Cupped Bettas in the UK!

[Carolinesugar]

Yesturday i went to a fish shop i havent been to for a while (it mainly stocks marine, and nothing that special in tropical) but this time, when i went, they had abt 35 bettas!! all Veil Tail, but loverly colours!

The thing that shocked me the most, was that abt 25 of these bettas, were in plastic, 1 pint glasses! ive never ever seen bettas kept in cups like this before in the uk. i wasnt so worried about them being in a cup without a heater, cus the room is boiling, so hot they have fans! but that they had hardly enough room to flare!

Has anyone else seen bettas kept like this at fish shops in the UK ?

 

[smithrc]

I posted this ages ago.. but this is one of our lfs's idea of how to keep bettas...

They are all one above the other on a vertical stand

 

[OohFeeshy]

Never seen that before. At Pets at home they are kept with neons (poor bettas, I have seen some with fins nipped to rags ), at Emsworth they only usually have females, at Arundel they have them in heavily planted tanks with some fish (can't amember what) and at... the other place they keep them on their own in small tanks.
EDIT- in the pic above, those containers look filthy! Are they like that in real life?

 

[Bettaman]

where was that..do they still keep them like it or haven't you been in since.......

 

[vanvran]

I've seen worse than that, if you can imagine it! Hanging off the top ledge of the tanks were little plastic square containers in which a betta, alive or dead, would be contained. There wasn't any space for the poor things to move, it broke my heart. I wanted to bring them all home!

 

[Betta_man]

When i got my betta he was in a tiny wee bag with not even enough room to move n he looked really stressed and discoloured and me and my mum thought he wouldnt make it...... but with his 2meals a day and nice warm clean water in a nice tank he pulled through!!!!

I thik all these small containers should be banned!!!!!!!

If pet stores are going to sell bettas they should learn how to look after them first and give the right advice to buyers!!!!!!!!!!!

Betta_man

 

[smithrc]

where was that..do they still keep them like it or haven't you been in since.......

yep still like it. I've boycotted the shop for years for their fish... but they are the best shop around for plant aquarium supplies and advice.

 

[Bettaman]

When i got my betta he was in a tiny wee bag with not even enough room to move n he looked really stressed and discoloured and me and my mum thought he wouldnt make it...... but with his 2meals a day and nice warm clean water in a nice tank he pulled through!!!!

I thik all these small containers should be banned!!!!!!!

If pet stores are going to sell bettas they should learn how to look after them first and give the right advice to buyers!!!!!!!!!!!

Betta_man

Bettaman2 you say you got it in a bag you mean it was kept in the bag in the shop or it was bagged for you to take home...........

 

[Bettaman]

This is how i keep mine........

Barracks system

Beanie boxes cleaned once a week takes three hours.... Siphoned every other day

BREEDING TANK

HAPPY FISH

FRY TANKS

GROWOUT TANKS

NOT SURE YET MALE OR FEMAL THINK FEMALE YES SHE IS BLACK

 

[Carolinesugar]

I think the way u keep urs is great kevin, their all in clean tanks, youve set the house up purely to store them, and so its designed especially for them!

BTW .... is this fellow (pic 31 10.32) the same male that is on your site, CT7 ?

 

[Bettaman]

no this is from a spawning on 08/08/2004 have been using her sisters to breed but they are more red pic 31032 by the way thats date and time as you can see she is more red,.......( WHY YOU WANT HIM/HER) yes i set it up to keep and breed and I'm sure lfs could do this as well one of my locals who has some fish from me has had a stand made with all glass tanks made for his bettas similar to putting beanies together but he has put under gravel system in and all the muck and un eaten food is drawn into the gravel but once he saw mine at least he is trying to give them better condition than the cups he had before.....we can make a difference

 

[cometcattle]

You have a great set-up, Bettaman!

 

[Betta_man]

My betta was already bagged............... I thought it was terrible how they were kept!!!!

A betta should be in the same size bag as any other fish when it is bought!!!!!

Like that set up bettaman!!!


Betta_man

 

[Bettaman]

That amazing your fish was already bagged now thats worse than the cups above as in a bag there is no air change so not only living in his own muck but no fresh air as well i would report that lfs to OATA unless he had just got the delivery and was acclimatising but he should have quarantine the fish for two week any way or he is asking for trouble i have found a lfs that started doing crowns but he get them in and put them straight in tanks with other fish and not in quarantine for a while if i get import they are not for sale for two weeks and treated anyway i went in the other day sorry they were poor quality fish and one bag was in with some guppies and a guppies had got caught in the bag knot and was struggling i told him and he ignored me and carried on making a cabinet so i put my hand in and released it i wasn't bothered he saw me and then come across and he didn't even say thanks sorry not the way to treat fish at all and he had dead fish in tanks that kills me to see i loose fish sometimes but don't leave them for other fish to feed on which i have seen a lot in fish shops, which is why i got my own licence....... and dont use most of these places anymore and only use one for spares ie heater and food....as not getting that in bulk (YET)......

 

[Joby]

<tip toes over to Bettaman's house to steal his beanie boxes>

Where do you get yours from? They are asking £3.95 each on Ebay for them, is that a good price?

That's a great set up you've got there

Most of my lfs put the females in one tank and males into tanks with other fish and half the time they aren't suitable tank mates In honesty they aren't usually there longer than 2 days as they only get around 5 in but I guess better than those cups. shirley Aquatics use those awful little glass cubes where the bettas can nearly touch both ends of it without moving would never buy a betta from there.

My nearest shop has just started to leave their males in the bags they were shipped in as they say that its easier that way so they don't stress them as they are nearly always bought within 2 days. To be fair they get their stock from a local breeder and the fish are probably only in the bags for a day when they get them, but even so