I've Seen These Guys At Walmart

[Ethos]

This thread was not about ethics, it was about economics.

A good betta can come from anywhere, Walmart, Aquabid, the local pet store, and your next door neighbor.

Same can be said about an unhealthy betta.

If you're buying a VT from aquabid, you know as much about its health, as you know about a Walmart betta.

Great points.

 

[MegTheFish]

If you buy a Walmart betta, they generally only live about 6-8 months

6-8 months? You must be doing something wrong, as a betta (even if its already a year old) should live more the 6 months after you've bought it, even from Walmart.

 

[thelastbetta]

If you buy a Walmart betta, they generally only live about 6-8 months.

Erm. I have bought two of my bettas there, one I've had for almost 17 months. The other I had for 12 months.

 

[wuvmybetta]

I have veils who came from places like Walmart and it seems they've been here with me for *years*...well, they have been! Some for nearly three. But the point is they ARE older than those you would get directly from a breeder, no doubt about it.

 

[SRC]

I know RW..that first part wasn't directed at you , the last part was though.

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lol yeah I'm doing something wrong, I have no idea what I'm doing .

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Every betta I've gotten from a Walmart has met an early death...unlike most I've gotten off AB or from a breeder. They just aren't nearly as healthy and I don't agree with how they are kept (that goes for pet stores too, because there's are just as crappily kept). If your's live a long time..great. I haven't had such "luck".

But in all actuality, I could care less where you buy your fish from, honestly. I simply stated my opinion and gave some basic (notice I said approx. not definately?) mathematics based on an average. You need to calm down 4 real and not get your knickers in such knots.

I'm not the kind of person to spend alot of money on a $3 fish

I don't think I understand this part though. Does this mean if you aren't "attached" to the $3 fish that you don't buy the appropriate medications to treat it? If not, then exactly what do you do with it?

 

[Ethos]

I'm not the kind of person to spend alot of money on a $3 fish

I don't think I understand this part though. Does this mean if you aren't "attached" to the $3 fish that you don't buy the appropriate medications to treat it? If not, then exactly what do you do with it?

Well, theres a difference between a likeing and being attached. I like Officer and my new betta, but I'm not attached to them. I am certianly not going to spend more than 10 dollars or so on meds for an individual betta. Now for Smokey, thats a different story. I do like him, and I might spend a bit of $$ on him....
Just by buying the betta, I can almost garentee you I've given it anj extra few days to live in the least.
If you spend $30 or more dollars on a betta thats going to die in a few days anyways, you'll have an open tank for another betta you can give a longer life to.

 

[lljdma06]

I think what it boils down to is buying a healthy fish, no matter where it comes from. Many people here purchase fish from certain stores, I will not mention stores names, whose health is already compromised. They have used the term "rescued". Though I admire their efforts and their compassion, I wish I had that sort of personality, I will never consciencely (sp) buy a sick fish. I just can't do it. It goes against everything I've learned about fishkeeping. I will watch the fish for over a week at a store before I will commit to buying it, and then it sits in quaranteen for two weeks. This could be perceived as cold but I don't want to have to deal with a sick fish, or that fish spreading disease to my other tanks. All of my fish except for Synirr's midget men are from LFS and only time will tell whether or not they survive longer. Barring any major catastrophe, I see them lasting a long time with me. We'll see.

Would I purchase from Aquabid? Oh yes, especially if I'm considering breeding stock. But do I think LFS bettas are less healthy? Not necessarily. Older, most likely. Not appropriate for breeding, most likely. Like I said before, it really depends on the individual fish. Would I fight to save my men? Yes, but I already have an arsenol of medications to use, as any good aquarist should have. These medications should be purchased and ready to go regardless of whether you have sick fish or not. You should have an anti-fungal medicine, an antibiotic, and a medication for parasites, in addition to an up and running hospital tank. Sorry for my rant, but it is a good thing knowing that if one of my men has an infection, I can give him preliminary treatment without going to a LFS.

Good Lordy! What was this topic about again?

 

[Synirr]

Every betta I've gotten from a Walmart has met an early death...unlike most I've gotten off AB or from a breeder.

This absolutely isn't for the sake of argument, because what you said is usually the case, but I have had two HM females I bought at a betta show who are just absolutely horrible when it comes to their health!! The first died after suffering an incurable case of columnaris... Now, I've fought columnaris before, but darnit, I need the fish to at least try! Her immune system just absolutely could not fight it off no matter what meds I used! The second has had these weird white patches on her body and head for a while... at first I thought it was columnaris, but it doesn't spread fast enough to be that. I tried every med on earth and none of them had ANY effect at all. Nothing. Bettafix, Maracyn, Maracyn II, even fungal and parasite meds haven't done anything. Now the infection (whatever it is) has spread to her eye which is swollen, cloudy, and blistered. I'm doing a combo treatment of Maracyn I and II, but I don't see any improvement

By contrast, Loki and Raziel both came from Walmart and have never even had finrot or constipation!
They're both over 3 years old, at that.

 

[supersixone]

it's really difficult to make a general statement like "walmart fish always die young" or "walmart fish are always unhealthy." i travel a lot and just for my own curiosity, i like to see what kind of fish are available in different parts of the country. i've seen absolutely appalling conditions in walmarts in some areas (tennesee comes to mind) but the 3 walmarts near me (which really aren't that near, the closest one is 1/2 hour away) all treat their fish quite well. they're healthy and well cared for. a lot depends on the individual store and the employees working there.

 

[fishmom]

One of our fish lived only a couple days from Walmart and I have had one live 2 YEARS. Longevity is just something you never know about when dealing with fishies!!

 

[splashluff]

I'm not the kind of person to spend alot of money on a $3 fish

I don't agree with that mindset, either. No matter how "attached" to you the animal is, you should do all that's in your power to provide it with a healthy environment. If you absolutely couldn't afford $10 meds, thats understandable, but just because you don't favor one fish as much as another, its kind of wrong to let it die....

That statement really reminds me of my brother-in-law, who annoys the BEJEEZUS out of me. They bought a $.50 feeder fish from Wal*Mart, and a small bowl. The feeder fish quickly outgrew the bowl, its now a large Goldfish. He refused to buy anything bigger just because he only paid $.50 up front for the fish.... me and my sister ended up going to W*M and getting a 10 gallon set-up for Nemo, of course to his protest!! My point IS that no matter what the animal costs initially, by acquiring that animal you owe it to them to do good by them either way. To baby a $30 fish and then let a $3 fish die from disease isn't right, IMHO. I treat my FREE Bettas with as much care and medication, when needed, as my $50+ Bettas and don't even think about it, because that's really what you owe to the fish when you take ownership of them. That's why being involved in rescue I hate the idea of people giving away "Free" puppies and kittens, because NO animal is going to be completely free ever! Even a "Free" puppy will need well over $100+ in shots, food, toys, and medication in the first couple months of their life. The same goes with any Betta, whether you got them for "Free" or for $100!

I don't really even know what the topic is.... oh yeah, VT's from AB. I don't see anything wrong with selling nice, young, quality VT's on AB Lots of people prefer VT's, and they deserve a nice selection of healthy young Bettas with a known history. Those little package deals with "Candy Cane Striped Betta + Vase!" are kind of annoying, though.