it's 3.9ft in width.

1.5ft high.

1ft across?

tbhi have no clue how big it is.. but google says 180 litre's is 47 gallons

 

[Floyds mum]

There are total of three rescues in my care at this time. All were suffering some kind of infection due to poor water quality and conditions . As many betta lovers know something is just not sinking in with petshops and many other people in this world when it comes to the proper care of bettas. Delusions that bettas are happy in tiny, cold, unfiltered bowls have been widely spread throughout the world. In pet stores all over you see poor bettas suffering in tiny cups, so filled with rotting food and feces that they have trouble breathing, their tails are rotting off, and the water levels are so low sometimes that the poor fish have to lay on their sides just to stay covered. I have seen bettas kept in cups so tiny that they are forced to keep their bodies curved, the cups are too small for them to do something as simple as straightening out mad.

While that is true in alot of stores there are also those stores that do treat them as we would, bar the spacious tanks but they are only in them temporarily, i dont know about the usa but stores here have to comply with so much legislation, and if they are proven to ignore these then they can be reported which results in them HAVING to clean up their act.

Exactly! Bettas eat, they breathe, they feel, just like any other animal. So why are their needs ignored? Got forbid a dog, car or ferret are shoved in something way to small for them and left to die, but no one cares when they see a shelf full of dead bettas, they think "oh who cares, they're just fish!"

Exactly and fish have spines so are covered in the uk by the animal welfare act of 2006, so we could actually report the stores if they dont listen to us.

 

[Floyds mum]

There are total of three rescues in my care at this time. All were suffering some kind of infection due to poor water quality and conditions . As many betta lovers know something is just not sinking in with petshops and many other people in this world when it comes to the proper care of bettas. Delusions that bettas are happy in tiny, cold, unfiltered bowls have been widely spread throughout the world. In pet stores all over you see poor bettas suffering in tiny cups, so filled with rotting food and feces that they have trouble breathing, their tails are rotting off, and the water levels are so low sometimes that the poor fish have to lay on their sides just to stay covered. I have seen bettas kept in cups so tiny that they are forced to keep their bodies curved, the cups are too small for them to do something as simple as straightening out mad.

I don't know what's worse, how they're kept in stores or how people are told to keep them at home. It's commonly said that bettas love being in small spaces, that they're unhappy in anything bigger then like a 1/4 gallon, and they don't need filters or heaters because they're very hearty fish and are very hard to kill. The facts are that none of those statements are true. Bettas originated from rice paddies in southeast asia. These rice paddies may be shallow but are realitivly large and the bettas are free to swim from one to another. They are not confined to little 1/4gallon circles, so what makes people think thats what they would be happy in? rolleyes

I am on a mission to educate people throughout the country about the proper care of bettas. I will be running a rescue and rehabilitation center for these little guys and I will begin with educating local petstores around me.

You say that yet on your website you have stated that they dont neccessarily need filters? surely that being a hypocrite. ALL FISH NEED A FILTER AND 100% WATER CHANGES WILL SURELY STRESS THE FISH OUT WICH MAKES THEM MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO DISEASES.
http/bettahaven.webs.com/bettafaqs.htm

 

[Honeythorn]

I've now had a look on the website also and noticed that there is a contradiction. First saying that bettas require filtration like any other fish, which is correct, and then in another section sying they don't need filters but it's preferabl to have one, which is effectively incorrect and a contradiction to the previous advice.

One could say that no fish needs a filter as they do not have them in the wild, except they do. They have rainfall, tides and currents. Since we are not gods and cannot create rainfall tides and currents ( well a powerhead could do a current arguably ) , it's been long recognised that waterchanges alone in a normally stocked, unfiltered tank, hold a far less garuantee of a stable tank.

And though a low stocked heavily planted tank, rather in the style of a Diana Walstad setup, could indeed becaome stable, it's still a highly risky setup, an can go wrong a lot faster than you could believe if you miss just one or two waterchanges or top ups.

This is why a filter is so important. Not only does it do all the work for you, reducing the need for partial water changes to just once or twice a week, the filter media and bacterial colony provide the means to have a very stable safe tank.


Think of it this way. Lets have an example tank. somewhere in the common region of 2-5 gallons. Pick a tank.

Your tank is not filtered, has some plants, and your betta.

Normally you do a 50-90% water change every 2-3 days.


Now lets suppose you have to go away for some reason and canno take your fish with you. Lets say you do not trust your neighbors or relatives to correctly take care of the fish and do the water changes when needed, and in the right way.


Lets suppose you are ill and cannot do water changes, and again cannot find or trust someone to do this for you.


Again, some other problem arises which means you are either completely unable tpo do water changes, or do them as frequently as you have been.


These are not outrageous examples or suggestions. They are all pefectly logical and could happen to anybody at any time.

The tank in any of those situations would quickly become unstable. Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates would build up between water changes, and we know for a fact these things affect the health of all fish adversely.


Now take the same tank and setup, but add a cycled filter . Having that filter means your fish can easily go for a whole week, possibly a week and a half with reduced feeding ( to cut waste production ) without a water change, because the bacterial colony will consume and convert the waste for you, keeping your tank stable for a longer period before levels becaome a threat, and keeping your fish healthier because it is not exposed to these levels in the high aounts they would reach in an unfiltered set up.



All this rambling points out the obvious. That bettas require a filter just like any other fish. Being able to breathe air has no bearing on their ability to withstand the effects of waste products. That's a very common myth and one that's sadly believed and perpetuated almost incessantly.

If you were stuck in a sealed room filling up with your own waste products, feces, urine ect, but had a breathing vent on the wall, you'd still be able to breathe wouldn't you? But would you be in good health surrounded and living in your own waste like that? No of course not. Same for fish, or any other animal. Your ability to breathe does not exempt you from the effects of your waste.


Many complain that their betta des not like a filter. Many choose the wrong type of filter. A lot of bettas dislike noticable current and surface agitation, so one of the best filters to get is a basic sponge filter. They do not produce a current and are very often used in fry tanks, so the fish will not get sucked against the filter intake (because sponge filters don't have one ) .


I think this dislike sometimes depends on where you bought the fish from. Those who are kept in cups or containers of still water, are most likely to dislike current as they are the most unused to it.

Those bought from stores who keep their fish in tanks with some sort of current, or in tanks with other fish, will be able to be kept in a tank whose filter has a an adjustable current. I have a Rena Filstar and have found it's current adjustablity to be perfect. I'd reccomend it to anyone.



There's a tutorial on this forum explaining how to MAKE a sponge filter for very little cost ( you will need to buy an airpump to run it but those are also cheap ) so there is absolutely no excuse imaginable for anyone not to have some kind of filtration in their tank.

 

[loraxchick]

I've now had a look on the website also and noticed that there is a contradiction. First saying that bettas require filtration like any other fish, which is correct, and then in another section sying they don't need filters but it's preferabl to have one, which is effectively incorrect and a contradiction to the previous advice.

One could say that no fish needs a filter as they do not have them in the wild, except they do. They have rainfall, tides and currents. Since we are not gods and cannot create rainfall tides and currents ( well a powerhead could do a current arguably ) , it's been long recognised that waterchanges alone in a normally stocked, unfiltered tank, hold a far less garuantee of a stable tank.

And though a low stocked heavily planted tank, rather in the style of a Diana Walstad setup, could indeed becaome stable, it's still a highly risky setup, an can go wrong a lot faster than you could believe if you miss just one or two waterchanges or top ups.

This is why a filter is so important. Not only does it do all the work for you, reducing the need for partial water changes to just once or twice a week, the filter media and bacterial colony provide the means to have a very stable safe tank.


Think of it this way. Lets have an example tank. somewhere in the common region of 2-5 gallons. Pick a tank.

Your tank is not filtered, has some plants, and your betta.

Normally you do a 50-90% water change every 2-3 days.


Now lets suppose you have to go away for some reason and canno take your fish with you. Lets say you do not trust your neighbors or relatives to correctly take care of the fish and do the water changes when needed, and in the right way.


Lets suppose you are ill and cannot do water changes, and again cannot find or trust someone to do this for you.


Again, some other problem arises which means you are either completely unable tpo do water changes, or do them as frequently as you have been.


These are not outrageous examples or suggestions. They are all pefectly logical and could happen to anybody at any time.

The tank in any of those situations would quickly become unstable. Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates would build up between water changes, and we know for a fact these things affect the health of all fish adversely.


Now take the same tank and setup, but add a cycled filter . Having that filter means your fish can easily go for a whole week, possibly a week and a half with reduced feeding ( to cut waste production ) without a water change, because the bacterial colony will consume and convert the waste for you, keeping your tank stable for a longer period before levels becaome a threat, and keeping your fish healthier because it is not exposed to these levels in the high aounts they would reach in an unfiltered set up.



All this rambling points out the obvious. That bettas require a filter just like any other fish. Being able to breathe air has no bearing on their ability to withstand the effects of waste products. That's a very common myth and one that's sadly believed and perpetuated almost incessantly.

If you were stuck in a sealed room filling up with your own waste products, feces, urine ect, but had a breathing vent on the wall, you'd still be able to breathe wouldn't you? But would you be in good health surrounded and living in your own waste like that? No of course not. Same for fish, or any other animal. Your ability to breathe does not exempt you from the effects of your waste.


Many complain that their betta des not like a filter. Many choose the wrong type of filter. A lot of bettas dislike noticable current and surface agitation, so one of the best filters to get is a basic sponge filter. They do not produce a current and are very often used in fry tanks, so the fish will not get sucked against the filter intake (because sponge filters don't have one ) .


I think this dislike sometimes depends on where you bought the fish from. Those who are kept in cups or containers of still water, are most likely to dislike current as they are the most unused to it.

Those bought from stores who keep their fish in tanks with some sort of current, or in tanks with other fish, will be able to be kept in a tank whose filter has a an adjustable current. I have a Rena Filstar and have found it's current adjustablity to be perfect. I'd reccomend it to anyone.



There's a tutorial on this forum explaining how to MAKE a sponge filter for very little cost ( you will need to buy an airpump to run it but those are also cheap ) so there is absolutely no excuse imaginable for anyone not to have some kind of filtration in their tank.

100% agreed. a filter is an absolute necessity for ANY fish. sponge filters are the perfect filter for bettas as there is no current whatsoever! and they ar e soooooo simple to make. literally, there are only 5 components to making one(airpump, airline tubing, media, very small bit of gravel(or even some small rocks) and a small plastic container). they take 15 minutes to make(even if you dont consider yourself a "handy" sort). ive made over a dozen of these for myself and for friends and now i can "throw one together" in about 5 minutes.
also, the amount of media that one includes in a sponge filter is much greater in area than most small commercial filters and the mainenance on sponge filters is *basically* nil. every 3 months or so, just take it apart and give the media a good squeeze in old tank water)
im a huge advocate for the sponge filter, ESPECIALLY diy as it is so very easy and they work amazingly at keeping the water quality perfect. also, they cost very little to set up (the biggest expense is the airpump, but small ones, which is all you need, are relatively inexpensive!
thanks for pointing that out! filters are essential no matter what fish/tank you are keeping!
cheers

 

[aly_starh]

I am on a mission to educate people throughout the country about the proper care of bettas. I will be running a rescue and rehabilitation center for these little guys and I will begin with educating local petstores around me.

Hi. I dont want to sound offending in any way, but, did you say you were going to open a rehab center for bettas?

A bettas life span is a few years, approx. 4, i think. They, like all fish get extremely stressed when moving into new homes and take a good 2 weeks to settle. Surely you putting them in 'REHAB' will make them more stressed. Then the they get dumped from place to place.

Breeder->Store->You->Rehab->New Owner

If you dont like seeing bettas in a bad way, then the best thing to do is to stop buying from the place you are currently purchasing them from. I know this may sound extremely blunt, but if you dont buy them from the store, then they wont make the money, and hopefully will close it down. (which is worth a try!)

Im guessing you brought them from PetSmart, i have heard reviews on that shop, about how they treat them, and put them in tiny cups, but TBF you can't and won't be able to rescue every single betta there is in the store....? (or will you?)

IMO, you buy a betta for it to be yours, so YOU can take care of it, and so YOU can keep it till its time is up. No need to complicate things...

Anyhoo, thats my opinion, some might agree some might dis-agree. IDK.

Good Luck, with what ever you decide!

 

[Amberleaf]

They had copied from a FAQ here about how to take care of Bettas.... and I posted on their guest book.... and now both my post and the page are gone? Hmm....

 

[Zenandra]

I just want to say that all I am doing is trying to help. The website isn't even close to being done, I just remembered I had it a couple days ago. That FAQ was given to me by a "friend" of mine I had no idea it was copied, and as soon as I saw you were right I took it down, I dont want to get in trouble for copy righting,

I appreciate all of the criticism and suggestions and I never meant to make it sound like "All pet stores are horrible so harass them till you get kicked out" Thought going back over the site that is how it sounded, huh? Well Im going to do a big revamp on it later and add everyones suggestions.

And I just wanted to mention that ALL of my babies are in filtered tanks, but I can see how the contradicting articles could seem a bit Hippocratic.

Betta_246 - It's really just a thought to take in a few rescues at a time and adopt them out once they are healthy. I've seen it done before successfully. But its still just a thought in my head. You know I just really want to help in any way I can!

 

[Amberleaf]

If I'm allowed, I'll set up a 20-gallon tank or something this summer and divide it into 5 and take in 5 rescue Bettas (if it's a 20; if it's a 10 I'll do 3); the most pitiful I can find at the stores.

 

[aly_starh]

Betta_246 - It's really just a thought to take in a few rescues at a time and adopt them out once they are healthy. I've seen it done before successfully. But its still just a thought in my head. You know I just really want to help in any way I can!

Thats fine. What ever you choose to do is up to you entirely, It was just my opinion
Good Luck with whatever you do though;- keep us updated!

Side Note: You do have to be extremely careful when creating websites. I would advice writing everything up yourself and not to take anything from friends etc. You dont know how much to trust them, they may have taken copyright sources, as they have done in this case.

All my web pages for BettaBubbles were created by myself from experience.

Good Luck with your Betta site