# The Story of How I Abused My Betta Fish



## betterbettas6646 (Feb 15, 2017)

This topic has been weighing heavily on my mind and I thought I would share it with you guys.

When I was about five or six years old I BEGGED my parents for a dog. That was all I wanted. So one day when they brought me to petco, I thought that wish was coming true. But instead my parents talked to an employee for a while before buying me a .5 gallon DIVIDED betta fish tank. It had a small amount of gravel, no filter (obviously no way to fit one in a .5 gallon), and no heater. I was definitely not impressed with these sad looking fish but decided fish were better than no pets at all. So I named one of them Goodduck (I don't even remember how that name came about), and the other one Sweet beauty (probably thinking of SLEEPING beauty but just came out wrong). Goodduck was a blue veiltail male and Sweet beauty was a red veiltail male (very clearly a male but I thought it was a female).

To say the least, my parents, nor I, knew anything about proper betta fish keeping. When I pulled up the colored part of the divider (the divider was still there but now the fish could see each other) I thought they were just flirting with eachother when in fact they were flaring (hahaha...I was a very ignorant betta keeper then!). 

These poor fish had to put up with practically EVERY fish keeping mistake in the book. When it came time to do the water change (we judged it by how gross the water would look), we removed the fish into cups and then gave the whole tank a good suds down (Yes, I know now that you should never use soap in a fish tank) before replacing everything and putting the bettas back in. These two fish were overfed, cold, and cramped with about a quarter gallon (if that) each.

To my utter surpise, Goodduck and Sweet beauty lived with me for two years and even went road tripping (probably didn't like that part) with me for two summers in a row. 
Sweet beauty was the first to pass over the rainbow bridge and get a minicasket and funeral by the side of the house (I even carved a little tombstone on slate from the garden for him). Then a couple months later Goodduck passed away as well.



Fast forward over a decade later, I now know proper betta fish care, but to this day, the cruelty that my parents and I unknowingly put these fish through still haunts me. I wish that we could get those stupid small "betta kits" off the shelves and out of the market and that we could debunk betta fish myths on a larger scale. 

I don't mean to rant, I just don't understand how fish always get the short end of the stick when it comes to care.





I'm interested in if a similar story has happened to anyone else or someone you knew. Or if you guys have any good first betta fish experience stories.


I looked up the tank I got and actually found it


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## Mothercrow (Sep 4, 2016)

Well, I don't know how old you are, but I was a kid in the '80's. My betta lived in a small, round bowl on top of my dresser in my basement bedroom. I didn't even know that there *were* heaters and filters. I have no idea how big the bowl was, but I'm sure that the round sides drove my poor boy insane. I don't know how often water changes were, but they were 100% and I hope with all of my heart that I used dechlorinator. 

I also lived through a period on the early 2000's when WalMart sold bettas and african dwarf frogs in little bitty cubes. They couldn't have been more than a half gallon. I followed the instructions religiously--100% water change every week. I did know to use dechlorinator, but I kept those little death cubes on my kitchen windowsill. No one lived very long, no matter how hard I tried.

Imagine my surprise a year ago when an emergency goldfish rescue forced me to learn about fish care. The internet definitely changed my fishkeeping-life. Now I can keep the bettas that I've always loved and give them a good life.  

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

My first Betta was in 1967; his name was Raymond I. Back then there were no heaters or filters. Raymond I lived in a two-gallon bowl for five years or so. Dechlor wasn't necessary because all the stuff they put in our water they did not back then. I had two two-gallon bowls and once per week I filled the empty one and let it sit overnight. The next day I transferred Raymond I to the fresh bowl and cleaned the other one.

Raymond was fed flake because pellets weren't readily available. He, like all Betta, were given a tiny, pinhead piece of pea every once in a while. He lived 5+ years. No fin rot, no fin biting, no constipation, no SBD. He was active and interactive. When I went to college he went with me and I bought another VT, Raymond II. I kept a piece of paper between the bowls and every day removed the paper for five minutes or so. Raymond II lived 5+, as well, with no health issues.


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## moodynarwhal (Mar 24, 2016)

I had my first betta when I was 4, he lived in a little one gallon bowl on our mantelpiece. No heater, no filter, and we moved him off the mantel every time we lit the fireplace so he wouldn't boil. I fed him irregularly and I'm not sure how often his water changes were. Definitely not every week. Fishy live for two years. I remember he was always pretty lazy, that might actually have been lethargy, I can't say for sure. Anyway, I loved him very much, and cried when he passed. It's definitely a learning curve with bettas, and research is essential. Unfortunately, we only had Dial-Up back then and we didn't even think about researching fish.


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## BettaStarter24 (Mar 24, 2014)

I had a community tank when I was in Kindergarten and we kept all the fish that were least compatible with each other. We had a Koi, a comet gold fish, a fancy goldfish, some sort of frog, a Betta fish and one other fish I can't remember. I don't think the tank was heated nor do I think it was filtered. Betta was eaten by the goldfish and I gave the fancy goldfish a bubble bath.


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## halleyana (May 25, 2016)

I had quite a few bettas when I was younger but the one I best remember was Carl who lived in a crayola crayon shaped tank, no heater or anything. Carl probably lived about 5 years and moved across the country with us in his crayon tank, buckled into the passenger seat of the car. He was fed flakes because that's all there was, and probably had the worst WC schedule ever. 

Before Carl there was another betta (don't remember the name) who jumped out of his cup while I was "cleaning" his tank and got stuck to the carpet. Somehow he survived and was very impaired afterwards, but he lived a surprisingly long time after the incident.

You'd think people would be better educated now, but I had someone in Petco the other day tell me they thought bettas just lived in the cups forever. I think it comes down to misinformation and lack of education.


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## Crash (Jul 19, 2015)

My parents bought me and my younger sister each a 1 gallon tank when we were little kids. We had them side by side in the living room. They had crappy undergravel filters but I suppose that's better than none at all. No heaters from what I can remember (we still have the tanks in storage, and I cant see a heater fitting). I had a blue/red crowntail who I think I named Galaxy? My sister's betta died a few months in, and we ended up taking her tank down, but my crowntail lived for maybe a year. Poor dude, at some point my parents told me males and females could live together after bringing home a little purple/red female. Put them in the 1 gallon tank and we couldn't understand why she was beating the life out of the male and ripping his fins. We ended up separating them and I can't remember what happened to the female, but I assume my dad probably fed her to his bikers (as sad as that is). Somewhere after that an ant fell into his tank and bit into his lips before drowning, we had to remove it with tweezers cause he couldn't open his mouth. Overall just sad to think about now.

Years later I got a 5 gallon from our landlady's son and went out and bought a teal/white Halfmoon who I named Nebula. He was housed with a Cory Catfish and I think a golden mystery snail. I was under the impression that bettas only had to be fed once a week and never have water changes. Needless to say he didn't last long; neither did the catfish. 

After he died I redid the tank and bought Pastel, after getting him I actually did research and found this site. He lived a generally good life, still shorter than I wanted, but he almost made it a year with me. While having him I learned all about betta needs and how to keep them healthy, and began to get into live plants.

I bought Renji a few months after getting Pastel and he's still with me over a year later reaping all the benefits of my research and experiences. He's stupid healthy, so I can't really say my years of bad betta keeping weren't worth it in the end.


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## Sadist (Jan 1, 2015)

My first pet that I took care of myself was a guinea pig. He went through about the same sort of treatment as the first bettas without research that a lot of people go through. His cage was big enough, but we didn't know to scoop the poo out every day, just changed the bedding (cedar wood chips, ugg) once a week. He also had the wrong kind of cage, but I couldn't talk my dad into getting the right kind. He lived in a cage we already owned. It had the bedding in a tray under the wires, which is bad for their feet. I gave him a bath/brush/nail clipping myself once a year, but by then, the hair on his backside was so matted that he cried the whole time I was cutting it off. I felt aweful, but I didn't even think about using a shaver/clippers to make it hurt less. Eventually, his nails curled under, but he was tough and lived over six years.

Our first betta was close to the same. I had a nice 10 gallon tank with heater and filter with prefilter sponge over the intake, but the store people told me to do a 10% water change one time a month. I changed the filter cartridge at the same time. Poor boy. I knew the end of the month was coming up because he'd get a rash on his face. I now know that was ammonia burn.

Daughter's pre-K school had a policy to have a class pet. They had a betta in her classroom in a .5 gallon tank, no heater or filter. Extreme overfeeding with flake food. The tank got cleaned out every 3 months or so when the teacher made time. The kids hardly even noticed the fish, and it was at the sink where they wash their hands 12 times a day. I started a daily cleaning and bought him a silk plant and some better food. He loved that plant and made some bubble nests against its leaves. Unfortunately, the school dean thought it was disruptive to have me do a water change (with the kids helping me), and I had to stop. That poor fish had been living in those horrible conditions for 4 years. I donated a 1 gallon tank to the school with some silk plants and water conditioner (they didn't have any) for the next fish. They had specific needs to have the tanks not glass and such and only the sink area to fit it, so that was the best I could give. The only good thing is that the lid may have kept the kids from splashing soapy water into the tank.


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Ah; this is a good thread to read.

My first betta came when I was four. I remember him clearly, for one reason alone. He was a turquoise VT named Noodles. The poor guy had a 5G tank with no heater or filter, but at least he had some space and a decor, but no plants. Noodles lasted a grand total of two days; a combo of overfeeding, touching, (yes, I attempted, in my four-year-old-brain, to touch the fish.), and general care faults.

I was so sad then; we decided to listen to the store people this time. We got a 1G MiniBow with a filter, but no heater. He had a decor and some plastic plants; his name was Cloud 9. He lived for almost three years. I *think* he was a multicolor HM; pink, white, with blue streaks, but I can't remember correctly. By the time he died, his fins were so shredded and he was so pale that I couldn't tell that he was supposed to be a fish, much less a multi HM.

Now, jumping a whole, whopping, nine years into the future, I had a blue CT named Carlos. This dude had it made. 2.5G MiniBow, Light, Filter, Sand, and silk plants. Where's the heater, you may ask? Well, I "thought" he had it made. Still, this gut lived for 2 1/2 years and passed last July.

While Carlos was still alive, I found this site and decided I needed a Sorority. So, after months of chores, I go out, buy a 20G long, some gravel, light-filter-heater-plants etc., and come home with not one, not two, but three baby "girls". Harmony & Melody were girls, thankfully, but Angel turned out to be a boy. I proceded to collect 9 girls, with various deaths & diseases along the way.

Now, I have a lovely 20G long divided community, with Akuma, Ringo, Marmalade, and other community fish, the 5.5G, with Tsuki and friends, and the 15G, which is uninhabited. Daichi is in a heated 3G tub until he learns not to jump dividers or I get a heater for the 15.


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

I still don't know how the betta I had as a young teen lived for around 2 years. I loved that fish, but had no idea how to properly care for him. He lived in a 1 gallon, unheated, fish bowl, and it didn't enter my foolish head to change his water before it got scuzzy. Even with the sub-par treatment he built bubble nest so I figured he must be happy, he'd swim over to see me when I was by his bowl, and he'd nibble my finger when I touched the water. 

A year or so later I had another betta, and he at least lived in a larger set up, a 10 gal community tank. Unfortunately my idea of a water change was topping off the tank and I cannot remember if the tank had a heater or not. I also had a three spot blue gourami in the tank and after he got larger he decided betta fins would make a good snack, gourami went back to the pet shop.

Around 10 years ago I was living in a travel trailer and got a 1.5 gallon set up the only size tank I could keep in there, complete with small heater and filter, unfortunately the heater would over heat the tank if left on, locally it was the only heater available for a tank that size and I didn't shop on Amazon at that time, the temperature in the trailer was constantly fluctuating and in the winter it got down into the 50's in it overnight, the constant temperature fluctuation eventually killed the betta named Indy. 

Not wanting to torture anymore fish I swore off keeping anymore until I could do it right, and before getting Lucky did a lot of research on how to correctly care for a Betta. He benefited from all the mistakes I made as a teen, and from what I learned from trying to keep Indy. I moved into an apartment, had the room to keep larger tanks, and could maintain a steady temperature in the apartment, so I got Lucky and he faired a lot better then any of his predecessors, now I have Monet and he'll do even better since I continue to learn and research what he needs and how to best care for him.


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