The Cruelty to Bettas

petluvr · Apr 22, 2015

evil wizard said:
asking me to give up fish is like someone asking me to give up breathing. I'll die if I do it.

Dramatic much?

biondoa · Apr 22, 2015

Chaz88 said:
I agree that they should not be kept the way they normally are. But it can be a slippery slope when you go down the cruelty to fish road. When is any fish kept in an aquarium properly housed? We can set any cut off line for the appropriate number of gallons and tank footprint for any given fish but most of us will never come close to giving them the kind of space they would have in nature. I can argue that most of my fish live longer in my tanks than in nature so I am actually doing them a service. But most of them will never reproduce so I have deprived them of their most basic reason for being alive. I have been keeping fish for a long time and will not likely give it up but if you follow the Betta in a cup thinking far enough most of us just have a slightly bigger cup and should give up keeping fish.

Ok I do get your point, but there is a huge difference between the way we keep our aquarium fish and the way bettas are kept in cups. We supply our fish with fresh water each week, we provide filtration , we provide food and we try to approximate their natural environment, albeit in a small way, but we do not torture them. At least I don't think my fish are being tortured. The little bettas in cups have no food , no filtration, not much air, and an environment that is like nothing they would live in naturally. Their water is polluted with their own waste. They have no hope unless someone comes along and buys them. Yes, buying them does keep the process going I admit. I don't knpw what the answer is, do you?

petluvr · Apr 22, 2015

The answer is simple don't buy from those who house animals in conditions that you do not approve of.

biondoa · Apr 22, 2015

OK. Got it.

Duckie · May 3, 2015

petluvr said:
The answer is simple don't buy from those who house animals in conditions that you do not approve of.

biondoa said:
OK. Got it.

Ok, got it too. Found a newly opened LFS in town that does house bettas nicely. The females are in community tank with other fish and the males in small bowls with always fresh water. Had to grab me a few females - so much nicer to point at the tank and pick your fish instead of picking up them nasty cups.

Picked up a blue, a red, a white with pinkish fins, and a grey one. Here is a picture of the red one:

Rbishop · May 3, 2015

"an environment that is like nothing they would live in naturally."

Not really true in their dry season.....

biondoa · May 3, 2015

pretty female. Love to see pics of the other ones.

Duckie · May 3, 2015

biondoa said:
pretty female. Love to see pics of the other ones.

I was afraid you would say that you wanted the others in pictures. Can only help with the white one and a really bad picture of the grey one with the red. None of the pictures of the blue worked out. There is too much room for them to hide in the 29 gal tank they are in. They love the bubbles in the back as well as being goofy by hiding behind plants. They want to be watched, but not with a camera.