Bettas are mistreated...

[Obsessed with fish]

....<drags soapbox out of hiding>

I do not give a rats behind as to the species of fish that you keep...whether it be a tiny tiddler or a mega money Discus

If you cannot or will not be bothered to follow instructions, do the cycle on the aquarium, buy an appropriate aquarium and research properly and accept that fishkeeping can be sodding hard work, full of financial and emotional strain....then DO NOT keep fish.

They are NOT "just fish"

They require careful care and attention, you cannot just plop a fish into a bowl and leave it to it

If you cannot spare the 30 minutes or so one time a week cleaning out and caring for the fish...do not get a fish (or any animal since they all need appropriate care)

Pure and simple...if you cannot or will not do it right, do not get ANY animal, let alone fish.

We humans are their voice and their guardian....if you cannot be bothered, don't have the time or the inclination then just do not have ANY pets.

I personally do not suffer fools gladly, if I see you stuffing it up I will tell you without a sugarcoat.....if you still stuff it up, I will not be helpful since you are not listening.

<puts soapbox away> .....

Yes, exactly. A lot of people just have fish to look good in tiny tanks not caring about there wellbeing.

 

[AbbeysDad]

ALL fish are often mistreated often due to ignorance and because fish get no respect. Perhaps because it's a hobby and fish are inexpensive. If Rover or Kitty dies, it's tears for days...but when a fish dies, it often goes in the trash or down the drain and another one is purchased for merely $2 or $3 dollars. Sad but true.

I/we do our due diligence to help newbies find the best ways to manage aquariums and fish in the hope they become great fishkeepers.

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

At this point I’m not even suprised people like keeping bettas in 1 gallon tanks, Ive tried keeping a betta in a 10 gallon with stress coat quick start a bunch of plants and a betta log and that think still dies, while you have people sticking there betta in a one gallon with no conditioner and it going for like the betta living like 3 years. Sometimes I just want to get rid of my 10g and just go get a 1 gallon and stick a betta in it. Just so I can have a fish that will at least live longer than a month. I even try buying more things for these fish like test strips and api quick start but it seems to be like its never enough!!! I always need other stuff and it’s so annoying. Like I just want to have a fish and have a good time with it. And not having to be doing things and buying things every.single.day. And it’s not cause I don’t like my fish it’s just I want to get a fish and actually enjoy my time having it. Isn’t that what fish keeping is all about? Cause if it is then i sure don’t.

ok so, just because you add all the medicines and conditioners in the world to your tank it doesn't mean your fish will be happy nor healthy.
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish to it? did you keep up with water changes? were you giving it a proper diet? did you quarantine your fish? did you set up the tank in the appropriate conditions and parameters for a betta? if you didn't then it shouldn't come as a surprise that it died after so little time, also in my experience, no one with a betta in a 1-gallon bowl had a betta that lived for more than 9 months so yeah, no 3 years 1-gallon betta, (actually when I was a mediocre fish keeper I had 1 blue gourami *my favorite non-betta anabantoids* in a 1-gallon tank and it lived 4 years... of the 15 they can live).
if you want to get rid of your 10-gallons and change it for a 1-gallon and stick a betta in it just because you "can't. seem to get it right in the bigger aquarium" then just don't keep fish NEVER again it is that easy.
If you want to have fish but don't want to do any work or buy any products then just get a robofish. keeping fish is keeping a living breathing organism that depends 100% on you so no, fish keeping is not just about enjoying looking at the pretty fish, is doing all the work and taking the proper care based on the proper research of your fish and just then, after doing your daily work and diligence, you can take time to enjoy your fish. Saying that you want to enjoy your fish without doing or buying anything is the equivalent of if your parents had said "yeah I want this baby because it is so cute and funny but I don't want to change their diapers or feed them or bathe them" it just isn't right because the said organism is your responsibility and completely depends on you, if you didn't want to put the work or the money then you shouldn't have gotten it in the first place.
Look, just don't get rid of the 10-gallons, do propper research, scape the aquarium, condition the water, program your equipment, and plan the food you are gonna offer all based on what a betta needs, let the aquarium cycle for at least 2 weeks, and then add your betta, after that, feed once a day, check your water parameters once a week and do a 25% water change once a week, this should give you a betta that lives for more than a few months

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

So I went for a long walk down the garden, accompanied by my three cats. Together, we enjoyed the Autumnal morning sunshine, whilst a robin heralded the day. A subtle mist draped across the nearby fell and we could hear a curlew calling from nearby fields.
I came back in and put the kettle on, had a nice sit down and a cup of tea and gazed into one of my tanks for a while.

Reading so far?

Okay...
No.
That is NOT what fishkeeping is all about.

It is about taking responsibility for a complete ecosystem of living things that you have brought into being. It is about taking care of those living things, sometimes at the expense of your own convenience and pocket.
Do all of this and then, and only then, do you get to enjoy the time having it.

100% agree with you, people have this wrong idea that fish are just this peaceful easy to care for pet that they can always use as an oasis for tranquility, so they fail to understand the great responsibility it comes with them, they are just as demanding as a dog or a cat if not even more demanding. people should stop believing what they hear from the friend of the cousin of their mothers goddaughter and do their own research and listen to what world-renowned fish keepers/breeders have to say, or even ask for help in forums like this one if they find the information too conflictive.

If you cannot or will not be bothered to follow instructions, do the cycle on the aquarium, buy an appropriate aquarium and research properly and accept that fishkeeping can be sodding hard work, full of financial and emotional strain....then DO NOT keep fish.

this is so right, fish 100% depend on us to survive so if you just want to look at the pretty fish without having to go through the tress of proper maintenance then just go to a public aquarium once in a while.

Yes, exactly. A lot of people just have fish to look good in tiny tanks not caring about there wellbeing.

as I said in my first comment in this thread "the problem is that people see them as living decor and not as animals, as such, they put as much care into their bettas as they do for a silk flower arrangement." (yes I quoted myself, fight me)

ALL fish are often mistreated often due to ignorance and because fish get no respect. Perhaps because it's a hobby and fish are inexpensive. If Rover or Kitty dies, it's tears for days...but when a fish dies, it often goes in the trash or down the drain and another one is purchased for merely $2 or $3 dollars. Sad but true.

I/we do our due diligence to help newbies find the best ways to manage aquariums and fish in the hope they become great fishkeepers.

this is sad but true, fish, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates don't get as much respect as mammals or birds, as such they are even often overlooked by authorities when doing animal welfare laws or prosecuting someone for animal abuse, since it is harder to see yourself in a fish, reptile, amphibian or invertebrate than it is to do it on a bird or a mammal people often lack empathy towards said beings unless they are really invested in their care or really love animals as a whole. as such people just seek out the cute animals to give a little more ambiance to their house and not to keep them company, since once again they lack empathy for them, they only see them as cute pretty decor and even the animals that are easier to see yourself in them often get mistreated by people who just can give 2 poops about animal welfare and see all non human organisms as just another pretty decor to serve humans.

 

[Bettaguy08]

ok so, just because you add all the medicines and conditioners in the world to your tank it doesn't mean your fish will be happy nor healthy.
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish to it? did you keep up with water changes? were you giving it a proper diet? did you quarantine your fish? did you set up the tank in the appropriate conditions and parameters for a betta? if you didn't then it shouldn't come as a surprise that it died after so little time, also in my experience, no one with a betta in a 1-gallon bowl had a betta that lived for more than 9 months so yeah, no 3 years 1-gallon betta, (actually when I was a mediocre fish keeper I had 1 blue gourami *my favorite non-betta anabantoids* in a 1-gallon tank and it lived 4 years... of the 15 they can live).
if you want to get rid of your 10-gallons and change it for a 1-gallon and stick a betta in it just because you "can't. seem to get it right in the bigger aquarium" then just don't keep fish NEVER again it is that easy.
If you want to have fish but don't want to do any work or buy any products then just get a robofish. keeping fish is keeping a living breathing organism that depends 100% on you so no, fish keeping is not just about enjoying looking at the pretty fish, is doing all the work and taking the proper care based on the proper research of your fish and just then, after doing your daily work and diligence, you can take time to enjoy your fish. Saying that you want to enjoy your fish without doing or buying anything is the equivalent of if your parents had said "yeah I want this baby because it is so cute and funny but I don't want to change their diapers or feed them or bathe them" it just isn't right because the said organism is your responsibility and completely depends on you, if you didn't want to put the work or the money then you shouldn't have gotten it in the first place.
Look, just don't get rid of the 10-gallons, do propper research, scape the aquarium, condition the water, program your equipment, and plan the food you are gonna offer all based on what a betta needs, let the aquarium cycle for at least 2 weeks, and then add your betta, after that, feed once a day, check your water parameters once a week and do a 25% water change once a week, this should give you a betta that lives for more than a few months

It’s not that I don’t want to take care of my fish, I want to try to give them a good life it’s just every time I do try to they always die. And I tested my water and there wasn’t anything wrong with it.

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

It’s not that I don’t want to take care of my fish, I want to try to give them a good life it’s just every time I do try to they always die. And I tested my water and there wasn’t anything wrong with it.

then buy them from someone different, maybe the problem isn't in your care but rather in your provider, they might be selling sick bettas and that's why they die. ty buying one from a respectable breeder in our area

 

[Rocky998]

Bettas are great little fish, they are easy to care for and can survive in rough conditions, but this does not mean they should be put in tiny tanks. If anyone looks up betta tank size it will say 3 gallons. Some websites say 1 gallon is fine, and that's just horrible. Myself has a betta in a 3 gallon, i found out they need 5 gallons so im getting a 5 gallon for him.

I often hear people saying that bettas come from mud puddles. This is not true. They should be treated like any other fish. It makes me angry when i walk into the pet store and see 1/4 of a gallon tanks on display as betta tanks. Just imagine living in a wardrobe your whole life, you can never leave the wardrobe. It would be horrible.

My friend thinks bettas come from puddles and thinks they only live for a few months (prolly cause thats all he's been able to keep them alive for)

 

[Obsessed with fish]

My friend thinks bettas come from puddles and thinks they only live for a few months (prolly cause thats all he's been able to keep them alive for)

Poor bettas, they dont come from mud puddles, they come from big buetiful lakes

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

My friend thinks bettas come from puddles and thinks they only live for a few months (prolly cause thats all he's been able to keep them alive for)

tell him they can live up to 5 years or sometimes more, he will not belive it (my fish abusing family didn't either)

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

Poor bettas, they dont come from mud puddles, they come from big buetiful lakes

what are you talking about? cant you see that this body of water where wild bettas have been found in is only 2 gallons?

(sarcasm)

 

[Obsessed with fish]

what are you talking about? cant you see that this body of water where wild bettas have been found in is only 2 gallons?View attachment 145250

(sarcasm)

wow, i wanna liive there

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

wow, i wanna liive there

yeah, me too, if only i was a wild betta in the jungles of south east asia

 

[Obsessed with fish]

yeah, me too, if only i was a wild betta in the jungles of south east asia

yes, me to.

 

[Rocky998]

tell him they can live up to 5 years or sometimes more, he will not belive it (my fish abusing family didn't either)

I already tried... He has a super stubborn hard head

 

[Obsessed with fish]

I already tried... He has a super stubborn hard head

sure does sound like it!