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Take Responsibility? Rant (;

4K views 92 replies 33 participants last post by  Pogthefish 
#1 ·
Now- I know that bettas can be addicting and let's face it, they have personalities. They're great pets.

That being said, PLEASE, I suggest you not get another betta if your first one doesn't have the proper equipment. I've seen way to many people say they can't afford this or that, then they go out and buy another betta. :roll:

Be responsible ~ I completely understand that fish can get expensive and most of us don't realize that until after getting a fish. But when you know better and go buy another that is in my mind unacceptable. Save that $4 or $6 + and rather than buying another betta, use that towards say, a heater! Or a tank! Or whatever it is that your betta is lacking.

Thank you!
 
#71 ·
Its cool i'm actually only going into 7th grade my first year in middle school.
I'm only 11 but am turning twelve in a few days actually at the end of next month but don't tell anyone ;)
 
#72 ·
Oh, really. So you skipped a grade? I'm 11 as well but turning 12 next June. :\ Let's stay on topic, TTB would be mad if we were talking about school rather than what's going around worldwide.
 
#74 · (Edited)
Naww I'm not mad!! I can relate. You can continue the discussion here ;)
I'm 15
I spend all my money on pets... My parents don't give me money but every few weeks I clean this lady's house for money. But she hasn't asked me to clean for awhile so I'm kinda stressed out because I need money to buy cat litter!!
I have about 2 months worth of cat food but I'm still freaking out my bank account is literally down to $2. I might have to borrow some $ from my parents for litter.. But at least I will get some $ for Christmas.
Lol my Christmas present is cat food and litter :)

I'm a sophomore :p
 
#75 ·
I know, you told me. Or did you...? :p Lebron is basically what I spend my money on. Not much in the world that is not expensive and I would love to have.
 
#77 ·
You guys are awesome--I had a hard time understanding the value of money when I was younger and I really have a lot of respect for the fact that you're putting your pets first. Bravo! :)
 
#79 ·
You guys are awesome--I had a hard time understanding the value of money when I was younger and I really have a lot of respect for the fact that you're putting your pets first. Bravo! :)
+1

When I was in middle school and high school I was spending all my money on anime and music. I didn't have my first pet until college. :lol:
 
#80 ·
I am one of those people who can say....I have gone hungry, my pets NEVER HAVE. I have eaten mouse food from a bag before because grocery's were too expensive and my mouse was sick and had to go to the vets. That was back when I wasn't well off and lived alone paying all kinds of bills. I'd rather my pets had everything because honestly if I lost them I would be worse off. So long as they are happy and uplift my spirit I am happy. Thank god I moved back in with my parents and now live in a nice house where we split the rent three ways so I can afford luxury again...like ice cream o.o

But I have never understood why people do that. I would sooner cancel my phone all together and just have people email me than not provide for the animals i have. It just seems against ones morals to 'slack' or abuse animals. I mean I get it...I have owned animals that people never put time and money into such as mice, fish, and rats, but honestly any pet no matter how small and short lives ARE GOING TO BE EXPENSIVE. My mice easily had me paying hundreds each month for upkeep on their home with bedding, food, and medication for the one who had scared lungs and allergies so bad she needed steroids because her care was so appalling before I had her.
 
#81 ·
You have to understand that most people don't actually listen when you make suggestions. Instead all they hear is, "what you are doing is wrong, so you are wrong." They feel attacked and automatically respond with a catchall like, "I can't afford it," or "I don't have time."

Both are pretty much nonsense. You can properly set up a used tank from Craigslist for under 30 dollars, and the amount of time it takes to care for an established planted tank is minimal and dwarfed by the amount of time most people spend watching TV.
 
#85 · (Edited)
I haven't had chocolate in a month and a half

Wow.. that sounded off topic, but it's not. I'm addicted to chocolate. It's like cigs for some people. I would rather have a double chocolate Otis Spunkmire muffin then anything else. A bag of Reese's minis is better then money or.. well I think you get the idea.

Every month I get a budget. I can only spend so much on chocolate. Yes, I'm that addicted. I knew breeding would be expensive, so I turned my monthly chocolate fund into my monthly chocolate/betta fund. Let's just say for a while now I've only been getting a couple of chocolate bars a month, and for the last month and a half, I haven't had any at all. Not when I have to build barracks, buy tanks, food, medications.. Last month I invested in micro and banana worms, wood, totes, gang valves and T-splitters (For the air line I plan on using in my barracks, which I bought 3 months ago at a cost of 50 bucks for 500 feet). This month I'll buy a little more wood and finish my barracks.

Before I decided I wanted to breed... I was buying tanks where I could find them. And heaters. I was getting bags of sand when I needed them, and it all came out of my chocolate fund. (Some of it went a little over my chocolate fund >.<) I love fish.. I would much rather be around animals then most adults. They're like children to me, and I adore children. But they're expensive. All pets are. My cats have cost me thousands in vet bills. (This is the downside of broken animals). My dog had knee surgery at 6 months old and will need it again on the other knee soon. We call her Puppy-Gold because she's cost so much, lol. But they are like children to me, the only difference is I have a set budget for my animal-children and not for my real child (She gets the rest of the money coming into the house ;) )

Having one or two bettas is nothing. A tank, a heater, a home made divider and a few inexpensive plants. 50-75 bucks.. nothing huge.. but some people can't stop there. like me.

Only get as many betta (Or any pet for that matter) as you can afford. Want 50? Get 5 and love them 10 times as much. But if you're dead set on having 50 bettas, you HAVE to budget! You HAVE to be ready for problems, for sickness. This is a life we are talking about. A little heart that beats, a little brain that thinks and solves problems. A little being that can not care for himself without help.

Would you bring a child into the world if you couldn't cloth it?

*sigh* Sadly.. there are a lot of people these days that would. But there's no welfare programs for fish. You can't get fish-food-stamps.

I guess all I'm trying to say is.. +1 to the original post.
 
#87 ·
I thunk you are thinking of my rescue pos as you are writing this? :p To be fair I haven't had a betta die in months and I have alot of them (forget the one that died yesterday, she was really old) and I never said I wouldn't buy meds for the sick fish, I said I would buy them if I needed them but not beforehand because I couldn't afford to buy everything at once. But I understand why you would think I was wrong and we have our own separate opinions.

Also, the majority of people who by these fish from petco or petsmart or walmart have no experience and don't know its a bad thing, so even if every fish-keeper in the world stopped, they would still have business.
 
#92 ·
I thunk you are thinking of my rescue pos as you are writing this? :p To be fair I haven't had a betta die in months and I have alot of them (forget the one that died yesterday, she was really old) and I never said I wouldn't buy meds for the sick fish, I said I would buy them if I needed them but not beforehand because I couldn't afford to buy everything at once. But I understand why you would think I was wrong and we have our own separate opinions.

Also, the majority of people who by these fish from petco or petsmart or walmart have no experience and don't know its a bad thing, so even if every fish-keeper in the world stopped, they would still have business.
Oh believe me, I get having to save up for something because you don't have a few hundred to spend on fish every week. I'm just saying choose your battles wisely. If you have a choice between saving a fish with advanced fin rot and saving a fish with TB, you are better off saving the fish with fin rot. ;-)

To be honest, I steer away from sick fish and still have some meds on hand incase the healthy fish I brought get sick down the line. This is the list of meds I buy, keep until they expire, toss out once they expire, and then replace.

Dried Indian Almond Leaves for tannins that decrease stress
Epsom Salt for bloat; I tend to use IAL at the same time
Aquarium Salt for fin rot; I tend to use IAL at the same time
Maroxy for fungus
Maracyn Plus as a broad spectrum antibiotic (But this one may have expiered on me. I'll check when I get home. :oops:)
Copper Safe for parasites

So we are definitely going to have to agree to disagree since I'm the type of person who will toss $50 or more a year at illness treatments for illnesses that never happen in my fish just because my fish could theoretically catch them. :lol:
 
#89 ·
My longest lived fish was from horrid conditions in a bad pet shop that was little and local. My longest lived mice came from petsmart and from the feeder tank from hell. They lived to 3 1/2 average for mice is 1 to 2. I would say life span is more so care than genetics and YES I do say genetics. Ophelia had the worst genetics in the world and cost me $50 every month for medication but look how long she lived with my fickle care. In fact it was because of my little mouse with a poor immune system I couldn't afford a betta until she passed away at the ripe old age of 150 in mouse years.
 
#90 ·
Back in the day I bought from Walmart. Usually had 3-4 fish at a time. But I bought the best looking ones and kept them healthy for eyars. I felt bad leaving the ones that were almost gone.. but I also like to get my monies worth. Have no desire to spend $5 and have nothing to show for it. My personal opinion is you should not be messing with sick fish unles you know what you are doing. And by the time your fish gets sick.. even if you know EXACTLY what it is.. by the time you purchase the med you have lost valuable time so you HAVE to have meds on hand. Those meds come from being in the hoppy a while. There are some basic things you need in a med chest. If you can't afford to have that stuff on hand then forget about rescuing practically dead fish. Rescue a healthy one.

I totally understand people mean well.. but it is totally nuts to tell everyone you bought a sick fish and then ask for help treating it. And you can't even tell us what the water parameters are. Maybe your water is a toxic dump because you have ammonia spikes.. but you want to hear add salt and everything will be better in the morning. Come daybreak you have a dead fish. He had health issues and because you had no idea what was going on in his water you thow in some salt, shocking his weakened system, dump in some meds that take a toll as well and with the ammonia poisened him to an early death. But you feel good his last hours were in a loving home instead of a cup on a shelf. So the well meaning "resuce" just made his last hours a torture. THAT is what is objectionable and the thread is about. If the thread hits clost to home, maybe need to rethink a few things.
 
#91 ·
+1

I think a lot of people don't take into account that treatments hurt and the wrong treatment hurts more for no good reason. I'm not saying pass over a fish with mild fin rot for a fish with perfect fins. I'm saying don't "rescue" a fish with advanced Ick when you don't own any medications.

I know this my opinion and not fact, but I think that one way to be responsible is to admit your limits as a fishkeeper.
 
#93 ·
Well obv I was going to start with minor cases untill I felt I was ready to move up. I currently can't afford to buy meds other than most of what you listed there because I am saving up for a 10 gallon to divide between some surprise bettas I got that I currently have in under 1-gallon jars. probably 1/8 gal (well they are 1/4 gal but I only fill them halfway so they can float properly in the main tanks)
 
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