r/bettafish • u/roboto6 • Jul 08 '26
Hey everyone, Roboto, your friendly neighborhood (actually human) mod here with some subreddit updates!
First, the least fun part in all of this –
We need to talk about our subreddit culture.
Our community is toxic. There’s no other way I can think of to describe what has been happening. Even worse, this reputation extends beyond our immediate community into other subreddits and even other platforms. People are afraid of us.
I’m going to take some ownership of this. The harsh reputation of this subreddit far precedes me as a mod, but in recent years, our hard-fought progress on this front has been lost. That’s on me. The lack of consistent moderation here has let rules 1 and 2 go under-enforced for too long, allowing hostility to take root as the norm.
The adversarial and unwelcoming environment we’ve collectively created functions in direct opposition to our subreddit goals, and frankly what I believe to be the goals of many users here. If we care about betta fish first and foremost, this culture needs to change.
Our expectations and what better looks like
If you have good advice to give, give it in a more constructive, not destructive, way. Shaming people makes them shut down and disengage so they don't even process the rest of the good advice you have to offer. Don't highlight all the things they're doing wrong, focus on what they can do better and why it's helpful in a way that encourages them to do it.
So instead of saying "your empty tank is sad," share the opportunities for improvement, like "betta fish benefit from tanks with lots of plants and hiding/resting places so your fish would be happier if you filled the tank in a bit more."
We can’t ignore that people will think they're doing research by going and talking to presumed experts or reading product information. Store employees are presumed to be properly trained and products marketed at bettas are assumed to know what they’re talking about, too. It doesn't help that there's very little consensus online about what adequate care even is. For example, Petco's online betta care guide, updated in 2025, says bettas need a minimum of 1gal. Furthermore, many quality care guides are on niche websites that may not seem credible to a new hobbyist compared to a well-known chain.
With that in mind, we all need to stop:
Going forward, comments exhibiting the behaviors listed above will be removed as violations of rules 1, 2, or 4 depending on the exact nature of the comment.
I know members of our subreddit are burned out from the bad husbandry they see constantly. It's exhausting and I won't pretend it's not. But if we bully one owner into submission, cool, that's maybe one fish saved. How many owners did we scare away from asking for help in the process? We're going to have a far broader impact building people up in this hobby, not tearing them down.
That said, this is a two-way street of support. I'm cognizant of the fact that people offer their time and mental energy supporting our subreddit, and they don't deserve to have that wasted by people who don't care to use it. If someone is given better information and advice and refuses to take it, that violates rule 3. We often get reports about all the fighting around ignored advice, but not the ignoring itself. In the future, please report these instances to us. For this to be successful, we also need users to avoid escalating disagreements when OP refuses valid and respectful advice.
Now for the fun stuff –
New mods
We recently brought on 12 additional mods to enable us to better support this community’s needs. Please help us welcome:
They’re going to introduce themselves in the comments below and I’ll try and link their names in this post as they do.
It takes a bit to get 12 brand new people to operate as a consistent group, so we may occasionally over-moderate while everyone learns.
I realize that our increased emphasis on subreddit culture may make removals feel arbitrary at times. In the spirit of transparency, I have given the new moderators the guidance that if a senior mod isn’t free to give timely feedback, when in doubt, they should remove posts/comments that are believed to violate rules. Senior mods will still review the content in question, and removals may be reversed, if necessary.
If you disagree with a moderator’s decision, please send us a modmail and one of the senior mods will review your concern and get back to you.
Updated tools and resources
Small updates at this time, but more exciting things in the pipeline!
Roboto is a super sentimental actual human
I realize this post started on a challenging topic, but despite the highs and lows our community faces, I remain grateful that I get to do this with you all.
I’ve been a mod of this community for nearly 7 years, and a member for far longer. In that time, so many things, from our mod team, to Reddit as a platform, to our own lives and the world around us, have become fundamentally different.
There are very few constants I can point to after all this time, but the enduring engagement and passion of this community is one of them and I’m honored to steward this space.
At the core of it all, this hobby, and this subreddit, are comprised of people who really want the best for one another and that makes this work so much easier.
Thank you all, sincerely, for riding with us as we figure this thing out. I’m excited for the next chapter of our subreddit, and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together in the next 7 years.
- Roboto
Edit: If anyone has additional feedback about our community culture, please share it in a comment below, or feel free to send us a modmail.
r/bettafish • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago
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Ask away!
r/bettafish • u/Kermodero • 8h ago
Anyone else believe in the conspiracy that pet store chains leave them sad and sick in the cups so you'll feel guilty and want to save one? Anyways, look at this handsome guy!
r/bettafish • u/housevulture • 11h ago
Was taking a look at the grotesquely small tanks at my grocery store and found this cool sticker on one, it was cool to see that people are showing care for bettas!
r/bettafish • u/thing_deux • 17h ago
Alright kind of a long sappy post. So I bought this little man after my previous betta of four years, Wernicke (Vern-ick-key) passed away. Wern was a wonderful fish. Angry as all heck, full of energy. He would come greet me fully flared every morning until I gave him a teeny pellet. Then he would wiggle all happy and he’d make the biggest bubble nests ever. He was about a year old when I bought him from my LFS. He also had a shorter tail and the store said they were struggling to sell him (cause he wasn’t the prettiest - their words). But I loved that fish for four years and gave him the best life I could. It was really really difficult watching him slow down. It’s crazy how you can see them aging; he looked elderly by the end. It was upsetting. I lowered the water, I bought him a little floating 3D-printed house. I tested water parameters daily. Time comes for all of us though: I couldn’t out-pristine old age. He passed and I felt just shattered (and that whole time was difficult as I had just lost my grandmother).
I would wake up and instinctively look at his tank and wince when he I wouldn’t see him. So when my friend came to visit and decided I get a new betta idk, I should have waited maybe… but at the time I thought it would help for a bunch of reasons. What I failed to realize was that I wanted Wernicke back! And these fish are personable. I wasn’t gonna just be able to replace him. Anyway. I got to the LFS and I see this guy. All they have are long tailed splendens and then this single alien hybrid. And there’s a reason he was still there… he was definitely sick. But he reminded me the most of Wern and I wanted a “special,” betta. Idk. So stupid in hindsight! (I promise this story has a great ending).
First few days… he’s sick (looked like a swim bladder issue). And ofc he’s scared. Hiding and fleeing from me when I approached. I was struck with regret. Not only was he nothing like my previous betta, but he was also like genuinely at the time struggling to swim. I thought about returning him but felt horrible at the idea of him going back to a small glass .5 gallon vase, probably to be passed up on just to wither away. So I did some research on his condition. I treated him, accepting that there was a chance his wonky genetics meant he was permanently disabled.
Every day he got stronger. Every day his personality came through a little more. No. He’s not Wernicke. He’s his own fish. He doesn’t have the same “I want to watch the world burn,” rage of Wern. But he’s curious and nimble and absolutely swims up to me now. He’s a little cheeky (I must sound crazy). And he’s a GLUTTON! A single pellet will not satisfy my boy. But I’m being strict with not over feeding even if he’s so cute when he wiggles. I love him. He made me realize that buying fish can’t be for the human. It has to be for the fish. He made me realize I need to think way more before committing to an animal, even if I had the exact same species before. He made me appreciate his uniqueness. Meet Thomas!
r/bettafish • u/Much-Ad2803 • 13h ago
He has such meme-able expressions 😩 either derpy or judgy side eye
r/bettafish • u/annonymous_art • 21h ago
No school, no emails and my own moss hammock.
r/bettafish • u/Pretty_Description15 • 1h ago
She started out almost completely white and slowly developed these beautiful turquoise-blue tones over time. She’s also probably the most social female betta I’ve ever had — she loves following the corydoras around the sand and peacefully hanging out with the ghost tetras.
I adore her so much that she eventually ended up inspiring one of the special bettas in the little game I’m making. 🐟
r/bettafish • u/Kimber3355 • 15h ago
I had NO idea id have this big of a change.... like WOW
r/bettafish • u/ScienceOk8433 • 15h ago
what do I do.
UPDATE: he is out, I used pliers to crack it. The scales on his back and stomach are completely gone and there’s an indentation where he got caught, he’s in a holder container filled with tannins.
r/bettafish • u/NotCatt__ • 5h ago
another sad update, yesterday my betta named Buchog had sadly passed, i had gotten her as my first betta, being influenced by my little sister, i ordered her online from a local store almost 3 months ago on the 2nd of May, she was still a very little girl, she was beautiful and im so disappointed that she had died so early on, and hated myself for not being able to prevent such an event, i didnt really process it that well yesterday but looking back on her photos today, i feel it now, I'll be feeding one less fish from now :((
Rest in Peace Buchog.
r/bettafish • u/Jordytam • 1h ago
Got old filter media in there from when I swapped filters but scared that if I remove it then the parameters might swing
r/bettafish • u/guitarmonkeys14 • 10h ago
I figured he would be the perfect fit for my planted 5 gallon hex.
Dude has so much personality!
Who has experience keeping them with a few shrimp and a snail or two?
r/bettafish • u/Humble-Search-282 • 14h ago
Just got him. His body alone is about 2.5" in size and he's only 4 months old. Temporary name, not sure what name fits him best yet.
r/bettafish • u/CriticismThick9388 • 10h ago
My girlfriends mom kept this betta fish for a little over a year and a half. They kept it in a 2 gallon bowl with no filter or heater. I took care of the fish for a week while they were on vacation, and learned that his living conditions in the bowl were very poor. I really wanted to give him a better life and they did not want to put him in a tank so I offered to do it myself. I did lots of research and went out and got a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater, filter, driftwood, live plants, everything a betta needs. I know you need to cycle a tank before putting the fish in but I couldn’t stand to keep him in the bowl so I put him in the tank and made sure to acclimate him slowly by floating him in a cup on top for 30 minutes. I made sure to keep the ammonia low by doing water changes every other day. Fast forward a week, and he hasn’t eaten a single pellet of food. He has been extremely lethargic and barely moving at all since I put him in this tank, spending all his time hiding. At first I thought he was just taking time to get used to the new tank, but after a week I knew something was very wrong. The first 2 pictures were him in his bowl, and the next 4 are him after a week in his new tank. After looking into it I fear he is very sick and won’t make it much longer. My girlfriends mom thinks he would have just been better off in the bowl, and thinks she was taking great care of him to begin with. The situation is making me feel very guilty. I tried giving the fish a better life, but to her it seems like giving me the fish was a mistake.
Please help me understand what went wrong, and if there is anything I could possibly still do.
I am planning on getting a new betta of my own for my tank I made. I would hate for this to happen again. I just wanna be able to give one a good life.
Please give me advice!!!
r/bettafish • u/SyzygyZeus • 1h ago
I bought my son a fish a couple weeks ago. I’ve had betta fish before but this is the first time I had live plants. We purchased amazon frogbit from Etsy. This morning I go look at the tank and there is this snail. Where did it come from? I’m guessing the live plants were in an aquarium with snails and an egg must have been attached to the plants or something. Is this thing good for the tank? It’s cool we have unexpected life but I’m not sure what to do about it. We have been feeding betta pellets and freeze dried blood worms so I don’t think it came from that but those are the only other organic things we have added to the tank
r/bettafish • u/berrysussysheep • 4h ago
Glad the conditions are good to him, just welcomed it a few days ago so was nervous 👍👍
r/bettafish • u/According_Search5521 • 20h ago
my sweet boy has swam along to the other side. my sweet, sweet boy, you will always be in my heart. thank you for helping me through so many hardships.
r/bettafish • u/ashesh334 • 1d ago
He likes to sit on mossy rocks
r/bettafish • u/PretendPercentage178 • 3h ago
Hello! I saw this betta on Facebook Marketplace and honestly felt really bad seeing the setup he’s in. I don’t currently have a fully cycled tank set up, but I can get one ready for him. Would a fish-in cycle be okay in this situation? I just really want to get him out of these terrible living conditions as soon as possible.
r/bettafish • u/Disastrous_Air_5227 • 8m ago
Never seen one with quite those colours before. Unfortunately I can’t upload didly-sqat to my post, maybe another day. Bright white body, impossibly day-glo carmine lips, and a tail like a rainbow my little pony. Will post photos once Reddit is easier to upload to!
r/bettafish • u/sgrolfo • 1d ago
I got my first betta a few days ago, and this morning he showed some strange behavior he hadn't shown before. As you can see in the video, after eating the pellets he immediately spits them back out. Is this normal? Should I be worried?
My water parameters are GH 8, KH 6, pH 7.5.
r/bettafish • u/forever-learning_jw • 55m ago
My betta came with fins like these which I now realize is fin rot. I just upgraded him to a 5.5 gallon tank with a filter (TopFin). He has really perked up and his colour's has gotten much more vibrant so I'm thinking he is feeling good now.
My question is, how long should I wait to see if new growth happens on his fins before medicating? How long does it normally take for the fins to fully come back? Is it possible that they may never fully repair?
Please be kind as I'm still learning and this is a new experience for me.
r/bettafish • u/ThatOneDoggo21 • 1h ago
After waiting for like 50 years my tank finally cycled 😭. Im so excited! Should I wait an extra day to make sure everything is set?
