The Most Low Maintenance Pet?

Did you know that bettas in the wild live in puddles in rice fields?  They naturally live in small amounts of dirty water.  Also, did you know that bettas, as they live in small, stagnent puddles in the wild are not strong swimmers and therefore, do not do well with stong aeration stystems, as it makes them fight against a stream? 
 
As a veterinary student with a great interest in aquatic medicine and athology - I can tell you that is a bunch of bull. That is a myth circulated by pet stores purely to sell bettas in cups. The bettas can SURVIVE when the water in the field evaporates, but their natural habitat is MUCH more open.

In terms of not being strong swimmer, that is purely because they have been bred for their finnage. A wild-type betta, which iI have, is brown-gray and short-finned and can swim like the beejezus.
 
i've read that bettas need to be "socialized", even if it just means a mirror, or they may become depressed.  any thoughts on that?  also, what are some compatible tank-mates i can add when i upsize that tank?
 
They like seeing their reflection sometimes and fighting with it because it gives them something to do and makes them feel like they are defending their territory. The occasional short session of reflection-flaring is fine.  I have successfuly kept bettas with docile barbs like cherry barbs and gold barbs (NOT tiger!), various minnows and livebearers (NOT guppies though). Cory catfish a(not plecos) re great mates because they stay on the bottom and do not invade the bettas space - however just because they are bottom feeders they do NOT eat poop - they need algae pellets. Basically any gentle fish that is not colorful, because the betta can easily mistake the other fish for another betta (One of my male crowntails almost killed a bright female swordtail I had because of this)

 

I might add. While fish are NOT, tarantulas are quite low maintenance pets. Most docile species, that is. All they need is a water dish, a cricket once a week, and changing the substrate once a month. Occasional handling is fine, although there is alwasy achance of being bitten or having itchy abdomemn hairs kicked on you (although my three girls have never done anything to me). the best starter species is the Chilean Rose (I love em..Have 2). which do not need heat as long as you keep your house at room temp and give them the occasional spritz with a water bottle. Since they spend m,uch of their lives in burrows, a 5 gallon tank would make a fine habitat for one adult. They cannot be kept together, however.

Goldfish are nice, I guess, but I hear that they're messy and kinda dumb.

Goldfish aren't that bad, kept properly. I don't keep them, because I don't have room. They're gorgeous, and one of my favorite fish, but they get enormous, live into their 20s, and need at least 10 gallons per fish (I'd want more, because of the waste they create and the fact that they do get enormous!).  I watched an episode of Mythbusters, last week, and they actually managed to shape a behavior in goldfish, proving that the fish had a memory of more than 3 seconds[] It was really cool. And, yeah, I'm a geek. SHH!

As a veterinary student with a great interest in aquatic medicine and pathology - I can tell you that is a bunch of bull. That is a myth circulated by pet stores purely to sell bettas in cups. The bettas can SURVIVE when the water in the field evaporates, but their natural habitat is MUCH more open.

In terms of not being strong swimmer, that is purely because they have been bred for their finnage. A wild-type betta, which iI have, is brown-gray and short-finned and can swim like the beejezus.

Ohhh, where did you get your Betta from? I'd like to have one of that type. My lavendar blue crown tail (did I say fan tail before? I meant crown.) is gorgeous, but I can see how that would stop him from being able to swim well. I'm trying to decide what to put on the other side of his tank, since my female Betta (who I bought from Walmart, and she lived over 4 years) died.



Hopefully, that's him in a bowl, right after I got him. He stayed there, for a bit, until I decided he didn't have any sort of deadly illness[]

I actually got him when I sat in, as a student, on an aqucaulture seminar in Thailand, (hey, free trip!). However, I don't know if if was actually legal for me to get him (he was given to me by the local president of an aquaculture farm for commercial fish), and I had to keep him in a water bottle on the plan trip home, hah!

He is an abominably picky eater though - natually he refuses anything except live food and worms, and it can be a pain to wade through pet stores to find live blackworms, etc....but it is worth it to have a normal fish   It reminds me of normal breeds versus AKC show versions.

He is an abominably picky eater though - natually he refuses anything except live food and worms, and it can be a pain to wade through pet stores to find live blackworms, etc....but it is worth it to have a normal fish It reminds me of normal breeds versus AKC show versions.

That is incredibly cool! I feed mine raw, frozen fish food, and bits of meat from the dogs' food. One day, I wondered what the Betta pellets were, and threw them into the garbage, LOL. He changed over pretty easily.

A water bottle is a good idea for transport.

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

Ohhh, where did you get your Betta from? I'd like to have one of that type. My lavendar blue crown tail (did I say fan tail before? I meant crown.) is gorgeous, but I can see how that would stop him from being able to swim well. I'm trying to decide what to put on the other side of his tank, since my female Betta (who I bought from Walmart, and she lived over 4 years) died.

You can also sometimes get Plakat, short finned show type bettas at dedicated fish stores.  Though you generally have to get there before the betta fighters do. [:@]  They're also called fighter type bettas.  The true wild type are harder to get, but short finned colorful males are becoming popular. 

--Mia

ORIGINAL: whtsthfrequency

Did you know that bettas in the wild live in puddles in rice fields?  They naturally live in small amounts of dirty water.  Also, did you know that bettas, as they live in small, stagnent puddles in the wild are not strong swimmers and therefore, do not do well with stong aeration stystems, as it makes them fight against a stream? 
 
As a veterinary student with a great interest in aquatic medicine and athology - I can tell you that is a bunch of bull. That is a myth circulated by pet stores purely to sell bettas in cups. The bettas can SURVIVE when the water in the field evaporates, but their natural habitat is MUCH more open.

In terms of not being strong swimmer, that is purely because they have been bred for their finnage. A wild-type betta, which iI have, is brown-gray and short-finned and can swim like the beejezus.

i've read that bettas need to be "socialized", even if it just means a mirror, or they may become depressed.  any thoughts on that?  also, what are some compatible tank-mates i can add when i upsize that tank?

They like seeing their reflection sometimes and fighting with it because it gives them something to do and makes them feel like they are defending their territory. The occasional short session of reflection-flaring is fine.  I have successfuly kept bettas with docile barbs like cherry barbs and gold barbs (NOT tiger!), various minnows and livebearers (NOT guppies though). Cory catfish a(not plecos) re great mates because they stay on the bottom and do not invade the bettas space - however just because they are bottom feeders they do NOT eat poop - they need algae pellets. Basically any gentle fish that is not colorful, because the betta can easily mistake the other fish for another betta (One of my male crowntails almost killed a bright female swordtail I had because of this)

 

Really?  Cause I did have a vet that specializes in reptiles tell me this as well as the research I did.

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

Did you know that bettas in the wild live in puddles in rice fields? They naturally live in small amounts of dirty water. Also, did you know that bettas, as they live in small, stagnent puddles in the wild are not strong swimmers and therefore, do not do well with stong aeration stystems, as it makes them fight against a stream?

Did you know that dogs in  the wild recieve no vet care, whatsoever? Did you know that they are NEVER fed and never bathed?

Undergravel filtration does not make them fight. I never acused you of animal abuse, and I don't know why you're feeling so defensive. I've done quite a bit of research on Bettas, and mine tend to live five years or better. I'd never let the water turn brown before I changed it. Fish don't have eyelids. They're swimming around in ammonia. YUM!

Gee, why am I feeling defensive?...Maybe because you said I wasn't being nice to my bettas.  As I said they are not swimming around in muck.  Infact, it's been 3 weeks since I've cleaned either vase and the water is crystal clear, except for a few algea spots.  You don't know how I'm keeping them.  You also don't know how many people I've talked to that have killed their bettas and fish in general because they are clean freaks about the tank and clean the tank too much. 

Fine, go and tell someone that they need to clean their tank every week.  Good thing you don't work at a pet store, because I can promise you they'd come back with a dead fish the day after they cleaned the tank for the first time.

if you have a properly set up, fully cycled tank you're not supposed to clean it. Do a partial water change once a week while vacuuming the gravel, and change the filter material once a month or so. You can scrap crud off the walls and rocks, but build-up of crud suggests the biologics of the tank aren't working too well. And the more you clean, the more of the organisms that should be keep the tank clean are getting killed off.  It's actually impossible to get a small tank (under 10 gallons) to ever cycle properly and settle into a steady healthy state-- I don't why they even sell the small tanks. Go for a big tank, much easier to maintain.
 
Anyway, goldfish are NOT low maintenance (seriously, I spend more time maintaining the goldfish than I ever did maintaining the cat), and not dumb! they recognize different people and can be easily trained to perform tricks.

ORIGINAL: mudpuppy

if you have a properly set up, fully cycled tank you're not supposed to clean it. Do a partial water change once a week while vacuuming the gravel, and change the filter material once a month or so. You can scrap crud off the walls and rocks, but build-up of crud suggests the biologics of the tank aren't working too well. And the more you clean, the more of the organisms that should be keep the tank clean are getting killed off.  It's actually impossible to get a small tank (under 10 gallons) to ever cycle properly and settle into a steady healthy state-- I don't why they even sell the small tanks. Go for a big tank, much easier to maintain.

Anyway, goldfish are NOT low maintenance (seriously, I spend more time maintaining the goldfish than I ever did maintaining the cat), and not dumb! they recognize different people and can be easily trained to perform tricks.

 
I totally agree with this. I had set up my 10 gallon tank simply because I wanted smaller fish and was afraid that my now deceased Blood Parrot Cichlid and gourami's in the 55 would eat smaller tank mates. The 10 gallon looked great for a while but the algae was so uncontrollable and I was tired of constantly trying to keep the tank in check. Since the BPC died, I figured I'd put all the fish from the 10 into the 55 and see what happens. I'm glad I did. The fish seem happier and the 55 is much easier to maintain.
 

ORIGINAL: jojo the pogo
 
Gee, why am I feeling defensive?...Maybe because you said I wasn't being nice to my bettas.  As I said they are not swimming around in muck.  Infact, it's been 3 weeks since I've cleaned either vase and the water is crystal clear, except for a few algea spots.  You don't know how I'm keeping them.  You also don't know how many people I've talked to that have killed their bettas and fish in general because they are clean freaks about the tank and clean the tank too much. 

Fine, go and tell someone that they need to clean their tank every week.  Good thing you don't work at a pet store, because I can promise you they'd come back with a dead fish the day after they cleaned the tank for the first time.

 
While I wouldn't recommend keeping a Betta in a vase, or anything smaller than 2 gallons, I would chemically monitor the levels in the vase to truly see if the H and the ammonia levels are fine. Even in a crystal clear habitat the ammonia can be through the roof . I also wouldn't go longer than 3 weeks when cleaning it. I would do weekly, and perhaps biweekly if you have no filtration in the vase, partial water changes.

Ugh, I just typed out this whole long response and couldn't post it because the thread was moved while I was typing. 
 
Anyway.....
I don't think fish are easy to keep.  At least, I don't think fish are easy to keep WELL.  They require just as much attention to their environment, their nutrition, their overall health and keeping them happy as dogs do.  They don't need to be trained every day or walked like dogs do, but you don't need to aquascape your dog's crate on a regular basis to keep him mentall stimulated, either, or leave your dog in his crate to poop for 4 weeks and then clean it out.  They are tricky AND you can't just pop one down to the vet if you think there might be something wrong.  (Vets who will care for fish are few and far between.)
Tropicals are easier than marines, I keep both and the differences are apparent, but it can still be very difficult to keep tropical fish healthy and thriving.  Most often by the time you even realise that one is sick, you are already past the point of no return.
 
What doesn't help is that most people overfeed their fish.  Most fish, tropical or marine, do not need to be fed every day.  Marines do better when fed only twice a week.  Overfeeding is the number one cause of stress, illness, upsets in water chemistry, algae plagues and general tank problems.  People overfeed, notice that their tank is dirty, do a partial water change, clean the filters (destroying all of the beneficial bacteria that filters house) and then think their problems are solved.  A week later the same thing happens.  This constant yo-yo of chemical intervention, changing water conditions and death of filter bacteria is, over a period of time, lethal to fish.  It is MUCH better to underfeed, test water chemical levels and leave well enough alone.  Eventually cleaning it will be necessary, but not nearly as often as I know some people do it.  I know people who also make the mistake of getting a friend or a neighbour to come in to feed the fish while they are away.  That's fine if the friend is a fishkeeper but it's dangerous if they're not.  Marine fish can and will be perfectly fine for up to 2 weeks without food, tropicals even longer than that.  It's not necessarily ideal, but I would prefer that to someone coming in, overfeeding my fish and causing a serious chemistry crisis which I am not around to fix.
 
With marines there is the added issue of water evaporation.  The heat from the lights causes the water levels to go down.  That's not such a problem, but the resulting increase in salinity of the remaining water (water evaporates, salt does not) IS a problem.  So you have to top up the tank with either reverse-osmosis or chemically treated water a few times a week if the tank uses wide-spectrum fluorescent lighting, and every day if the tank is lit by metal halides.  It's a very tricky business, and even under the best of circumstances something really stupid can stress a fish and cause it to get sick.  Sad to say, but the knowledge of how to humanely euthanise a fish is something every hobbyist needs.
 
Kate
 
 
 

I've yet to find many pets more low maintenence than a cat, personally.  They do not ask much...food water and a litterbox...and if you have an automated box again...loooooow maintenence. Adopting a litter trained older cat is IMO a great idea if you want a low maintenence pet...if you buy an automated feeder/waterer, you can even leave them overnight.
 
Looking at all this stuff I have only reaffirmed the above. Cats are apparently less work than fish, or a cage pet...and IMO more rewarding as you can pet them and play with them with minimal effort.

I'd have to say my cats are the second lowest maintenace creatures in my house. We have a goldfish in a 3 gallon tank with a really good filter that just needs a pinch of food every day or so and a pitcher of water replaced in his tank about every two weeks or so. The cats just need fed and litter box cleaned out every day and they're good to go. We leave them at home for a night or two with my MIL looking in on them when we camp in the summer and they've been good with that. They probably enjoy the peace and quiet with no kids and dogs around!

Thanks for all the replies.  I think that after reading through everyone's input that a goldfish would be the best option.  Maybe once I get my new bookshelf I will.