The other post about this tank was getting a bit long, so we’re including this as a separate one. What is that in the top corner? A Betta fish? Yeah, unfortunately your eyes are not deceiving you.
I wish I could say I was surprised by this level of negligence, but I’m not. Some time ago she posted this article explaining how Betta can live with Goldfish if you follow her “secret method,” this method was to condemn the Betta to live in a breeder box as small as 0.8g.
If you’re familiar with Betta care, you’re already cringing.
This is nowhere near enough space for a Betta! Although for a while the absolute bare minimum recommended for a Betta was 2.5g it’s becoming increasingly common to advise no less than 5g tanks. I don’t have a link to include for the 2.5g recommendation because I haven’t found a respectable source that still advises such a small space.
I’ll admit Meredith’s article does a good job of outlining why Goldfish and Betta aren’t compatible, though. Let’s take a look at some quotes from the article, shall we?
“See, if the goldfish grows to be its full size, betta could end up being snack.This is because a goldfish eats any fish it can fit in its mouth.”
The other thing is the goldfish swimming around in with the betta can stress out the betta fish [...] It’s like trying to mix oil and water.
So why do we see the unfortunate snack Betta swimming freely with these Goldfish? Well, the current version of the article has been heavily edited to reflect Meredith’s change of heart... which, shockingly, benefits her and endangers the fish.
At least in the new version of article she recommends at least 2g for a Betta... small victories, I guess? Although the inside of a Goldfish mouth is less than 2g, so I don’t know if it really counts.
She also condones keeping Goldfish in 78F - 82F long-term, and disregards the importance of proper pH. There’s really no overlap in the care requirements of Betta and Goldfish, so in order to justify this poor behavior she’s got to pretend those requirements don’t matter in the first place.
Goldfish are temperate fish, which means they thrive in a wide range of temperatures and benefit from seasonal variation in temperatures. Although Goldfish can survive at high, tropical temperatures, it will have a negative impact on their ability to uptake oxygen from their environment (especially in a tank with no water circulation), as well as increase their metabolism and waste production. It’s also likely that a tropical tank will drastically shorten the lifespan of these Goldfish, if living in a stagnant puddle of their own waste doesn’t kill them first.
According to her site, this tank has hard water, which is great for the Goldfish and snails living in it, but not so great for the Betta. Even on her own site, Meredith talks about using driftwood and Indian almond leaf to replicate the natural blackwater conditions for a Betta... these lower the pH and hardness of the tank water, and in Meredith’s own words, “helps protect against bad bacteria and fin rot”. Not only is she deliberately and knowingly keeping this Betta in a tank where he will not thrive, she is doing so while actively advising (almost) proper care for a lone Betta on her site. It’s likely that living in unnatural conditions will shorten the Betta’s lifespan as well...
...unless this happens first.
This image has been circulated through the internet enough that, unfortunately, I don’t have a source.
I’m sure this completely avoidable disaster has helped persuade many novice keepers away from trying to cohabit these incompatible species, but unfortunately the impending death of your fish isn’t much of a deterrent when you only care about internet clout and not the wellbeing of lives under your care.
As a side note, you may be surprised by the lack of comments on the article pointing out how wrong this is. You see, Meredith is allergic to criticism. Tragic, really. When she first introduced this shit show in the Pure Goldfish Community Facebook group she was met with a lot of backlash, from sensible fishkeepers, and wound up closing the comments on the post. The comments on her articles are moderated, she only allows the most glowing reviews through.
