local fish store

[sillyca]

Hi!
I have been reading a lot on bettas the last week. I went in this fish store and the woman told me she feeds hers once every 3 days and that by feeding my betta an eyeball sized portion 2x a day I am "killing him with kindness." She said some of her fish have been living 15 years or more like this. And basically she said that the less you feed the fish, the cleaner the tank is... which sounds like "the more you ignore them the less you have to do."
What do you all do when you come across someone who blatently thinks something different. This was not a chain store and it only had fish... and she was selling ornamental betta bowls on stands... she had a story where she had one betta and had him in a large tank and he stayed in his corner next to his bubble nest and never went into other areas of the tank. So to her that meant that bettas don't need room.
Just wondering.
LJ

[amanichen]

She said some of her fish have been living 15 years or more like this.

What kind of fish? Where's her proof?

And basically she said that the less you feed the fish, the cleaner the tank is...

This is true, but fish need a certain level of nutrition to remain healthy.

which sounds like "the more you ignore them the less you have to do."

Basically, yes. It's true that if you slow down a fish's metabolism (by lowering the temperature and denying it food) it'll live longer, but it won't be as healthy and active as a fish living in the wild, and eventually it will die.

If she implied that a betta lived 15 years then she's lying or delusional. Bettas who have been kept in ideal conditions for their entire lives, and who have good genetics, can live 5 years or more.

What do you all do when you come across someone who blatently thinks something different.

Find people who know more than you, and ask them, and then keep asking lots of people who know until you're sure that they're not messing with you =)

This was not a chain store and it only had fish... and she was selling ornamental betta bowls on stands... she had a story where she had one betta and had him in a large tank and he stayed in his corner next to his bubble nest and never went into other areas of the tank. So to her that meant that bettas don't need room.

That just means the betta is acting like a betta in the wild -- claiming a patch of territory, setting up a bubble nest, defending it, and waiting for females to come by so he can flare to impress them.

With a bit of basic research she'd see that she's wrong and just perpetuating a myth that's literally posted in writing on the shelving of some pet stores.

She's obviously disconnected from the betta hobby, and the aquatic hobby in general. She should check out www.ibc.org, to get in touch with reputable breeders to share her "secret" with them.

Remember, not everything in the aquatic hobby is about opinions -- there's so much science and biology and nature in there. If anybody claims it's all about opinions, they're someone you shouldn't listen to.

[durbkat]

Yeah that woman is from what you told us a patholigical lier! I feed my fish medium size amount of flakes everyday. And for my bettas 2 graniules a day. And I've had one of my bettas for almost 6 months like this and another one that already died but he lived a year and a half on flakes which I know now wasn't the right kind of food but they said nothing (as usual).

[sillyca]

Hi!
Thanks for responding. She blindly gestured towards a tank of fish when she mentioned some of them were 15 or more years old... I know little to none about fish in general, so is there really a way to age a fish? She said she had kept one (betta) alive for 8 years.... Maybe that was the one that was acting like a betta in the wild. Do I send an envelope with websites for her to look up? I just feel bad for all the fish in there... even though they were swimming around and looked good. I would be pretty unhappy if I were only fed every 3 days so I would not poop as much....
LJ

[amanichen]

sillyca said:

Hi!
Thanks for responding. She blindly gestured towards a tank of fish when she mentioned some of them were 15 or more years old...

Sounds like showmanship to make herself look experienced. If you went in looking like a clueless newbie, she probably took advantage of that and took some liberties with what she told you.

I know little to none about fish in general, so is there really a way to age a fish?

Yes, and no. I think that the bodies of some large fish can be dissected to study bone growth, but for smaller fish you have to rely on the general health and condition of the fish. It's easy to spot an older betta vs. younger betta but there's no way to pinpoint an exact age on it.

She said she had kept one (betta) alive for 8 years....

The most I've ever heard of is five years, but of course that doesn't keep people from exaggerating the truth.

Maybe that was the one that was acting like a betta in the wild.

I doubt it. Plenty of fish will blow bubble nests, and defend territory, but few bettas are lucky enough to have the luxury of anything bigger than a bowl to live in.

Do I send an envelope with websites for her to look up? I just feel bad for all the fish in there... even though they were swimming around and looked good.

Don't bother. The best thing to do if you don't like a business, is not go buy anything from that business. That says more than trying to tell her she's nutty