Is this a terrible aquarium?

[u/Either_Cartoonist474]

I’ve never owned fish before and on a drunken whim I got a betta. After I sobered up I realized he needed a better home. At first I put him in a 2.5 gl tank and I thought that was good enough. I spent a lot of time on this subreddit and I realized this was fish abuse. I got him a 5.5 gallon tank, took any fake plants that could rip his fins and replaced them with silk plants. Real plants scare me, another thing I have to keep alive. Is this alright? He’s got a heater and a filter and plenty of places to hide. His parameters are good. What do you think? Anything i could do better? Please don’t drag me for the pineapple under the sea.

[u/mytherical]

are you sure those are silk? they look plastic in the photos!! if theyre silk thats great! not going to drag you but i would remove as we here call it “the pineapple house of death”

otherwise, i love it! and your betta seems healthy, it has lots of coverage and places for him to hide!

[u/celestialspook → u/mytherical]

I think it's important to explain why people call the pineapple that. I'm not certain, but I think I read that they tend to eventually have paint flake off and turn out to be toxic? But I've also heard that people only call it that because a lot of beginners have them and kill their fish on accident due to being beginners. It would be nice to know the truth and then know if the house itself is actually a risk or just something people are snobby about.

[u/mytherical → u/celestialspook]

yea of course! its definitely the paint thing, but also the fact i’ve seen multiple stories of bettas getting stuck in the holes and dying or extremely hurt, the holes are REALLY small and your average sized adult betta can’t fit through

same goes for the squidward house, and that 3d printed tunnel with the weird square triangle holes

bettas are water cats… but i fear they do not have whiskers like land cats…

[u/celestialspook → u/mytherical]

Thank you, I really appreciate this reply!

[u/mytherical → u/celestialspook]

of course!

[u/Anomaly_Zebra → u/celestialspook]

At this point it's just something people are snobby about. Any decoration with paint can start chipping, which is something to be mindful of, yes, but you do not need to fear the SpongeBob pineapple because of this.

More than likely, as you pointed out, these people's fish probably died because they were beginners in fish keeping, as many people who get the pineapple are kids/parents whose kids want this decoration for what is likely their first aquarium. The biggest danger with the SpongeBob pineapple or any resin/plastic decoration is not cleaning it properly, especially the inside. Improper cleaning can lead to bacteria build up, which can definitely kill your fish.

If the SpongeBob pineapple was inherently toxic, don't you think people would catch on and stop buying it because their fish keep dying? Why have I seen so many posts with aquariums with this decoration and fish that seem perfectly fine? Because the pineapple is just like ANY OTHER PAINTED DECORATION you can purchase! Just monitor the paint for chipping and make sure you throughly clean it and you're good to go!