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Why do some stores pack Bettas in those small cups for the trip home? Is there any benifit compared to a normal bag like they do with all the other fish?

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

nope, its hard to belive, but thats how the betas are recived in the store...stacked in tiny horrible cups.

i think betas are next to goldfish as some of the most mis treated fish in the hobby.

the stores cant keep the beautiful pretty males in tanks because they will kill eachother, so to save room the ship them in 6" cups and never put them in tanks.

sometimes i wonder what the death rate is on the fish from the time they leave the breeders till they even make it to the persons home, and i wonder what the survival rate is they will last more than a month in the purchasers home.

most of the time i noticed, tehy are just to lazy to move the fish from the cup to the bag, thats all.

in some conditions it is positive that the fish doesn't get put through the stress of getting moved to the bag.

Some stores are only interested in a quick sale and could not care less about you or your fish. The best way is dont shop there at all.

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Keith

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I think that Bettas come in Plastic bags, as nearly all other fish, but they are placed in the small cups at the LFS.


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I've never seen bettas shipped in the cups, and I'm there when three (sometimes four) of my local fish stores recieve their shipments. None of the pet stores I've worked for have gotten fish in anything other than bags, other than the occasional customer bringing a large cichlid in a bucket. *shrug*
Doesn't seem like there'd be any benefit to the fish being taken home in the cup, either, unless the customer was planning on keeping the betta in it. *shudder*
I'd personally much rather have my betta bagged. Usually, the bags have more room for the fish to swim around in during the ride home than those crummy little cups.
(I don't buy bettas that have been kept in cups in the store. I just get 'em from places that keep them in their tanks.)

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Cake or death?

I meant that I've seen some stores net the bettas from the tanks and put them in the cup for the ride home instead of bags. As for the small bowls in the stores. The bettas are shipped in small bags.(maybe 3x2x4 inches of water) Most stores place them in the small cups because for the 3-4 day they are in the cups they are easier to handle. The water is usually changed every 2-3 days. The losses in the store are very low. Out of 5 dozen bettas over the last few weeks I haven't opened a dead one yet, and only maybe 3-4 have died while we have them. These losses are a great deal fewer them many other fish.

20 Gallon Long:
Aquaclear 300
2 Bolivian Rams, Mikrogeophagus altispinosus: Gumby and Pokey

Ooh, I get ya now, Weird.
Maybe they think that the cups are better because it's more likely that a bag would be punctured than a cup would be cracked.

______________
Cake or death?

There is some benefit in packing them in small containers IME.

The more fancy fish (HMs, DTs etc) will chew their own tails more frequently if they are given more room to move, whereas in a smaller bag, you get less instance of tail-chewing. If its only for transport, and not a permanent thing, i'd rather my fish were packed in a way where there is less chance of injury ocurring.

The other benefit of transporting the fish in a rigid container is that there is little chance it could get squished. I can't tell you how many times LFS bags have gone flat on me, causing the fish to get wedged in a corner or worse, stuck in a fold.
When sending fish I will often send them in 500mL coke bottles to avoid leaking and make sure there is no way the fish can get damaged.

I don't agree with keeping/storing/displaying bettas in tiny containers, but there are definately sound reasons for sending them travelling in them

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