@scalestails @theplantedbetta @pardonmyfish @bettamyfish @betta-lovin @firebreathingbettas @aquariadise @bettabutts @bettatalk @goodbetterbetta @betta--fishy @bettababies @bettalovebettas @bettaaddict and in general @ all of the betta side of fishblr, I HAVE A PROBLEM. AND I FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT IT. this is kind of a long read.
so my biology teacher from last year invested in a 10-gallon with gravel, a couple plastic plants, a giant marimo, a decent filter, and a school of 5-6 glo-fish (tetras). idk about tetra care but i thought the setup was not inhumane. right? even so, i felt the need to go back and “monitor” their behavior and things (well it was just an excuse to look at fish b/c i have no tank of my own rn) and today i went to her classroom and then, a little ways away, i saw a tank with a betta in it. and further along, another one.
the first one had a filter and the tank was warm to the touch. the other had no filter or heater, and was cold to the touch. she came over when she saw me ogling the tanks, and i asked her how many gallons each tank was. both are 2.5 gallons.
better than a vase, at least, but it absolutely broke my heart.
i then asked why she only had one filtered/heated tank and one without, and she says the first just got lucky b/c she happened to have a filter. and in fact she had no heater on the first tank, just a filter, and the water was just mysteriously warmer to the touch than the second tank. why am i even calling the second one a tank. it’s just a glass box of water. the second betta is probably swimming in liquid ammonia right now??
my heart was now actively shattered, in pieces on the floor. what if the outlet behind the tank is heated up?? where is the warmth coming from??? if it’s not controlled heat, there is a great possibility that it will heat the tank too much and the betta will die????? two bettas dying of too much and too little heat side by side?????????
so i proceeded to struggle with words for a long time, finally saying that the second “tank” ought to have a filter too, and that both should PROBABLY have heaters. also they were both flaring quite a bit (they were like 2 feet apart though) so i also suggested she move their tanks further apart.
so first she said “well i heard that bettas don’t like too much of a current” and then of course she responded with the whole “wanna learn something cool about betta history???? they live in puddles and can even breathe air” and idk about any of y'all but i have never in my life wanted to stuff a person into a glass closet for the rest of their lives more than at that moment. i mean i know a lot of people have this mistaken belief but to have it LECTURED to me by a former teacher like it was FACT made me SO upset. my heart was now dust.
i was 80% prepared to tell her that her setup was only correct in the separation of the two bettas, and offer to take one or both if she couldn’t provide for them, and then she said “yeah i liked them both so i had to buy them both. and since they will fight if they’re together, i put them in separate tanks.” so i couldn’t even offer to take them and house them well, because she wanted bettas. she wanted bettas for her tanks and classroom.
so then i asked her out of desperation if she was planning to swap them every week or so to even out the amount of ammonia-death-box time each gets. i know this would be really stressful on the fish too, but that poor second betta should not have to live out the rest of his life in that tank. and she said no, she wasn’t going to swap them (implying that that would be too much work). lady bettas ARE a lot of work and you shouldn’t have adopted two if one wasn’t even going to get a proper setup!!!!!!!! no heater no filter no space no plants to hide in no light no nothing. you’ll be lucky if it survives the week.
i was so upset that i left. i should have told her about the ammonia in the second one’s tank, i should have asked what/how often she feeds them, i should have asked how often she plans to clean/change water, i should have told her 5 gallons is the absolute minimum for humane keeping of bettas. i have gathered that she does not find them important enough to consider buying a filter for the second and heaters and larger tanks for both. the entire ride home, i fantasized about setting a small fire in the other room so she would be distracted, scooping up both bettas into separate cups, and taking them home. tbh i fantasize the same thing whenever i see bettas in cups in petsmart and walmart and the like, but this is up close. i can make a difference to these two fish. if i ever get rich i’m going to find a way to sue walmart and petsmart for poor betta husbandry before buying their entire stock and housing each one in a 10 gallon tank. perhaps then i’ll open a betta shop. and sell only to people who have proved they can take good care of a betta.
i was originally going to ask if fishblr could pool together some money to get heaters, filter, and at least 1 bigger tank for these bettas, but i don't know if this is how to approach the problem. what if she finds it offensive that I'm giving her stuff because i think she’s a bad fish keeper (b/c 2.5 gallons of cold unfiltered water in a box? honestly?), and rejects the stuff? should i wait and see if she decides to get a filter after today, before asking people online to donate money for them? i know every moment counts but also my parents won't let me get an aquarium, and idk how they would feel about buying all this stuff for a teacher who doesn’t care enough about these fish? like if they were to invest the money for a tank and heater and filter i think they would rather i got a betta because i love them so much. i just feel So Angry™.
i don’t even have a betta, nor have i ever had one. a planted 10-gallon with a rescue betta, next to a lush planted 5-gallon or nano with cherry shrimp, can both be found in my ideal future. i’m hoping i will have the courage necessary to tell her that what she has is a death trap. I'm also hoping that my parents will let me get the necessary setup in case i manage to convince my teacher that if she can’t care for them well enough, she ought not to keep them and will give me THE SECOND ONE one of them.
