freshwater question im a newb

ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Originally Posted by ROYAL GANG
i feel sad for these fish, i always see dozens sitting at wal-mart looking at people seeing if they'll ever be bought
don't they like to have room to swim?

You try swimming with all those fins.
Actually, if you saw how they are shipped, you would realize they are in the presidential suite in those cups. When you keep them even in larger tanks, they are not always swimming around a lot.
 
jacknjill

jacknjill

Active Member
Originally Posted by ROYAL GANG
i feel sad for these fish, i always see dozens sitting at wal-mart looking at people seeing if they'll ever be bought
don't they like to have room to swim?
I dont know if this is right, but i read on here one time that since they are used to living in like, little mud puddles in the wild, that if they are put into larger systems, they will die.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
No, they won't die. simply from a bigger tank. But they are not suitable for most community freshwater tanks. If they are put in with other fish, they are often nipped at (or do the nipping) and they are often also blown about by what are, for them, strong currents. This tends to shorten their lives.
To some degree that story is used to justify keeping them in (and selling) teeny tiny little bowls. Surely during some times of the year they may find themselves in that situation. But it is typically seasonal, and in our care, there is no reason it can't be the rainy season (and hence have a nice amount of water) year 'round
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
another misconception about betas is they don't need heat. betas like water temperatures in the 75-85 degrees. just think of the poor thing shivering in a 70 degree room with room temp water. its probably (IMO) the number one reason Betta die so often, temperature, doing waterchanges with cold water or just an overall weakened immunesystem from being kept at the wrong temp. in the wild betta pretty much live in shallow weed choked sun baked puddles, AKA rice paddies and such. the labrynth organ the betta has lets it breath atmospheric air and mix it with water itself, therefore O2 content of the water doesnt matter it just needs to get to the surface to breathe.
 
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