> Despite the Bettas, and the size thing, and the 'they can take my fish
> from my cold dead fingers' (all valid arguments), the basic fact remains
> that as long as there are goldfish bowls, people will put goldfish in
> them.
I tend to agree with Andrew here (which is not uncommon I might add). In
fact, I'd go further and say that Betta tanks are far worse due to their
often much smaller size. Just because a fish can live in a puddle does
not mean that we should keep them in puddles. In such a small volume of
water there is no room for error with uneaten food and poop. The pH
probably changes everytime the fish farts! At least a betta in a goldfish
bowl has a larger fish to volume ratio. If it is a really big bowl and a
really small fish then I can go with bowls, but many of them are too small
and function poorly. That being said, I can also see Mike's arguement
about getting people into fish, obviously that is important as well, but
perhaps there is a slightly different way to do it. And I tend to agree
with Dave too about getting in bed with PETA. But that being said, I also
don't like to see fish suffocate to death in am empty (or a full) bucket
after being caught by a fisherman. If people acted with a tiny bit of
compasion and common sense then there would be little place for PETA in
the first place. Obviously there are no easy answers to all this and good
points on both sides, but my compasion is a bit more towards the fish than
the fish store owner / fish keeper.
Tootles
Peter