hi, imcanadieneh,
just wanted to say that I don't think anyone's blaming you for being given bad advice by those who may have been misinformed themselves.
It's a lot better for the fish if you do ask for advice on this excellent forum, but I think so many people here agonize over the various situations they so constantly encounter that they get burnt out trying to do their best, when the recomendations they know to be important aren't seriously considered.
It's different for new people like us, who haven't heard the same issues so repeatedly.
Thing is that there are certain conditions in which fish are happy and healthy, and the point of the forum is not only to discuss interesting fish stuff but to learn from those who have first-hand experience and are nice enough to offer to share their knowledge.
You wouldn't be here if you didn't want to do the best you can for your fish, and you certainly don't want them to be unhealthy or unhappy - but there's so much bad info out there - and not everyone working in a fish-store necessarily knows everything or has been correctly informed, also being in a position where they were hired to make sales.
And, with bettas, the situations which seem to make each fish happy vary widely, although I can only speak from my own experience and reading - the betta addiction is fairly recent with me, which is why I only have 6 so far...
At one end of the spectrum, I have a planted (like the rest) 10 gal with a Crowntail Betta and I doubt I'll ever put anything else in with him, because he's rather crabby, as Crowntails apparently seem to sometimes be.
He couldn't swim to the surface without a major struggle when I got him, and I had to put in the 5 gal q tank he first occupied an upturned ice cream pail on which, depending on floating levels after his daily tank-clean, he'd either rest his tail-ends or lean his little fins on in order to breathe or bubblenest - which is how, (once he'd got less terrified and quit pathetically squirming away on his belly into the corner under his pail the instant I approached the tank area,) I was finally able to see the complete lack of membrane between the splayed rays on his swim-fins.
These grew in within a couple of weeks and he gradually built up his abilities, so that while he can 'swim like a fish' now, he tends not to be very active or even visible in the tank, as he likes to perch high up in the plants in one corner.
But that's his home - and I have other tanks with active fish - which is what ReMz was sensibly suggesting.
Including (and this will horrify many) a 15 gal with a superdelta, a 'feeder' Endler-cross guppy, White Clouds, pygmy cats and an adorable little baby bristlenose visiting (don't panic) on her way to bigger and better things, and the extra (HOB) filter needed right now, baffled by plants as it is, doesn't seem to faze that hyperactive betta at all, where I wouldn't dare even consider such a thing with some of the others.
(The Crowntail mentioned above only has a HOB because I found one which can be turned down to a trickle, and my other super delta in the 10 gal, although he doesn't like to play in the bubbles as does my other one, has a box filter as well - in such a small tank, no/low current = swimming and bubblenesting undisturbed.
(All very different fish...)
No real problems (that I've ever noticed) between the betta in that 15 gal and others - but also lots of plants and things, and the betta was moved in last, which can really help prevent territorial issues.
But bettas all have different personalities as well as looks, and it's one of the things which makes them so fascinating and addictive.
I rarely watch TV - I have the multi-tank channels, which I much prefer.
And a fish-tank isn't just a glass box with fish, but can also be a little chunk of nature in your house.
The rocks and plants in that Crowntail's 10 gal tank look, I think, rather nice, and I've had comments on that, sometimes with questions about the 'empty tank'.
But Bettas are pets, not just ornaments, and they have in many ways similar capacities to ours, including a need to have a little space, basic comforts and something of interest, like plants and things for that favorite betta activity of swimming through and around things.
People are just trying to help us understand how to balance what we want of our fish and tanks with what our pet fish actually need.
And I think it's great they're nice enough to try.
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You're welcome for the help.
