are bettas not so easy for you too?

[marionmaymay]

I’ve seen it said so many places they they’re the “easiest fish to take care of” and from my own experience when I started getting into the aquarium hobby, I’ve found them to be quite the opposite. as beautiful as they can be to look at, I don’t think I’m ever getting another betta fish again.

it’s been my experience they’re too sensitive to water changes, too picky about their food and choice of tankmates is way too limited, definitely way too temperamental. 

just curious if anyone else had a hard time trying to raise bettas too.

after the last betta I had died, I’ve had PB dwarf gouramis, platys, white skirt tetras, neon tetras and honey gouramis and they’ve ALL been WAY easier to take care of!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@marionmaymay I would have to agree with you somewhat. They are certainly IMO not as easy as a lot of pet stores would make them out to be. They're not the most difficult of fish, but they are certainly not the easiest. My favorite which is the pic I used as my profile Kimono, passed and he was my best one. My last try was a female giant Galaxy Koi that I ordered online from a breeder with very good reviews. She was GORGEOUS, but I could never get her to eat much, water parameters were perfect, temp perfect, treated her with some meds, never figured out what was going on and 2 months in I found her at the top of the tank. It was very disappointing. I don't want to try again. 

Edited April 4, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX
typo

[Samanthabea]

First off I've only had 1 at a time and always kept them alone because of temperament and the space I had I always bought their water or they got sick and even then had to get meds once in a while and needed multiple treatment doses the ones I got were definitely picky about food they are definitely harder to care for then is said in my experience as well I think they are worth it though 

[gardenman]

The thing with bettas is they tend to have a short life of two to four years from birth and most are a year or older when you get them as it takes them time to develop the colors and finnage that people want to see. In some cases they're even older than that and you're buying a geriatric betta. They've been nearly all raised in captivity (there are very few wild bettas sold in the hobby) so they're used to some sort of domestic food, it's just a question of figuring out which type.  I've never had an issue feeding a betta, but mine are typically put in a community tank and just follow the lead of the other fish. The other fish go up and gulp down the food so the betta goes up and gulps down the food. A lot of the problems people have in breeding bettas is they're too old by the time the buyer buys them. A young, healthy male betta in prime breeding age typically hasn't developed the long flowing fins and vibrant colors that buyers want, so they don't make it to market until they're older and look better, but by then they may be well past their prime.

[Fishdude]

Just had my betta die yesterday after a challenging few years. As much as I enjoyed him at his prime, he suffered a number of fin issues and the last few weeks he was pretty clearly on the decline. I'm not sure I want to dedicate a whole tank to just one fish again.

[Deku-Corydoras]

I think a problem is that they're extremely overbred and inbred. Think about all the line breeding that must take place to develop the different varieties, and then to produce enough to start selling them. I highly doubt a lot of the fish farms that breed Bettas are concerned about making sure their bloodlines are genetically diverse. 

[Mmiller2001]

13 hours ago, marionmaymay said:

I’ve seen it said so many places they they’re the “easiest fish to take care of” and from my own experience when I started getting into the aquarium hobby, I’ve found them to be quite the opposite. as beautiful as they can be to look at, I don’t think I’m ever getting another betta fish again.

it’s been my experience they’re too sensitive to water changes, too picky about their food and choice of tankmates is way too limited, definitely way too temperamental. 

just curious if anyone else had a hard time trying to raise bettas too.

after the last betta I had died, I’ve had PB dwarf gouramis, platys, white skirt tetras, neon tetras and honey gouramis and they’ve ALL been WAY easier to take care of!

I also will never keep them in the future. It seems hardiness has been bread out for colors, and you have to win the lottery for a strong one.

[marionmaymay]

2 hours ago, Mmiller2001 said:

I also will never keep them in the future. It seems hardiness has been bread out for colors, and you have to win the lottery for a strong one.

very true!

[Patrick_G]

I agree, we’ve lost one male and two female Koi Bettas this year even though we try and maintain ideal conditions and haven’t lost any of our community fish.