# 10 things I hear about bettas



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

You hear a lot of crazy things about bettas (and fish in general) that can leave you gaping at the person talking, desperately trying to think of a response to this nonsense. Here are the ten things I hear most often and the responses I give.

*1) "They can live in/like tiny spaces with dirty water and no heater!"* 
This is the most obvious one. Everyone will hear this at some point from someone, usually as a justification from petshops on why they sell those tiny tanks. All you can do with this is respond with a couple of basic facts:
_- tank size:_ _Although some crazy bettas, due to having a strange personality or a genetic defect, do indeed prefer tiny spaces, most are perfectly happy in large tanks. In the wild, their habitats range from little puddles to huge rice paddies. Sure, they only live in a small area of that huge space, but they won't go, "OMG, I'm in a rice paddy!" and freak out. Dense vegetation is the key._
_- water quality: although they are hardy little fish and capable of surviving in sub-optimum conditions, it doesn't mean they like it. No fish likes dirty water - ammonia burns gills, stunts growth and rots fins. You aren't going to convince me that a fish enjoys that._
_- heaters: they come from Thailand and the surrounding countries. On the equator. Equatorial countries are hot. What baffles me here is that people selling fish from the same area (gouramis, loaches, rasboras) advocate a heater for those species but not for bettas. _

This is usually followed by:

*2. "But the petshop said!"*
You hear this a lot when you first tell someone that their quart container is not a sufficient home. Here is the sad truth: petshops lie. Here's the logic I follow in answering.
_What is the petshop's motivation for telling you about your fish? To make a sale and get money. If they convince you that your fish only needs a tiny amount of money and time, you'll be more likely to buy it, so they get your money._
_What's my motivation for telling you about your fish? At worst, it's because I'm a bossy know-it-all who loves to be right. At best, it's because I know about the species and genuinely care about the welfare of your animal._
_The same sort of response goes to "but it's marketed for a betta" or "but it has seventeen goldfish on the front of the package" or "the instructions say this."_

Chances are, the next thing they'll say is:

*3. "But so-and-so did this and their fish lived for x years!"*
How many years they say varies. Some of the time, it will be a massively unimpressive number ("My comet goldfish (lifespan 20 years) lived for 3 years!" "My betta (lifespan 3+ years) lived a whole year!") Occasionally, however, they will actually have a betta (or other fish) that lived in horrible conditions and lived 7 years. This one can sometimes be difficult to answer, especially when your own perfectly-cared-for fish dies after 3. However:
_Firstly, that's really cool. That is an exceptionally hardy fish. However, under those conditions, the vast majority of bettas would have died much, much sooner._
_Secondly, lifespan does not equal quality of life. A healthy betta will be colourful, active, responsive, curious and will eat like a pig, as well as having no physical signs of sickness (rotted fins, inflamed gills, missing scales etc). In poor conditions, it isn't likely that all those signs will be present. _
_Thirdly, even if all those signs are present, it's still not a justification. After all, a human may live to the ripe old age of 80 in poverty in a slum in Nairobi (not likely, but then, neither is a 7-year-old betta in a filthy, unheated, tiny bowl), and another man may die in his plush New York apartment at the age of 40. You still wouldn't advocate the slum in Nairobi as a suitable home. _
_Also, please don't say, "I/they/somebody has been doing it this way for years". Doing it the wrong way for years doesn't make it right. If anything, it makes it worse._
Of course, by this time I'm generally getting pretty passionate about my subject and people are staring at me like I'm crazy. The next thing I'll usually hear is:


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

*4. "It's just a fish!"*
This one drives me insane. If you love your betta, it will probably drive you insane too. The trouble is, there isn't an objective answer for this. There is no universal law saying, "value your fish". However, there are a couple of responses that may work on the more compassionate of your friends:
_Firstly, 'it's just a...' has been used to justify all kinds of cruelty throughout the centuries all around the world. To Hitler, they were just Jews. To white Americans, for a long time they were just blacks. To the British, they were just savages. And to most of the world, at some point or another, they were just women. To other people, it's just a dog, or just a cow. But how many of you can watch a video of a cow being brutally slaughtered and not be effected? To me, seeing a fish suffering gives me a similar feeling: helpless rage and sadness. To me, "it's just a..." never justifies killing or neglecting anything. _
_Secondly, and this relates to the first point, how do you classify what is "just a..."? People will probably think I'm a bit mad for comparing a fish to a Jew, and I admit, I don't see fish on the same level as humans. I'd always save the human from the burning house before the fish, and I suspect I'd probably save a dog or a cat before the fish, too. But that doesn't mean the fish has no intrinsic value, just because it doesn't rank as high on the scale as another creature. After all, I'd save the fish before the cockroach. So it's worth more than something. _
_A lot of people use a fish's price to justify this mindset, which frustrates me enormously (you also see it a lot when people don't want to pay for their $10 rat to have a $200 life-saving operation, or even $50 worth of medication). If you got were given or adopted a dog for free, would you value it less than the dog that you had to pay $200 to adopt? Why? How much you pay to adopt an animal shouldn't dictate how much you pay on its upkeep. _
_Thirdly, if it is just a fish, why did you buy it? You just bought an animal (yes, it's an animal). That's making a commitment to care for it. It's whole world is in your hands, even more than a cat or dog - you are responsible for what is breathes. You have complete power over its tiny life (and by the way, size is not a justification for mistreating something either - children are very small when they are born!), and if you've watched Spiderman you'll know that with great power comes great responsibility. _
_Fourthly, clearly fish matter to some people. If someone loved their dog, would you really say, "Pssh, it's just a dog" to their face? If I love my fish, why is it ok to say that about my animal?_
_Finally, as a Christian, I truly believe each animal life should be treated with respect and compassion. I'm sure many people of other faiths or no faiths believe this too. My heart cries when I see animals in pain. _
_Some people may respond and call me a hypocrite because I hate squid, kill insects or tread on grass. Firstly, I am utterly convinced that squid will initiate an apocalypse one day, and then you'll wish you'd listened. And I don't mistreat them, I just hate them. Secondly, I don't kill most insects. I kill the ones that pose a danger to me, my family or my animals (poisonous, aggressive spiders, for instance), and I do it quickly and painlessly as much as I can. Thirdly, the day you can prove that grass hurts when I walk on it, I'll stop. This part of my answer may be slightly irrelevant, but I like to defend myself pre-emptively against cries of hypocrisy._

By this stage, most people have given me up as completely bonkers and stopped talking to me about their just-a-fish. However, some people will still say:

*5. "But he looks happy!"*
This is a good sign for me. The person saying this generally does care about the welfare of the fish. They want it to be happy. But:
_Fish aren't happy. They aren't sad, either. There is no proof that they feel emotion in this way. They can't pull facial expressions or cry. I'm not saying they don't suffer, but please don't say he looks happy unless you are Doctor Doolittle. _
_What makes you think he is happy? Is he swimming and eating? That's because he wants to stay alive - fish swim and eat because that's what fish do. Is he not sick? That's great, but not sick now doesn't equal not sick later when poor conditions start to take their toll. Is he flaring? That's because he is seeing something that makes him think he needs to defend his home. Is he building a bubblenest? That doesn't make him healthy or happy. That's him marking his territory and getting ready in case an eligible female happens along. I've seen really sick bettas building bubblenests, right up until they became too weak to do so. I've also seen perfectly healthy ones not do it at all._

By this point, this conversation tends to die off because the person is either convinced, or calling an asylum. The following is a gem spouted by many novice goldie owners and petshops looking for a quick sell:


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

*6. "It will only grow to the size of its tank!" *
Ok, so this applies more to goldfish, but I have heard it about other fish too, bettas included. It frustrates me particularly because people use it as a reason to keep cramming comets (stunning fish which should grow to more than a foot long) into gallon bowls. 
_No, fish do not grow to the size of their tank. It can be an influencing factor (you may notice fish grow slightly bigger in larger quarters) but it isn't what keeps a fish with the genetic potential to be 14 inches at a measly three inches. _
_The reason most fish stay tiny in tiny tanks is because there is more ammonia in a tiny tank. Poor water quality, just like poor nutrition and environment for humans, will stunt a fish's growth. Poor water quality is generally more prevalent in small tanks because they are harder to keep clean and there is a smaller volume of water diluting the waste. If you kept a comet in a tiny tank but did massive water changes all the time, it would still grow. My own goldfish is a case in point - we had him in a small tank, but he kept growing because we kept the water clean. The reverse is also true - keep a fish in a huge tank but let the water get awful and the fish will not grow. _

This lack of information generally leads to comments like this:

*7. "You shouldn't buy one of those, they die really easily".*
Now, I could understand if people said this about orange-eyed blue tiger shrimp, discus or French Angelfish (the saltwater ones) but what you actually hear it about are goldfish and bettas (seriously, has any other fish been so abused?). 
_They are two of the hardiest fish in existence. They are extremely easy to care for - as long as you are doing it right. Any animal will get sick or die if you don't care for it properly. Don't blame the animal for your lack of care, whether through ignorance or deliberate neglect. _

Of course, one of the most common causes of fish dying really quickly is New Tank Syndrome, from people putting a fish in the tank and causing it to cycle. This generally rises out of the following myth:

*8. "Run your tank for 24/48 hours, then it will be ready for fish."*
I'm not actually sure how this came about, but I suppose it must just be a perversion of the actual cycling process.
_What happens if you run your tank for 24 hours? Well, it gives you a chance to make sure your filter is working and that your heater is at the right temperature, but it does diddly-squat to prevent NTS. Without a source of ammonia in the tank, nitrifying bacteria will not start to build up in the filter. Without them, the filter really isn't doing much in terms of biological filtration, although it will still be useful for mechanical filtration. Even with ammonia in the tank, 24 hours won't do anything. *Insert explanation of the nitrogen cycle here*._

Another petshop gem that makes me wince is this:

*9. "You can have one inch/cm of fish per gallon/litre". *
I agree. This rule is wonderful. If you are stocking neon tetras in a 20+ gallon tank, anyway. 
_For any fish other than that, this rule is not good. _
_First, you have your dramatic examples, like a 10-inch oscar in a ten gallon tank. Most people are thankfully not so short-sighted as to make this kind of mistake, however (except with goldfish). _
_Then you have the less extreme examples. For instance, 2-3 glofish is a total of 4-6 inches, right? So you could probably fit those in a 5 gallon, right? Well, yes, they would fit and they wouldn't ever grow out of it, but it doesn't take into account several things:_
_- schooling needs. Most small fish are schoolers and need groups of 6 or more to avoid stress (stress = compromised immune system = sickness). _
_- territorial needs. Kissing gouramis get about 4 inches long, but you wouldn't stick two in an 8 gallon tank - they would tear each other apart. Dwarf puffers are what, an inch? Stick two of them in a two gallon tank and they will murder each other. _
_- activity levels. Fish like danios are incredibly active. They love to zoom. They need to zoom. Smaller spaces = increased stress. 5 gallons doesn't give them zoom-room. _
_- bio-load. Guppies are smaller than bettas, but they poop more. I would stock a ten gallon with 6 female bettas, but I'd only have 4 guppies._
_At the other end of the scale, you have things like kuhli loaches. These get 4 inches long, so you could only keep 5 in a ten gallon by this rule. But they have small bioloads, so you could easily keep ten in a 20 gallon no problem. _

That particular myth has a lot to answer for - many people use it to 'prove' that their tank isn't overstocked. The final one (also a question of stocking) that drives me batty is this:

*10. "I need an algae eater/snail/catfish/bottom feeder to keep my tank clean!"*
Poor little algae eaters. Touted by petshops as a kind of miracle for tank maintenance, they are in fact anything but.
_Firstly, most algae eaters only eat some types of algae. Many will prefer to snack on actual fish food instead, and some will even prefer your fish (yes, I'm talking about you, Chinese Algae Eaters). Those that will eat almost anything (Siamese Algae Eaters - don't get them confused) get a good six inches long and won't fit in the average tank. So no, an algae eater isn't a solution to algae._
_Secondly, they don't eat poo. Many fish will put poo in their mouths by mistake; many fish will also spit it right back out again. _
_Thirdly, "tank cleaners" create as much waste as they eat, if not more. So, whilst they may clean up visible stuff like uneaten food, they aren't going to help with the invisible stuff, and as any fish keeper can tell you, that's the deadly stuff. _
_Fourthly, just because it is an algae eater/bottom feeder, doesn't mean it isn't a fish. Many people seem to view them as less than a fish, which baffles me. As a consequence, they don't take into account the fish's needs (such as common plecos needing huge tanks, and cories needing schools). _

So there you have it. Ten myths that make me cringe, myths that force me to bite my tongue to avoid screaming (and possibly biting the speaker instead). And the answers that I wish I'd had the foresight or the calmness to say at the time, or have since rehearsed so I can spring them on the unwary novice. I hope they can help you, or that you can at least find comfort in knowing that other people, too, have felt this pain.  
Feel free to disagree with me.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Bombalurina, that is the most stylish and eloquent pieces of prose I have read on this or any forum. You have my congratulations and utmost thanks. 

Now I have to go back, take notes and memorize responses, so I won't lose control, like I did the other day when I encountered my first live (for a while) Betta/plant horror bowl. 

The ladies at my doctor's office each got new Betta. I'll give them this along with the URL to TFK/Betta. Thanks again.


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## MaisyDawgThirteen (Dec 7, 2011)

This is great.  It should be stickied. I fell for the 28/48 hour thing in my tanks. I think it's the reason my first betta died.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Thanks, guys, you actually did make me blush.  I hope it does help, Hallyx! 

I've just realised where I wrote about kuhli loaches, I've said 5 in a ten gallon. It should read 2 in a ten gallon instead.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Number 10 omg.... >__>


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Nice work Bombalurina! Good job!


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## Rosso1011 (Nov 13, 2011)

Good job. I especially agree with you on #4. If it's just a fish then, why'd you invest your money in it. It kills me to think that people do not realize that they are buying an animal, a living creature that becomes our responsibility to care for. You take care of your dog or cat when it's sick, right? I'll never understand the thinking behind it and I really don't want to, either.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

*11. "He/She seemed lonely, so I bought him/her a friend!"*

Bettas are solitary fish, very territorial. they don't get lonely. at all. They prefer to live alone, and are happiest when their territory is filled with JUST them. often, a well-meaning owner buys their betta girlfriend/boyfriend, and ends up with two horribly stressed, very beaten-up bettas, or, worse, a dead betta.

:I don't forget that one.


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## betta lover1507 (Aug 6, 2011)

this should be a sticky, just saying


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## Mars788 (Sep 9, 2011)

betta lover1507 said:


> this should be a sticky, just saying


Agreeeeee!
Also, I feel exactly the same way about the "it's just a fish!" remark. Whenever I hear the fire alarm go off (which has been frequently this year due to imbeciles not knowing how to cook popcorn...) I grab my keys, my debit card....then my fish. One in a kritter keeper, the other in a walmart cup. I've had Dol too damn long to have any desire to see either him or Morpheus die in a fire. This usually gets odd looks from other residents of my building, but I'm not really concerned with their opinions. 
And the whole 24/48 hour rule..that's a big SMH. I saw that in the instruction manual for a new tank, debated following it for a minute or two...then just ignored it. Don't all new tanks just need a rinsing with hot water?


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

If they were "just fish"I'd keep them in the cups they came in.


But I don't. because they're living creatures.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Another one that gets me is the "3 second memory" one.
My friend that was driving me home when I got reuben wouldn't shut up about that.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Mine have a longer memory. I think people get it confused with ATTENTION SPAN. Now most of my bettas proved to me they have a short attention span :lol: some 10 seconds, some a couple minutes, some a few seconds :roll:

But memory? Mine remember color (yellow and green lid = food), people, The Evil Net, etc :lol:


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## bahamut285 (Dec 10, 2010)

^ That's not memory either, that's just primitive association.



I like this list, Bombularina, a lot of people also fall for the one Luimeril posted as well.

In my experience the most common ones I hear are the "only grow to tank size" "He's lonely" ones from my parents XD

EDIT: OH, my parents also think for some reason that once you fill up an aquarium, you have to keep water in it or else the sealant won't work effectively anymore. I didn't know they thought that until recently, no wonder why I was never allowed to purchase/obtain used tanks -_-


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I've heard the "he's lonely" from my mom and I reminded her that some bettas chow down on other fish's faces :/


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## MrVampire181 (May 12, 2009)

Here's some. I may get some hate for this buuuuttt....

Flaring is stressful. Bettas don't need interaction.

Flaring is only bad if it gets to the point the males are ripping fins. Since I keep mostly plakats I don't usually have this issue. I had an in depth discussion with transhipper and judge Linda Olson about "carding" bettas. She did experiments awhile back and concluded bettas are social creatures and communicate in their own ways (flaring). Generally flaring only lasts a few days between neighbors until the next water change. If you do card and flare your bettas it will give them an ego boost so to speak. They flare and then BAM the enemy is gone.... the males think "I'm awesome, I scared him off...". 

*prepares for hate PMs/angry members D:*


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## Shirleythebetta (Jan 9, 2012)

Here's a good one I learned at walmart from a woman working in pets. They got in a shipment of bagged fish. She forgot about them sitting in their release tanks in the bags for like.... over an hour. She went around and shook the bags vigorously. I looked at her funny and she says, "I'm doing this to circulate the oxygen in the bag." My response is, "no your stressing them out and circulating the ammonia"


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

MrVampire181 said:


> Here's some. I may get some hate for this buuuuttt....
> 
> Flaring is stressful. Bettas don't need interaction.
> 
> ...


I completely agree. I let Odysseus flare for 5 minutes at his mirror to exercise his fins and so I can check for rips etc, then take it away. It does encourage his bubblenesting, I find, but I would never leave the mirror in.


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I just put my boys together in a divided tank. 
My VT, Reuben is being a huge butt. He swims up to the divider and just sits there, and Gilbert flares and freaks out at him, then Reuben just swims away. xD


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## Mo (Mar 15, 2012)

Yeah. One time I accidentally placed my female Betta with my blind male Betta. the female flared and flared while the male just ignored her and went on with his thing


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## Rosso1011 (Nov 13, 2011)

MrVampire181 said:


> Here's some. I may get some hate for this buuuuttt....
> 
> Flaring is stressful. Bettas don't need interaction.
> 
> ...


I always thought flaring them for a little bit was healthy. Poseidon gets the mirror for a few mins and I come back to a small bubble nest. I think he's destroying them afterward, though. That filter is not powerful enough to do the damage. :-?


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Actually MrVampire I'm pretty sure a lot of us agree xDD

I have veiltails. Now, I've worked it out that I know who "strains" themselves to flare - those are the ones who'll blow their fins. Some don't stress at all and it is effortless, and they never blow a fin. However, I do it for conditioning, or exercising because it's good  and yes... it is bad when they get too stressed haha. My girls flare, and now once in a while (after their mexican stand off, torn fins and a booboo) they flare, and that's it. It's a way to work things out, tell each other things, and stand their ground


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

I think it makes sense that they are social. In the wild, each betta doesn't get it's own 0.5 gallon puddle, they have territories, and they communicate with each other by flaring, probably quite often. Maybe in a way it's better to keep two males together through a divider.


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

This is a GREAT post, Bomba. I've heard all of those before ...
My favorite is probably "It's too much work to take care of them the way you do." they usually say this after they finally realize they're giving bad care. 
The way I do? Excuse me, but I'm treating them like living creatures! If you don't want to spend the time or money to take care of a living creature, then you're just immature and irresponsible! 
I'm slowly turning into the crazy fish girl on campus ... I have a hard time respecting people that don't take care of their fishies properly. 

MrV, I think most agree. Flaring is healthy and should be encouraged, but not at stressful levels.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Olympia said:


> I think it makes sense that they are social. In the wild, each betta doesn't get it's own 0.5 gallon puddle, they have territories, and they communicate with each other by flaring, probably quite often. Maybe in a way it's better to keep two males together through a divider.




same with my females... you see Savannah's territory is middle, the other blue is left front, the steel blue is right front, green right back... :lol: they cross, they flare  or they show off a little, that's all haha. Being in a 40 gallon I felt they were okay to flare, deck it out, and they've done it and they are fine with only one booboo (Rose got popeye from being smucked). :lol:

I was told at the store I got my females I should have tanks for each single one of them. I have a TANK. I KNOW they are bettas. and some cannot be together for females :lol:

Another thing I've heard is "my betta LIKES to be petted". I won't say anything on it, other than I think they tolerate and/or trust you, but that's about it.


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

i agree that bettas can be social. i've stopped putting things between my betta's tanks when they can see each other, and noticed that they generally do their own thing, and flare only once in a while, and then it's just a little bit, then they move on. my girls actually enjoy watching each other, and Medic stopped glass surfing when she had a neighbor to watch. but, that doesn't mean they'd want a tank mate all the time, yeah?


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

agreed. I had some males who needed to be alone otherwise they'd stress themselves when they saw others :lol:


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## Luimeril (Dec 29, 2010)

Mo said:


> Yeah. One time I accidentally placed my female Betta with my blind male Betta. the female flared and flared while the male just ignored her and went on with his thing


that's exactly what happened with my Ichi, and my blind boy, Theo. they were in constant view of each other, 24/7, and never had issues. i guess at one point, Ichi flared, and saw Theo ignore him, and was like 'okay. he knows who's boss', and didn't bother him after. he seemed to enjoy watching Theo go about his business, and never tail bit until after Theo passed. :I


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Shirleythebetta said:


> She forgot about them sitting in their release tanks in the bags for like.... over an hour. She went around and shook the bags vigorously.


I'da grabbed her and shaken HER vigorously.. but that's just me. :twisted:

Bomba, great list! It pretty much sums up and addresses the various misconceptions I've come across so far.


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## Shirleythebetta (Jan 9, 2012)

I thought about it but..... jail is not worth it. I just couldn't believe that. She even said it shakily like she was trying to sound like she knew what she was talking about. It's funny when stupid people try to sound smart.


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## ravenwinds (Feb 5, 2012)

What a wonderful and eloquently stated list of fish myths. Great work Bomba!
Mr V: I don't see any hate mail in your future on this one....we all seem to be in agreement with you!

I am sure that many of us have fallen for at least one of these myths at one time when we first started in the fish hobby...the important difference is we cared enough to investigate our aquatic responsibilities to find out how to best care for them.
When our cories spawned and we got 8 babies, my mom told me that she never knew they would do that in a home aquarium, she didn't even know they were schoolers...she had only ever kept one in a tank before...(got 2 w/ this story: bottom feeders aren't really fish and stocking the tank issues!)


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

I heard another one from my little brother yesterday. He told me that you need to be super careful with the males because they'll run into the side of the tank to get their relflection, but they do it too hard and end up killing themselves. 
I just looked at him and was like "... No."
*sigh* fish myths.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

When I had my first ever betta, Mister, the pet store (Ralph's Pet Store, later the man retired after his dog (Ralph) passed away) had him with neon tetras, in a cycled tank  I had done a little research, and everything said "SOLITARY" and "NO OTHER FISH - THEY'LL KILL THEM!!!" but there was proof right then and there they were wrong ;-) He told me I'd have to be careful and get a tank to have fish with bettas, but it wasn't impossible =D He told me a 1 gallon would be okay for a starter, and to keep his water above room temperature 

The other store told me to stick him in a cup and he'd be fine. x.x Later I got a tank and added 6 danios with Finicky =D


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## cp6445 (Jan 14, 2012)

This is great! Thanks for sharing!


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## ravenwinds (Feb 5, 2012)

Whoa...a pet store that knows about fish...sucks that he retired...we need more like him.
You were lucky Sena to have come across such an intelligent and caring pet store owner.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I know xD he also trained dogs, worked on a farm, did grooming and only carried fish... no hamsters, guineas, dogs or cats. I think he said his fish were bred by his son or something? they were some good quality VTs  I miss him D:


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## ravenwinds (Feb 5, 2012)

I wish we had a small business pet shop around here. All we have is Walmart, Petco, and petsmart...it's why I do so much online shopping. If I had a LPS, I would never buy anything but what is usually insanely expensive in small businesses...like ferret litter and dog food.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

hmmm here is one thing I've heard about bettas... Shipped bettas (from Thailand and such) are more fragile? And I dunno if it's true so I'll say nothing on that matter


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

My Thailand ones have proved just as resilient as my pet store ones. I actually have had more deaths amongst my pet store ones than my imported fish. 

I also don't acclimatise anything. It's just out of the bag and into my tank. Never lost a fish, not even the imported ones, so they're not as fragile as people might think. 

Only one of my imports turned out to be a tail biter, whereas most of my more poorly bred HMs really used to go to town on themselves.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I wouldn't know :lol: my fish were fine when we drove from edmonton (with them) home... which took like an hour and some :3 that's the most I know xD only Red had a problem since he was a "that day" new shipment, and it was mild SBD


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## Sivan (Aug 30, 2010)

I just had to put down the "But my betta lived for X amount of years under these conditons and was fine!" argument for betta vases. Ugh.


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## MadameDesu (Feb 5, 2012)

For that one, I like to use the following analogy:
Imagine that you had to live in gas station bathroom stall for your entire life. You'd get fed every day, sure, and have the toilet flushed and bathroom cleaned once a month.
It's conceivable that you could survive all those years. So why don't you live there? It'd be much cheaper after all.

(See the analogy? ;-))


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

:lol: yeah, I'v dealt with goldies in bowls. "well he is like...5...." my argument: yeah and he is supposed to be a foot long, and 10-20 years old :roll: I had a betta in a bowl (Mister) and I had him until he was about 6-7... But I bet he would've lived awesomely if I got him better stuff :roll: lol


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## JessSH (Jul 3, 2012)

Great thread! I went to my local store yeaterday that treats their animals very humanely. They keep all their bettas in 10 gallon minimum community tanks that are not overstocked. A male customer was yelling at a staff member, then the owner because he was trying to buy his 3rd betta this week cause the other 2 had died & they refused to sell him anymore until he got some information on how to properly care for them. They ended up having to banning him from the store. As he walked out he shouted it's just a fish, well, that's the censored version anyways. lol It made me so mad! I bet he would never say that about a cat or dog. Love my pet store though! Told them that was exactly why I always tried to buy from them.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

It annoys me when people say fish are decorations I love fish and other invertebrates I will not eat any water life in the wild most bettas only survive 1 year at best a few live for years and in captivity if properly cared for can live 7-8 years I read the world record holder for goldfish lived 43 years in a fish bowls I am not saying fish bowls are best oldest Koi lived over 200 years in an Asian pond I used to keep my male Betta in a one gallon bowl then when I took my ten gallon down I put the heater in their later on I put my male Betta carter in that ten gallon.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

In their natural habitat they live in rice paddies which is 1000s of gallons an occupy a 3 by 3 foot territory the dry season that puts them in puddles usually kills them.


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## ChoclateBetta (Jul 22, 2012)

There natural habitat is rich in tannin's which look dirty.


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I'm going to egotistically revive this thread as I've seen a number of people mentioning friends doing bad stuff to fish, and I think it may help.


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## ravenwinds (Feb 5, 2012)

Sounds good to me...might as well put it all down in one thread and I like everyone's input!


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

This is an awesome thread!!

I always tell people that there's no such thing as "just a....". You're just a (insert name here), but you'd be upset if people mistreated you...

Honestly, my life would be boring, and extremely depressive without them around to be enthusiastic about my existence. I pretend that they like me for more than just my food lol. It's really their interaction that makes my life and home more beautiful. Plus, I really enjoy decorating their tanks. That's the "decor" or "furniture" of them. Other than that, their amazing personalities decorate your life, and brighten your soul.


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## ravenwinds (Feb 5, 2012)

Well stated Skyewillow!


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## rebeccaodell (Feb 11, 2013)

I want to say thanks and I have had the same things told to me repeatly


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Thank you, Ravenwinds.


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## Hallyx (Jun 11, 2011)

Here's one you hear by implication from some "experienced" fishkeepers: Betta are just beginner fish, not to be taken too seriously. You'll grow out of them eventually and get a real aquarium.


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## SageMyster (Jul 13, 2011)

This reminds me of a post in my blog (not to self-promote). I wrote about my experience picking up pamphlets from both Petco and PetSmart and comparing them, and the facts were aaaall wrong! At least I met a good employee who actually knew what he was doing.


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## mursey (May 9, 2012)

This is a fabulous thread. I have actually tried nicely once to explain a few of these things to a snot-nosed little pissy girl working at a Petsmart, she ws very rude to me even though I tried to be as nice as I could and not condescend to her. . 

Well after she said pretty much everything listed in the thread, she was a huge B to me, and I decided next time someone says something stupid about bettas like "They don't LIKE a lot of room" . ."They are fine in a vase" .. I won't waste my breath, I will just yell out "_*WRONG*_!"

I'll blurt it out like a crazy person. It will go like this:

stupid person - "Bettas don't LIKE bigger-
me "WRONG!"
stupid person "They eat lily roo-"
me "WRONG!" 
stupid person - But they
me "WRONG!"


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

mursey said:


> stupid person - "Bettas don't LIKE bigger-
> me "WRONG!"
> stupid person "They eat lily roo-"
> me "WRONG!"
> ...


LMAO!

You should've called and reported her to her manager, they still get in trouble for being rude to the customers


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## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

Hallyx said:


> Here's one you hear by implication from some "experienced" fishkeepers: Betta are just beginner fish, not to be taken too seriously. You'll grow out of them eventually and get a real aquarium.


I absolutely resent being told this. 

"Oh, pfft, bettas. When are you going to get some real fish?"
_"Like what?"_
"Cichlids!"
_"I don't want cichlids."_
":shock:....don't...want...cichlids?" *brain cannot compute*


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

That's about the ONLY thing I have not been told yet...and petco has tried to tell me ALOT of BS over the years



> _"I don't want cichlids."_
> ":shock:....don't...want...cichlids?" *brain cannot compute*


Personally I find them ugly, along with those goldfish with tumors on their heads *shudders*

eh, I'm just not interested in other fish species - except for bottom dwellers/catfish/snails. The only other fish I have found that i actually want would be diamond tetras because they are shiny ;-)


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## ravenwinds (Feb 5, 2012)

I agree Tikibirds...cichlids, for the most part look like spiky finned fish with upside down faces....and the ones that grow so huge give me the creeps! Yes, some are pretty, some are gorgeous (discus)....but I've never seen a cichlid with even half the personality of my bettas. Of course, I think only bettas, gouramis, catfish (cories), and my shoal of rainbows have ANY personality anyway!

And you're correct about some of the mutant fish such as the goldfish with enlarged, unencapsulated brains (anyone else think they kind of look like the 4-legged monsters from Resident Evil movies...the ones supposedly mutated after "living tissue was injected with live T virus"??)


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Cichlids seem to be massively popular here. Honestly, they bore the heck out of me. Only ones I like are some species of apistogramma. They are my sort of fish, flashy, small and with that awesome natural beauty. 

People always get excited when I tell them I have around 20 tanks and probably over 100 fish (counting fry and juveniles). Then they get less so when I mention they are all bettas. After I explain that the fish I keep are like the wild cousins of splendens, I can just see the cogs turning in their brains. I try to tell them it's like owning a dog versus owning a wolf as really that's the only analogy that makes sense to the average person that visits.


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## brookeandbubba (Feb 8, 2013)

this stuff is true but the thing that kills me is the part "" they poop to much " or something like that XD puther than that it was great


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## cosmicwitch (May 8, 2013)

Luimeril said:


> *11. "He/She seemed lonely, so I bought him/her a friend!"*
> 
> Bettas are solitary fish, very territorial. they don't get lonely. at all. They prefer to live alone, and are happiest when their territory is filled with JUST them. often, a well-meaning owner buys their betta girlfriend/boyfriend, and ends up with two horribly stressed, very beaten-up bettas, or, worse, a dead betta.
> 
> :I don't forget that one.


My mom actually said something along the lines of that yesterday to me. I still haven't gotten my fish yet.

She said "but it will be lonely"
and I explained what I've read and researched.
her response: "Well fine, you're an only child too so you can both be only children."

lolwut? 

A thing I noticed most about people going out to get any pet in general is they just don't do research and are surprised when the animal dies or gets sick. They over crowd and get tired of it and neglect it and its sad :/


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

I have males who don't thrive without a neighbor in sight.

It's not bright to put them in an undivided tank, but with a divider, or a separate tank, they can form some sort of social bonds. Females sure do in a sorority setting.

Also, I'm not the only one to notice this.


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