Angry.

[x Fish x]

As far back as I can remember my aunt and uncle have had a ten gallon tank. It's not the best, with a thin layer of purple and black gravel, a hunk of quartz and a few plastic plants, and that's it. I remember fish constantly changing, so much so that when they said they were bringing their fish over to us I thought they were bringing a quartet of Convicts. That's right, Convicts in a ten gallon. Jeez.

Well, instead, we get four Painted Glass Fish or Dyed White Phanatoms, an orange Balloon Molly, a lonely Neon Tetra and a Chinese Algae Eater. Sadly, they all went in before I could point this out. Dad is planning on 'getting rid' of the Algae Eater as soon as he can catch him.

I just don't believe this. My cousin (who's moving out) wants the tank, and I think not just for decoration. She seemed to think the fish were really ANIMALS and not just machines. What irks me is if we didn't take them, these fish would've been dumped in the ICE COLD CREEK behind their house. In the middle of a Canadian winter. I don't blame the fish, in face I hope they all live good lives in our tank and find other fish to hang out with. I hope the Painted fish lose that tacky pink color and grow back their pretty fins, and the Balloon Molly finds Mr Betta and Lucky- the other bachelor fish. I know the Neon will group with the Glowlights, so that's fine.

I just had to vent. I'm sick of how they treat animals in general. They are overfeeding their dog with the express intention of killing him. I'm totally serious, no exaggeration or anything. But of course, I'm 15, what could I possibly know about pet ownership?

-Sigh- Does anyone else have a Relative-Fish story?

 

[DarkSide]

Well my step-dad, when he was younger, he had an angel fish, he left the angel fish in its 5 gallon hex tank for 2 weeks on holidays, hoping it would die because he didn't want it anymore. When he came back there was an inch of water in the tank and the angelfish was in there swimming on its side. He ended up flushing it alive.

I currently have a painted glassfish too. I got him from my step sister, I didn't know he was actually dyed when I got him, then I found out. He leads a good life in my tank. He lost most of his dye, you can see little bits of it still in him though.

 

[sylvia]

Not relative fish stories but hundreds of stories about people I know who have 3-5 goldfish (depending on how quickly they replace the dead ones) in a bowl at any one time, common plecos in 5 gallon tanks, people who have tried to keep discus in coldwater (go figure!) and many many others. A lot of these people would probably not think twice about fluching a live fish either...

Just a thought here but if these people are trying to kill their dog (why are they doing that BTW?) by feeding it too much, you could probably report them to some animal welfare organisation... It might be difficult to prove but at least when it starts getting bad they can get them right away and the dog won't have to suffer.

 

[LoachLover]

I hate how some people treat animals like trash, it irks me.

 

[x Fish x]

I would, but my mother has this thing. If I call the SPCA on them, she will pitch a fit at me. And her fits last ages and ages- as in, months. There is no way to escape it, it drives me insane. Sometimes I hope the poor dog will get off his own butt and take his own walk- down the road to someone who actually cares about him.

People should be put in the places of animals. But hey, we treat each other the exact same way.

Edit: I didn't notice the 'Why?' part, I'm sorry. They're doing this because my aunt wants either a pair of black and white miniature Poodles, or a black standard Poodle. They say he's aggressive, old and untrained. I could explain exactly why and how he acts the way he does, but they won't listen. He isn't even old, he's five this year.

 

[corykitty516]

My mother in law ... I've ranted about her on here before .... one day she's gonna stumble across this forum and kill me but for now I'll rant

She had a tank that she SAID was a 10 gallon. It was, however, a 5 gallon. The ill fated occupants of this tank have been injected dyed glass fish in hot pink and purple (OMG she actually thought this was natural) countless tetras, an "algae eater" (common pleco I think) that she didnt know she actually had to feed so it died, a yellow lab that killed everything so she dumped it into a 1 gallon by itself, 2 silver dollars and god know what else. Following the death of the lab she put a betta in that tank that didnt live very long. The sole survivors of this situation were the SD's that I now have in my 55 gal. I'd like to actually rehome them to a 75 or 125 in the next year. The 5 gal in question is now my hospital tank.

We really need to convince humane socities to consider fish as "real" pets and not some magically animated toy. Maybe then they will be able to prosecute people for neglecting fish the way they would be prosecuted for neglecting and abusing cats and dogs.

 

[x Fish x]

People would still abuse them though. Even with laws protecting cats and dogs, people abuse them, because they still think they're just animals. If I ever crack around someone like that, they'll probably end up eating through a tube.

 

[LoachLover]

People would still abuse them though. Even with laws protecting cats and dogs, people abuse them, because they still think they're just animals. If I ever crack around someone like that, they'll probably end up eating through a tube.

Yeah you can't stop some people

 

[clutterydrawer]

whoa. if they want rid of the dog that bad, either have it put down or give it to a shelter. although i dont think dogs are jsut toys that you change when you want something prettier.

im so sorry you have to stand by and see this happening when you know how wrong it is, and i know how powerless you feel when you're living with your parents and have to conform to their ideas to avoid stressing them out....just take consolation in the fact that you are kinder and more considerate than a lot of people and are not causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

 

[corykitty516]

Oh holy cow! call the humane society ... do it anonimously ... dont tell your mom. If they dont want it that bad they wont mind if it is taken off of their hands. And even if it ends up being put down that just might be better than a slow death of heart failure and liver disease.

 

[Discomafia]

Yea, who says you have to report everything you do to your mom? What she won't know won't hurt her...

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

i really think you should do something to help that dog.
that is just such a cruel thing they are doing

 

[OohFeeshy]

I know I've ranted about this before, but . I have always liked fish, esp. goldfish, but have never had any. When we went to the pet shop we looked around the fish bit, and I said to my mum that I'd like a fish. WEll, for Xmas I got a 5 ish gallon Elite tank, advertised as a goldfish tank . I was looking on the net for info about fish and came across this site. I found out that my tank was way to small for 1 goldy, let alone 2. I told my parents, they laughed and said, oh no, goldfish only grow to the size of the tank. Then when we went round my nans for new year, she asked my step grandad if goldfish did grow to hte size of the tank. (they both think he's an expert because he used to have a pond) He said yes, and that- I couldn't have a heater because my tank was plastic, tropical fish were really hard to keep etc. So, since I couldn't get a heater, I settled for 3 guppies that the shop said were coldwater. Two died within a few days from nitrate levels (my fault since I didn't do a proper cycle), my mum went mad, phoned up the shop and askd if they had a policy on their fish, demanded I find the recepit. She's onl interested in the money I sepnt. It was only £4 ish, and because my friend is giving me free fish, I don't mind.

 

[Ben]

i think posted a thread about my reletives a couple months ago too.

i was at a movie and when i came back my cousins had hige smiles on their faces and told me to look in my tank, when i did i learned that they bought a small bala shark, a algae eater and 2 rainbow fish! man i was so shocked i took the bala and the algae eater to the fish shop the next day.the rainbow fish i kept until i decided to get bigger cichlids

stupid cousins

DD

P.S wtf why the <mod edit> would they do that to the dog? i mean come on! why dont they give it to someone istead of trying to <mod edit> kill it? ARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHH <mod edit>

DD

 

[the caretaker]

I remember being told that my uncle had a dancing fish! this was back in the 70's we went round one day and I asked to see it and to this day I can't remember which variety of fish it was, but to make it dance they used to put a speaker on the side of the tank and watch the poor thing flit around! the poor thing was probably driven mad before it died! people can be so incredibly cruel!