Biggest betta myth

[noelberg]

IMO bettas are one of the easiest fish to take care of, but holy geez there's a lot of myths out there! What's your pick? (hopefully I covered all the bigguns)

 

[White Whale]

I chose "They can't live on that plant" because they are carnivores - their digestive system is made to digest meat.

 

[buggyboutbettas]

I thought that betta's could go in a community tank as long as you got the right fish to go with it.

P.S. I chose the plant one - BTW

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I went with the first option, but the second applies too. The community is no problem, I've never seen mine come even close to jumping, but that doesn't mean much...

 

[noelberg]

yeah should have re-phrased the community question to "easily goes into any community"
obviously they don't go with tiger barbs, and I have heard some danio and molly owners say their community bettas got mauled. also heard of some bettas that mauled guppies.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Choosing species wisely to exist stress-free in a community applies to all fish, not just betta's, which is why I consider betta's as 'acceptable' for communities.

 

[tstenback]

What fish could possibly live happily in that size of container?

 

[buggyboutbettas]

What fish could possibly live happily in that size of container?

a baby minnow possibly...

 

[Tempestuousfury]

"stupid plant".

I would have said the first one, but at least they can survive in those tanks. Then comes jumping, though it's rare (though it happened to me ).

 

[juliethegr8t]

They are all huge myths in my opinion, so I had trouble picking one. Anyways, I chose surviving in a tiny container because it happens SO often... more often than the plant or community scenarios. And often they actually do NOT survive in those.. purely because the person does not realize they cannot live in space full of their own food and poop.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

But they can survive in the tank with proper maintenance. they probably won't be happy. However, how can a carnivorous fish be expected to eat a tough plant in order to get the nutrients and energy it needs in order for its body to function?

Either way, unfortunately it's not possible to warn everyone about them.

 

[Proof]

i choose plant.

though i've had people tell me they hop from puddle to puddle in the wild -scowls-

how could anyone mistreat such beautiful fish?

then again, people mistreat beautiful animals too (tigers, pandas, wolves, etcetera)

 

[cutechic]

I chose the first one.

 

[MerryCat]

I chose the first one, because it seems to be the most widespread one. Once you point out the obvious drawbacks of the peace-lilly thingy, most people seem to come around. But I've had lengthy arguments about the first point with people who kept on about "But in the wild, they'll live in the water at the bottom of a buffalo's hoof print" and of course, the old "the jump from puddle to tiny puddle" and "they get nervous and cranky in those huge tanks" - Note, I was merely trying to convince the person to get a 1.5 gallon container, not even 5 or 10 gallons.

 

[Jayderana]

I have to say that I have not seen a betta in a vase set up around here. And I pray I do not any time soon. With that said I went with number one because I think that the majority of people who just walk into a pet store really truly think that their puchase will live happily in a mouthful of water. I have truly seen some pathetic betta bowls at petstores...so I think that by far from my experience it is the most prominent myth in my area....not that the peace lily vase myth isn't horrible as well. They all are