The Dark Side of the Betta Boom: How Popularity Fuels Inhumane Breeding Practices

Bettas have become one of the most popular fish for first-time fish owners to purchase. Much of this has to do with the beautiful colors the fish come in and the perceived simplicity of their care.

Unfortunately, social media and big chain pet stores are responsible for these mistruths, which have fueled the betta boom for the worse. Consequently, these tropical fish, which would prefer to live in the wild versus small containers, are being bred in huge numbers, and in many cases, the fish do not survive to be sold in pet stores.

TikTok And Other Social Media Platforms Have Driven The Betta Industry

Betta fish have always been popular tropical fish for aquariums. However, when the pandemic hit, betta fish began to trend in ways that had not been seen before, all thanks to social media.

When the world was at a virtual standstill in 2020, people became imaginative with how they spent their time. Some worked on hobbies from home. Others began small businesses. Betta owners began participating in the promotion and trade of all things betta fish.

According to a 2021 study published in Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, betta fish were trending on social media, particularly TikTok and Instagram, during the pandemic, because of the following:

• Betta fish auctions
• Betta fish competitions
• Betta fish food sales
• Betta fish equipment

The trend for betta fish did not end after the pandemic, however. Instead, betta fish are more popular than ever. A lot of this has to do with the tropical fish being bred to have incredibly vibrant colors that are appealing to the masses.

On both Instagram and TikTok, there are countless pages that are dedicated to betta fish. The more clicks these pages get, the more money the content creators make. This has led to a boom in betta fish availability in pet stores. Unfortunately, the conditions in which betta fish are kept are not optimal. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see dead or dying fish in small Tupperware containers. Organizations have spoken out against the treatment of betta fish in pet stores and have even started online petitions to end the sale of bettas as pets. Worse still, with these bettas already dead and dying in pet stores, betta owners are breeding the fish at home.

According to Mary McCauley of Mary’s Magic Bettas, breeding bettas at home is a bad idea and is something she would never recommend. “I never recommend breeding bettas. These are one of the most abused fish in the industry, and they are already over-bred,” McCauley explains. “The bettas you often find in pet stores are so over-bred that they have poor genetics and immune systems, get sick easily and often, and have shorter life-spans.”

McCauley goes on to say, “Breeding is also dangerous for the fish, often ending in permanent injury or death, and most people aren’t equipped to manage hundreds of fry (baby betta fish), individually house them, sell or rehome them, or cull fry that show signs of genetic abnormalities.”

Given that there is so much misinformation about how to care for betta fish on social media, experts and fish experts alike have taken to these platforms and even written studies to try and dispel the myths about the fish and why they need just as much care as other animals brought home as pets.

Betta Fish Are Not Happy In “Dirty Puddle” Environments

First-time betta fish owners may have a hard time knowing the right environment for their betta fish, given the amount of information on social media, both good and bad. Betta fish are often seen in small containers or even self-contained environments where they eat plant roots to survive. Given that these environments are readily available for purchase, many would believe this is an acceptable environment for bettas. However, this is wrong.

There is the belief that betta fish are happy in the wild in dirty puddles. While bettas have been known to move from puddle to puddle during the dry season, this is not their ideal environment. This is a mode of survival.

In the wild, the ideal wild betta environment would include:

• Temperate water (74 degrees F to 85 degrees F)
• Shallow waterways versus deep ones
• Clear water
• Vegetation to hide in
• Calm water

To replicate this environment and allow bettas to thrive, they need more than a small container to live in. The ideal home environment for bettas includes:

• At least a five-gallon tank to live in
• A heater
• Bubbler
• Live vegetation to hide in and explore

However, with TikTok and other social media platforms showing bettas in small environments, creating presentations on how bettas can be given as gifts, claiming they are the best first fish to have, or encouraging the breeding of bettas even though so many cannot find homes, it is understandable that first-time betta fish owners do not know what to believe.

Just like other animals, fish need to be taken care of. That means an environment that stimulates them, proper food to keep them healthy, and, in the case of bettas, warmer water than the tap. By not doing this, bettas will be uncomfortable and even in pain.

Betta Fish Have Been Proven To Feel Pain

For a long time, it was believed that fish brains are incapable of feeling pain because they are small and do not contain structures similar to human brains. This simply is not true. Bettas, along with other fish, have been proven to feel pain. In fact, according to a 2021 study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, scientists have proven that fish feel pain. This has been a contested fact for decades, as there are no portions of a fish’s brain recognizable to humans as receptors for pain. However, according to study author Robert Elwood of the School of Biological Sciences at Queen’s University, when fish were injected with acetic acid, they responded to the pain. Specifically, when the lips were injected, the fish dragged their lips on the gravel at the bottom of a tank. When they were injected into their bodies, the fish rocked back and forth.

Now that it’s been proven that fish can feel pain, it’s clear that the conditions under which many bettas are transported can cause significant suffering—and even death. The environments they endure before being sold in stores are often painful and stressful. Even after purchase, bettas may continue to suffer if their owners haven’t learned how to properly care for them, sometimes resulting in a slow and painful death.

Bettas are capable of showing that they are in pain. Some of those ways include:

• Moving slowly without any energy in cold water
• Moving around without stopping in water that is too warm
• Rubbing their bodies on the sides of the tank if an infection is present
• Refusing to eat
• Nipping at their own tails
• Showing aggression toward other fish in the tank

Bettas are like any other pet. They must be cared for to live their lives to the fullest. Despite social media platforms making it look like bettas are nothing more than ornamental fish that need small spaces to survive, this is not how they thrive.

Therefore, until you are ready to take on the responsibilities of owning a betta, the best way to see tropical fish might just be at your local aquarium.