Breeding Bettas Than Euthanizing The Fry...

[MrNiceGuy]

I've always felt that breeding bettas is a cruel practice being that they are among (if not the most) abused fish in the hobby. I feel this way because of the reality that most of the bettas produced die in tiny containers, and many of the few that are lucky enough to find homes spend their lives in either cramped, unfiltered, and/or unheated tanks. But I find myself now with a male betta that i've had for almost a year now and he is building himself a pretty impressive nest. I'm considering breeding than euthanizing the fry before they can live out their inevitably miserable lives. Cruel?

 

[Luimeril]

is it cruel? uh, yeah! why even breed them, if all you're gonna do is kill the fry?! that's horrible!

 

[Katty]

I definitely think it's cruel. Why bother? It's a bit ironic to talk about how they're the most abused fish, then want to breed them just for the hell of it and then kill the fry.

 

[Tolak]

Just because something can breed doesn't mean it should; several people I know come to mind.

Many owners of larger piscivores will breed easy to breed species as feeders for the usually much larger fish. While livebearers and certain easy to breed species such as convicts are the usual fare, it wouldn't be the first time a different species were used for this. In proper breeding of ornamental tropical fish, culling is one unpleasant part, and I'm sure you wouldn't be the first person to euthanize an entire spawn of bettas.

The difference being the goals of these practices; either promoting the proper lineage of a species, or providing food for another species. To me breeding without having a definite goal set is a waste of time, energy, and the lives of fish.

 

[MrNiceGuy]

is it cruel? uh, yeah! why even breed them, if all you're gonna do is kill the fry?! that's horrible!

Why does any average aquarist breed them when they know that a vast majority of the bettas they produce will live miserable painful lives? I think they do it for selfish reasons. By the way, I'm not actually going to do this, I just want opinions. Quite frankly, I think its hands down much more cruel to breed bettas and distribute them to pet stores. If I were to breed bettas, which i will not do, I'd most definitely euthanize them humanely.

 

[Luimeril]

goldfish are the most abused fish, imo. not Bettas. all the breeders i know breed to show, or to sell to people who want show lines. it's not easy to breed Bettas, so your average owner won't be able to. the "mills" that sell to stores don't care about the fish, only the money, so their stock is often not good to breed anyways.

 

[Mikaila31]

Real breeders raise to show, fight, and sell high quality fish. Farms breed to sell fish. Those bettas you see in cups do not come from breeders they come from farms. Bettas like the ones you see on aquabid and some few select LFS come from breeders. There is a big difference. I don't breed bettas, but I sell to a few select fish stores when I have other fish available. Most of my selling is to other hobbiest via auctions. However some of my fish I can sell for more to LFS. I would never sell to any store I do not trust. I trust the stores I sell to, to take good care of my fish. I do not consider it the stores fault if some go to bad homes, that is the owners fault. Some find good homes. The main store I sell to holds over 8,000 gallons of tanks. This hobby has a big emphasis on quality, a lot of breeder will do heavy culling of fish, they produce high quality fish with good genes, these fish sell for real money and the vast majority go to good homes. Farms produce mutts, which may end up dieing before they even find a home. If breeders all held your views this hobby would really suck. It would be the equivalent of dog purebred dog breeders assuming all puppies would wind up in shelter, euthanized, or abused. However there is a big difference between a free puppy and a AKC register puppy. Luckily breeder don't hold your mind set, which is why 90% of my fish are local bred by other hobbiest.

 

[BethK]

IMO, this is a stupid question and the answer is yes, it is cruel.

Breeders sell their bettas with a very good quality and life span. Someone who is willing to pay a good amount of money, won't be putting their fish in a tiny space.

Farms breed to sell, they have a poor quality of bettas, which are the ones being sold in LFS.

Big difference between the two

 

[stubert]

Pretty pointless question/thing to do tbh. Wouldn't say its 'cruel' as such, as far as cruelty can go, just very weird.

 

[Larkspur]

I think for a betta life can be tough at first, but I personally believe that the ones people spend time into to "create" like these uber fancy aquabid ones and such...are not treated as bad as you might think. breeders have to take precautions on these fancier ones so their tails don't tear or rot or whatnot because then the fish will not be presentable to sell and some of these fish are sold for $50 or more.

So they spend a month in a tiny bowl. It is miserable, but after that month, especially the fancies, they're most likely going into a small tank where they can live out the rest of their lives happily. I doubt the fancies are bought and put into small confinement. People that spend good money on a fish are going to want to keep it alive and well.

I can't speak for the common veiltails though. Considering they are much cheaper than the others they're the ones you are more likely to see in a glass vase swimming in circles all day. Not much better than a cup.

I paid $15 for my two males. I wouldn't think about putting them in a bowl. They cost me way too much for starters to care for unwisely. Back when I was less experienced I had a couple veiltails and they lived in bowls. I've learned since then.

 

[Kieren_1992]

I see your point about the bettas being kept in cruel and cramped conditions and i have often wondered is it something i would like to do. but put it this way you sel them to people that you know are going to look after them better than a petshop (privtly) or you dont bother breeding them, once they are out of your care i wouldnt worry yourself in thinking are they okay, how are they being treated. As long as you dont breed VT an focus more of HM, Deltas, CT etc then you shouldnt have a problem with finding them loving homes.

To be honest I see killing the fry on purpose after breeding to be cruel.Why would you even bother breeding if you arent selling or keeping the fry/young adults? You willing to be the male and female through the stress, and possible death to kill their fry ? Seems un-needed and cruel to me.

 

[Luimeril]

i, for one, do in fact buy my bettas from pet stores, but from this one select store, where there are Betta enthusists who love Bettas, and often put them in the bigger tanks with betta-friendly fish (except this one, who's fins were ripped to shreads by some Sperae Tetra. poor fella), instead of the cups. now, all but my female live in 2 gallons, with heaters, silk plants, and Weiss has a small cup-turned-cave. Lulu, my female, is in a one-gallon, surrounded by her favorite house plants, but she's teeny, so it seems bigger to her. lol yeah, alot of the bettas winde up living in mere cups of water, but not all of them. alot of the pet-store bettas are mass-produced as well, and suffer from diseases and deformities. one person on Ulitmatebettas.com ended up with a blind HMPK, who looks nearly identical to my Weiss! some find hunch-backed Bettas, bettas who are stunted, ect. the farmers just..... don't care. all they see is $$$. responsible breeders breed for color, fin shape, ect, and end up with the most beautiful, healthy bettas you've ever seen. it's sad, but it's how it is. it's all about the money, not the wellness of the fish.

 

[Assaye]

Some ignorant people will breed poor quality bettas and then give the fry away to friends, family and pet stores that won't look after them. A lot of hobbyist breeders will tend diligently to the fry and then ensure each fish goes to a good home. As with the rest of the world, you get good people, bad people and ignorant people.

I would never breed something for fun or for an experiment and then kill the offspring. It's totally unnecessary and a waste of life, even if the method used is humane.

Tbh, as much as I would love to breed bettas, I don't think I should. I don't want to bring something into this world when there are already so many that are abused and need homes. Same with kids - adoption ftw.

My kribs have had babies and I'm kinda glad some of the other fish had had a nibble. I'm really worried about rehoming the surviving fry! Fortunately some are albinos and so there is a higher demand and I'll be more able to choose where they go and live.

 

[Tolak]

Let's try to keep the opinions to the topic stated, and not the members posting their opinions or ideas on this topic. I've cleaned this topic up a bit once; if it needs it again it will be closed.

Thank you for understanding!

 

[BettaCrazy7]

I don't see the point of breeding the fish if their fate is to be killed.

I breed fish, and I make sure the young fish go to good homes where I know they will be well cared for. If you just hand your fry off to a pet store, then they probably won't go to a good home. If you breed low quality fish, then most people in the hobby won't want them and they'll end up with uneducated newbies. If you breed a desired fish, then they have a better chance of finding good homes because more people who also breed that fish will want to add them to their line or start a new one with your fish.