Unsuitable Tanks (and Tankmates) For Bettas

[soritan]

i turned a friend to the dark side. she two bettas, however unfortunately, i can't seem to convince her that bettas are solitary creatures and don't need tankmates. WE need tankmates, the tankmates are for OUR visual interest, it's arguable that bettas don't care at all.

however, all her tankmate ideas are highly unsuitable. she's been keen on adding crabs lately, something that "can defend itself", and i had to try really hard to talk her down from purchasing an electric blue crayfish today. not only that, but her largest tank is 2.5g. i've had to do tonnes of research in just these last 4 hours to come up with enough material to convince her of it.



could someone help me come up with a consice, "be a responsible parent!" speech? please? i think this post is the best i've done so far, i should jot it on the palm of my hand before i talk to her next and cite it when she brings up another good idea.

maybe i just needed to scream and pull my hair for a few.

i'm getting a little tired of chruning out the same old spiel for every person i encounter, on betta care. i'm thinking of just making a pamphlet and then defensively crying out, "i am not a fanatic!"

 

[Synirr]

Just send here here, it's as simple as that

See if you can convince her to get an African dwarf frog and be done with it. Tell her the tank is overcrowded after that, and the froggy will make an excellent tankmate. That way the betta can have the buddy she wants him to have and everybody wins!

 

[soritan]

Actually, a pamphlet is kind of a nice idea for me. The shop I work at sells 1/2 gallon betta vases. We generally only have two at a time, and I personally change out the water on both of them every other day. I get over my guilt by thinking of them as "glorified betta cups", and comfort myself by saying that it's a temporary home for them, and that they're probably better off in the 1/2 gallon vases than the 1/2 cup betta displays at the pet store.

There's a small handout that comes with the vase, each time we sell them, and about a week's supply of Hikari pellets.

I've been thinking of making up a pamphlet for a long time, with a list of appropriate links on the page as well. Something *short*, because most people don't want to actually read pamphlets, but steers people in the right direction.

However, I don't actually feel qualified to make one up, despite my heavy research into our favorite little fishies. I wonder if anyone has a pamphlet online, for print out?

I've been afraid to ask about such things on the forum, for fear of being torn up on the issue, as betta vases are often described as evil, and the people who sell them as being equally evil.

I also have the issue of our upcoming Winter, and it gets extremely cold in the shop, despite the heater being turned on. I need to figure out a way to heat 1/2 gallon bowls, and every thread I've come across online simply says, "put them in bigger tanks, and then heat the bigger tanks."

 

[Synirr]

I wonder if anyone has a pamphlet online, for print out?

Ask and ye shall receive (providing that this is what you had in mind, anyway ):
Betta Care Sheet

That's a little something I whipped up a while ago, meant to be printed and distributed wherever bettas are sold

As for heating the tanks, you could try putting a heating pad under them.

 

[soritan]

Synirr: Thank you for that, and thank you equally as much for not ripping into me for selling betta vases. I've had an absolute fear of posting about these vases on this forum. Would you think it tacky of me to take your write up and modify it to suit my purposes? My boss is quite accpepting of my "weird fish habits" (she thinks it's really weird for me to take care of my fish as I do, she's of the 'old school' way of thinking, that fish are fish and 'oh well' if things don't go as planned), so she wouldn't flinch a bit if I brought in 50 or so pamphlets and calmly informed her they were going to be next to our tiny betta display from now on.

I've been looking into heating pads, but I can't seem to find one that is finely controllable. I've even looked into lizard matts, but they only sell unmetered ones that are preset to 86 degrees. I want warm, happy bettas, not boiled fish. I'm still looking for an appropriate solution. My boss is even willing to allow me to test my solutions on our vase setups sans fish, with a thermometer to ensure stability. I'm lucky these fish sell so poorly, we tend to have them around for a month at a time before they sell and are replaced. Because of that, she wants these little guys to be happy and good looking, to woo potential buyers.

 

[Synirr]

Go ahead and use that doc in whatever way you like, that's what it's made for
Is it essential that they be kept in the vases? If not you could always pop them in a breeding net inside one of the bigger tanks... less room, but at least they'd be warm. I understand why your boss might want to keep them in the vases though. Exactly how cold does it get in the store, anywho? Bettas can tolerate lower temps than you'd think with relative ease.

 

[soritan]

I don't work at a fish store, I work at a flower shop. We have them in the largest vases in the shop, and I know they're 1/2 gallon because I measured the amount of water while occupied by a plant and some colored stones.

These betta vases are actually extremely poor sellers, where I'm located. No one comes to my shop for fish, they come for roses. The end result... I get really attached to those little fish. ) It's all I can to do keep myself from naming them.

My boss is under the impression that these fish are perfectly fine and happy in those tiny little containers, and please, please believe me when I say there is absolutely no way to change her mind of it. We're talking about a lady who keeps guppies and goldfish in a divided ten gallon tank. She just doesn't think they're worth the effort, and all the stuff I'm doing for them is Her effort to keep Me happy. She's humoring me.

As I'm a new employee, I have no clue how cold it gets in the store, but she says "it gets very cold," over and over, and she's not a lady prone to hyperbole.

We're debating a little setup, with a lizard mat underneth a towel or board, and the bettas over the towel. We'd test the temps out over a series of days, to ensure that it's stable and not too hot.

I'm actually quite pleased I talked her into it in the first place, I think I even did a little dance when no one was looking.

 

[lljdma06]

We're debating a little setup, with a lizard mat underneth a towel or board, and the bettas over the towel. We'd test the temps out over a series of days, to ensure that it's stable and not too hot.

I'm actually quite pleased I talked her into it in the first place, I think I even did a little dance when no one was ooking.

You took the words out of my mouth. I was actually going to suggest a towel over the lizard mat to buffer the temperature a little bit. Also, try and use warmer water when doing the water changes.

Here is a little dance for you and good luck.

 

[soritan]

I'm happy they're healthy little boys, that's for sure. I can't help but preen a bit when I look at them -- one's a CT and he's been doing great, not a jot of finrot after a month of vase life. The VT even flares at my ugly face and bubble nests between water changes. I have to admit, I was really surprised when I saw the first bubble nest. Even my bettas at home don't bubble nest. Feisty little guy.

She's promised me I can do the mat trick this week, and I'm going to hold her (and the company credit card) to it every step of the way.

I constantly have to remind myself they aren't *my* bettas, and the 1/2gal vases aren't SO bad as temporary homes, and they're not *my* bettas.... and the 1/2gal vases are better than cups...

and so on, so forth.


Uh... I make a difference? Rah?

(don't kill me. )

 

[Synirr]

It could definitely be worse for those little fish! I think you're doing a wonderful thing to keep them as happy as possible in their vases