We went to Wal-mart last night and spent about a half an hour filling beta fish bowls with water.
About 90% of the bowls had maybe an inch of water in them and the fish were practically swimming on there sides, not to mention that there were several dead.
I have no idea how to care for these fish, and I am sure that the straight tap water was not the best for them, but was better than none.
Can anyone tell me if this is okay for them to not have much water, and how to care for them, because I am considering going back and "saving" a few.
Answers:
I got my betta from wal mart too.It was in this little bitty cup that could have held almost twice as much water as what the walmart people choose to put in it.I took it home and it seems to like it's BIGGER TANK a WHOLE lot better than that itty bitty cup.You could probably save one's life by taking it home and putting it in a bigger tank,but please keep in mind that you can't put more than one betta in a tank,unless they're both females.Also,if you put tap water in it's tank,don't forget to use a water conditioner to dechlorinate it.I feed mine twice a day,small amounts each time,but PLEASE don't overfeed because that could cloud it's tank verry badly or it could get really fat and die.One more thing:even though alot of people say that you can put a mirror up to your bettas tank just to watch it flare up,but I wouldn't do that because it stresses them out and makes them VERRY mad.CYA,and have lots of fun!
First of all you probably KILLED these fish. You obviously don't work there so why take it upon yourself to do it? YOU obviously have NO clue on how to care for fish. The chemicals in tap water will kill these fish...however if you hadn't have done what you did they would have probably died anyway. HOWEVER with that said, why not TELL someone? I understand that you were doing what you thought was the 'right' thing...but if you are SURE that tap water wasn't very good, then why do it? Ask 'yourself' that question. You should go back and let them know what you did. Gezzzzzzzz.
ok first of all you can't keep more than one beta fish in the same tank. they have teeth, and they love to fight. they'll kill each other. NEXT, when i had beta fish, fresh water was just fine. but you definately want to make sure that the water is not too hot or too icy, because they're very sensitive to that.
Hey... Fill ur tank with the TAP WATER... they r the best for the fishes... ur drinking water or something alse is really really bad to the core for ur fishes... thay 'll be chlorinated... and this 'll lead to the degradation in the health of the fishes.. they'll get white spots.
if u want ur bowl to be filled with ur pure drinking water... then DONOT forget to DECHLORINATE them...
usually beta fish are okay on their own - single them out. Don't put two into one bowl. They will kill each other, it's their nature. I put mine by a mirror on accident and he thought it was another fish and started fighting the fish bowl - lol. An inch? that's not enough - betas need space. They're like an athletic fish kind of. beta fish food - petsmart should have them. Wal-Mart or I should say the people who shop at walmart abuse the fish. Truthfully it's all about making money - as long as they're alive no matter what the condition they'll keep them.
Betas are Vietnamese fish - they usually survive in muddy puddles - Fresh water kicks it up a notch - they live well in tanks. umm ...what else? Good Luck with the fish, they're really beautiful, exotic tropical fish - hard work pays off
Tap water is fine as long as you use conditioner in it (de-chlorinator). Almost all fish keepers use tap water.
Betta's are regular tropical fish and should be treated like regular tropical fish. This means Tanks with filters and heaters. They will survive in a bowl, yes, but they will thrive and live a full life in a tank. You can tell the ignorance of the keepers when you hear they have a lifespan of 1-3 years, when in reality this should be closer to 5-7 years.
Betta's can survive in little water because they have the capability of breathing air, but that doesn't mean they should be forced to all their lives. There is a myth that they need to breath air (and could drown in tanks) and this is completely false - they have gills like all fish and should be able to use them. In the wild there are certain times of the year the water becomes very shallow and oxygen deperived, but most often they live in large expanses of densly planted waters (another myth is that they 'live in puddles'), and this is how the most thoughtful keepers set up their tanks too.
Betta's also do great in community tanks (yet another myth is that they kill all other fish), as long as the community fish are chosen with the Betta in mind (that means avoiding territorial fish like other Bettas or Gouramis, nothing that will bite the bettas fins like Barbs, and nothing with flashy finnage, like fancy guppies). In a nicely planted tank betta's are active and curious fish, and once you keep them in this environment and observe them at their best the question comes to mind of what point there is of keeping a betta floating around in a bowl all the time with nothing to do.
Yeah for you saving fishes!
Next time call PETA and get the Walmart people busted.
Tap water was better than watching them struggle and swim on their sides...and watch their friends dies around them.
They are hearty fish and though they might have preferred room temp water that was properly filtered, etc, at least you DID SOMETHING!
tap water needs conditioner, its too harsh. I dont know why everyone insists on giving betas just enough water to survive in, but not to move around at all. Its got to be miserable to be a beta. I have one that I bought a while ago from a pet store. he was in a little bitty cup. I took him home and put him in a large glass vase that i had prepared for him. He wasnt moving at all in the cup (probably because he couldnt) but he's been exploring the vase non stop. his fins are spread wide and he looks beautiful. (he couldnt stretch his fins in the little cup, either)
as to the answer above mine, peta wont show up to do anything about it unless you can guarantee a news crew and some publicity for them. They care about animals when it gets them in the news.
Good for you! That is so nice of you! Well, tap water is not very good for them. You need to put in tap water conditioner. I use one by a company called Aquarium Pharmaceuyicals. Also, you can not put two betta fish together, or they will fight, and most likely die. They must be kept seperate! Also, for food, look around in the fish isle of a pet store, and get the little yellow bottle with the betta on it, or ask the pet store workers for suggestions! Plus, you just have to clean the tank, and don't keep them in golfish bowls! Its as easy as that!
well next time let the water sit for 2 days if its a small bowl. never ever for gods sakes put the bettas in one bowl unless its a big tank or theyll kill each other. or at least rip each others fins off.
OMGiamgoingNUTS is overreacting, you didnt kill them, no tap water isnt the best, but it probably wont kill them overnight, my bettas lived in tap water for about a week before i found it was bad and they were fine
I think its great you tried to help the fishies, These fish need enough water to move around, and an inch definately isnt enough
Ok, so heres your basic care
You need at least a 1 gallon bowl at a minimum, a small tank would be better, but if your going to be buying alot of them, im sure that you dont have time to worry about taking care of a tank, so a bowl will do
They will need a dechlorinator that you put a few drops into the water so make it safe~most petstores have them
They need only about 5 or 6 pellets of food a day
A small plant in the bowl, and a little decoration thing that they can hide in
Thats really all you need to know as your basic care, and if you have any other questions, just google them, and you should find the info you need, or you can just email me at animalsrock1592@aol.com
one more thing, make sure you keep only 1 betta per bowl/tank, they are aggressive and will fight to the death
you can find the information you require at the link below
I think that was a great thing you did, since you only filled it up with water, I think they will be fine, if the water that was still in there looked blue, then it had conditioner in it already
As for caring for betta, a MALE betta needs at least a 2.5 gallon tank with filter and heater to be in a perfect condition and a live plant where they can rest on, do partial waterchanges of 25% weekly with a gravel siphon
If you want to go for the FEMALES, you could put actually up to 5 of them into a 10 gallon tank, it might look like they are fighting at first, but they will only choose the so called peckingorder, and you need lots of live plants in ther though
hope that helps
Good luck
EB
If you need any more info, feel free to email me or follow the link in my profile for live help
