Asked on the Betta Forum by BuddyHolly on 4/28/03, 7:08 pm
HOLLOW5555
You are absolutely right. I do owe you an apology. I hope you will come back long enough to read this. I was very concerned with your reaction to my post so I gathered all posts you had made and all answers you had received and put them together in one document and printed it out. I just finished reading it and nowhere in there did we talk to you about tank size. My reaction was based on the assumption that at least one of us had addressed that issue. We had not. We didn't even know, until well into the topic, what size your tank was. Not knowing the tank size, I think we all assumed it was a proper size for that many female betta. I was so shocked when I read what your breeder had told you that I reacted, and it was very improper of me. Please accept my apology. I have no excuse for that post. Please indulge me for a minute. Sometimes we get questions from users that come back over and over with sick fish and tank size is virtually always mentioned. After several posts from someone whose fish we've watched sicken and die because the user would not provide a proper home, we become frustrated. I mistakenly assumed that at least one of us had addressed that issue with you. I seldom suggest that a user not own fish. I do suggest it from time to time and make no apologies for that. In your case, I should not have said that. You obviously care for your fish and since we hadn't addressed the tank size issue with you, weren't aware that your six gallon tank was WAY too small for more than just one betta.
I stand by what I said about your breeder. Any breeder that would tell someone they can keep 7-10 bettas in a 6 gallon tank shouldn't be breeding or selling fish.
I jumped the gun and was unkind to you. I was wrong in the way I approached the topic. Even more embarassing is how nice you've been to all of us while we were trying to help you. Please don't hold my thoughtless post to you against PPC or the other experts. I will refrain from answering any of your questions from now on, so you can feel comfortable in posting questions here. I hope you will accept my apology. It is made after researching your entire case with us and after serious consideration of the situation.
Thank you,
Chris
