They Cant Be Happy Here :(

[jollysue]

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At the Petsmart near me, the bettas are kept in cups with lids and blue water. Does anyone know the purpose of the blue water?

At another LFS (that I don't shop at because they sell puppies), they keep the bettas in those tiny goldfish bowls, with no lids. I wonder how many bettas jump out of those. I also wonder how many people buy a betta and put him in one of those tiny bowls because that's the way they were at the store. And the poor bettas look miserable there.

Blue water is a treatment. It is ok! One blue water is for calming the fish while in a small or threatening space. I forget what the other blue water that some lps use is for.

...or children that put Bettas in the same cups to see them fight. That always concerns me when I see open cups.

But Betta are jarred young and are in small spaces for long periods of time. That goes back hundreds of years I believe to Thailand. The ones that can tolerate it are the ones that live and breed and you are buying. Go to a Betta show. The betta are kept in beanie boxes for the period of the show. It is acceptable in the professional Betta community. And as you say it is expected that the water will be kept clean. If it were not tolerable for the fish, it would not be done, because there would be a loss of stock. I keep mine in larger containers, because I don't want to change water every day.

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

The blue water is most likely caused by the use of Methylene Blue, an aquatic medication used for prevention of diseases.
http/www.wetwebmedia.com/methblueart.htm

 

[SoCalMom]

well im happier now that you guys think its ok
i wasnt sure but like youve said yes the water is clean and they arnt being nipped by anything.

Oops...didn't reply to that part lol

Yea, I think those look pretty good actually

I know we would all love to see each betta in at least its own 1 gal, but that would be impractical

If I were to open a lfs, I would do it though. I wouldn't carry a ton of bettas, but the ones I did have would have at least a 1 gal

 

[mommyof2bettas]

At another LFS (that I don't shop at because they sell puppies), they keep the bettas in those tiny goldfish bowls, with no lids. I wonder how many bettas jump out of those. I also wonder how many people buy a betta and put him in one of those tiny bowls because that's the way they were at the store. And the poor bettas look miserable there.

To be comepletely honest, goldfish bowls are usually one gallon, which is fine, I've kept 2 of my bettas in goldfish bowls, although I do put on something as a lid...

 

[gilaesther]

I was at a fish store near me yesterday, and the betta bowls were horrific!

1. They were in a half cup of water
2. The bowls had no lids
3. Several of the bettas were dead!

The Petsmart by me seems to take good care of their bettas. The water almost always looks clean to me, and the blue water is from preventative treatment. My only complaint is that they're all on two small shelves, so you can only see the ones in front, unless you start shuffling them on the little space there is to get to them ones in back to see their coloring.

The Petco near me has them in smaller containers, clear water, and placement makes it easier to see the coloring (they also have females, which tempts me sometimes). I'd rather get from Petsmart, unless I found one there with amazing coloring, only because Petsmart has their 14 day health garantee, and they don't exclude bettas from it - something I know another pet store near me does.

 

[knt5005]

That's the best part about my lfs in State College, PA. The one woman in aquatics would come into Petco and rearrange all the bettas, staggering them, so the air hole was not covered on any of the containers. What is even better is she then went to the manager and simply asked, "Do you need someone to work aquatics and just clean tanks?" She is always cleaning betta water when I'm there, and that makes it so much easier to see them in those cups.

That made my day reading that.
You always hear about bad petstores and employees so it's just so nice being able to read about one who really cares about the animals.

I'm glad that made your day because I know it makes mine all the better when I know all those lovelies (whom I would love to take home with me) are being taken care of.

 

[ChaseTheBetta]

At another LFS (that I don't shop at because they sell puppies), they keep the bettas in those tiny goldfish bowls, with no lids. I wonder how many bettas jump out of those. I also wonder how many people buy a betta and put him in one of those tiny bowls because that's the way they were at the store. And the poor bettas look miserable there.

To be comepletely honest, goldfish bowls are usually one gallon, which is fine, I've kept 2 of my bettas in goldfish bowls, although I do put on something as a lid...

Oh, I know 1 gallon bowls are fine! Chase is currently in one while his tank cycles. But the ones at the LFS were not 1 gallons. They held, maybe, a cup of water? That would be great if fish stores would keep bettas in 1 gallon tanks.