Animals That Should Be Kept Out Of Petstores

[Lynden]

My LFS manager was bragging today about how he was ordering Sterlets for the tropical fish section.
I wonder if the people buying them will have any idea on how difficult it is to accomodate these fish.

What animals does everyone else think should not be allowed to be ordered?

 

[fish_fetish65]

red bellied pacus
clown knives
and then there are some coldwater "sharks" that we currently have that get over 3 feet long

honestly, most of these fish are far too large for a chain petstore such as ours to order. people think they can slap them into a 20 gallon aquarium and be fine, despite the fact that half our fish get far too huge for that. i don't think we should even sell oscars. while these fish are great for specialty fish shops, in the chain stores (like walmart, for example) or even chain pet stores, they are too large... for the beginner fishkeeper, anyway.

 

[africantigerfish7]

I saw a place selling alligator gars, hydrocynus goliath and saltwater barracudas. Nice, if you have, oh say, all the space in your living room for a huuuuuuge tank! I'm assuming the living room is big.

 

[Teelie]

Most Snakeheads, Most of the larger tropical shark cats (Balas, Irridescent, etc) and anything else that grows over 3 feet in length. Those should be special orderd by people who know what they're getting into and have appropriate space.

 

[blackfinshark_3]

i always thought lions shouldnt be sold..............and people.

 

[Teelie]

Generally speaking, neither lions nor people are usually sold in pet stores.

 

[catxx]

pangasius catfish.
turtles that grow BIG.

both are in my LFS at the moment, the panagsius was brought in by someone and its in a 4ft tank (to itself), its 12" at the moment, i was discussing it, with a big book of catfish, and one of the guys at the lfs, finding pictures on google of pangsius, meanwhile they had a pig-nosed turtle in their cichlid tank, also brought in, currently about 10-13", not knowing turtles, i said "how big does he get?" the guy said...dustbin lid sized. why do people get these things as pets?? seriously!

they had 2 snapping turtles in a few weeks ago, they get dustbin lid sized too. and could take fingers off.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Red tail catfish.
I think lfs's should seriously reduce the numbers of common and sailfin plecs sold, particually if they don't sell tanks above 90gals, common and sailfin plecs are some of the most commonly sold fish at lfs's but few people have tanks large enough to accomodate them in the long run...

Elephant nose fish are generally unsuited to aquarium life in every aspect, even the most experienced and knowledgable fish keepers struggle to keep them alive in the long run.
They are intolerant of fish medications, often suffer from whitespot and starvation, they need live food to eat in the tanks substrate, they are schooling fish yet agressive towards their own kind, and some people say that stray tiny electrical currents from tank equipment like filtration or heating messes with their own electrical signals and the stress often causes them to die in the long run.
So yeah, these fish are really best left in their natural habitat.

 

[Lynden]

-Sea Anemones
-Pangasias Catfish
-Pacus
-Snakeheads
-Electric, Channel and Red-Tailed Catfish
-Dyed fish
-The list goes on


I had a small Elephant Nose that I really liked, as he fed well on frozen worms and would even swim at the front of the tank when I came in the room.

He died while I was on vacation because my parents thought my instructions for feeding were "too difficult" for the housekeeper.

But alas, I bought him from... Walmart... the ignorant beginner's haven.


And something that really pisses me off is how Iridescent Sharks are listed to grow to 8''.

-Lynden

i always thought lions shouldnt be sold..............and people.

What is this supposed to be?

 

[Torrean]

It's hard to say what fish should be kept out of pet stores. Anything that can't be kept alive long term in captivity ofcourse... I don't know a lot about what I'm talking about but I'd like to see less wild caught fish in stores. Also endangered species are iffy...then again there are several species that are endangered/extinct in the wild but flourish in aquaria (WCMM comes to mind)

I don't have a problem with most fish being stocked...red tailed cats and oscars included. My problem is with information. There should DEFINITLY be research resources in store. Like a phone book sized book of information on compatability adult size diet temperament etc. The little bit of marker on the glass stating common name and price simply isn't enough. The tags on walmart tanks don't even scratch the surface.
Another thing I would like to see enacted is a stop to selling fish into tanks they can't grow into. Even if the customer says I'm getting a 100 gallon tank in a year the employee shouldn't sell them the common plec they want. If they are getting a big tank in a year then obviously they should get big fish in a year. I consider undersized tanks animal cruelty. I mean really how would you like being in a box one foot longer than you are tall...you wouldn't even be able to turn around. I have seen 10" plec's in ten gallons...it isn't a pretty site.

 

[cheeky_chappie]

one of my local lfs' is notorious for having the weird and the wonderful ... sad thing is they don't ask much questions no matter what you're buying, sometimes they ask nothing at all. a few months back i was in there and seen a very cool looking shark shaped fish about 3" long. asked one of the workers about it and he laughed a bit.

lfs worker: hope you've got a big tank if you're buying that mate!
me: why's that?
lfs worker: cause it grows to about 8 feet.

i kind of laughed.

lfs worker: i'm not joking.

needless to say i didn't buy it, but don't think he'd have stopped me if i'd wanted to, even though the amount of people in the UK who can accom a fish that size is probably tiny.

 

[andywg]

I don't see the problem with snakeheads. In areas yes they are bad, but I can see very little problems with the dwarf Channa species being sold in the UK where they won't survive the winter. Their size (8" max) is not going to cause problems either.

A lot of those fish being listed shouldn't be generally available, but there are people who responsibly keep fish such as RTC, TSN and such. There needs to be better information, not draconian banning.

And keeping a shoal of 8 bala sharks myself, I am somewhat bemused why these should be kept out of fish stores all together...

 

[Lynden]

I don't see the problem with snakeheads. In areas yes they are bad, but I can see very little problems with the dwarf Channa species being sold in the UK where they won't survive the winter. Their size (8" max) is not going to cause problems either.

A lot of those fish being listed shouldn't be generally available, but there are people who responsibly keep fish such as RTC, TSN and such. There needs to be better information, not draconian banning.

And keeping a shoal of 8 bala sharks myself, I am somewhat bemused why these should be kept out of fish stores all together...

True. If the store gives good info about the fish, then few things are out of bounds.

I was mostly refferring to Walmart type stores We all know which they are...

-Lynden

P.S., why are Bala Sharks so bad anyway? They don't really get to a "tankbuster" size.

 

[wodesorel]

The problem is that even if you educate people, what's to keep them from lying? "Oh yeah, I've got a 100 gallon tank at home" and in reality they only have a ten.

I volunteer as an adoption councilor for an animal shelter. People lie on the application forms constantly - and that's for something as important as a dog or a cat. You think people wouldn't lie left and right to get a little fish? (Not I think that fish are any less important that mammals, but almost everyone else I've met doesn't share my views.)

 

[Lynden]

The problem is that even if you educate people, what's to keep them from lying? "Oh yeah, I've got a 100 gallon tank at home" and in reality they only have a ten.

I volunteer as an adoption councilor for an animal shelter. People lie on the application forms constantly - and that's for something as important as a dog or a cat. You think people wouldn't lie left and right to get a little fish? (Not I think that fish are any less important that mammals, but almost everyone else I've met doesn't share my views.)

I share your views. There's this pet store in a neighbouring town that you have to sign a big contract to take any land animals home. But nothing is required for the fish.

-Lynden