In your opinion, what's wrong with sororities? I've never heard a bad thing about them, even within the betta care community. Thank you in advance :)
I am answering this publicly because 1. Other people who have the same question should see this too, and 2. you did not specifically ask for it to be answered privately. I typically only answer asks privately if the asker has requested so.
I don’t have any personal experience with a sorority, so I am going to heavily fall on those who do. However, since you asked for MY opinion, I will give it to you: betta splendens, especially domestics, are strictly solitary. Domestic splendens were bred for aggression. The allure of the brightly colored sorority is heavily outweighed by the fact that betta - yes even females - can and do kill each other. My first link of this post is going to be this study that found female betta splendens to be equally aggressive as males. This is not speculation. It’s not a theory. Females ARE as aggressive as males. In my opinion, putting female betta - again, solitary - is animal abuse. I know many others who share this ‘opinion’ as well. I’ve heard many people argue for them for the simplest reason of “well I CAN”, but that does not make it right. People CAN keep dogs in cages. People CAN fight pit bulls. People CAN let their cats outside even if time after time they come back with torn ears or broken legs (wanna argue that outdoor cats are okay yeah go ahead I’m just as passionate about that). People have been doing things “because they can” since the dawn of mankind. That does not make these things right or acceptable.
Also, people who interpret their sorority girls as “fine” and “happy” cannot see everything, or can see it but don’t understand/say their fish is “special”. Fish do not show stress the way dogs or cats or people do. Lack of stress stripes does not mean lack of stress. Stripes and aggression are the peak of stress, not the first signs. Think of it this way: You’re locked in the same house as someone you hate, say, this guy took your bike when you were kids and you never got over it. Even if you agree to stay in separate rooms, you’re going to see each other and interact at some point. One of two things will happen: You’ll argue/fight whenever you see them and be on edge otherwise, or you’ll suck it up until one day this guy does something and you just snap. You punch him and scream and who knows, you’ve been under so much stress for so long with no outlet, you may just kill him. Now this is theoretical: humans don’t resort to murder very often, because we have morals. But fish do not have morals. All they know is that they are under stress and they want that stress gone. They don’t care if they kill another of their species to get it done because they don’t have a sense of right and wrong.
Betta sororities are all for the keeper’s benefit. There is absolutely no benefit to the fish under any circumstances ever. It’s cruel. It’s wrong. It’s dangerous. It’s selfish.
Like I said, even though I came within inches of a sorority, I’ve never had one, and never will. But here are some links to people who have. Specifically @elemental-kiss and @kouhafish. Although all the original posts belong to them, others contribute their experience as well: this isn’t just two people you’re getting word from. @toothless-the-betta-fish has also had a sorority that she regrets, but I did not include any posts from her here.
Kouhafish’s “ideal sorority” crashed. She’d has a sixty gallon, heavily planted tank with only sister betta and corydoras. They were all “fine” until one day she woke up with one dead and the others all torn up. Here is the youtube video she made, and here is her talking about it in a separate post.
Here Elemental-Kiss was asked why she regrets her sorority. Here she talks briefly about the fish she had in it, and her apology to them.
Elemental-Kiss also gives alternatives to sororities, taking away the excuse that domestic splendens are the only way to achieve their sort of aesthetic.
Elemental-Kiss also created a page for people to share their sorority stories, showing that this is not a one or two time thing. It’s a frequent occurrence, as well as giving more details about why she advocates against them.
@elemental-kiss has been the most vocal about her hatred for sororities, but she is not alone. I do not condone betta sororities under ANY circumstances. I know I have at least one sorority blog following me, and I’m not going to tell them to get off my blog or block them or anything, but I in no way support them.
So there it is, my opinion about why betta sororities are wrong, and others’ experiences that brought them to the same conclusion. If you genuinely want to see why I and others believe it is wrong, please look at the links. At the very lease skim them and watch the video. If anyone has anything to add, please feel free.
stormborns
amandla
theartofmadeline
turnnoffyourmind
ellievsbear
gracieabrams
blakekathryn
gummygunk
