Isn't this very cruel?! ebay horrors!

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Found this on ebay when i was looking up betta tanks, i think its very cruel for the fish and such shameful marketing at kids too;

spongebob betta tank

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4383518948&rd=1

barbie betta tank

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4383519593&rd=1

you can also get apparently hello kitty, spiderman, harry potta etc themese as well

other shameful childrens betta tanks;

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4383325131&rd=1

Isn't this bad education showing a pic of 2 male siamese fighters in the same tank ??

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?
ViewItem&category=20755&item=4383519265&tc=photo

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...821178&tc=photo

terrible...

light bulb tank

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4384141195&rd=1

 

[Kiarra]

I HATE these tanks. And look at how listless the Bettas are. No spirit in them at all.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

This realy isn't much of an improvement from those tiny betta cups you see lfs's;

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4377159982&rd=1

And putting 2 males in a divided tank like this would seriously stress them out non-stop;

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4327520371&rd=1

some tiny betta tanks/cups

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...4372047110&rd=1

Maybe im naive, but i realy didn't realise how many unsuitable tanks for any living fish would be sold on ebay

 

[Synirr]

Isn't this bad education showing a pic of 2 male siamese fighters in the same tank ??

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...519265&tc=photo

Not when there's a divider in said tank

That tank isn't even big enough for one betta, much less two... and the rest are just disgusting. It amazes me how incredibly dumb people can be sometimes.

 

[soritan]

The "gumball" lady is a "repeat offender". Her auctions are routinely brought up, and emails sent to her complaining of the inhumanity of her so-called "tanks" seem to go totally unheard. She boasts that she's a breeder, and has scores of bettas holed up in those cups.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The "gumball" lady is a "repeat offender". Her auctions are routinely brought up, and emails sent to her complaining of the inhumanity of her so-called "tanks" seem to go totally unheard. She boasts that she's a breeder, and has scores of bettas holed up in those cups.

She sounds more like a betta torturer than a breeder, my heart sinks at the thought that she breeds these beautiful friendly fish on a large scale
She may have bred bettas, but by no means would i give her the title of a breeder-theres alot more to being a breeder than simply reproducing fish. If i met her in the street i do somthing very cruel and humiliating to her
I hope she gets reincarnated as a betta in a cup in her next life and dies from posioning of her own excrement

 

[Synirr]

[...]and emails sent to her complaining of the inhumanity of her so-called "tanks" seem to go totally unheard. [...]

That's a real shame, since I just emailed her
I tried to be as nice as possible, so maybe she'll reply... I explained what a rice paddy really looks like, since that's a common excuse, and told her that all the betta keepers I know agree that 1 gallon is the absolute minimum and that larger is better. I also asked if she would consider making her tanks out of something larger

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Good luck with the email

 

[soritan]

Yeah, maybe if someone emails her each time her auctions come up on this forum, she'd stop thinking of us as pests, and start wondering if she might be wrong.

I hope you were polite. Nothing sets an argument back faster than a messload of swearing and emoting. You'd get written off as a troll and ignored.

She's heard the rice paddy song and dance before. I think someone (betta_momma?) might have even pointed her towards this forum and encouraged her to read the FAQs here.

 

[WeeMan]

Haven't posted in here for ages and for whatever reason came across this. Probably to do with that I got my first Betta a couple of weeks ago.

Anyway the size is shocking, mine is 2 inches roughly and he is in a well planted 6 gallon with some small tetras and a tiny catfish and maybe I'm wrong but whilst mine seems exceptionally happy with his pals I couldnt imagine a Betta on his or her own.

The real reason I was replying though is arent these themed tanks actually a rather good way of getting small kids into fish keeping? If they were larger say 3-4 gallons and similar to the Biorb then I think a lot of people would be encouraging them but alas there not perhaps we should push for something maybe a Sponge Bob themed Biorb tank?

Just a thought

Also saw this:

Underwater Tank

Anyone know the size?

 

[ManyFISH4Me]

Just a thought

Also saw this:

Underwater Tank

Anyone know the size?

I have seen it before. Not for a year or so. I wouldn't keep anything in that tank. It probably holds about a gallon, but all that stuff in tere makes it look too crowded. I can't believe they had 2 goldfish in there, even just to take a pic.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The real reason I was replying though is arent these themed tanks actually a rather good way of getting small kids into fish keeping? If they were larger say 3-4 gallons and similar to the Biorb then I think a lot of people would be encouraging them but alas there not perhaps we should push for something maybe a Sponge Bob themed Biorb tank?

Just a thought

Do we realy need anymore young children looking after fish? i know many of you are going to disagree with this...but i think without a parent to do most of the boring or hard work, young children aern't for the most part very responsable and i can see a yound active 5yr old for example getting very bored very quickly of his/her spongebob themed tank and not bothering to look after the fish properly.
I think the spongebob or barbie themed tanks are bad mainly because they make the betta seem like a toy, which is somthing they realy are not- also they are far too small.
We don't need more merchandise that makes bettas look like decorations or toys, this i think is one of the roots of the problems in being so mis-treated all the time.
In comparison to fish, i think animals like rabbits or hamsters make far better pets for children.

 

[Karah's_Mommy]

Only one thing comes to my mind when I see items like these for sale, and people that push them saying they're "breeders" and know everything about bettas. These people are no better than people that run puppy mills. And people that do are just sick ......... as in mentally ill. They just can't process that what they are doing is WRONG, or they've twisted their own minds into thinking what they do is acceptable. Just disgusting really.

 

[dwarfgourami]

What we certainly do not need is young children taught or encouraged to look after fish badly. This is disgusting, and I can't see how any child would get anything of value from it. Even if they did get into fishkeeping from it, that's not an excuse for illtreating their first fish.
Children need to be protected from their inexperience and potential lack of empathy, not encouraged in it.
I was one of the parents who thought encouraging children to join the adults in looking after the fish (as opposed to being solely responsible) is a very good idea, as long as, and only as long as, certain conditions are fulfilled, i.e. the wellbeing of the fish has to be an absolute priority.
This is just totally shameless marketing aimed at a vulnerable section of society. I am thankful to say that my daughter would never allow it in the house. In a month of (assisted) fishkeeping she has learnt far too much about the habits and needs of her first fish. Above all, she knows that they are not ornaments.

 

[WeeMan]

Sorry, what I meant to say is that surely there is a positive in there.

As a child I was fortunate enough to be around fish a lot, my uncle being a keen keeper.

What I meant though was that the sort of thing we should be promoting is education on this matter, my first tank came with good directions and I believe could be simplified so that children could understand the biology. It is very nice to see a beautiful fish swimming around but for me one of the pleasures of fish keeping is explaining to my younger cousins as to why they can only have so much food and why there are plants, a filter and a heater.

Of course though there would need to be adult supervision as there should be with any pets.

Just a thought