Betta care 101: Introduction

Betta fish are probably the most popular pet fish, eclipsing even the trusty goldfish.  Remarkably intelligent, with big personalities and a wonderful inquisitive nature, it's not hard to see why.

And of course, they're just stunning to look at.

But so many of them are doomed to terrible, short lives, not because of cruel people, but because of good people who have been misinformed.

So where is all the misinformation coming from?

Alright, so I was talking to my ex boyfriend the other night (we parted ways amicably because of distance a couple months ago), and mentioned Grim and all his health problems.

My ex made the comment, talking about the bettas he's had with his spawn, "we always either get one that lives forever or dies quick. There's no in between."

I started to reply, but he said, "sometimes we can get them to live like 3 years."

... Wait, what?

3 years is living forever?

I told him most of mine live 5-7 years, and he was shocked.

"What secrets do you possess that enable you to prolong the lives of geriatric fish?"

Well....

It turns out he, like 99% of people, kept bettas in small fishbowls or those depressingly tiny betta kits. With no filter and no heater. And only weekly or even bi-weekly water changes.

Because they don't know any better. Because the most widely accepted "knowledge" is that these fish thrive in small spaces and dirty water.

So why is this widely accepted as fact?

Because of the national pet stores, mostly.

Because telling you that your betta only needs 1/4 gallon, with no filter or heater, makes impulse buying of bettas more attractive.

Because for the average person, those national pet store chains are the only places you can buy bettas.  And those national pet store chains not only carry tiny bowls, but seem to actively push for the sale of these tiny bowls.

I almost wonder if they get a big financial bonus from the manufacturers for selling such tiny things.

And of course, the vast majority of national pet store employees are not trained in the proper care of the animals they sell.

Here's an example. Not with bettas, but just to illustrate the problems with employees at national chain pet stores.

I literally had two employees argue with me about whether or not ball pythons need supplemental humidity here where we live.  They kept insisting they were desert dwellers.  It wasn't until I googled it on my phone and showed them that they realized they were wrong.

I know ball pythons. I've had them most of my adult life.  I know their needs and how to care for them.  So when they insisted that I didn't need humidity, I knew they were both wrong, and I was right.

How many people had they sold ball pythons to before that conversation?  How many people were inexperienced and trusting when the employees insisted they were desert dwellers?  How many animals have suffered or died because of it?

And I can't blame the employees.  The company does not make it a priority to adequately train staff.  The fact that they even sell tiny fish bowls proves that they don't care about an animal's wellbeing, or learning how to provide for it.

So when you don't know much about bettas and you walk into that store, and you see all the little 1/2 gallon or 1/3 gallon kits with happy little cartoon bettas on them, you assume that it's acceptable, because a pet store would not sell abusive products, right?

And if you have untrained employees, that's even worse.

It's completely normal.  It's a normal reaction, to trust those who make their living helping people care for their pets.

In this case, though, it leads to millions of deaths and millions of sick, suffering animals.  And that's sad.

Because these pet owners aren't bad people.  My ex wasn't thrilled to discover he'd unintentionally harmed an animal.  No one is.  These are not cruel or heartless people.  These are people who will quickly remedy the problem if they were to discover the accurate facts.

It's just a matter of getting those facts to those people.

Because that 3-5 year lifespan?  That's straight up bullshit.  My oldest was eight when she died and I know a woman with a sorority in a massive tank, and more than half her females (and one or two of her males) lived to be 10.

You're doing okay if most of your animals hit 5. My personal goal is 7. I consider it a failure on my part if I have an animal die before then.

Because yes, some animals are just sickly.  Some contract deadly and incurable illnesses. Some have freak conditions that can't be helped.  I once had a female die because she couldn't release her eggs and for some reason, they weren't being reabsorbed by her body.  This is not preventable, and not treatable.

But that's the exception, not the rule.  These are hardy little guys.  They can take a lot, and keep on going.

Hell, look at Grim.  The neglect and cruelty he endured was unspeakable, and went so far beyond a kind owner unintentionally harming their fish.

He should've died.  But he's still around.  And he's around 3.

With his history and his health, I don't know if he'll make it to 7, but I'm certainly going to do everything in my power to get him there.

So this is an attempt to connect kind people with accurate information.  Because until the national pet stores decide to make animal welfare more important than profits (which isn't likely), nothing is going to change without a lot of help from passionate and knowledgeable betta owners.