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rebel51 · 03-03-2008, 03:00 PM

Bettas are not "pets"!!

I had a beautiful red, red betta named Jake. He lived in a 10 gallon aquarium with 6 neons. They didn't bother him and he only said "Boo!" to them once in a while.

He really enjoyed being petted. He would even come up and rub against my fingers.

Unfortunately, I didn't find out until after he died that my touching him was what actually killed him.

I have since asked questions of the employees at PetSmart, Petco, and (believe it or not) Walmart. I ask employees and other customers. I bug everybody at the fish tanks and am now learning who to believe and who is just bluffing.

Most importantly I have learned that if your timing is right, Walmart is not a bad place to go to get advice. It was a Walmart pet department manager who sent me to this site. He also refused to sell me and other customers the wrong fish at the wrong time. He kept answering our questions and asking questions of us to determine the correct advice for each of us. Furthermore, he seemed to enjoy the time spent this way.

Thanks to him I am now setting up my third 10-gallon tank for my new betta named "Gold Dust", or "Dusty" for short. Later on, I plan to add a few compatable tankmates for him.

Since I don't have the space for anything larger than a 10-gallon, I have one for fancy guppies and one for assorted tetras.

03-03-2008, 03:00 PM	#44 (permalink)
rebel51 Teenie Weenie Fish Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 1	Bettas are not "pets"!! I had a beautiful red, red betta named Jake. He lived in a 10 gallon aquarium with 6 neons. They didn't bother him and he only said "Boo!" to them once in a while. He really enjoyed being petted. He would even come up and rub against my fingers. Unfortunately, I didn't find out until after he died that my touching him was what actually killed him. I have since asked questions of the employees at PetSmart, Petco, and (believe it or not) Walmart. I ask employees and other customers. I bug everybody at the fish tanks and am now learning who to believe and who is just bluffing. Most importantly I have learned that if your timing is right, Walmart is not a bad place to go to get advice. It was a Walmart pet department manager who sent me to this site. He also refused to sell me and other customers the wrong fish at the wrong time. He kept answering our questions and asking questions of us to determine the correct advice for each of us. Furthermore, he seemed to enjoy the time spent this way. Thanks to him I am now setting up my third 10-gallon tank for my new betta named "Gold Dust", or "Dusty" for short. Later on, I plan to add a few compatable tankmates for him. Since I don't have the space for anything larger than a 10-gallon, I have one for fancy guppies and one for assorted tetras.