# Blue water vs. clear water at the pestore?



## Indyfishy (May 31, 2010)

I just went to the petsmart around the corner from me the other day, and they usually have all their bettas in the blue tinted water (i think the stuff they put in there is called methalyne blue??). This time, they only had their "halfmoons" and "dragon scale" bettas in the blue water, all the veiltails, crowntails, and females were in clear water. The halfmoons and dragons were all super active and flaring like mad at eachother. But the veiltails, crowntails, and females were all clampy and sad looking. There were actually two crowntails that had the blue water, and they were acting all tough and flaring at their mopey counterparts. None of the bettas I saw were actually sick, and the cups were all clean. Is that blue stuff really beneficial for bettas or something??? Or does it just make them feel more secure since it makes the water more murky??


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

It helps prevent diseases, and I think that it may have something in there that boosts their immune system too, but I'm not sure. The store may only be putting medicine in cups with more valuable bettas, or the blue may have come from whoever ships the bettas to the store.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Yeah. Hmmm FreeFlow246 is right.


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## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

fishman12 said:


> Yeah. Hmmm Jalen is right.


Haha Jalen's my fish, but that's okay. XD


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Fixed it


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## vibs (Jul 16, 2011)

The storekeeper where i bought my betta said that the VT bettas have better immunity as compared to others. Probably it might be one reason.


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## YoshesMom (Mar 15, 2011)

Ok heres the rundown..The blue stuff Aids in general disease prevention, including superficial fungal infection, ich, and costia. Detoxifies fish from nitrite or cyanide poisoning it is put into the cups in a heavy dose before they are shipped out as shipping can cause alot of stress and stress weakens the immune system which increase the possibility of infection..The store after unpacking usually will do an about 90 percent water change on the cup leaving a blue tinge to the water so where as it is good as a "dip" it isnt reccommended as a prolonged treatment and it STAINS!! (Trust me i know..my poor carpet) I hope this is helpful..P.S. The betta that you saw HM and Dragon were probably a new shipment and had not had there water change yet my store gets there HM and Dragons in a different shipment then there CT and VT


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## Indyfishy (May 31, 2010)

Thank you everyone for your input!!! It just got me wondering when I saw the drastic difference in behavior. Its very true that the HM's were probably from a newer shipment, I didn't even think about that!


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

Yep, I was standing around squinting at some dragons in blue water at Petsmart when I heard customers ask about the color. Happens every time I'm in there. I knew they were medicated, but the guy who answered the woman pointed out the same thing YoshesMom said. The HM and dragons had just come in and so had more heavily treated water. He told her after they had their first change they'd get less and less heavy dosing. 

Personally I don't think it's necessary and it really makes it hard to bond with a fish and make decisions there. When they come in they could at least do a 50% change of those tiny little cups right away so people can get a slightly better look at the fish. And honestly I see just as many if not more unhealthy fish there as I do at my local Petco, where the water is crystal clear and most of the fish are healthy as can be.


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## ashlyn1984 (Jul 28, 2011)

I know our local PetSmart keeps all their bettas in the blue tinted water. However I do know they just recently started moving the female bettas into the big tanks. I am going back there this weekend. I will let you know if they have changed how they are keeping their bettas now and how the females are doing in the bigger tanks. Unfortunately I am not going to be rescuing any. I just did a rescue of a delta tail last friday from Petco and we found out dead yesterday morning. I honestly don't think it was a healthy betta he didn't even eat the food Petco fed it so I thought I would try to rescue him but he wouldn't eat for me either. Returned it today and now have a veiltail female who would just keep eating if I let her, lol. Hopefully she stays alive if not I will honestly have to say their fish are not healthy at all. Our male VT from PetSmart is healthy and happy as can be. Petcos around here keep receiving dead fish returns on a lot of their fish at at least 2 stores that I am aware of. If I do any more rescues it will probably be from PetSmart. I just wanted to try one more time on a Petco rescue. Wish me luck that she stays alive. We aren't naming her for a few days just to make sure.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I wrote to coorporate about the blue water because it makes it so hard to see the colors of the fish. The water is still blue at my Petsmart.


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

dramaqueen said:


> I wrote to coorporate about the blue water because it makes it so hard to see the colors of the fish. The water is still blue at my Petsmart.


Oh snap, good thought. I'd think more people would be complaining about it. It's NOT necessary to keep the fish healthy and I imagine it leads to a lot of fish either not getting homes or getting homes that end up being disappointed in them.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Vanah said:


> It's NOT necessary to keep the fish healthy


Um, are you being sarcastic? because the fish would be plenty healthy enough if they did water changes more than once a week.


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## Vanah (Jul 26, 2011)

fishman12 said:


> Um, are you being sarcastic? because the fish would be plenty healthy enough if they did water changes more than once a week.


You misread what I meant, I think. To rephrase more clearly: THE BLUE WATER is NOT necessary to keep the fish healthy.

The medications are only "needed" in order to minimize work load for the associates by keeping the fish alive in the same water for two weeks. This way all the kids that work there have more time to stand around and shoot the sh*t. :roll:


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

Ohhhh! Ok, sorry. I thought you were saying it's not necessary to keep the fish healthy. Phew!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I can understand if they put the bettas in the blue water for the first water change to prevent illnss but to keep putting them in blue water. I don't think it's cutting down on fish deaths. It's more water changes that will help keep them healthy, not keeping them in blue water.


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## fishman12 (Sep 1, 2010)

^Agreed.


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## Foxell (Mar 13, 2011)

I've always wondered about this...I always visit the betta section, no matter what store I'm at and I've always hated not being able to properly see the ones in Petsmart. I agree that they should take out most if not all of the blue water once they get the fish in, as long as it's healthy and all. They have nice fish, but I'm sure there's people that aren't happy once they get their fish home and it doesn't look like what they thought it did!


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## Pataflafla (Jun 2, 2011)

My Walmart usually changes them out of the blue water after a long while, but recently there hasn't been any blue water. I haven't seen blue water there since I got Iorek and all of the cups but his had clear water even though someof those bettas were newer, so I don't think his water was changed at all while he was there. It made him look black, but he's actually a rich red orchid.


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## craefysh (Aug 28, 2017)

Pataflafla said:


> My Walmart usually changes them out of the blue water after a long while, but recently there hasn't been any blue water. I haven't seen blue water there since I got Iorek and all of the cups but his had clear water even though someof those bettas were newer, so I don't think his water was changed at all while he was there. It made him look black, but he's actually a rich red orchid.


I work in a hospital and methylene blue is on nationwide backorder. That might explain the lack of sightings in blue water


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