Sad, sad, sad PetSmart...

[Harley]

So I was in PetSmart today buying some stuff and saw that they had a bunch of brochures on a rack. I noticed one for Bettas so I decided to take one home. When I got home nd started reading, what a surprise I got. It mentions you can keep them in a 1 quart (1 liter) or larger bowl! That’s even smaller than the 1 gallon bowls members use here occasionally. For water changes it mentions performing weekly water changes for bowls. It states that if using a community aquarium, test water weekly and perform partial water changes twice a month (that’s pretty open ended). It also says if your Betta is in an un-heated bowl the room temperature should be at least 72F or 22C. I’m not sure that will necessarily transfer to the bowl though. My place is at about 25C and the bowl (before my aquarium) used to sit at about 70F. The sad thing is, this is meant to educate people!

[Tisia]

the wal mart by me had a sign suggesting the cups they came in were good homes >_< I didn't see if last time I was in, wonder if they took it down or someone else did

[lalalaura]

I went to Petsmart to ask if they had the betta bowl heaters and the first thing the girl told me was "bettas don't need heaters"... I just told her I wasn't asking if they needed heaters.. Needless to say, I never go back...

[Johnificent]

@lalalarua... omg... that same thing happened to me :O i went to petco, and i couldnt find where the heaters were, so i asked this lady, and she saw i had that betta bow 2.5 tank in my hand, and she said, "bettas dont need heaters" dam.... i talked to her.... in a furious manner.... XDD

[lalalaura]

Yeah, they are basically down selling people ... lol.
Shouldn't they recommend heaters for bettas (since they need them) and it would get people to spend more money! DUhhhh

[Johnificent]

i was thinking the same thing! hahahah XDD its weird how they say no heaters, but the aqueon betta kit says to buy a heater for your betta, so they're selling a product with the opposite of what they are saying, LOL

[DoNotDeclaw]

Originally Posted by lalalaura

Yeah, they are basically down selling people ... lol.
Shouldn't they recommend heaters for bettas (since they need them) and it would get people to spend more money! DUhhhh

I've always wondered about that, lol. People won't always listen to what you say, but if they do, big sale.

[vaygirl]

They might honestly think that. The aquatics expert at Petco flat out told me she thought I was killing my bettas by using heaters. I wanted to buy a heater and she kept trying to talk me out of it. Finally I said, I WANT a heater and I'm buying one. :/ My dog likes her though, so I always end up over there.

[Burd]

Originally Posted by DoNotDeclaw

I've always wondered about that, lol. People won't always listen to what you say, but if they do, big sale.

Perhaps it was a spiteful employee? lol

[Twilight Storm]

When I was in Pet Supplies Plus a younger girl was "helping me." It was before I found this forum. I do plan on giving her this website address when I am up in the area again since she said she owned some and a couple were pretty sick with things covered in a few threads here.

This inspired me to find pet store employees who wouldn't mind passing on this website address to customers and maybe the life of the poor little guys stuck in the cups might improve? I have a feeling most employees won't really care, but a lot really do love all animals, and bettafish.com is pretty easy to remember. ;) Heck this site might even improve their sales getting the right set up for their fish from the beginning!

Edit to second everyone's similiar opinion I have :) I started writing when Tisia's post was the last one ;)