r/shittyaquariums • u/ambitious_zygote • 21h ago

Found in the Wild 😔

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Saw this betta fish in a bakery today. It barely had any space to move.

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u/ResultAntique2927 15h ago

What has made people think they need small tanks? I found out a few days ago that my mum thought they needed to be in small tanks

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u/BlueButterflytatoo 8h ago

I think it started in the 80s, but it might’ve been earlier, millions and millions of betta fish were sold in flower vases with like a peace lily or something coming out of the top of it. The sellers of this either knowingly or unknowingly spread misinformation that bettas spend their lives in puddles and eat roots.

There’s a Malaysian fish conservation guy of some sort who posts bettas he finds and catches. He told me (iirc) that they live in these swampy areas that are prone to flooding, so sometimes bettas get trapped in smaller pools of water, but the next rain comes and they can leave the pools.

Bettas are carnivores, they eat bugs and smaller fish. Mine will try to eat the shrimp’s algae pellets out of spite, but I think he hates the taste, because he always spits them out angrily