Review: Betta Bed Leaf Hammock

Nathan Hill checks out one of the least expensive products he's seen all year.

This is the smallest product I have in the whole building. I’m currently looking at a fake leaf and a suction cup. This is how I’ll remember 2017. Thing is, I spoke to a couple of Americans I know who trade in Betta, and they inform me that this is one of the best-selling products ever.

The Betta bed is exactly what it claims to be. It has no other role, it’s not food, it’s not a hiding place, and you’d need to do logical backflips to consider some kind of attractive decor. No, the role of this suckered leaf is to be positioned high up in the tank, with the blade jutting out flat at a 90° angle, for the purposes of Betta to take a quick nap on. I’m not making this up.

If you’ve kept Betta, you’ll have likely noticed that they get into some unusual resting spots. One of mine had a thing for lurking on top of an internal canister filter. In the wild, Betta splendens like to linger near the surface during periods of dormancy (given their habitats, it’s likely to be a mixture of predators and low oxygen that forces this). 

In aquaria, we tend not to have many high platforms in our tanks. So, you can see where this is going. You position your leaf somewhere out of direct flow, about 5–7cm below the surface, and the Betta can use it as a hammock as needed. 

The leaf is lifelike, which is ironic as most Betta set-ups aren’t. You can shape it as you see fit as there’s a wire that runs up the middle — be careful not to overflex it and compromise the plastic coating, as there are reports of the wire rusting.

Verdict

For spare change money, this’ll probably transform the life of your Betta for the better. Cheapest product of the year and I just got a pun out of it. I like it. 

Price: Mine cost £2.99 on a recent shoptour, but I’m not sure there’s a formal UK RRP. I found one for £1.99 online, but delivery was £3. 

More info: zoomed.com