Bettas In Pet Shops

[PurpleFish]

Why do most pet shops keeps bettas in such tiny tanks? I only know of 1 pet shop here that keeps them in normal tanks. In the other places they all sit looking depressed..

 

[panda_cory]

I think big chains like pets at home and maidenhead have to have them because the company makes them. It is all so because they can be aggresive towards other fish and they can survive in a tank that small.

 

[crazyforcordoras]

Its so they can keep more, and sell more.

 

[PurpleFish]

The shops here only ever have 1 or 2 bettas in though but have about 8 tanks. I'd have thought it would make more sense to just have 2 large tanks to give more room!

 

[MBOU]

MA and P@H both keep their fighters in larger community tank as a general rule!? There might be the odd MA that has small individual fighter tanks but they are all filtered and are only holding tanks.

Can assure you that fighters are rarely in a shop longer than a week anyway, it wont hurt them so long as its filtered.

 

[LucyB]

At least they aren't in tiny little un-heated, un-filtered dirty cups, right?

 

[pablothebetta]

My local P@H keeps them in small seperate tanks, but they're filtered and heated and at definitely better than the tiny cups you seem to get in other places (eg walmart in the US, I think). My nearest MA keeps them in tanks with other fish - nice that they have the space, but I did once have to alert one of the staff members as I found a betta who had hardly any fins left at all, presumably due to the penguin tetras he was in with. Poor thing, he was in such a state - I really wish I had the space to be able to take him home with me. I spotted another betta with nipped-looking fins on the same occasion, though I wasn't quite sure whether that was due to him also being a CT or not. In saying that though, I've not noticed anything else like that before.

 

[PurpleFish]

Wow they are kept in cups in some places? Horrible

 

[omega59]

Wal-Mart keeps them in cups still. Others have them in small bowls here.
I find that they die instead of sell.

 

[MBOU]

I have only once seen them in cups and thats at Chiltern Aquatics (in the chilterns, bedfordshire, NOT to be confused with Chilton Aquatics).

Japanese Koi Company in Henlow has them in really tiny 10cm cubes and although i think they are all filtered, the fighters always look dead lying on the bottom or back of the cubes. Though personally, while their marines are awesome, their trops are dire.

I can say as someone who keeps them in larger tanks with othr fish... accidents do happen and I at least appreciate customers pointing it out to me.

Glowlight tetras are always a pest! One batch can be totally fine and then you get in a new batch of them and they decimate the siamese fighter!!

It also depends on the fighter, have one very plakat looking halfmoon who was in with honey gouramis who had been fine with other fighters but this fighter just wound them up until they nipped his fins off. His fins are growing back now he's been moved though.

Its all a bit of a compromise really, space and the risk of the odd fin nippers (personally id not put a fighter in with penguins!) or a tiny tank but nor nippers.

 

[panda_cory]

MA and P@H both keep their fighters in larger community tank as a general rule!? There might be the odd MA that has small individual fighter tanks but they are all filtered and are only holding tanks.

Can assure you that fighters are rarely in a shop longer than a week anyway, it wont hurt them so long as its filtered.

Every MA and P@H ive been to has them in individual tanks

 

[MBOU]

Which onesdo you go to? The only one i know is one of the Oxford shops and thats because they have a whole system dedicated to them.

 

[Essjay]

I have only once seen them in cups and thats at Chiltern Aquatics (in the chilterns, bedfordshire, NOT to be confused with Chilton Aquatics).

Last time I was in Chilton Aq in Co Durham (last year, it's a bit too far away for a regular visit) they didn't have their bettas in cups but in half filled pint beer glasses, plastic ones.

MA in Stokesley keeps some of their bettas in tanks with other fish, but they've also got a rank of dedicated betta tanks. The betta tanks are bigger than cups and they are filtered, some type of waterfall system with what looks like the top tanks overflowing into the lower tanks. The odd things is that about half the tanks in the betta rank are empty, but they still have bettas in the general tanks.

 

[Ajp]

My local fish store is pretty good with their bettas. They keep one male in each community aquarium and if they have extra bettas they get those little hang on fry containers and put them in the community tanks like that, so they are all heated and filtered. I really like how my lfs keeps there fish, they are always very healthy and active. Bettas are never kept in little cups at my lfs

ps i do not work there i know that it sounds like im talking them up but they are actually really good

 

[omega59]

You guys should see what they are doing in Japan. Selling baby turtles, fish, lizards in keychains alive! so it is just as bad as the Betta's left in dirty cup water.