UK Members...a request to suss out disease prevalence.

[DoubleDutch]

Actually, as you probably know DD, it’s the transport that causes the disease. Unstressed fish, and fish in antibiotics, don’t get diseases, but if you could see (or smell) the water in the bags when they’ve travelled half way round the world, you’d be surprised if they weren’t diseased.
Half of them, 50%, died just because of the toxic soup the water turns into. Stinking bags of brown water with hardly a fish still alive were a common occurrence, believe it or not. Every shipment contained some.

Some exporters and wholesalers are much better of course, but mostly, fish are still hideously overcrowded in transport.

I was joking.

 

[itiwhetu]

Actually, as you probably know DD, it’s the transport that causes the disease. Unstressed fish, and fish in antibiotics, don’t get diseases, but if you could see (or smell) the water in the bags when they’ve travelled half way round the world, you’d be surprised if they weren’t diseased.
Half of them, 50%, died just because of the toxic soup the water turns into. Stinking bags of brown water with hardly a fish still alive were a common occurrence, believe it or not. Every shipment contained some.

Some exporters and wholesalers are much better of course, but mostly, fish are still hideously overcrowded in transport.

If the average person who keeps a Betta could see how they are transported they wanted keep them. I remember them coming in in bags that were about the size of a small torch and with about a teaspoon of water in the bag, just enough to keep them wet. I can also remember Neon Tetras 250 per bag. The importing business is hard to say the least.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

The Betta sold in a cup, as I said on another thread, is essentially a store ploy, the ultimate "heart string tug" sales method...."aww look at that poor fish!"

I mean OK in the wild a Betta can live in a puddle beside a paddy field, but the wild ones are genetically capable of living in a puddle by virtue of the fact they have not been weakened by inbreeding, genetic modification etc.

Its the same with any fish sold in a store....cram them in, pull the heart strings to "rescue" those poor fish that are so stuffed into a small space

Mistakes happen more than people realise with imports. One of my other pastimes is aviation, specifically aviation accidents/incidents. You would be amazed how many passenger aircraft arrive at destination with fish and other livestock in the hold and the ground crew at the departure airport forgot to turn on the hold heating....with the end result of a solid lump of frozen tropical fish upon arrival.

 

[itiwhetu]

More importantly for the shop it is the only viable way of stocking 20 or 30 Bettas.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

More importantly for the shop it is the only viable way of stocking 20 or 30 Bettas.

Specialised LFS & breeders often have them in a bank of 1.5 gallon aquariums along one wall. Granted 1.5 gallon is not ideal either but is a step up from one of those titchy cups

 

[DoubleDutch]

Specialised LFS & breeders often have them in a bank of 1.5 gallon aquariums along one wall. Granted 1.5 gallon is not ideal either but is a step up from one of those titchy cups

In 2016 I visited a worldfamous LFS in the UK.
Bettas were sold in tiny cupsized "Chinese Lamps". A real shame.

 

[itiwhetu]

In 2016 I visited a worldfamous LFS in the UK.
Bettas were sold in tiny cupsized "Chinese Lamps". A real shame.

If people stop buying them then the shops will stop stocking them

 

[DoubleDutch]

If people stop buying them then the shops will stop stocking them

It is the way they stock / sell them.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

If people stop buying them then the shops will stop stocking them

I think there are many branches, if not full chains, in the US have gradually phased out the sale of Betta in cups...and some stores stopping all livestock sales completely after customer protest/complaints

 

[DoubleDutch]

I think there are many branches, if not full chains, in the US have gradually phased out the sale of Betta in cups...and some stores stopping all livestock sales completely after customer protest/complaints

Correct, in Holland and Germany several Gardencenters or DIY chains stopped selling livestock.

 

[itiwhetu]

 

[Deleted member 149562]

It's quite horrific how badly fish can be handled....its not every single LFS, breeder or transport firm that does it, I think that needs to be remembered here, there are some exceptionally good places to buy fish

Sometimes I feel that a fish is looked upon as inferior

You can't cuddle it or take it for walks or play with it like you can a dog or a cat or a hamster etc

Its "only a fish" so what does it matter how its treated? Why bother checking for diseases etc cos its "only a fish"?

We have no real idea if a fish feels pain or is unwell...it doesn't yelp at you or scratch you or bite you (unless a Piranha of course).....they are living, breathing creatures who get sick, get hurt, have bad days, who sulk or act like lunatics...

As with any animal, they take alot of care, often alot of time and money and they can be emotionally draining when it all goes wrong...these are not "ONLY A FISH"

They deserve better than to be stuffed into a cup or an aquarium where they can barely turn around. We as humans are their voice, their guardians. Fish deserve as much respect as any other living animal and that includes mapping and tracing disease traits, improving their catching/shipping/breeding/showing conditions and better education of those who work in stores that sell them and those who own them.

 

[itiwhetu]

It's quite horrific how badly fish can be handled....its not every single LFS, breeder or transport firm that does it, I think that needs to be remembered here, there are some exceptionally good places to buy fish

Sometimes I feel that a fish is looked upon as inferior

You can't cuddle it or take it for walks or play with it like you can a dog or a cat or a hamster etc

Its "only a fish" so what does it matter how its treated? Why bother checking for diseases etc cos its "only a fish"?

We have no real idea if a fish feels pain or is unwell...it doesn't yelp at you or scratch you or bite you (unless a Piranha of course).....they are living, breathing creatures who get sick, get hurt, have bad days, who sulk or act like lunatics...

As with any animal, they take alot of care, often alot of time and money and they can be emotionally draining when it all goes wrong...these are not "ONLY A FISH"

They deserve better than to be stuffed into a cup or an aquarium where they can barely turn around. We as humans are their voice, their guardians. Fish deserve as much respect as any other living animal and that includes mapping and tracing disease traits, improving their catching/shipping/breeding/showing conditions and better education of those who work in stores that sell them and those who own them.

That video is how every Betta will make it's way into any part of the western world, freight costs dictate how fish are shipped.

 

[DoubleDutch]

People should be jailed for this.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

That video is how every Betta will make it's way into any part of the western world, freight costs dictate how fish are shipped.

Here is a trap to fall into.

Company in Thailand selling "wild" Betta for shipping

Wild until you look at them......"Grey Alien Hybrid"

Who knows what these fish went through to get the colouration, who knows what disease they might harbour, who knows what their hardiness will be during and after shipping?

Wild Betta fish Grey Alien Hybrid

Wild Betta fish Grey Alien Hybrid for sale by Nice Betta Thailand High and rare quality with competition grade healthy. Shipping worldwide

www.nicebettathailand.com