What the heck even is this….

[lnsaneM]

How well did you think that the brightly colored slow swimming fish with large fins was going to hide?

How well did you think that the brightly colored slow swimming fish with large fins was going to hide?

I thought I read that wrong that you put two bettas (who shouldn’t be kept together in the first place) in a tank with Datnoides. But no, I did read that correctly. So irresponsible, smh. View attachment 167997

Recipe for disaster....researching fish compatibility BEFORE purchasing them and adding to an already stocked tank is paramount

Any other method ("hiding in plants") is inhumane, cruel, and irresponsible

I'm not even gonna defend myself for my mistakes, it happened let's move on. But at the time a 3 inch betta isn't that small compared to a 5 inch datnoid. I was trying to make them grow together, and clearly I had to learn the fish are friends not food philosophy the hard way.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I'm not even gonna defend myself for my mistakes, it happened let's move on. But at the time a 3 inch betta isn't that small compared to a 5 inch datnoid. I was trying to make them grow together, and clearly I had to learn the fish are friends not food philosophy the hard way.

We all make mistakes in fishkeeping...learning from them, and "moving on" is our best path to take...

 

[lnsaneM]

We all make mistakes in fishkeeping...learning from them, and "moving on" is our best path to take...

So true, but at least my cat takes the philosophy fish are friends not food to his heart (unless its cooked fish fillet of some sort). One time my silver scat jumped out of the tank (3 inches at the time) he stayed there and kept meowing until I came and put him back in the tank. BTW he saved numerous fish this way too

 

[sharkweek178]

The one I went to had dead corydoras in the tank, the alive ones had fungus and missing barbels. The platies were dead and a molly had given birth in the tank and the precious fry were being eaten up. Bettas were dying like mad, all of them were sick. Never again...

I went to another chain store and I was looking at the tanks. I saw that two separate tanks each had a single albino cory. So I went to the girl who was working in the section and explained to her that corys are shoaling fish that need to be in groups. I said it's not great but could she at least put them in the same tank together. Her response was that they should be ok because there were other fish in the tank. I tried to explain that's not how shoaling works to no avail. They lost my business.

 

[betta4ever!]

So true, but at least my cat takes the philosophy fish are friends not food to his heart (unless its cooked fish fillet of some sort). One time my silver scat jumped out of the tank (3 inches at the time) he stayed there and kept meowing until I came and put him back in the tank. BTW he saved numerous fish this way too

My cat did that too....

 

[Rocky998]

my dog would sniff, bark, and eat the poor thing lol

 

[lnsaneM]

my dog would sniff, bark, and eat the poor thing lol

as long as he doesn't eat poop

 

[Rocky998]

as long as he doesn't eat poop

She wouldn't lol

 

[P3rhaps009]

You have to take the long view. Short term, you have to feel sorry for the Betta, but most of us think the damaging mutations are beautiful. The farms churn Bettas out in numbers you can't save. When I worked with importing, we once received a shipment of wild fish from Asia, and they had packed the spaces between the large bags with fancy Bettas, as living bubble wrap. They are that mass produced.
If you have room to take in 50,000 Bettas a week, you can talk rescue.
If we buy fancier and fancier fins, we get swimming pugs and French bulldogs - neat creatures but intentionally handicapped ones. It's a choice that will always be made. If I wanted another betta, I'd hunt for one with smaller fins and all the body colour I wanted. No one does that.
In order to have those fins undamaged (we don't like to 'adopt' Bettas with ragged fins) they can't be allowed to use those fins for swimming. They have to be jarred. They go into your tank physically unfit, with their noses up and tails dragging. In time, they get their muscles toned, but they are messed up creatures. Reduce the finnage by 40% and they become hardy community tank residents that swim well on day one. And they are still pretty.

The battle against cruel breeding is not going to be won by us. For every aquarist who decides Betta jarring and overbreeding are wrong, there are 10,000 who just buy. Balloon varieties of fish, blood parrot cichlids - we shape fish for convenience and because cute sells.

yeah I think people like to make the pet stores look like the enemy when they sell fish like that when the entire time it is our fault for buying what we think is "cute" or "quirky" and sadly most of us don't really realise how badly it effects the enviorment. I know I don't speak for everyone but I think we should always think twice.