do betta fish like dirty water?

Question

i overheard this lady talking to someone who works at petsmart. The worker said that they only clean the little tiny water cups the bettas live in every month or 2 becuase they like their water dirty, is this true, becuase my 2 bettas each live in 1 gallon and i clean their water every 3 or 4 days. I was wondering if i dont have to clean it that often becuase of what that person at petsmart said. It would be way easier for me to clean it once a month instead of twice a week

what do you think

Answer 1

Nope not at all true. Bettas like all other fish need clean water to be healthy. So what does that tell you about the health of the fish at that particular petsmart and the quality of the info? You are doing a great job replacing the water every 3-4 days. I bet your betta looks and acts tons better than the ones at that Petsmart. Keep up the good work!

MM

Answer 2

A simple answer is, Do you like dirty water ?. Bet the answer is no. I have one of my male Betta's in a 120 liter fully planted community tank with 3 females as company. I have 2 x 200 watt heaters, 1000 liter an hour 3 stage filter and 700 liters an hour of air going into the tank . To keep Betta fish in a small unheated unfiltered tank would be cruel. When you set up the 10 gallon tank make sure there are live plants and little nooks and crannies so your Betta can explore. The better the tank is, the better the fish. Betta fish live happily in a community tank as long as the other companions are gentle and not fin nippers, I have had no problems with Bumble Bee Goby's, Mollies, Guppies, Corydora's, Glass catfish, Danio's, smaller Tetra's and Kuhli Loaches sharing a large tank with Betta's

Answer 3

You should always do weekly water changes, because waste WILL build up. The person at PetSmart was only HALF right. No they do not LIKE dirty water, but they will tolerate it TO SOME EXTENT. In the wild, Betta's live in stangant, oxygen deprived water. However, that does not mean it is dirty, just less than optimal. To make cleaning easier get a ten gallon tank and put them both in there, each on one side of the tank divider. Add a twenty gallon tank filter to it, and do gravel vacuum about once a month. Problem solved.

Answer 4

Of course you want to clean the tank. People at Petsamrt are complete idiots and abuse their animals. If you don't believe me look online "Petsmarts Big Suffering On Small Animals." You wouldn't have to clean your tank so much if you bought a 5 or 10 gallon fish tank. They are pretty cheap and can be way fun to decorate. Plus, you wouldn't have to claen the tank so much. I have a 5 gallon with one male betta and I only do a 50% water change once a month or every two months depending on what type of filter you have. Good Luck!

Answer 5

Bettas will take dirty water to a limit but it isn't good remenber to change your water at least once a week,still the people at petsmart don't know what the heck their talking about, bettas hate dirty water. In their natural habitat the dirt particles and plant matter only make the water look dirty but they use the plant matter and dirt to mark territory. They don't do that in capptivity and they woulden't make teritory with poo either. Those people at petsmart killed one of my fish with immproper medication. Another thing over 10000 bettas die each year because of those ecursed cups.

Answer 6

I think you would have to ask the fish. they cant really say they like dirty water, so how does that guy know. If i were a fish i would not want to live in dirty water all the time. You should keep a balance. you dont want to go from two month old water to straight clean water, just clean about half every week or so.

Answer 7

Petsmart employees give bad information out to kill your fish and increase sales. They told me the bettas only live 6 months so they expected to die quickly...

Bettas actually live for a good amount time if taken care of properly. Clean water, good food, warm temps. They can live up to 7 years.

Keep doing what your doing and your betta will live happy.

Answer 8

NOOOOOO !!!!! that lady at petsmart should put her nead on straight! Keep doing what your doing, in fact you really only need to change some of their water once a week. Don't do complete changes on your fishies because it changes the water conditions too much and stresses them out. Whatever you do DO NOT try to get advice from those people, they never know what they're talking about. Instead i reccomend beginning to purchace your supplies with a small business. Most small fish store owners love to get questions and interact with their customers and their fish. It's really great to have them on your side giving you the RIGHT advice even if their products do cost a bit more, it's worth it.

Answer 9

Every week clean out a small section of water and eventually all the water will be circulated and clean (well most of it). They really don't like dirty water I know that because every time my betta has dirty water he swims right into the net.

You don't have to clean it every couple of days as long as you don't overfeed him his water should be clear and not cloudy from water.

best of luck!

Answer 10

Betta can withstand more hardy condition than most other fishes but that dosen't mean they like dirty water.

Those ladies are just being lazy and finding excuses for themselves to be lazy.

A cleaner water condition will also benefit the betta. Keep up the good work!