8 Betta Fish Myths Pet Stores Need to Stop Spreading

Let's talk about the eight myths that pet stores so often get wrong about bettas. A little bit of a side note, keep in mind that you don't only have to buy your betta from big box chain pet stores. In fact, if you have another option, I highly suggest that you go with that. Maybe you have a local pet store or you know of someone online who is a reputable breeder and they can ship the bettas to you. I mean, you don't have to just go with big box pet stores, so just keep that in mind. But sometimes, depending on where you live, it's your only option. If that's the case, I totally understand. Let's just go over the eight quick myths so that we can dispel any of those. If you believe any of these, by the end of this video you won't and you will be so much closer to being the best betta parent possible. Myth number one, a cup or a bowl is plenty for bettas. For years and years, pet stores, at least the ones here in the US, the big box ones, have been keeping bettas in little tiny cups. And not only that, they also offer smaller tanks and containers for sale for you to buy your betta. So what happens is people come in and they don't even know what to do for a betta. They don't even know what's best. They just see a couple shiny little trinkets and tanks and such and they just buy whatever they are feeling like getting. And so really, the pet stores are set up to not tell you what's best for the betta or even sell you what's best for your fish. So do know that the bowl and the cup for a betta is not enough. They need at least five gallons. Now there are a couple of situations where a betta may do all right in a slightly smaller tank, but generally five gallons minimum is the best. It's really not hard to achieve that. Myth number two, you don't need a heater or a filter. Now thankfully in our day and age, it seems like people are getting a lot wiser as far as betta care goes. A lot of people are being more understanding now. And I've gotten to the point where on the occasion where I did go into the pet store, a couple of employees would tell me and make sure that I had a good tank. But that's not always the case. A lot of pet stores still just don't really believe that a heater or a filter is needed for a betta. But it is absolutely necessary, especially for your betta tank, which is one of main reasons why a five gallon tank is so important. That's going to give you the space to put the necessary equipment in there. If you just have a bowl, it's going to be really hard to fit all of that stuff in there that a betta needs to thrive in. It'll be crowded and stressed and it's just not ideal. Okay, myth number three, just add conditioner and drop in your fish. A lot of people don't know this, but you do ideally need to cycle your fish tank before you get a fish. It's always ideal to do this. Cycling your tank is the process of building up a colony of beneficial bacteria that will live in your tank for the lifetime, for however long you have it. These beneficial bacteria, they will take nitrites and ammonia from the water and turn them into nitrates, which is far less harmful and is usually filtered out. If you have live plants in your tank, they'll filter that out for you. So it just keeps the water levels stable. So taking a fish home the same day, setting up a little tank, popping in some water conditioner in there, and then putting your fish in there is not ideal because whether you want it to or not, the tank is going to start to cycle eventually. And one thing you need to know about a cycling tank is generally the ammonia is going to spike before it lowers and then everything levels. The ammonia typically will spike. But that is what you want for the tank to cycle. That's what helps it to cycle. However, if you have a betta in there, well, ammonia spikes can be extremely stressful and even deadly. So that's why a fish-less cycle is much better than a fish-in cycle. Myth number four, bettas eat plant roots. I really thought that everybody just understood now that bettas are carnivores and don't eat plant roots, but I've talked to a few people who still thought that they did. Bettas are carnivores and they need worms, bugs, and you can buy pellets or flakes that have those ingredients in them. But what I do like to do is buy the frozen mix, a carnivore mix by Omega. I can find that in my pet store's local frozen section and that usually works the best for my fish. But I did also get some bug bites tropical pellets in case I just want to shake it up one day. Bettas definitely will not eat on plants. So if you put in a plant with some roots in there, your betta is going to starve. Your betta is going to starve and it's not going to be good. Myth number five, bettas only live for about a year. Generally, bettas should be living for much longer than a year, up two years, three years, four years. They can live for a very long time. Now, unfortunately, because of how most big box pet stores where they're getting their bettas, most of these breeders that are sending them their bettas are just breeding these fish and inbreeding them way too much because they're trying to keep specific genetically modified characteristics. They're trying to keep them in that line. The problem with that is that it ends up giving these fish a lot of issues. They could have back issues. They could be more prone to getting tumors, more prone to getting illnesses. So a lot of times because of this, bettas do unfortunately end up living for about a year, but that's not generally how long they should live. They should live longer than this. So if you want your betta to live for a while, then what you want to do is look for someone else to buy a betta from. Maybe you could find a local seller or someone who's been doing things a little more holistically. That way your betta won't be so prone to illnesses and will likely live longer. Myth number six, give your betta a buddy. He can live with anything. You can't just throw any kind of random fish in with your betta. One of my bettas that I used to have, I loved him so much. His name was Walter. Depending on how long you've been with me on this channel, you may remember him. I loved him so much. He was actually a rescue. I got him from a woman in my local area who just threw him in a 20 gallon with a bunch of other fish and they were terrorizing him. He was so sad and his fins were all nipped up and it was just totally pitiful. So you can't throw your betta in with just any fish. They will not be compatible with them, especially fish who are bigger than the betta themselves. You have to keep your betta with smaller fish and then there are other fish tank mates that still would not work because they're aggressive or they can team up on your betta to serve things like that. I have made videos on proper betta tank mates, so if you want to go check that out, that's definitely something you should do. Just keep in mind they can't go in the tank with anything. You have to be very selective. So far, I found really great success with snails and shrimp. Those two have been my favorite so far. Myth number six, the wall of cups is fine for the bettas. It's just how they're kept. It's just how we do things. It's not good. It's not good to have your bettas and cups in stores. It really needs to be changed and honestly some of the people who have been subscribed to this channel and have been part of the betta fish family for a while, they have actually left comments under my videos telling me that other pet stores in other countries have banned the cups, which I think is really cool. I never really thought about that. So it seems like somewhat this is kind of an America thing, which I think we need to get straightened out because it is definitely not okay. These bettas are not doing well in cups. It's not healthy and what's even worse is that often they're not cleaned often enough. So they end up dying because of the toxic levels in this dirty water that hasn't been washed in days. So it's just so sad, but this is not how things should be done. It's just not. They need bigger tanks in the pet stores themselves and it would be so much easier if they just made a wall with slightly larger like two gallon tanks and just sold less bettas. That way you would have enough space for them. You just don't have to have as many. Myth number eight. My betta came from a nice fish farm. If you are buying from a big box pet store, they likely all came from the same place. There are a couple of different breeders and they typically are based somewhere in Thailand and they're pumping out these betta fish like crazy. They're in little tiny bottles covering the floor. They're getting shipped in bags filled with this much water. It is, it's truly sick what they do, what they do to these fish sometimes. So generally your betta is coming from the same place if you're buying from a big box pet store. It's, I would not really consider it a nice fish farm. They're treated more like things and objects than living beings and unfortunately a lot of them die in transit or even before they make it to transit. It's, it's not, it's not great. So if you're looking to support someone you can look perhaps again, like I said earlier, for a local fish seller, breeder. There are also some who have businesses online like P&W Bettas who are based in the U.S. If you're not in the U.S. maybe you could find one in your own country. Someone who's actually breeding their own bettas and not selling them on such a wide scale. Someone who cares more about their fish. They might be more on the expensive side but you will be supporting someone who actually cares about their bettas and generally you will get a better quality fish as well because they haven't been inbred so much. I'm not calling anyone at these pet stores evil, of course. You have managers, you have the workers, sometimes they're just not paid enough, they just don't know, a lot of them don't know how to care for betta fish, and a lot of times it's the company itself. Like they will put in rules so that even if somebody comes in and they care about bettas and they're working there they can only do so much for these fish. So really big box pet stores, chain pet stores, I don't think that they should be a thing and even if they're a thing I really think that we need to get some people in there who truly care about bettas and truly care about the other fish and animals that they're keeping there as well because it's not just bettas. That's what I focus solely on on this channel but I mean even all the other like reptiles and little critters that they're keeping there too often suffer because they're also not in good condition. So I will get on the bunny trail with that one but I hope that you are more aware now. Thank you for taking some time with me and going over these myths so now you know how to give your betta a better life and speaking of that don't forget to check the pinned link in the comment underneath this video. That's going to lead you to the ultimate fish keeping guide. It's an ebook. It's almost 200 pages and it's chock full of photos. It's going to take you a to z and show you everything you need about betta care so you don't have to spend time googling. You just have one source to go to. Everyone so far that has gone has absolutely loved it. I have gotten some incredible reviews. Everyone loves it and has found it incredibly helpful and I hope that you will as well. Alright friends, thank you for joining me. If you haven't yet hit subscribe if you are ready to level up your betta care. God bless you. Have a fantastic rest of your day and I will see you soon.