The Betta Fish discussion filtered tank or not? which is better?

Bettas like space, the myth is that they are happy in small bowls, THIS IS NOT TRUE! They dont like fast moving water so turn the filter down but thats it. Bettas make bubble nests when they are ready to breed, that isnt all the time

Filter = good No filter and tiny bowl = bad You are right, the coworkers are dumbasses. A filter maintains good water chemistry, a must have for all fish. Doing a full water change for a Betta is HUGELY stressful and with a filter this is reduced down to just a small partial change instead. For the long term health of ANY fish, you need a big tank and a properly matured filter. Bettas do fine in a gentle current, sponge filters are ideal, as long as they have nice tall plants to hide in. THIS replicates their wild environment far better than some 1 gallon stagnant bowl! Never cave in to morons spouting nonsense!

Filters do not equal strong current. Sponge filters do not cause much current. You can also buy filters like the Aquaclear power filter that have adjustable outflows, so that you don't have much in the way of current even though the water is being filtered by a hang on the back filter. And you can "baffle" filters with things like cut up water bottles so that a current is diffused while still allowing the filter to do its job. So you can easily give a Betta a filtered tank while not causing problems with current for him. Bettas build bubble nests the most when there is minimal current to disturb their nests. They will also build bubble nests more if there is some kind of floating plant for them to build next to. Current is the main factor, not health. There seems to be confusion about Bettas and filters because of their labyrinth organs. There's a myth that, because they can breathe atmospheric air, they don't need filters. However, the main use of filters is not oxygenating the water, its is keeping the water clean. Not only by mechanically filtering out waste from the water, either. The main point is that it houses beneficial bacteria that turn the fish's toxic wastes into less toxic forms. All fish produce Ammonia that is toxic to them. That can not be broken down well unless there is a filter, which houses bacteria that break the Ammonia down to the less toxic Nitrites, and the least toxic Nitrates. If you test water for Ammonia before and after a partial water change you will discover that it is not easily diluted with water changes. That is not an effective method of removing Ammonia. This is easy to show them just by testing for Ammonia, doing a partial water change, and testing again. You will find that the Ammonia is at higher levels than it should have been diluted to with the partial water change. You need the beneficial bacteria to get it down to levels that are not toxic to fish, and the filter is the only place in an aquarium that houses enough beneficial bacteria, and also has enough of the tank's water constantly flowing by them, to get the Ammonia down to acceptable levels. You can try changing the water again and again, but it will be extremely difficult to get it at 0 ppm, the safe level for fish unless you do a 100% water change, which can easily send a fish into shock from parameter and temperature changes. I do weekly water changes on my cycled tanks to remove NitrAtes, which are the final byproduct from the bacterial colonies and the only one that is proportionally removed by water changes - that you can remove 25% of the water with fresh water and actually have 25% less Nitrates. I've done daily water changes while going through cycles and still have not had 0 ppm Ammonia, and I tested it daily too. Ammonia poisoning causes will cause internal damage to the brain, central nervous system, and organs. It causes hemorrhaging, both external and internal. A labyrinth organ will not protect a fish from any of these effects. And without a filter, your water is at 0.25 ppm Ammonia or above, which can cause all of those problems. If you put a thermometer in one of those small containers as well, you will notice that the water is 1) too cold for a Betta and 2) If you try to heat too small of a container, like a 1 gallon, you are more likely to just spike it between too hot and too cold. This is another thing that they could see numbers for themselves if they bothered to monitor them. Also, they might think Bettas come from small puddles in the wild. This is another complete myth. They are sometimes found in puddles when the natives release unwanted fighters and pets in drainage ditches next to the road, where they die when the puddle dries up. But saying they are native to drainage ditch puddles is like saying Goldfish are native to sewers or water treatment plants that they get to after being flushed down a toilet. Bettas were also introduced to Rice Paddies to control the insect population, these will also get shallow, and some Bettas will die because of this, but there are always more that found a deeper place within to hide. Bettas are from swamps, backwater areas of streams, and still pools of water. All are deep enough that they are there all year, and, besides turbidity, have decent water quality. There is a relative of the Betta, the Climbing Perch, that does live in areas that will dry up, and jumps to new ones when required. However, they are about as closely related as Hyenas are to cats, and the Bettas do not live like them, and can not jump to new bodies of water like they can, because a Betta's labyrinth organ is very much secondary to their gills in comparison with the labyrinth organ of the Climbing Perch, in other words a Betta relies on the gills for the vast majority of their breathing while a Climbing Perch can rely on their labyrinth organ much more than a Betta can.

I agree with above poster, pet stores only tell you what is most likely to make you BUY something (Why not get pretty fish and little bowl for $10! Sounds better than pretty fish and 5 gal starter kit for only ~$30!) (I've also had to put the fish back in tanks and leave a store because I refused to buy from there after the woman told me that a violet goby was a ropefish, and when I explained what a ropefish was she told me I'm thinking of a REEDfish, and this was a ropefish..) It is true that bettas dont like fast moving water, but unless the tank is half empty and the filter water is plummeting down into the tank (or you have a HUGE filter in a tiny tank..) that flow shouldnt bother the betta much (But sometimes going under the filter let-out Will push them down a bit, so I'd suggest only Soft decorations in that area or the Betta could get hurt) As for bubble nests, thats kinda an individual betta's decision. Some blow them only when they are happy and healthy, some blow them regardless, and some might rarely blow them. If the fish LOOKS healthy and is eating right, id say bubble nest or no, the fish is happy in the filtered tank.