Betta fish?

Question

Every time I go in to a pet store the poor Betta fish are crammed into these tiny cups with an inch of nasty water in them. Anyone have any good ideas on how to get them to stop mistreating the poor things?

Answer 1

You can write letters to the store. Don't be afraid (to a certain extent) to overdo it. Write a letter every week until it happens. Ask your friends to do the same. Call them. And every once in a while - whenever you can - go down there and talk to them. That is a really good thing to do. Good luck. I feel so sorry for those poor fish myself.

Answer 2

Honestly if they keep the water clean the betta in the tiny cup are better off than the fish in the tanks. The fish in the big tanks are packed tightly together causing a great deal of stress. Plus the tanks generally share the same filter, and disease rapidly spreads from tank to tank. The bettas in the little cups have a much greater chance of survival. Plus bettas can't be kept together as they will fight each other.

If you don't like the way the store is keeping their fish don't buy anything there. (And write the management a letter saying why.) I often judge a fish based on the condition of their betta. Bettas can take a lot of abuse, and survive so how a store treats it's hardiest fish indicates how they treat all their fish. I fequent a store that keeps it's bettas in 1/2 gallon containers with crystal clear water. They even have a sign explaining basic care like temp, water, and feeding. The ladies at the front have asked me questions about how I intend to house the bettas I've bought.

PS- Don't get me wrong bettas shouldn't be kept long term in tiny bowls, and I keep my males in 5 gallon tanks. My females live in a 30 gallon tank.

Answer 3

They cram Betta fish into small containers so they won't fight with other Bettas and that way they can make a profit. Bettas can live in harsh conditions which makes it perfect for pet stores to keep them in the containers. My suggestion is to give a betta or a few bettas a new home with plenty of room to live in. That way some of them will have a better life. It won't stop until more people like you are aware of what pet stores are doing to these fish just to save a few dollars.

Answer 4

Hi Metral, I'm afraid it's all about profit & this kind of treatment isn't confined just to Bettas but all fish-they get a particularly raw deal out of life primarily because most people don't see them as anything but a disposable decoration. If the kind of wholesale cruelty that poor fish are regularly subjected to happened to cute puppies or kittens then there would be uproar.

Short of the general population having a huge change of perception there is little we can do about this on a large scale but if you are of a mind to keep fish, learn all you can about Bettas & give several of them a very happy home. I have done this with my 5 adopted Comet & Common Goldfish, some of which were given away as funfair prizes & they now happily play in my big tank.

Answer 5

I agree they are in small cups in almost every pet store, walmart that I see. I have 3 in separate fish bowls. I still wonder if they are happy or not. Its a shame that they cannot be put togather. I wonder if they were in a large fish tank with other types of fish how they would do? As far as the store, Its probably a " 1 store at a time" task. They might change them out to large size containers. it would be nice, I agree.

Answer 6

That is likely not going to happen. Especially in chain stores like Petco or Petsmart because that would cost a lot of money, and they are all about profits. You might be able to get reasonable housing for Bettas in you local fish store because they probably care. Good luck, that is a good cause to work for. Next step would be for stores to not sell Oscars and Pacus to people with 10 gallon tanks!

Nosoop4u

Answer 7

I suggest that you complain to the stores headquarters and if that doesn't do anything, try gathering a bunch of people who believe in the same thing as you and start a protest and that might start to corrupt the stores reputation and it might make the whole company give the beta fish a fish bowl to live in. Remember what you do isn't effected by what you are getting it is because of your dedication towards getting the fish better home quarters in the store.

Answer 8

I honestly don't know if you will be able to get the petstore to upgrade to bigger containers...BUT, they should be in clean water at all times! That's the very least they can do right?! We have recently upgraded our betta cups to about twice their size. Even still we change their water and clean the cups every other day. At least I can say that we have almost no bettas die or returned dead.

Answer 9

Betta fish ( in nature) live in small puddles. So they really dont need a huge cup or tank. But from what your saying it seems they have no room to even move and a inch of water isnt good. I would contact a local Animal shelter to see what you can do to help them. Animal shelters normally give you a list of resources about problems like this.I recommend a living environment of at least five gallons.

Answer 10

You might want to call the humane society. They will give you the best ideas that you can get. Oh, and I tried that and now my pet store has atleast a gallon in the cups now! GOOD LUCK!