LFS - Betta NoNos

[Becca]

Heh, I'm just full of posts today!

So, again - from last night, we're at the same LFS as the one with the Bala Shark incident and we're looking at some tetras. Down the community aisle, throughout the tanks they have a single betta in most of them (why, I don't know).

Anyway, in a single tank, laying on the bottom gasping for air is a beautiful purple male betta. And in the back of the tank, hiding between a couple of plants...is the Purple Male Betta, that won the fight.

Now, maybe it was just an accident - but WHY would a LFS that's supposed to be reputable and tells you to NEVER NEVER NEVER put a Male Betta in a community tank put 1, let alone 2 Male Bettas in their tanks Even I know better, and I'm newbie!

 

[luxum]

Well, i've seen places where the bettas are kept in the community tanks, it is possible with the right tankmates, depending on the betta's personality. The 2 in one tank was likely accidental. Perhaps one was hiding and they didn't realize the tank already had a male betta. Or perhaps a betta from a nearby tank jumped into that one to fight. Or maybe some customer did it purposefully to see them fight and the staff hadn't noticed.

 

[SailfinGirl]

You can keep bettas in a community tank, can't you? They do at my lfs and the fish all get along fine, and so did my fishie.

 

[shoboy]

I keep multiple male betta's in the same tank. But keep this in mind..

1. is a 90gal tank with LOTS of other fish and PLENTY of plants/rocks/caves.

2. The other tank I am running is a 20gal. But I have 16 female betta's in there also. They keep the males pretty docile since they are so busy chasing all those "ladies" around.


.........Anything in my sig/profile is outdated............

 

[nightlife20]

its bull that u cant keep fighters in a community tank, as someone said DEPENDANT on tank mates.

if it was a tank full of barbs fair enough its a no no, mind u then again iv been told i cant keep a fighter with red clawed crabs, one of mine has been living with not one but TWO red clawed crabs for about 4 months now, and they are doing fine.(bear in mind it is a 46.7 gallon tank with pleanty of hiding/climbing places for the crabs)

iv always kept them in a community tank, i dont see the point in wasting money on setting up 2 little 1-2gal tanks that have to have a heater/filter/airline in them (wich are hard to come across unless u know where ur lookin, i know this i tried to find a filkter that wasnt too powerful for a small 5gal) when i have a perfectly good 2ft and 4ft tank. but thats just in my opinion, others possibly will disagree with me and say its better for the fighter to have his own tank..... one question i will ask is WHY?

fair enough if u have a betta that is unsociabe then ok yeah keep him in his own tank, but if that fish is ok with others then leave em to it.

to answer you queries

my local lfs's always have a fighter in the community fish tanks i.e tetras (certain kinds) mollies and corie tanks (on one occasion one trainee staff member decided to put one in with a school (swarm more like) of tiger barbs... i rescued him )

i do agree it is daft well more idiotic to put two fighters in the same tank together, my bf the other week thought it might be nice to see union flare as he has never seen him flare, so he got my breeders box and dumped union in it and put it in my 2ft where a highly stressed jack was (another fighter id just rescued in that week) iv never seen anythin like it, flaring goin on all over the place(needless to say my bf got a good slap upside his head for it ) hes never done it again and i doubt he ever would after i explained what could have happened.

i think its what was already stated, it was either idiocy or a complete oversight.



oh thats a longggggggggggggg post for me lmao

 

[Becca]

I think I left out the part that the LFS I saw this at only had Bettas in community tanks with tetras, mollies, etc. I'm pretty sure that the 2 bettas in 1 tank was a glitch.

 

[Inchworm]

I think I left out the part that the LFS I saw this at only had Bettas in community tanks with tetras, mollies, etc. I'm pretty sure that the 2 bettas in 1 tank was a glitch.

Hi Becca

I think so too.

It seems to me that your lfs is trying to do the responsible thing of putting bettas where they have room to swim even if it means that the customers have to do a bit of searching for them, rather than just putting them on a shelf in little cups.

I doubt that they would have deliberately doubled them up like that.

 

[Sorrell]

Did you point it out to them?

 

[Becca]

Did you point it out to them?

No, but I did try. There are 2 LFS that I frequent. One is great, has awesome prices and the staff is friendly; however, their selection is kinda limited and some of the staff doesn't seem to know much about the hobby, so you need to bring your own knowledge with you.

The other store has a huge selection of fish (though the store itself isn't as clean and organized). The staff usually knows more, but good luck getting one of them to help you. I've (no joke) stood in this store for at least 1/2 hour on several different occassions - at the counter - attempting to get someone to help me. Each time, I end up giving up and leaving, opting to go to the other store.

I did try to let them know about the Betta - but everyone was too busy to address my concerns. So I just lumped it up to a mistake and went on about my way.

 

[shoboy]

I've had neons living in a 29gal with 2 full frown oscars, Betta's live together, a pleco chase and eat goldfish, and a snakehead NOT eat anything but guppies.

Most rules of thumb are true, but there are always exceptions.

I really like trying to get as many betta's in 1 tank as possible. They are one of the most beautiful fish. I would love to have 100 of them in 1 tank, could you imagine that site?