The Betta Condition: The Fish Bowl
Delineating The Myth of Bettas and Alternative Fish Habitats
May 3, 2008
Continuing from Part 1, we discuss the rumors and facts behind betta keeping and what really is right versus what is wrong for this colorful little fish.
Controversy #2: Bettas and Fish Bowls
In Rome, it was considered a major triumph by animal rights activists to have the country ban fish bowls. The general consensus has been that a bowl simply is an inadequate vessel for keeping fish (let alone almost anything else) because of its inconvenience for attaching filtration, heating, or any other sort of aquarium accessory.
The bowl has gained universal bad attention since its days when it was used to house goldfish. Goldfish, to this day, are often considered too large for a beginning fish keeper (to date, most goldfish are ideally kept in ponds or tanks that are at least 50 gallons in capacity). Plus, goldfish are ravenous and, as a result, will eat a lot and consequently egests a lot of waste as well. To make matters worse, goldfish are very active and will find little manueverability in a bowl they will easily outgrow. With such a fish living in a cramped five gallon vessel, it becomes easy to see why the fishbowl has become taboo.
The fish bowl, however, should not be totally neglected. The bad press received from this nostalgic vessel was from a bad pairup that came from two very economical choices. A modern, more aware generation of aquarists know better than to put a potentially large fish into a small bowl, and commit acts that may lead to the torture of a living creature. Thanks to better importation methods, the betta has come and replaced the goldfish with many characteristics that make it more ideal for the fish bowl.
The first (and most pleasant) difference between bettas and goldfish is the fact that a better grows to two-three inches max. It has a labyrinth organ that almost forces it to live off of air (to the point where removal of the organ will lead to their death), it is incapable of swimming in almost anything save still water without shedding its fins in the process, and is a species that can handle moderate room temperature. In Thailand, many of the native breeders keep them in 2 liter bottles. Some have even kept them in water-filled bags and still successfully kept them alive along the way.
Why Bigger Still is Better
The issue that comes here is not just a “can bettas live in bowls” sort of theory as much as a “what does one use for a bowl” controversy. The distinction of knowing an acceptable size is what determines a yes and a no answer with a fish bowl.
One concern related with bowl size is waste management. No matter how big or small the tank is, the water will still need to be changed out or at least replenished through some method or another. For a small enough vessel, this may require compromising the betta’s comfort to a level where it will potentially stress the fish to death. If the water is not even conditioned and you are feeding the betta daily, then it is almost a guarantee that the little one will not make it.
An equally valid concern also comes from living in regions where the temperature ranges are dramatic in scale: smaller bodies of water can be more readily influenced by temperature and will offer a tendency to kill a betta from a dramatic enough temperature climb or drop. This is an instance where a heater will compensate for the quick shifts, although this is where size again becomes an issue since smaller heaters are uncommon.
Ideally, the vessel should have over a gallon (some may argue over two gallons) of space with a comfortably-sized opening on top. By comfortable, it should be assumed that there is enough room there for the betta to breathe from the top and “hunt” for any of the food there without any potential trouble. A heater should be provided if the tank is kept where the temperature becomes variable daily.
The Comfort Concern
There is also the issue of how “comfortable” the fish would be in a tank such as this. This can vary accordingly. Bettas, like people, can vary in personality. Considering their environment encourages solitude, one can justify assuming that a betta does not spend much of its time traveling. This can be argued, of course, when we consider how evenly spread out betta populations are, but the ones that are bred overseas tend to come from isolated environments that would prefer a fish that could handle such closed conditions. A wild-caught variety may require a different approach altogether.
As for the novelty containers that are offered on the market: one may consider them inadequate, but for different reasons, which will be discussed in the next part of the ongoing betta discussion.
