# Bettas from Petsmart/Petco?



## AmandaGraham (Jul 16, 2011)

Hi guys, I'm new here. 

After a lot of research and learning a lot of new things, I've decided I want to house Bettas. I had a wonderful marble male with the typical fin thingy years ago. I didn't know they needed so much care, and he was in a vase with some goldfish companions. I now know that cannot happen again.

I found a place that sells BEAUTIFUL Bettas, all fin types and colors.. But she sells them for $20 a piece. Though I am interested, I don't want to pay that much for a fish.. Unless he's absolutely perfect. 

Anyways, I was thinking of starting a sorority of females. What does everyone think of the fish from petsmart/petco? I don't plan on breeding anything yet. I don't want to have individual cups for all those babies.

What do you all think?


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

hey manda  psmart/petco end o have a lot of ill kept? im not sure if thats the right word to use as im in australia we dont have these stores. the lady selling them for $20 may be good to look at as she may import them check out aquabid.com and there is decent ( *giggle*) fish but the site is quite additive. personally i havent shopped on AB cause id never have money.

just look for bright active healthy fish with as little fin damage as possible.

starting a sorority you should hold off on for a little while as the whole "if oe gets sick they are all at risk thing and yeh trust me its a pain in the a...rear.
i have 2 ales in one divided tank one males in quarantine 9 males in a dived up custom buit tank and sorority of 6 femes and 3 endler guppies..


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## Pitluvs (Jun 22, 2011)

I payed $80 for my second Betta.. I wouldn't advise spending a lot of money on your first 4 Bettas  I lost my boy a few days after he got here.

Lots of us have pet store bettas  I have Ben now. Since we're new to Betta, I looked for the liveliest betta with the most spunk in the store.


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## masshiimarro (Apr 16, 2011)

welcome! 
all of my fish were petstore bettas. you just have to have the patience to find the right one, and imo petco/petsmart has a pretty extensive inventory of bettas to choose from now XD. i got 2 from walmart, and one from petsmart. just find the one you like the most  but make sure hes healthy. as a beginner, i wouldnt buy a sickly betta.

as for sororities, i would hold off on that. keep one or two males/females at first to understand bettas. i know you may have read a lot about them already.. but to have them in person brings your understanding of them to a higher level.. and trust me, sororities do need someone who truly understands each fish to keep it going right.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

my sorority works because 5/6 of the fish are all sisters from the same spawn (i brought straight from a breeder in sydney) and the last plus the guppies were introduced at once ive been lucky that they all get along.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

All 8 of my bettas have come from either PETCO or Walmart. 
My experience is that unless the fish JUST came in, they arent going to be in prime shape. However that doesn't mean that the fish is gonna die in a few days. 

These are my general guidelines when I look at bettas:

Active and responsive when I pick up the cup
No fungus like growths
No Salt like spots 


NOTE: all my petco bettas had extreamly high ammonia levels and had ammonia burns. It took some time but all but one recovered :-D

All my walmart fish had missing tail fins :shock: - two had bad fin rot and the female - I dont know what happened to her but her tail fin was GONE. It looked like it was cut off. This too has healed over the past month.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

Double posted


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Thank you for doing reesearch... Petco generally has a better selection but Petsmart is supposed to be stocking dragons... Petsmart put Methelyne (spelled wrong most likely, it's a medication) blue in their water so it's hard to tell much of what's going on in the water with the blueness... Welcome to the forums and again thank you for researching.


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## Lion Mom (Jun 14, 2010)

$20.00 for a quality betta is pretty reasonable, IMO. I DO understand your concern, however. 

As for Petco/Petsmart - I think it depends on the store. Some are good, some not so much. 

Good luck with whichever way you decide to go and WELCOME!!!


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## AmandaGraham (Jul 16, 2011)

Thank you all for being so nice! I think I'm going to go to Petsmart in the next few days for some puppy stuff.I may bring home a Betta.  When I do get one, I'll post tons of pics.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Of course. Pics are a requirement.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)

Yeh ill third that pics are a must


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## Tisia (Mar 15, 2011)

I've bought the majority of mine from the same petco just because they take the best care of theirs and seem to have the widest selection and I have 2 other petcos, 3 petsmarts, and a couple local fish stores within about a half an hour radius of me. there are definitely good petco/petsmarts out there, sometimes it takes a bit of looking to find one though


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

^Yeah my petco has a huge selection of bettas... like 100-150


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## Tisia (Mar 15, 2011)

it's not just the amount, mine just has so many different colors and tail types as well (at least for males) hmpk, hmdtpk, hmdt, kings, etc. the woman in charge of the fish section owns bettas and actually knows enough to tell you stuff like certain plants that aren't aquatic and recommend others that are and other good stuff like that ^_^


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Yeah there's a bunch of different types... Even HMDTPK's.


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## Tikibirds (May 26, 2011)

Ya know, I have noticed walmart has some pretty bettas color wise. They only seem to have VT or CT but I have seen some pretty ones when they first get new shipments in.


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## AmandaGraham (Jul 16, 2011)

I almost went to look while I was Walmart, but got caught up. I'm hoping I can get a ride today. I've only seen VTs too.


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## Abby (Jan 13, 2011)




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