Why do betta fish in pet shop not require a pump in their tank? And why are their tanks so small.
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Those tiny tanks and cups in a pet store are considered egregious animal abuse by most in the aquarium community, and the fish only survive in there for a short period of time. if they aren’t quickly sold, they often die in there and are just discarded and replaced with a new one.
Part of why their treatment at stores developed this way is because Bettas are exceedingly hostile to their own kind. They will readily fight to the death if housed in the same tank and have been known to be aggressive and territorial against other fish, and pet stores don’t want to give every betta a five gallon tank to themselves.
The other reason is Bettas can survive poorly oxygenated water for short periods due to a special organ in their bodies that works like a primitive lung, so the fish can take gulps of air at the surface to supplement the oxygen taken in by their gills. This is actually not that unique to Betta fish either, Gouramis have a similar organ, and many of the armored catfish like Corydoras, Otocinclus, Ancistrus, and Plecos all have modified digestive tracts that can work like a lung.
However this only works for a period of time, prolonged conditions in oxygen poor water will eventually kill the fish, and those tiny cups run into other problems, notably waste from the fish causes deadly ammonia to build up in the water. The main purpose of the filters in tanks is to grow helpful bacteria that turn ammonia into far less poisonous nitrate, but without flow or water changes those tiny cups quickly become poisonous and acidic. Bettas also are tropical fish and room temperature water isn’t hot enough for them, and weakens their immune system.
More reputable pet stores will often now use what’s called a “Betta Rack”. Each tank is still small but it has a cascading pump system, so all of the tiny tanks are connected to a central filtration system. Its still not great as Bettas are highly intelligent and aren’t meant to be kept in a tiny cell for long, but at least they all will get clean water.
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