Your wedding day is coming…
The big convention is around the corner and you are in charge of decorations.
Birthday Party for your kid and no idea what to do.
These are not valid reasons to use a betta as a centerpiece. Many times people go to receptions or parties or conventions and have found ourselves sitting at a table with fork in hand staring down a glass bowl with water and a fish.
If you are in charge of decorating for a formal occasion and find yourself wondering what you should use as a table centerpiece, Healthy Betta begs you to turn your attentions somewhere other than a betta. Yes, the centerpieces can be put together relatively cheaply, but you must consider the outcome from the betta.
Many people who are attending your party are not going to want to take a betta home. They are not prepared for a fish and they are definitely not going to have items on hand that are needed to ensure a betta stays happy and healthy. Items they would need are food, medication, water conditioners, a tank, decorations, gravel…. I definitely hope you can see this problem with using bettas as a centerpiece.
The next issue is the stress level of the betta. During the party, the betta will not only be in an inadequate sized bowl but he will also be enduring the sounds and activities around him: talking, clanking of plates, the bumping of the table and many other outside activities that will do nothing but stress him out.
In relation to them going home with people, the next problem is what do you do with bettas if no one takes them home? If you have a compassionate bone in your body, flushing could never be an option. And considering you are going to use a betta as a centerpiece, my guess is you are not familiar with the betta which means you could not prepared to take 20 bettas home either.
Sadly, I know many people are still going to use bettas as centerpieces and I really do not want to condone this, but I will say if you absolutely INSIST on having bettas at your party, there are a few simple things I would like you take from this article.
Don’t buy so many. Maybe a centerpiece on only 5 tables and since you will be saving so much on the cost of bettas, you could afford to purchase larger bowls or decorative glass containers.
Never put floating candles in the bettas water. The betta will die. The perfumes and dyes in the candle are toxic to the fish.
If you are going to give the bettas away, make sure you provide a care sheet with the betta. Healthy Betta has a great one page color care sheet available for download on the main page. It’s a great idea.
Also, don’t raffle the bettas off. If you do this, you have to think that maybe the person that has won the raffle doesn’t really want the betta and the poor thing will be taking a porcelain cruise when they get home. Let people approach you for the betta. Announce that they are free to a good and loving home and that you have care sheets available. And you have to say, doing this with 5 bettas is definitely easier than with 25 and if you do end up with them all being left over, that’s only 5 bettas to have around your house reminding you of your day to be remembered.
BUT–I do hope you decide against betta centerpieces. They just are not a healthy way to show people that you can decorate. Find other means–use the tiny bowl and decorate it with 3 dollars worth of silk flowers and ribbon and netting…. Candles are great–anything but a betta.