There is a new product that is coming into a major department store near you. It is Betta In A Vase. When I first heard about this new craze, I thought that someone was making it up. I thought that no one would be so stupid as to put something so immoral and stupid on the market place.
Then I read two articles on a site called ThemeStream (WWW.THEMESTREAM.COM, one that glorified this new craze and the others that told of the impracticalness of this craze and an article from About.com that tells about the impracticalness of keeping Bettas in a Vase.
I am re-printing all articles on this site. If you are a member of the tropicalfish-keeping community that takes this hobby seriously,PLEASE do not purchase this product and PLEASE tell all of your friends not to purchase it either. We need to educate the novice or beginning aquarist that this is immoral and impractical and most of all a waste of money.
This first article is written by Jamie Garner and is called Fighting Fish (Bettas). It will describe the Betta in the Vase idea.
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This is what us people in the pet world call THE YEAR OF THE BETTA!!!!!!!!!!!
It started in late Jan.,a church in our town had this one lady who started making Peace Lillies betta vase's! At first it was really no big deal, it was just one church,but after about 2 weeks everyone was making everyone else a betta creation,or peace lilly betta vase!
It is a very beautiful combonation,and very affordable!First you start with a plant vase (the clear tall ones at wal-mart)get you some colored marbles,a peace plant,a plastic cup, and a betta! Be sure and wash the plants roots off until there is no more dirt on them! Get you some clorine remover,this takes out the clorine so it dosn't kill the fish!(start right, insta clor,stress coat,or clor out)any of the instant clorine removers will do! The plastic cups can be found at Lowe's in the garden center!The purpose for the cup is to mount the plant in it so it will stand up straight!
And now it's time to go pick out your betta! They are one of the prettiest fish,and they come in so many different colors it's hard to pick just one,but you can not mix these fish, because they will fight to the death!
This is a great present for anyone,and best of all you made it!
Just a word of caution before you spend all day driving around looking for a betta, Call first!!!!!!!!!!! Fish farms,and wholesellers are now limiting all pet shops to 100 bettas a week,and if you live in a large city it might be hard to get one! My suggestion is to call around, and ask what day and time the pet shop gets its fish order in, and steak out the place!
One more thing. Please do not forget to feed your betta, and please do not feed your betta to much! Look for Betta Bio Gold,it is small pellets and only feed him one pellet every other day.
Have Fun Let me know if you have any questions, I will be glad to help! Get Betta Crazy
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The second article is written by Heather Jones and is called Betta in a Vase. It tells where this product is being purchased and the wrong information they are being told by store personnel.
In the past six months or so the product "Betta in a Vase" has brought the Betta fish into many homes. Stores that do not specialize in fish like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Floral Fixations and other that sell Bettas have been accused of telling customers that the Betta does not need to be fed or that they can feed the Betta if they want to. R. Hanby of Floral Fixations said in an e-mail dated March 3ed "We have had Bettas in bowls for over a year without providing any other food than the plant, or brochure says you may feed the fish if you like." But what they do not say is how many of their fish die.
Freeda White, a Betta owner from Chilton County Alabama said, "My grandmother got a 'Betta in a Vase' at the florist and they told her the fish would eat off the roots. I saw the story on the 'Betta in a Vase' on Fox6 news and I had to correct what the florist said and tell my grandmother." What most people and some vendors of the "Betta in a Vase" do not know is that these fish require special feeding.
Sense Bettas have been hot on the market several pet stores that sell Bettas have put signs up notifying customers that Bettas must be fed and what to feed them. Bettas are carnivorous fish; they eat meat, not plants. Jesse Dabbs, an employee at Superpets in Birmingham Alabama, knows first hand the consequences of what has been told to customers about feeding/not feeding Bettas. "We get people coming in every day asking questions and saying they were told the Betta could live off the plant in the vase, this is not true," Dabbs said.
Dabbs is not the only one who has had to get the correct information out to new Betta owners. Joey Capps, Assistant Manager of Pets America works with Bettas and other fish and has had people come into the store with questions about Bettas, "we are having to tell people that Bettas do not eat plants. We put a sign up by our Bettas also to make sure that customers know what the correct food was for them."
Bettas must be feed to live. Bettas will eat Brine Shrimp, BloodWorms, Water Fleas and Tuba-flex Worms to name a few. These foods come in four forms: frozen, freeze-dried, sun-dried and pellet. "We have a special Betta food that we have available, it is a pellet to prevent over feeding," Capps said. "Tetra, a company that makes fish food makes dried BloodWorms and that is what we suggest our customers use," Dabbs said.
Bettas can be over feed and that will kill them also. To prevent over feeding Capps says that they came up with a way to illustrate how small a Betta's stomach is, "we describe a Bettas stomach as the size of an eyeball to illustrate that they do not need to be feed a lot of food." To keep a healthy Betta Both Superpets and Pets America suggests that people feed Bettas one to two times a week and clean bowls/tanks one to two times every other week. So how did all this not needing to feed Bettas come from, Capps has his opinion, "I think someone saw Bettas eating bacteria on the roots of the plants and thought they could live off of that."
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This article, done in a question and answer forum, is written by Shirlie Sharpe, an expert in maintaining freshwater aquariums. Shirlie has been breeding, raising, and studying freshwater fish for over thirty years. She keeps and breeds hundreds of species of fish, and has an extensive library of books and magazines about fish, aquariums, and ponds. Shirlie also works as a freelance fish photographer. Her work has been included in various publications, including Fishbase 2000.
Q: I've been reading about the craze of keeping a Peace Lily and a Betta splendens in a vase together. What do you think - is it safe for the fish?
A: The argument made for keeping fish in a vase is that pumps, filters, and other aquarium equipment, do not exist in nature. By putting the fish in what appears to be a natural environment the assumption is made that it is inherently as healthy as, if not healthier than, an aquarium. That simply isn't the case. It is true that in nature the Betta lives in shallow rice paddies and swamps. However those waters represent a complete ecological system, which cannot be replicated in a small vase. Rice paddies are shallow but are still part of a much larger body of water that serves to dilute toxins. Scavengers and bacteria present in native waters break down wastes and render them harmless to fish.
In nature the Betta lives on a diet that consists predominantly of insects and insect larvae. In fact, Bettas contribute significantly in controlling mosquitoes that abound in their native habitat. The Betta's digestive tract is geared for meat. It's upturned mouth is designed to grab insects who have fallen into the water. Although they may be observed picking for morsels on plants and rocks, they are not bottom feeders by nature. A diet consisting of vegetable matter may keep them alive for a while, but it is not natural or healthy. Over time they will slowly be starved of the proper nutrients, and more easily fall victim to disease.
Another factor that has been completely overlooked in the Lily-Betta combination is the element of water temperature. The primary reason Bettas in small bowls are often listless is because the water temperature is too low. Bettas are native to countries such as Thailand where the climate is hot and moist. The ideal water temperature for the Betta is 80 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit. Although they can survive at lower temperatures, they become lethargic and may even refuse to eat. Unless you live in a very warm climate, the water in a vase cannot be maintained at a temperature of 80 or above. Subjecting the Betta to cool temperatures is the same as if you or I had to live in a house with a constant temperature of 60 degrees.
Lastly, there is the issue of how the betta breathes. Like other fish, the Betta derives oxygen from the water. However it has special organ that allows it to breathe air directly. The Betta's upturned mouth allows it to easily gulp air from the surface, and therefore survive in waters that are low in oxygen. If the Lily vase is not set up properly, there will be very little open space at the top of the water for the Betta to get to the air. As the oxygen dissolved in the water is used up, the Betta will need to breathe air more often. Should it have trouble reaching the surface, it may become deprived of the oxygen it needs to survive.
The Peace Lily-Betta combination is clearly a popular fad, but it is neither natural nor healthy for the fish. A dog or cat owner would never consider shutting their pet in a small closet with minimal heat, food, and air. The Betta should not be treated any less humanely.
