Allright...

OK...I got lucky at a "garage sale" this morning on my way home from work, and I ended up buying a tank, and getting a 7 or 9 gallon "critter carrier" thrown into the deal for free...


:wub: So, because of you all's enthusiam for this particular fish....I've decided to get a betta.....

So what should I get? A rescue? I'm kinda "fish snob" and go for the more unusual, rarely seen stuff, so I'm not sure I want a spendens...

What do you all think? I have plenty of general fish keeping experience, and water changes are a regular routine for me...so a good home is ensured....

I'm just not sure what to get....can you give me some ideas to research? Or should i just go with a "rescue"?

bettas need more water changes... OMG YES!!! you have been bitten by the betta bug!!! hehehe *snickers...inserts diobalical laughter* MWA HA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!




oh sorry :huh:

hmm well lets see first stop is Aqua Bid

there are some awsome bettas there :)

then there is Betta Talk

some expensive ones on betta talk but hey they are awsome


thats all i can think of :)

sometimes LFS have crowntails thats where i got freckles!!

Since this is your first betta, I really like you to feels the first time in you how a betta life is. I think you should tried to walk into Walmart or LFS checking out those betta first. See how they treat those betta and if you see something is not right, talk to the customer and complaint about it. You have the right to said so because you are willing to pay and buy a fish. :) They have no right to torture a tiny small animal afterall and sale them of the shelve like that.
All the bettas in the walmart or LFS will thank you so much and they all will want to go home with ya. Don't look at a rotten helpless betta that is going to dead, but if you buy him up, and if he get back into shape, his personality will show up to you how loving a person you are.
I remember someone (Bettamomma or someone else?) did rescued a betta before from a walmart or LFS and she bought her home. The betta thank her so much until he blow a lots of bubbles nest for her. She seat on the table one morning nothing to do, feeling lonely and sad. So she just seat on the table and watch at the big bubble nest on the surface of the water that made by the rescued betta. Suddenly she was so happy again to see something mirracle happened as what she saw. There is an empty love shape in the middle of the bubbles nest. That make her the most happiness in her life that day that something tiny that she rescued did showing her a love sign. :) She quickly grap a digital camera and snap a picture out of it.
I hope someone remember that real story and if anyone can bring back the picture of the bubbles will be great.Post it please. I love that picture!
:bighug:

i got 2 WM bettas as rescues and they are my adorable. My fav saber is a Wm rescue and boy is he a character lol

Get a piece of a canvas and split the 7 or 9 gallons into 3.5 or 4.5 :)

You can rescue a betta, and also buy a fancier kind that you want.

Though at that many gallons it would be very easy to cycle...

Yeev, I remember that story too. There was even a picture of the heart in the middle of the nest in that person's signature for a while, but it wasn't me :)

I would suggest to you going down (as has already been said) to your local Walmart store and browsing thru the bettas. Every single one of them looks pathetic and sad, and I can personally guarantee you that every single one of them would LOOOOOVE the chance to go home with you - someone who will obviously love and take great care of them.

I just took a count, and to date I have personally brought 19 bettas home from walmart, one little african dwarf frog and an apple snail. Some were really, really sick - some made it, some didn't, but they were INCREDIBLY rewarding little creatures to have.

As Yeev said, if you see something going on at the store you're at with the way the fish (not just bettas in general) are being treated, please say something to store management, or better yet call 1-800-WALMART and lodge a formal complaint. Many of us have been doing some major harping on stores across the nation and it seems to be slightly helping the situation..

Oh, and to quote someone from a forum I *used to* hang out in, "bettas are like potato chips.. you can't have just one" :laugh:

I have 18 right now - as I said, some have died or I got them from other places, but MAN what a rewarding thing to do. They love you unconditionally NO MATTER WHAT.

:wub:

RIP to my little wilbur, who I saved from walmart who had him in a tank with a bunch of other fish, and frogs, including a dead one that was floating right by him in his little corner where he was clinging to a little floaty plant. I had him for a couple days, but he died shortly because or something internal that he got from being in that tank. he managed to make me a nest in his little containerand one way or another, a heart shape formed in it and I was there to see it. :) I miss that little guy.

I recomend getting an average betta for a first, to "test the water" so to say, on them, you wont be dissapointed. :)

yea go to WM and get a VT :P lol and take care of that lil guy and omg will his colors come out and his personality show.... wooo they are some awsome fish i tell you... 4 months ago i went to go buy a 10G tank for breeding my mollies and damn... the 10G ended up belonging to my first betta, freckles! he had a 10G tank all to himself :P its was an awsome feeling, watching him swim around :) :wub:

oh. it is you and you got the pictures. OMG. :gay: Did I make the story too saucy or not enough saucy? LOL :laugh:

Yeah, it was me :P didn't know I was a she :o :lol: :lol: and yes I do indeed have the pictures still, thought you'd enjoy it if I posted them he he.

How do I know it is a he and not she. I thought only girls do that. SO SEEDY! You can be like him too. :lol: :lol: :lol:

i remember that story.. i cried :huh:

Thanks for all the responses!

Hmmm...honestly...I believe in "voting with my dollar"....so to me, paying WM for a rescue seems like it would be encouraging WM to continue their practice of keeping bettas in lil cups...

I allready boycott Walmart for other reasons...so I probably won't go there....I don't give them my $$$.....

I've seen plenty of lil bettas in blue water cups at many other lfs's though....they look like they need a good home...

I'm going to look around Tulsa, and see what is available...It will be a few days at least, but I'll keep you all posted when I do finally make a decision....

That was YOU?
Wow - I didn't remember that being you.

Hey Seedy... might I suggest you go take a peek at the pinned rescues topic tion I have been posting in? I just pasted in a really long post about how to rescue a betta from WalMart (I DESPISE them too and don't buy anything but ailing fish from them, just like I suspect you'd end up doing too). The post I just submitted explains how to go about getting a fish from there and let them know that you ONLY bought a fish there because of its conditions and that you don't buy ANYTHING else from there. Managers, district managers and head offices can be notified.

Go have a read. There are also lots of other places where fishes are in need of a good rescue so if you choose not to go to WalMart it's perfectly understandable. I usually choose to get mine from there because they seem to be the most in need of good care because nobody seems to take care of them there.

By "rescueing" a betta from walmart, you simply give them more of your money, and support what they are doing to bettas, fish, and the World in General....

When you "rescue" a betta, you simply leave a blank spot on the shelf for WM to fill with another abused fish...purchasing bettas from wm, even as a rescue, contributes to the problem...you don't just rescue a fish, you condemn another one to suffer...

Now....If you where to "liberate" a betta....that might be different...

Glad to see another Tulsan here.

You might go into Oddballs at 31st and Sheridan, The one and only time I was in there it looked like all the fish needed rescued, The owner offered to order me a black orchid betta, but passed him up on it. Decided if I was going to pay that kind of money I would get it at aquabid.

I'm sorry you didn't have a good experience at Oddballs...The owner, Scott is actually one of my good buddies...many of the cichlids they sell are ones that I have bred....

Huh...Usually his stock looks good!

I do NOT recomend Tulsa Aquatics....John the owner is a Yankee prick....his wife is sweet as sugar.....But I am sick of listening to Johns "new york attittude"...I have also had some bad fish deals through him...oh...and he dosnt heat any of his freshwater tank... :o

I just don't agree with "strength in numbers" in this particular scenario.

The betta is going to be bought or die either way. Either he gets stuck in a vase or lucks out and comes home with me, or worse, dies in a cup. I am all for contributing my $2.99 if that is what I have to do. My $2.99 or Joe Schmoe's $2.99 with a vase waiting at home, it is all the same.

I guess I am a pessimist in this situation, :)

Many Walmarts no longer sell fish. Why? Due to complaints from customers, or because they can no longer maintain it properly, or they can't compete with Petsmart etc. Probably a bunch of things. Obviously some sort of progress is happening, and meanwhile I WILL continue to provide a loving home

I do understand where you are coming from though, and respect that. In fact I am that way myself in certain cases, I just can't justify this one though...

BUT if you don't buy ANYTHING else there, and you let them all the way up to the head office know that you have stopped shopping there for anything except near-dead bettas BECAUSE of the way they treat them, that tells them that mistreating fish has affected their bottom line. They know. At my WM, it costs me $3.47 for a betta and I've at some points gotten a few free because they are in such bad shape.

I decided to sort of start keeping track of the number of complaint calls I have made JUST to WalMarts across the country, and even a few in Canada. I decided to start counting after I had already been calling for several weeks. Thus far I have made 57 calls to regular WalMart stores across the country, and that's just to regular stores. I call District Management several times each month and I also have called their head offices on a regular basis too.

Almost every week both our WMs sell out of bettas, so if I pass up buying one cuz I want to boycot it, someone else will buy it and the shelf will sit empty until more come along.

While I do agree that if a person buys a betta because it's in rough shape and walks out the door and says nothing, that compounds the problem. BUT - if you go about it in the way I've laid out in the rescue topic, it will work. Many WMs have stopped selling bettas and I think they've just come to realize that they're losing more than they're gaining.

This is a huge debate that went on over at tff too. That's why I typed up the long speal I did above so that it would help people to make a diff and still be able to bring these poor little guys and girls home without feeling guilty and like they're aiding in keeping the problem going... I respect and agree with not wanting to give WM any money (I don't either - I DESPISE them) - but I give them MUCH less money now that I used to. And they know it. Now I just occasionally give them the $3.47 for a betta (IF I don't get it free) as opposed to buying shampoo, makeup, laundry soap, dish soap, kleenexes, hair spray, school supplies, etc. etc. They KNOW they're hurting their bottom line by selling fish in poor conditions because I tell them that on a very regular basis.

And - I'm also working on a huge report to submit to their head office, and to the Humane Society of the United States filled with horror fish stores from WM. People who have rescued fish from there that were near death and needed a very good person to come along and take care of them. I have pictures, stories and store contact information collected. We'll see how that works out.

It's...a...HEART :wub:! You could always try Bettysplendens.com since they have very nice bettas and their s/h are REALLY REALLY cheap. There's nothing wrong with Bettatalk.com but their minimum order is $50 dollars I believe.

omg bettatalk.... wow they are expensive.. i just shop yeevia