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I've had my betta for a while now and it's living in a 5 gallon tank. I know thats more than enough for a tiny betta, but I can't stop feeling its trapped. I've thought alot about the aquarium hobby and found some issues. I enjoy being an aquarium hobbyist, but I sort of get this feeling that the fish are trapped. I know about the arguments of providing them enough space and I do btw, but this question always arises are they truly happy even in the largest tanks we provide them. Essentually they are living their whole lives in tanks.

I thank u for reading, please help me with this question

It is true that most fish in the hobby will spend their entire lives in tanks. I commend you on your feelings -- most (non-fishkeeper) people would not be so caring as to even give the issue a second thought.

As long as you are giving your fish proper furnishings and food, you are doing a great service to them. Imagine what their life would be like if they were still at the LFS (especially the bettas in those little cups) or if they were taken home by some irresponsible person who didn't take the time to learn or doesn't care enough to keep fish properly, like goldfish bowl owners.

Most people don't realize, or simply don't agree with, that keeping fish has the same ethical considerations as keeping a dog or cat. These are animals -- animals that are counting on us to provide everything they need to be healthy and happy. The problem is, fish aren't "cute" in the same way that a puppy or a hamster is cute. For whatever reason, this lets people believe that somehow fishes' lives are worth less than other pets, and it can be incredibly hard to convince them otherwise. As such, I am so happy when someone worries about the welfare of their fish as much as you do.

Any fish is lucky to have you as a keeper.

Joe Potato

Joe my fish are cute!

This has been a very hot topic for many years, possibly since man started keeping fish in some form of tanks.

I had my betta in a 32 lt tank (waiting for new betta) and hec just loved all the space considering he had possibly never been in much more water that a large cup. I have seen a M Betta in a 4ft tank and he was a very strong happy fella. Bettas are not the only fish kept tanks far too small for their full development.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos


Keith



Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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It is possible in a good size tank to provide a fish with everything it needs, a full territory, a shoal, social interaction, resting places, a replication of the biotope, sexual and tactile stimulation and the correct water quality, so basically yes its entirely possible to keep a fish without cruelty.

However, the problem that we face here, on a daily basis , is the unrealistic expectation and persistant will of many fishkeepers to almost overstock their tanks as standard, and to select aquaria too small for their chosen species.

Goldfish for example are not suitable for aquaria at all really, oscars, other big cichlids, larger catfish like redtails, other monster fish like arowanas and pacu's and even koi, and sturgeon etc, are mostly bought by people with a usually massively unrealistic idea of environmental enrichment and suitable space, and many keepers, especially those who keep giant fish are often guilty of inadequate housing and the complicit fish abuse that goes with it. Horribly enough it sems the least suitable keepers with a mentality and a budget, and a personal knowledge totally unsuited to keeping to keeping large specimens often gravitate to the biggest fish.

I would say that there should not be a problem with keeping fish in aquaria, since many species, even large ones can be admirably catered for properly by a well -heeled, knowledgable, and committed keeper.

Unfortunately , this isnt reality, and most fishkeepers in the world to not have the sufficient applied learning to keep their fish free from substandard keeping conditions. We on FP do our level best to combat this , spread the good word, and by the dissemination of knowledge , hope to stem the abusive tide of petshop cultures, predator and monsterfish fanaticism, and bring the hobby to a realistic level of awareness where the fish can be happy, and a captive life a suitable compromise.

Nobody said it was easy though! Sometimes to fight for fish health and happiness feels like taking on the world. The harmful anticulture is so prevalent now that any attempt to improve fish health nearly always starts with a battle for the hearts and minds of people, and that is never an easy thing to achieve. Trying to instill empathy into the human race is one of the most difficult tasks in life, and its a necessary part of a caring fishkeepers remit.

But we do it because we care, and are unlikely to stop, even if the odds are against us. Its who we are, and happily as im hearing, its clearly who you are too, and that is a great thing. Keep going there fella.

I suppose that if you are to follow this through, you would have to seriously consider your own life too. Really, should we ever be truly happy? I mean look at us, how totally unnatural can we get?

For generations we have known no different than what we do today. We live in houses, overcomplicate our lives with this and that, and eat things that are entirely unsuited to healthy living. If some large Martian with a lifespan of X thousand years was to yank us out of our known environment and pop us in something more natural and suited to our biological requirements, we'd probably not be all that comfortable or content, regardless of how much better it was for us.

If you take into consideration the number of common aquarium fish who probably have known nothing but huge enclosures for generations and generations, then their definition of normal and natural would be somewhat distorted compared to what we think it would be.

Aiming for natural is probably wise, but it is probably also good to keep in mind the way that fish was raised and the way it's parents were raised etc, in order to form a more complete view of that fish as a being.

IMO, simply looking at these tank-raised intensively bred fish as the same as their wild counterparts is just as inconsiderate as shoving wild caught fish into a garishly fluro plastic cell.

And well, true 'happiness' isn't really something that can easily be judged in others of the same species, let alone other species. They may not even have happiness in the same way that we do, you never know.

Don't beat yourself up over it, just do the best you can within the bounds of practicality

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett