kinasty:

– bettas cannot live comfortably in a cup or in a 1 gallon tank. They require heat, filtration, and adequate room to swim, as well as places to rest if you have a heavy-finned variety, and hiding spaces. 

– You cannot shove a bunch of pothos in the top of a vase and never feed your fish. Bettas are carnivorous, and require appropriate food. Pothos does offer a really great boost of filtration though, however, it should not be the only filtration available.

– You need to cycle your tank before you put fish in it. If you don’t know what cycling is or how to do it, google “The aquarium nitrogen cycle” and study it until it makes sense to you. 

– Forums and individual tumblr users (including myself) are not the end-all be-all of fish keeping advice, but on the whole, we know what we’re talking about. If someone critiques your setup, you need to do something about it. We’re sure you love your fish, that’s why we’re trying to help you help them.

– More surface area = better filtration when it comes to biologically filtering your tank’s water. HOB filters are great, but if you have a large enough tank, you can probably make yourself a very easy fluidized bed filter out of a pop bottle and some k1 micro and airline tubing and it shouldn’t cost you more than 15$ to complete and set up. Here is a tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRImIV8mp-g

– Surviving is not the same as thriving. Let me repeat that: SURVIVING IS NOT THE SAME AS THRIVING!!!!!! Sure, a baby comet goldfish can exist in an unfiltered bowl for a couple months, but it’ll die. The majority of people who get started in the aquarist hobby think that fish are meant to be replaced every couple months or so when the reality of the situation is that most basic freshwater aquarium fish have a lifespan of anywhere from 5-30 years. THAT IS A LONG TIME. If your fish is only living for a few months and then carking it, you are doing something very wrong.

– please for the fucking love of god if you aren’t sure about something, research it. A LOT.

Bettas should live 3-5 years, minimum. The ones you find in pet stores are often at least a year old and badly inbred, but you should have them for something near 2 years, at least, before they die. 

Fancy goldfish can live at least a decade, comet goldfish (the fish-shaped cheap ones) can live easily 20 years. Comet goldfish should also get over a foot long, and if they don’t, something is very wrong with their habitat.