# Petition against the "Teddy Tank"



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/telebrands-corp-ban-the-sale-of-teddy-tanks

I can't even believe someone thought this thing was a good idea. :shake:


----------



## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Signed it! Those are terrible tanks that shouldn't have been allowed to even hit the market... :frustrated: I'm going to share it to everyone I know.


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

I hadn't seen the commercials actually. I barely knew it existed until one of my friends not on this site drew my attention to it and that petition. The other functions are good, being able to carry snacks, money or using it as a nightlight, good idea! As a fish tank? Worst idea ever.

I've got 1.5 hex hospital tanks admittedly but that thing is about as bad as this one:


----------



## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Ugh. Signed it. People will do anything to make a few dollars.


----------



## Anne713 (Jul 18, 2014)

I saw this yesterday on tv. I immediately thought of this site. I seriously hope no one buys that with the intention of using it as a tank. Dumbest idea ever.


----------



## Ashthemutt (Jan 13, 2014)

I signed it


----------



## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I actually think it is brilliant....to carry small toys in. My son would LOVE to cram some of his matchbox cars in there. For a fish? In a toy that a little kid would carry around all day? NO! Do these ppl even HAVE kids? or met a little kid? Or a fish for that matter?


----------



## Anne713 (Jul 18, 2014)

aselvarial said:


> I actually think it is brilliant....to carry small toys in. My son would LOVE to cram some of his matchbox cars in there. For a fish? In a toy that a little kid would carry around all day? NO! Do these ppl even HAVE kids? or met a little kid? Or a fish for that matter?


I think it would be great for candy as well. Not a living thing though. Crazy people.


----------



## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

Signed it


----------



## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

Didn't we learn from the goldfish disco shoes?


----------



## mpooyan83 (Apr 12, 2014)

Signed.... horrible horrible product.


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

Update:
The petition is up to 180/200 signatures!
20 more signatures and this ridiculous and cruel excuse for an aquarium will be banned from being sold!


----------



## freeflow246 (Jul 24, 2011)

Crossroads said:


> I hadn't seen the commercials actually. I barely knew it existed until one of my friends not on this site drew my attention to it and that petition. The other functions are good, being able to carry snacks, money or using it as a nightlight, good idea! As a fish tank? Worst idea ever.
> 
> I've got 1.5 hex hospital tanks admittedly but that thing is about as bad as this one:


If that was bigger that would be really cute.


----------



## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

freeflow246 said:


> If that was bigger that would be really cute.


Yeah, I'd take it if each of the compartments were 2 gallons and the fish couldn't see each other. The water sharing thing I might turn off, but otherwise yeah.

It'd be really nice if it came with adjustable heaters built into the base!


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

myexplodingcat said:


> Yeah, I'd take it if each of the compartments were 2 gallons and the fish couldn't see each other. The water sharing thing I might turn off, but otherwise yeah.
> 
> It'd be really nice if it came with adjustable heaters built into the base!


The glass between the fish is actually frosted so it is kinda built by design to be that way? But yeah, it that thing was like a divided 15 or 20 gallon, with like 3 divided 5 gallon cubes or so, I'd snap it up in an instant. But its about as long as one of my 10g longs. Those compartments can't be any bigger than maaaybe 1-1.5 gallons each. In a bigger size it'd be a cool idea, the built in heaters would be awesome. Pity no one builds an all in one betta tank with soft/gentle filtration and built in heaters without it being exorbitant. They'd make a pretty buck if they sold it in varying sizes for all us fish lovers.


----------



## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Oh my gosh, I just realized... what if the kid started out using the bowl in the Teddy Tank for sticky candy or salty snacks, and then decided to switch to fish? Then the fish either gets sticky, salty, chemical human food in the bottom of his bowl, or he gets the soap residue from when the mom cleans it out. >.<

Crossroads, maybe one of us needs to invent that and start marketing it? Along with some of the fancier shapes that those little gimmicky tanks use to get people to buy. I think folks buy them as a style statement more than anything else, unfortunately... so maybe someone needs to start making good tanks in interesting shapes as well!

How about a 20gal standalone statement piece? Just run a cord under a rug to power it at the base, and at the top you have a square tank with removable dividers in an X shape. You could keep four bettas, each in 5 gallons. You could remove one of the four dividers and keep a community tank in 10 gallons and two bettas in the other sections. You could remove two of the dividers, put it up against a wall, and use the back section as a QT tank! Or, of course, if you get tired of that altogether, remove all the dividers and keep... a single goldfish. And the stand can hide all your supplies. It doesn't have to be especially tall, even. In the right room, it could work very well!

Or how about a set of three 3gal triangular tanks... like right isoceles triangles... then you fit two bins equally sized/shaped to the tanks behind them, in order to store food and water conditioner? Perfect for a sofa table or a desktop, right? Especially if they just hooked together, so if you had a coffee table with space underneath, you could get another three of those tanks instead and keep them on the coffee table. Not an idea for families with dogs or small children, perhaps, though.

I also still think a shelving unit with tanks built to fit into it would be super nice. Like... 3x3 box-type shelves, so you could fit nine 3g tanks in there. I think nine would become the minimum number of bettas kept by anyone on this forum if that existed.


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

Its a pity betta barracks are so small. Right idea, wrong size. I actually would love a aquarium entertainment center. Either two large or several cubby hole aquariums ,like what you mention above with 3 gallon tanks, built to border the television and they have built in filtration and heating.

Also *the petition is almost at its mark! *

197/200 signatures guys! We're almost there!


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

We did it guys!

The petition reached 200 out of 200 signatures required to ban this "Bowl' from the market!


----------



## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Yay they reached 200 signatures!


----------



## Bailmint (Jun 15, 2013)

I signed it. A Betta could easily overheat with all of that fur surrounding it+the murderous size!


----------



## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

Signed!


----------



## hottestwinter (Jul 18, 2014)

I signed it as well, and to be honest I haven't even heard about it until today. Obviously the company didn't clearly think this thing through how horrible.


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

What is a teddy tank?


----------



## uhmkatiemarie (Jul 9, 2014)

myexplodingcat said:


> Oh my gosh, I just realized... what if the kid started out using the bowl in the Teddy Tank for sticky candy or salty snacks, and then decided to switch to fish? Then the fish either gets sticky, salty, chemical human food in the bottom of his bowl, or he gets the soap residue from when the mom cleans it out. >.<
> 
> Crossroads, maybe one of us needs to invent that and start marketing it? Along with some of the fancier shapes that those little gimmicky tanks use to get people to buy. I think folks buy them as a style statement more than anything else, unfortunately... so maybe someone needs to start making good tanks in interesting shapes as well!
> 
> ...




YES! I love these ideas!! The square tank with dividers is my favorite though! Gah. That would be like a dream come true. If I ever saw that in like a dentist's office or something, I'd never leave until I could buy it off him lol. 
I've always dreamed of getting a sort of tic-tac-toe shaped box to hang on the wall and house 9 bettas in 5 gallon tanks and run all the cords for heaters and thermometers through the wall and into a sort of closet kind of thing behind the wall used only for storage of all those ugly cords. UGH like. It's a neeeed! I thought of this idea about 2 years ago after I got Gilbert and started getting my second fish. But sadly it'll have to wait until I can afford my own house :/


----------



## DoryAndNemo (May 1, 2014)

I'll just be bumping this up to the top


----------



## Bailmint (Jun 15, 2013)

@ArcticBeauty14, it has a link in the first page. A teddy tank is an extremely small tank in the middle of a stuffed animal. Basically it's a fish tank made for kids, and it's abusive to fish.


----------



## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Whoo! Petition accomplished!   



uhmkatiemarie said:


> YES! I love these ideas!! The square tank with dividers is my favorite though! Gah. That would be like a dream come true. If I ever saw that in like a dentist's office or something, I'd never leave until I could buy it off him lol.
> I've always dreamed of getting a sort of tic-tac-toe shaped box to hang on the wall and house 9 bettas in 5 gallon tanks and run all the cords for heaters and thermometers through the wall and into a sort of closet kind of thing behind the wall used only for storage of all those ugly cords. UGH like. It's a neeeed! I thought of this idea about 2 years ago after I got Gilbert and started getting my second fish. But sadly it'll have to wait until I can afford my own house :/


Only if your walls could handle 360 pounds of water, plus your tanks and the shelf and your decorations! Water's really heavy! You'd be better off looking for a shelf, or trying to build one. I believe Ikea makes something similar, but it's 4x4 and may not be sturdy enough to hold tanks.

Even so, you'd be putting 3g tanks in it, not 5g ones, and you'd probably only want to fill 8 compartments and use the rest for storage of fish items or other things. That means 192 pounds of water, which still sounds like a lot, but think how much books weigh--and people probably use that as a bookshelf. My dad and I together can't even lift my ordinary-sized bookshelves more than a few inches off the floor. So I think it can be done! The risk would be that it would topple over, but I think it comes with hardware to secure it to a wall. Don't know how that would work with your cords. Maybe you can work around it somehow--like maybe you can put in a spacer between it and the wall at the corners, and mount the spacers. But I'm overthinking this.


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

myexplodingcat said:


> Whoo! Petition accomplished!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Whoo! Great job guys <3 One more step towards making sure our finned friends have a better life.

Also....recessed aquariums 







But instead of one 55 like that, make it several 5s with studs forming the tic tac toe grid in between for support. Have the room behind be a closet for running all cords and providing maintenance to tanks :> Block off view to the closet with a background and hide filters,heaters etc with plants.

I've...um thought about recessed aquariums for a long time lol.


----------



## uhmkatiemarie (Jul 9, 2014)

Well if pet stores can make walls full of different tanks and have them all filtered and heated, then I think we're smart enough to figure something like that out. I LOVE that aquarium in the wall idea, I just don't see how to feed it. Is there like a flap at the top to open and stick your hands in? 
A sturdy bookshelf would totally work for holding up hundreds of pounds of water. Libraries do it all the time. maybe it would even have a thick backing that has holes in each space for the plugs and whatnot, but still has the tic tac toe shape on the front. Like a regular bookshelf but also with vertical "shelves" -more like spacers. OMG I just want to start making blueprints and having someone build this for me. It would be so amazing!


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

Bailmint said:


> @ArcticBeauty14, it has a link in the first page. A teddy tank is an extremely small tank in the middle of a stuffed animal. Basically it's a fish tank made for kids, and it's abusive to fish.


Yeah, I checked out the facebook page after I googled it. I can't believe they would say that it's okay to put a fish like a betta in there. Unbelievable. :evil:


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

I think the best way to have a recessed tank is to have a hidden room behind it that just serves as a maintenance/storage room. Shelving for food and meds, a small mini freezer for holding frozen foods, culture tanks for live foods. Lights are built into the walls and wiring runs through the wall grid, and can be changed in the maintenance room. The tanks hang out the back a little or have a gap only visible from the back where say a sliding glass door can be pushed back and allow for feeding, water changes, etc.


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

I would like to petition against Teddy Tank, but the only problem is if it costs money. We don't have the extra cash right now.


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

The petition costs no money, just a signature <3
The link in the original post sends you to the petition and all you do is fill out 
Name, email and address. You can include an optional message about why its important that this be taken off the market :>


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

Okay. But there's another thing: Age. It's probably an 18+ thing. I'm under 18


----------



## uhmkatiemarie (Jul 9, 2014)

I dont remember them asking for age. Just an email address, name and address. Go sign it! You never kmow about restrictions until you try!


----------



## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

I found age restrictions in change.org's TOS. You must be over 13. If you're over 13 you're good to go. Otherwise, you could get an older family member who cares about it like you do to sign :>


----------



## countyrd419 (Apr 6, 2013)

Just a thought has anyone emailed this to the CEO of Telebrands and why isn't the IBC getting involved for those of you who do not know what the IBC stands for its the International Betta Congress.


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

Well I guess it's a damn good thing I'll be thirteen on the 18th. Pardon my french.


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

I just signed it.


----------



## nakitaden (Jul 31, 2014)

Crossroads said:


>


This would actually be a nifty idea if it were a lot bigger!

EDIT: With something to keep the fish from seeing each other, of course.


----------



## fordprefect42 (Jul 31, 2014)

Signed it!


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

nakitaden said:


> This would actually be a nifty idea if it were a lot bigger!
> 
> EDIT: With something to keep the fish from seeing each other, of course.


Someone should make a DIY out of it.


----------



## pinetopgirl (Aug 1, 2014)

signed. horrible things!


----------



## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Bump!


----------



## SkyDye (Jun 29, 2014)

Bump! It needs all the signatures it can get


----------



## slimestone (Aug 17, 2014)

I did a bit of looking around, and from the looks of things, Teddy Tanks are not as bad as they seem.

The tank is 3.8L (1G), which, after looking around on the site, is the "bare minimum" size for a betta tank (not ideal, of course). It has a hole in the back of the animal's head (all creepiness aside) which provides oxygen, and you could think of the fur as thermal insulation, therefore keeping water heated (although yes, I do understand that it is the not the same as a heater, but people keep their fish in heated rooms and that's okay too) - and I doubt it is insulating enough that the fish would "cook" inside.

Obviously, there are much, much better and more humane ways to keep a fish, but given what I have read so far on this website, the bare minimum needs are being met.

However, the biggest problem here, is that children of that age are not responsible enough to care for a living organism, and this is very much being marketed as the perfect children's "toy" and I can see many parents assuming that children can care for them adequately themselves without help, much like "sea monkeys". This also perpetuates the idea that bettas, and fishes in general, are ornaments first, and pets second. This is a big problem, because these kids will grow up with this mindset.

To finish off, I'm not supporting the idea of Teddy Tanks, I think they're tacky, inhumane and inappropriate for the age group, but they're not "cruel" as such, and if kept well, would be no worse than the average unfiltered, unheated 1.9-3.8L tank (not that this is the greatest idea in the world, again). There are fish kept in much worse conditions.

Also, on a side note, it would be more useful to e-mail the company and stockists directly, rather than just signing a petition. Petitions that actually mean something occur late in the activism process (for want of a better word haha).


----------



## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

slimestone said:


> I did a bit of looking around, and from the looks of things, Teddy Tanks are not as bad as they seem.
> 
> The tank is 3.8L (1G), which, after looking around on the site, is the "bare minimum" size for a betta tank (not ideal, of course). It has a hole in the back of the animal's head (all creepiness aside) which provides oxygen, and you could think of the fur as thermal insulation, therefore keeping water heated (although yes, I do understand that it is the not the same as a heater, but people keep their fish in heated rooms and that's okay too) - and I doubt it is insulating enough that the fish would "cook" inside.
> 
> ...


The problem is definitely that they advertise it as a toy first and pet second. If a parent were to get a regular 1 gallon bowl, they'd typically never think to let their child pick it up and carry it around, while the Teddy Tank seems to encourage this. And I don't think the bear will do anything for insulation. I've tried with a blanket and my tank(my darn heater broke) and it did literally nothing too keep the heat in. They acknowledge that the water needs to be 75-80 degrees(but of course they don't mention a 1 gallon needs daily 100% water changes if you don't want your betta to eventually get ammonia poisoning), but there's no space on it for a heater. Most people here agree than unless you live somewhere tropical, a heater is mandatory for a healthy betta because temperature flucuations are bad for their immune system. 

The goal is ultimately education here. Getting gimmick tanks like these off the market is important because it really isn't acceptable. They only encourage thinking of fish as disposible objects to keep small children amused for a month or two instead of living creatures. It's really sad. That's why I personally think they're cruel and are as bad as they seem. Children AND the average parent don't know any better and the betta will suffer for it. Putting them in a one gallon bowl that stays in place is better than one a kid will run around with. Then you have a dead fish and a sad child. No one wins. :-(


----------



## slimestone (Aug 17, 2014)

Mm, well said Reccka! Fish are always marketed as easy pets to look after, and yes they are when compared to a dog or horse, but every pet requires a certain amount of basic care, and problems always pop up - but a fish isn't "worth" enough to warrant special care or effort.

To quote someone in response to finding out I took my rat to the vet: "but aren't they only worth like $25??!?"


----------



## Reccka (Jul 20, 2014)

slimestone said:


> Mm, well said Reccka! Fish are always marketed as easy pets to look after, and yes they are when compared to a dog or horse, but every pet requires a certain amount of basic care, and problems always pop up - but a fish isn't "worth" enough to warrant special care or effort.
> 
> To quote someone in response to finding out I took my rat to the vet: "but aren't they only worth like $25??!?"


I know that feeling SO well. I actually got my first betta last month because I was so heartbroken over my last two rats passing this year and I just wasn't ready for another pair! 

People think I was crazy for taking my rat to the vet when he needed it too. I definitely keep animals that most people consider "not worth it" or "throwaway" pets. I'm fond of fish, rodents, and rabbits, and since they're cheap to buy, most people would rather let them die and replace them than help them when they're sick. :-( I just couldn't do that to another living creature, especially not one I'm supposed to care for. I don't know how other people do.


----------



## slimestone (Aug 17, 2014)

Ugh, I know! One of my rats had mycoplasmosis that cropped up a week or two after I got her (so she would have been 14 weeks I think?) and it reappeared really badly three times throughout her life, and all three times I took her to the vet - my parents thought I was crazy, haha, (but they funded it all ;P)

I think the worst thing is that for these "throwaway" pets, there is little medical research and treatment available, and most vets are ill-equipped to deal with their problems - I was given two dog medications in minute doses for my rat, after the vet had to search it up in this huge book. Most illnesses have to be self-diagnosed and treated, especially with animals like fish. Therefore, I believe most people think they're just _meant_ to be replaced when they "malfunction" -.-


----------



## Squirt (Aug 17, 2014)

I signed the petition last night after having a sudden flashback of when the commercials were first broadcasted; one played on Nickelodeon earlier today while my boyfriend and I were cuddling and watching SpongeBob SquarePants. We spent the duration of the time ranting about how inhumane it would be to put a live animal in one. The "tank" encourages children to play with them (often in a rough manner), which is dangerous.


----------



## ArcticBeauty14 (Jul 17, 2014)

Teddy Tank banned me from their Facebook Page lol


----------



## SiameseFightingArt (Jun 17, 2014)

nakitaden said:


> This would actually be a nifty idea if it were a lot bigger!
> 
> EDIT: With something to keep the fish from seeing each other, of course.


My dad has been telling me that when he gets back home from his trip he was going to buy me this. I keep telling him I liked it, but if it was bigger and if there was like a bottom part open for a single betta to swim through i would accept it so since it doesn't i keep telling him no thanks. XD Silly father of mine so persistent.


----------

