Betta fish (fighting fish) do not need oxygenated water, but they DO need filtration. One betta can live in a bowl IF you give him a filter of some kind. A miniature 1-gallon tank with a built-in filter is probably your best bet. Esclipse System 2 or Hex 5 is an excellent choice.
Bettas CANNOT survive in a vase with a plant on top, because they are carnivorous. They cannot eat algae or plant roots, and the plant's roots do not oxygenate the water--only the leaves do that. But it takes over a month for a healthy betta to starve to death, so most people assume the problem was disease or something else, and do not realize that the poor betta was killed by their bad choice in living situation.
You can keep a betta in a plant vase IF there is open water at the top for him to breathe (they breathe air like we do with a special "labrynth organ") AND you feed him every day with betta food AND you change the water regularly. If the tank is less than one gallon, you must change the water every day or every other day at least. If the bowl is 1 or 2 gallons ,change the water twice a week. If it is larger than that, it's probably a fish tank with a filter, and you only need to change part of the water once a week.
Betta fish WILL DIE without daily or semi-daily water changes in a bowl or tank without filtration. They are quite sensetive, as their long fins are vulnerable to fin rot.
All this aside, they make excellent and engaging pets, and in an aquarium 2 or more gallons with interesting things inside it, they have lots of fun behaviors to watch. Putting such a nice pet into a tiny bowl is really cheating both the fish and yourself.
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