Should I Return My Female Betta?

[Karplunk]

Hello people,

I bought a female betta (her name is Victoria's Secret - cuz she's 1 inches long and she's peach white and very small) from Petco yesterday. I put her in a 1/2 gallon bowl (please dont say that I have to put her in a bigger bowl or tank because I live in a dorm and I have limited space) and I watched her for the day, she just stayed at the water surface and rarely move. I thought there is something wrong with her and put her in the tiny cup from Petco so I can return her. However, when she's in the cup, she is more active than when she was in the bowl. Is there something wrong with my fish or should I get a new one?

 

[carrera]

Your fish is a living creature. You can't claim that it's defective and take it back for a new one. Chances are whatever is stressing this one will stress the next one too.

You said not to tell you to get a bigger tank, but I'm going to anyway. You say you don't have the space; if you can't provide what a pet needs, then you should reconsider owning one.

I take it the 1/2 gallon bowl isn't heated or cycled, or even filtered at all. If so this is probably the problem. Bettas need to be kept at a consistent temperature of 25-27 degrees C, and, as with all fish, they need to live in clean water. You just can't filter/heat 1/2 a gallon of water effectivley. So unless you're changing 100% of the bowls water every day, the ammonia will be stressing the fish (even if you are changing it, the water conditions will fluctuate every day).

There are other things to consider depending on your level of knowledge;

Did you treat the water with dechlorinator?
Did you acclimatise the fish?
Are there any symptoms of illness?

My advice to you, if you intend to keep the fish, would be to do some research on betta keeping or fish keeping in general to make sure you are looking after your fish properly.

 

[Cdarmychi]

the only thing wrong with the fish is the person who bought her knowing that he couldnt care for her properly. Take her back and get a plastic fish for your bowl.

 

[missigfunk]

I don't think you should be so hard on him.

Hell, even I've bought fish on impulse before and knew nothing about them! My most recent was my Albino Redtail shark. Luckily for me he has been fine and growing and growing and growing!

I know it's not the right thing to do, but it's how I've learnt about a lot of species I didn't before.

I'm not saying it's ok to 'experiment' with fish to see if you can look after them, I'm just basically saying don't be so hard on the OP. Everyone makes mistakes. How else do you learn.

 

[Cdarmychi]

missigfunk, normally, I would agree with you. Everyone has to learn sometime. But the OP made it clear that it wasnt about learning how to care for the betta. The OP seems to know how he/she is giving poor care to that fish, because he/she states:

(please dont say that I have to put her in a bigger bowl or tank because I live in a dorm and I have limited space)

This leads me to believe that the OP knows its wrong, and doesnt care. And that is unacceptable.

 

[Karplunk]

missigfunk, normally, I would agree with you. Everyone has to learn sometime. But the OP made it clear that it wasnt about learning how to care for the betta. The OP seems to know how he/she is giving poor care to that fish, because he/she states:

(please dont say that I have to put her in a bigger bowl or tank because I live in a dorm and I have limited space)

This leads me to believe that the OP knows its wrong, and doesnt care. And that is unacceptable.

the reason that I put "please dont say that I have to put her in a bigger bowl or tank because I live in a dorm and I have limited space" is because my dorm have rules about fish tanks and im afraid if they search the room (which they do twice every month) and find a tank that bigger than what they limited, they will make me bring it home which is kinna impossible for me because i go to college out of state and my house is 3 hours away.

 

[Ficious]

I just thnk the op is a victim of the petstores that sell them. A half gallon bowl is much better than the cup they come in. Petstores are loaded with small betta cubes for sale and a lot of them have betta sections filled with small interesting homes for these easy to keep fish. If someone didn't know better they would thnk bettas can be kept in small aquariums. But they are led to believe its what bettas arr about. Yes a bigger tank is nice but they will suffice in small bowls.