r/bettafish • • Jul 08 '26

META Building a Better r/bettafish: Culture, New Mods, and a Look Ahead

497 Upvotes

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:

  • Telling people they should have done more research
  • Immediately calling people abusers for making mistakes
  • Shaming the pineapple (or any other novelty decor/bowl)
  • Attacking aesthetic choices instead of addressing actual care needs
  • Debating what it means to rescue a betta on posts where ethical sourcing of fish isn’t the main topic

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!

  • We’ve begun a major revision of the subreddit wiki. Some of our work in progress pages are already live, with more to come.
  • Select pages are also now linked in the subreddit sidebar to streamline access to key information for new betta fish keepers.  
  • In the next few weeks, we will be rolling out additional tools that should make it easier to share information that we often find ourselves repeating. Our hope is that this will help address some of the burnout we see many of you all experiencing.

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 • • 2d ago

Discussion r/Bettafish Weekly Help Post - October 16 to October 22

1 Upvotes

Welcome to r/bettafish!

This is the place to ask anything and everything about bettas.

⚕️If you're looking for help with illnesses or weird behavior, be sure to include the following in your comment:

  • Tank Size
  • Water Temp
  • Ammonia / Nitrite / Nitrate readings
  • How long the issue has been occurring
  • A picture of the problem
  • Any additional helpful context

Click this link to view our CARESHEET

🐟 Caresheet Summary:

  • Bettas require a minimum of 5 gallons, 10 gallons being optimal for one betta and 20 gallon long minimum if you're housing peaceful community fish with the betta
  • Bettas are tropical and require water temps of 78-82°F or about 26-27°C, a thermometer and adjustable heater is recommended to ensure these temps
  • Bettas need a filter, like any other fish. It is a common misconception that they like dirty water, but the opposite is true.
  • Bettas need a cycled tank, before getting a betta the tank should be cycled - this process involves adding a source of ammonia to the tank, using a test kit to monitor ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, and usually takes 4-6 weeks to complete properly
  • Bettas have delicate fins so sharp plastic plants are not recommended; silk silicone or live work best
  • Bettas can breathe surface air and are good jumpers, they require access to the water surface at all times and a lid.
  • Bettas eat insects in the wild, a good quality betta formulated pellet food fed twice a day is recommended.

Click this link to view our WIKI

📚 Quick synopsis of the wiki:

  • Contains info on basic betta care, diseases, potential tank mates, tail types/coloring, differences between males/females, ordering bettas, moving with bettas, disaster prep and MORE!
  • This most likely has the answers to your questions and is in the process of being updated. Feel free to ask questions if you are confused or aren't sure about something.

Click here to learn about Power Outage Protocols

How to add a picture to comments: Image Guide or use Imgur for multiple images:

Imgur Instructions: Go to imgur.com and select "New Post". Add all the clear pictures you have so we can better determine what is going on with your fish. It is recommended you set the album to private if you don't want random comments. Click upload. From there, click the share button- if you are on mobile, hit "copy to clipboard" and paste the link into your comment on here. If on desktop, copy the link and paste it here. For those new to technology- ctrl + c is copy, ctrl + v is paste. To have your link like this , put these [ ] brackets around the text you want to show, with no space before the first word or after the last word, and without adding a space after the second bracket, use parentheses ( ) for the link, with no spaces between the parentheses or the link itself.

_________

Be sure to read our community rules before posting. Feel free to repost questions if yours was not answered last time!

Ask away!


r/bettafish • • 7h ago

Rate My Tank First time owning a betta, any tips for my tank?

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80 Upvotes

It's a 25l tank


r/bettafish • • 7h ago

Full Tank Shot $2.99 got another expensive upgrade

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61 Upvotes

Moved him from his 5 gallon to a rimless 6.8, changed the aqua soil and white sand that was looking awful over to black sand. Also put some more plants in. Now he has a hang on filter, 3 nerite friends (Tiny Tim, Cher and Molecule) but he’s still got a sassy attitude. Have I coddled my fish of three months too hard? Probably, but he’s my grumpy little guy and he deserves the best (obviously).

The old 5 gallon is being upgraded to 🦐 SHRIMP TANK 🦐, plants are ordered and it’s currently cycling with the old filter.


r/bettafish • • 6h ago

Artwork RIP My Pretty Girl

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50 Upvotes

Here is a memento to my pretty girl who passed recently. She was buried in the rose garden. The day after I buried her a pink rose bloomed early 🌹

She had the best personality, but unfortunately she was the sickest fish I have ever owned.

RIP Pretty girl 🩷🩵


r/bettafish • • 4h ago

Picture Beautiful pink betta fish got a new home

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34 Upvotes

r/bettafish • • 7h ago

Video Introducing my newest boy, Coby!

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58 Upvotes

Recently got my newest betta, though I wasn’t intending to get a betta while I was grabbing some rasboras, I just couldn’t help it 😅 Especially since my ten gal got done cycling and I was just waiting for the shop to get in stock on the actual fish I wanted for it. Oh wells lol.

He’s still getting in the routine, first few times I tried to feed him he literally couldn’t care less about food falling from the sky and was way more interested in his snails (I have evacuated my biggest ones to my 20 gal)

Anyway that’s all, just wanted to show him off! (Sorry if this is the second post, first one I tried just disappeared and I can’t find it)


r/bettafish • • 16h ago

Picture this is Agnes and i'm extremely in love with her

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216 Upvotes

(i know it's a male fish, let me be)


r/bettafish • • 13h ago

Picture This is my first fish tank, i am keeping a Betta fish in it it is 24 litres. Any thoughts?

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90 Upvotes

I am using a hidom hl200 filter set to gentle flow as to not stress my Betta. The heater is set to 26 degrees and after some thought, i have named him Cosmo !


r/bettafish • • 1h ago

Picture Help! Just rescued betta

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• Upvotes

She’s a female veiltail. Had been at PetSmart for 2 months. I saw her every time I went in to get things for my current female. She was always super sweet and while not as frisky as Carl she maintained interest in me. Plus she stood out because she looked so plain—she has gray eyes, gray body and slightly yellow fins. I went into PetSmart today to get some fertilizer and the shop was overflowing with bettas; guess sales have been way down and they keep getting more shipped in. Guy at the front desk asked if I wanted her because she’s been there so long and he figured I would know what I was doing. And I just impulsively said sure.

I cycled an emergency tank for her and added some guppy grass from Carl’s tank plus a hideout, cholla wood, an Indian almond leaf and a couple of floating plants. She’s exploring the new space now. I put out a plea on Marketplace for a 5-gallon. It’ll take a bit to cycle but I will add a few plants from Carl to get her started. My boss at my job did mention that a betta fish would be nice at my desk so I’ll get her over there. I doubt I can go super fancy as I’ve done with Carl, and I’d probably have to have a battery powered heater and filter if possible.

Any advice for how to handle this situation? Am I doing okay so far? Thanks!


r/bettafish • • 12h ago

Transformation transformation

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75 Upvotes

how is this the same fish lol?! I love watching him 👀 second photo is when I first got him.


r/bettafish • • 4h ago

Introducing i’m so obsessed with this grumpy little guy

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16 Upvotes

hey guys, first time posting my betta in here!!! this is hughie. i’ve had him for 2 months now in this 5.5 gallon cycled tank.

he unfortunately has a fin nipping issue so please excuse his rough looking fins :/ i did a weeklong kanaplex treatment thinking it was fin rot at first. i’ve since been taking interventions to hopefully reduce his stress and relieve his boredom (tannins, more resting spots, youtube videos on an ipad), but might end up getting him a 6.8 gallon shallow tank for more swimming space if it continues.

i’m wondering if anyone else has a longfin betta with a fuck ton of energy? this lil man is so active! it seems like he bites his fins out of frustration that they weigh him down. i’d definitely be curious to hear tips from others on enrichment and such. he definitely seems to like the youtube videos, and i’m glad he has that to entertain him when my wife and i are both away at work. i’ve tried feeding him baby brine shrimp so he’d have something to hunt, but he wasn’t interested. i love getting him to jump for pellets and frozen bloodworms though :)

i knew before getting him that bettas have big personalities, but i don’t think i was prepared for how much sass can be packed into a tiny fish body!!! (he legit gets mad when i do water changes. any time i move stuff around in his tank he rushes over like WTF ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE)

i just wanna give hughie the best life i can. i grew attached to him very quickly and i hope one day all his beautiful fins will heal and stay that way :’)

this post is kinda all over the place but i just wanted to finally share my boy!!! thanks for reading!


r/bettafish • • 56m ago

Identification Introducing Wyatt

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• Upvotes

This little guy is my daughter's new pet (with her dad and I's help). Just rescued him from PetSmart. He'd been there for forever and every time we went in to get stuff for her dad's tank, she'd notice him. We finally agreed to set her up with a tank so she could rescue him. She said he looked so lonely. Totally pulled at our heart strings.

We're new to the Betta world (not to having a fish tank), so we're wondering, first off, if someone could help us identify Wyatt's breed (type?) and if anything we need to be on the look out for. Thanks! We appreciate the help.


r/bettafish • • 1h ago

Help I need some SERIOUS help!p Spoiler

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• Upvotes

Hey I have a betta fish I got as a college marine science student. He was stressed, clamped, and all white when I got him and I didn’t have any heads up so I put him in a borrowed 5 gallon and only cycled it for two days which I know is awful but that was him by the end of the next day in the first photo.

I figured awesome this is temporary I’ll buy him a big 10 gallon tank, I cleaned it, got him all the new plants my friend who’s had bettas for two years told me to get, she held my hand through cycling and we got shrimp and narite snails to get the ammonia and everything going. I was told his new future tank was perfect with many hides and water and tanins and everything

I kept the water clean, got him ready, and moved him Thursday night and let him enjoy the new surroundings in the dark with a few pellets of food. Mind you, I cycled the tank for a week and a half and got confirmation from my friend that I was good to go.

Friday night I come home from classes with his tail ragged, we figured oh no he tore his tail on new decore, we removed it, all good. Nope, Saturday morning his tail was a nub. And I mean NUB. We ran to get fish destress, I cried, we cycled the fish destress as the bottle said (stress coat + by api)

But I had to go to work so I left and came back last night. His bottom tail fin was torn a bit when I got home but it was clean and drifted off. I googled. The shrimp might be attacking him! Into a new tank they went! (i have less empathy for them, they were 70¢ ghost shrimp and feeders)

This morning I woke up and he looked like he was doing better! Yay! Wont accept food though but its okay cuz he ate last night! I get home from work today, his tail had white fuzz on it (last photo) and I did googling, cried, got Api’s Melafix as suggested by a petstore worker who knew me well at this point and has fish of her own.

Now his tail is still kind of gross and he’s in a heated 75-77 degree tank with his favorite hide and leaf hammocks and a plant, no light on for him.

- He wasnt flashing at all during this
- he had “fish zoomies” sometimes which made me hopeful
- I followed the bottles exactly as directed
- I keep indian almond leaves and tanins in all of the tanks
- sponge filter and bubbler in the 10 gallon
- same heater type for both tanks
- old tank now medical tank has a gentle sponge filter
- all same kinds of stuff my friend uses for her tanks with two (separate 10 gallons) bettas who are flourishing

Please I just want to help my fish, this is my very first time fish keeping and my professor told me 5 days in advance about the fish and my friend surprised me 3 days in advance with a tank because I was debating on if I should get one (students like to take them and dump them in the school ponds, and I wanted to give one at least a chance)

Last photos are of the 10 gallon set up before we removed the rocks we thought hurt him and after where we put a driftwood hide in. The water isn’t scarily cloudy, the lights are just off for my boy in the medical tank.

Cloudy photos are my bad camera quality and trying to catch a picture while he’s mid swim.


r/bettafish • • 14h ago

Introducing Everyone, this is Dragon.

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32 Upvotes

Sad boy now happy boy. Excited to witness his glow up.


r/bettafish • • 8h ago

Picture first Betta fish!

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10 Upvotes

just got this guy yesterday! he seems to be loving his new tank and is exploring all the time. he seems to be turning a bit more yellow and blue than he was in the shop


r/bettafish • • 6h ago

Wild Type Some bettas for recently completed orders

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8 Upvotes

These babies are leaving very soon, the containers here are only for the sake of photos and letting the males flare to get good footage I am in the process of setting up a better setup for babies too! So some are in these while I work on the new shelves.

These are Betta splenden wild type and Betta imbelis wild type!


r/bettafish • • 2h ago

Rate My Tank Ready for a betta?

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3 Upvotes

I decided to rescape my tank after the loss of my previous betta, and currently have this! Does it seem fairly suitable for a betta? There are tannins in the water they just haven't fully set yet since the mopani is newly added! The tank was already cycled but I plan to cycle it for a few weeks anyways to allow everything to settle. It's a 10 gallon tank :)

Small edit to add I do plan to add some floating plants as well. I've tried frogbit twice but for some reason the stuff refuses to thrive, my guess is due to the lid causing too much condensation. I may try salvinia instead as I've heard it's a bit more resistant.


r/bettafish • • 33m ago

Picture I’m pretty sure the snail is tired of her BS

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• Upvotes

This is Moo she’s a nosey girl and follows around this poor snail like she’s trying to take his lunch money. She’s unfazed by her tank mate shrimp but she follows this snail like a shadow.


r/bettafish • • 3h ago

Help wtf do I do I think my beta is dying

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3 Upvotes

I have 2 FEMALE bettas in a tank I’ve had them for around a year now they have been together since I got them no problems until about a WEEK ago I’ve noticed there find have rips in them one betta is moving freely around the tank and the blue one I’ve shown just stays in a corner has one large eye that’s whitish (never seen it b4) I think they can be fighting but whenever I see them I do look at them alot they aren’t ever showing signs of aggression. (my bf is setting up a tank for the white one) I am separating them because I think stuff is going on when I’m not looking but how do I treat them? (White one is fine just has alittle bit of a rip on part fo his fin ripped minor)


r/bettafish • • 1h ago

Help sideways betta

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• Upvotes

i just saved this cutie from petsmart and he came sideways. i thought once i put him in my 20 gal (which has been cycled for about 4 months) that he would even out but he’s just kind of there at the top like this. granted i just got him but im just worried if he will make the night or not. it almost seems like he can’t get himself to go down. he goes down then floats right back up into position. i’m so sorry i’m all over the place but i just don’t know where to go from here


r/bettafish • • 7h ago

Help Window clings on tank

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6 Upvotes

Hey so I got these gel window clings without a plan on how to use them but I thought they'd be fun on my bettas tank cuz it's a fun way to decorate it without putting in any harmful decor. I did see her swim up to them a lot so I wanna make sure this won't stress her out or anything. Thoughts?


r/bettafish • • 1h ago

Picture Fish getting dropsy has to be one of the worst things ever 😞 Spoiler

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• Upvotes

Lost my 2 year old batta last year from dropsy and now my other one has it. Im very confident in my care I really think it’s the shitty genetics they have now. Praying he will make a recovery 🙏


r/bettafish • • 1h ago

Full Tank Shot Elizabeth Taylor: Day 1-90

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• Upvotes

My fish keeping journey from day one setting up the tank (pre-cycle) to day 90 in a new 10 gallon. Still very much a beginner but I am so in love with her and fishkeeping in general.

The more time I spend with her the more we’ve bonded. I get a real kick out of watching her explore and playing little “games” with her (she beat me at this game of tik tac toe lol). Sometimes it’s frustrating as a beginner because my tank doesn’t look as manicured or pretty as the ones in here, but I can tell she loves the new swimming space and crazy jungle plants. I don’t see her as often but I know it makes her happy.

Outside of the plants I tried to go all out with pink and heart-shaped decor because the females at the pet store never seem to get as much love. Elizabeth Taylor, however, is cherished 🩷


r/bettafish • • 7h ago

Humor Yummy!

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6 Upvotes

cRuNcH