Why do some pet stores sell bettas / siamese fighting fish as cold water fish?

Question

i was looking at a question before, and someone was keeping bettas without a heater, because he bought them from a store where they never had a heater... even tho they are tropical fish, why do some stores do this? =S.. very confused

thanks =D

Answer 1

You won't see heaters in store tanks because they are mostly controlled through a centralised system and the heaters will be hidden away in sump tanks.

However, any store that states a betta splenden is a coldwater fish needs a smack upside the head and a holiday in Thailand, then tell me that bit of the world is cold. Those who live in South East Asia will beg to differ.

Bettas are tropical fish from a tropical region of the world. Keeping them in unheated bowls and tanks in temperate countries leaves them in a tank with continuously fluctuating room temperatures causing immense amounts of stress and lower immune system - hence all the "omg my betta is sick" posts on here. Now if you had a room in your house that was at a constant 78F year round, then no, you wouldn't need a heater, but not many people have that!

As for the puddle/footprint myth, its a myth! Any fish that ends up in a tiny amount of water has either been dropped there by a predator or stranded in the dry season, hence a bettas ability to jump out of there! They originate from rice paddies, drainage ditches and marshland around 6"-10" deep, and acres wide. Like this:

Http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2427...

The puddle myth was invented by unscrupulous pet stores taking notes from thai fighter better breeders who keep their fighting plakats in open jars and concrete ponds in the open, sheltered only by a tin roof.

Answer 2

Same reason they sell those tiny decorative betta "tanks" that are horribly unfit for any living animal.

Pet stores and animal welfare rarely go hand-in-hand.  

Answer 3

bettas fight so you cant have more than one in a tank, pet stores don't want to have one foish per tank so they found the best way to keep multiple fish for sale. bettas can live in cooler water but it's not the best for them.

Answer 4

well my siamese fighter was sold to me as a red snapper! he lives in a cold water tank simply because i didnt know any better! my local fish shop was as useless as a chocolate teapot! they didnt tell me ive got him on the wrong food, the wrong heat- no wonder hes a little bit poorly!

the answer to your question is they are all useless at selling specialist fish! they are in it for profit and a quick turnover

Answer 5

because batas do not depend on heated water they can survive with cold water

Answer 6

The reason why stores do this is quite simply to save money. There are many misconceptions that I believe that even chain stores believe about bettas including that they are solitary fish (which is partly true...it all depends on each individual betta deposition) but they don't have the staff available to monitor the bettas interaction with other fish so they decide to put them in those little cups to save money.

I also believe they do as a way to get people to buy them because how many times have you heard of a person never having a fish before who all of a sudden decided to get a betta because it looked all sad in that little cup. They ask the pet store what they need to make the fish happy the pet store assistant tells them a bowl and that they are low maintence, and before you know it people have suddenly spent a good $25-30 in the store that they were originally not going to spend

Now on to whether or not bettas are truly cold water species. Although Betta CAN live in cold water...they DO NOT THRIVE in cold water, as cold water species would. Throwing a betta into a coldwater aquarium or a bowl automatically makes it sustainable to diseases.  So pretty much when you already buy the fish they have a low immune system and will more than likely get sick and die leaving the owner to replace it because they put all the money into buying the tank or bowl!

So quite simply it all comes down to one thing and it is money!

Answer 7

They can be both cold water or tropical water fish.

A few years back we had two siamese fighters (of course in different tanks) but they didn't have any source of heat and they lived long lives.

However, currently we have one and it is in my sister's tropical fish tank.

Most shop owners put them in cold water instead of tropical because it is cheaper to run as they dont have to worry about heating. As well as the fact that these fish are used to living in a footprint from an animal in Indonesian countries - where they originate.

Hope it helped! xoxo

Answer 8

because some pet shops dont care