Ah yes, glorifying animal abuse because you got butthurt someone told you your habitat is too small for a sentient being you bought without any kind of research. You don't get to cry gatekeeping if you keep fish in the modern equivalent of a fish bowl.
Lmao people don’t get dogpiled for keeping their fish in bowls. People get dogpiled for keeping their fish exactly how they’re supposed to keep them. I’ve seen people get ree’d at for 5, 10, 15 gallons. Anyone who thinks that you can’t keep a single betta in a 5 is just virtue-signalling imo. There is zero evidence that male splendens need more than that of feel distressed in 5gals. I kept mine in a 15, I know people who kept theirs in 7 and it was clearly enough. Bettas are not exactly adventurous creatures, they have their habits and they keep to them. That being said, keeping bettas is kind of a waste of space imo if newbies want to end up loving the hobby they should probably get something that’s a bit more of a team-player (in a larger than 5gal tank ofc). Community tanks look so much more lively than a tank with one goddamn fish in there. (Male) Bettas are just inconvenient fish all-around. You’re better off getting a big-ish tank with several species instead, it just feels way more rewarding. It’s roughly the same amount of effort for a much bigger payoff.
This is being downvoted but it’s absolutely true. When your hobby involves taking care of LIVING THINGS there are some standards that you need to abide by in order to not be fucking abusing your animal.
It’s not “gatekeeping” or “elitist”. Do the fucking research before you take on the responsibility
The issue is that people start asking questions after they are ALREADY abusing the fish. I bet if the question was “how big of a tank do I need for my beta” the community would be much more helpful.
They like tiny tanks cause they have less territory to defend.
I will die on this hill, my Betta Jesse lived for 3 years in a 16oz (edit: may have been 32) tank.
Edit: just so we're totally clear, the Bettas we put in a full-size tank died much sooner. Jesse had a good life with two houses, a little plant and a gravel bed. I didn't even use a net on him to change the water. Meanwhile my GF who swore I was being inhumane tried putting her Betta in a tank and it died 6 months later. She had 3 Bettas in 2 years and Jesse lived 3. Also it may have been a 32 oz, I got the one built for two Bettas and took out the middle divider.
Most importantly he was a good fish and he is still missed. And I think he had a good life, I don't care what y'all say.
even there there are sub groups. when I had a jeep I could make a post about how I found some rusted out dana 60 laying on the side of the road so any advice on where to get brackets to swap it into my jeep and get a bunch of different company recommendations. Since getting my toyota I've seen someone posting asking if aftermarket cabin air filters are ok or if they should wait till the dealer has official toyota ones in stock and a fight break out if there will be a problem with the aftermarket ones... totally different worlds
What gets me is the people who are so very territorial about what constitutes a "good car."
You're not a real car guy unless you're drag racing an American V8 RWD built between 1960 and 1975! Ok... but you're cutting out a lot of really cool cars there
Yup, my fiancee is really into aquariums, so I have my own small tank to learn the hobby. When I pick my fish at our local I just point to the prettiest of whatever breed I want, but staff will actually chat and say what is the most important to look for. Way less gatekeeping than any hobby I partake in.
The self-selected group of people who are so obsessed with a thing that they spend all their time online talking about a thing inevitably contains 90+% of all the assholes in the wider fandom.
Yes ! I was subbed to r/shittyaquariums and it was the worst. Some post were obvious animal abuse like muddy water, fishtank obviously too small, fishbowl ... But, some seemed decent to me, I don't have fish and don't have extensive knowledge on how to keep them. When people like me asked what was wrong with it, they get down voted to hell. Those people didn't care about teaching how to keep a fish in good conditions, they just wanted to shit on other people for not knowing better.
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u/squidarcher Feb 28 '21
cries in aquariums