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Sarsoar t1_j6naokc wrote

Reply to comment by noha_thedestro in The fish, Young-sung Kim, Oil, 2017 by LatentTwenty

Ok, call me elitist then. But 5g is too small for a male betta for an extended period of time. 10g should be the bare minimum long term home for them and a 20g long is preferable.

They are territorial and explore and swim around a lot and 5g just does not give them enough space to do that.

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Vultureinred t1_j6o8u16 wrote

I 100% agree that bettas need large tanks. Some countries don’t even allow ANY fish in tanks below 15gal.

But, the reason 5gal at bare, absolute minimum is enforced and implied, is because many people want to go below that, putting them in damn shot glasses like this. Sad, 1gal or 2gal tanks. 5gal at least allows the betta to move and explore, and have a small territory.

Is it ideal? No of course not! But it’s the bare minimum of supporting their life, as long as the people can keep up with the parameters. Encouraging the people who neglect their bettas in incredibly tiny environments to at least get a 5gal, and informing them of bettas natural environments and such, helps the owners learn more about the betta and care for it better.

Eventually, more people will start saying 10gal at minimum once people have more commonly conformed to 5gal, which is genuinely hard enough as it is to make people get at least 5gal! Lol

Immediately telling new owners who obviously think of this fish as nothing but decoration that it needs a 20gal long tank.. is likely not going to encourage them to get that tank and spend that much money. Because they see it as too much for something that is “just a fish”. A 5gal is much easier to convince people to get. The care standards will keep on increasing as time goes on and these inexperienced owners learn and grow.

So, yes, I do believe bettas should be in 10gal+ tanks.

But for the general public that doesn’t understand anything about bettas, it’s easier to slowly introduce them to the idea that fish are.. actual animals that have needs, yk? Instead of immediately bashing on them and insisting that they NEED a massive tank in their eyes. When everybody gives their bettas a 5gal, we can start looking to encourage larger tanks more heavily.

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noha_thedestro t1_j6nbz0r wrote

Bare minimum. I'd rather they be in a 10 gallon. But 5 gallons is the bare minimum, and not abuse. It's like how you can can keep an angelfish in a 20 gallon, but it would be better to have it in 29 and up.

Large male bettas definitely need a 10 gallon, I'll give you that. Females and smaller males will be ok in a 5. Every professional aquarist on earth would agree with me that the bare minimum is 5, and that people who otherwise are elitists. People who like to wave their moral superiority over others.

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Marsbarszs t1_j6nlfcc wrote

I’d go so far as to say 5 gallons are elitist speak too if they’re not wiggling at all. There are very few absolutes in the hobby of fishkeeping. I’ve talked to a few well experienced aquarists that say 3 gallons is the bare minimum for most and even preferable for older bettas as long as you never miss maintenance. 5 gallons is just what the betta subreddit says and gets parroted off.

3 absolute bare minimum, 5 gallon recommended minimum, 10 preferred minimum (for standard tanks) is what I was taught.

E: Guess r/bettafish is leaking here. Toxic bunch (seriously, one of the most toxic subs I’ve ever been a part of) who have to have things their way even if there’s no real basis for it - they sometimes push gross misinformation. And they always move the goalpost. Don’t fall into an echo chamber y’all. The only absolute in fishkeeping is that you need water.

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