Good Betta article in TFH magazine.

There's another good article in Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine about
Bettas and how badly treated they are. People keeping them in tiny,
unheated bowls. This is the second piece in a matter of months doing
so too.
Maybe folks will finally get a clue, stop mistreating them, and
actually care for them properly.
It'll take time to educate all the folks out there who don't. They
all
seem to think that just because it survives in a small, cold bowl
it's
perfectly fine. Well, it isn't. It's a fact that these fish need to
be
in warm water (78-80*f) in order to thrive. It's a fact that they,
just like any other fish thrive in a filtered tank.
It's also a fact that these fish need room to swim. They don't prefer
tiny bowls or vases.
So many people think that male Bettas can't be in with other
community
fish. Again, not so.
As long as they are the correct tank mates and aren't in with fin
nippers they do well.
While recently at a pet shop I was looking at the shipment of female
Bettas they had and a girl came up to me. She said "Don't buy a
female "bait-uh" (Duh..she can't even pronounce the name properly),
they'll suffocate." I have no clue where she got that one.
It's amazing at all the myths out there. These poor fish need a break
and some knowledgeable people buying them.
I'm adding the section where the article talks about tank size.
Sub-titled *Bigger is Better*.
It says that "recent scientific findings sugest that that the long
tern health of Bettas housed in tiny enclosures is compromised, with
the life span of closely confined speciemns being drastically shorter
than those animals that have plenty of room to swim about. Autopsied
specimens that were kept in small enclosures have been found to have
died from atrophied muscles and fatty degeneration of tissues, while
their counterparts maintain a high degree of muscle tissue and
experience much longer life spans. Specimens confined to tiny bowls
seldom exceed 18 months to 2 years in captivity, while free-ranging
specimens housed in larger aquaria may thrive for more than seven or
eight years!"
The article in the April -07 Issue of Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine
is written by Philip A. Purser.
He also goes on to talk about the need for filtration and how the
lack
of can lead to poor water conditions quickly and a Bettas fins can
quickly break down from it.
I urge anyone with a Betta or that knows somebody with one that
houses
it in a tiny, unheated, and unfiltered bowl/vase to read this
article.
I've been saying all of this stuff for many years and once again,
there's been a printed article saying the same.
Sometimes people need to read printed material to believe it.
It makes no difference what a fish costs or how cheap it is. If you
can't afford to give it the proper living conditions, you shouldn't
get it. Plain and simple.