Fish in Secondhand tanks

[Hopester]

I've seen a few tank set ups for sale on ebay with fish included.

What would be members attitudes to this?

I want a bigger tank but I want it with the fish of my choice.

What would you do with unwanted fish?

 

[emma12321]

Ask at your local fish shop if they take unwanted fish. Some will take them for cash or credit note, others will just take them but not give you anything for them. A small fish only shop will probably be more likely to take them, pets at home and garden centres etc usually won't. You could also ask in the buy, ,swap section on this forum if you know what fish may be available and get some homes lined up in advance.

Emma

 

[rdd1952]

Good question. About the only option would be to see if your LFS would let you exchange them for what you want. That will probably depend on what they are and how big they are. Also, only a true LFS is likely to do it. LPSs like Petsmart, Petco, etc almost surely won't.

 

[Fella]

I've seen a few tank set ups for sale on ebay with fish included.

What would be members attitudes to this?

I want a bigger tank but I want it with the fish of my choice.

What would you do with unwanted fish?

[snapback]920907[/snapback]​

As you're in nottingham, it might be worth giving wharf aquatics a call, I'm sure they'd consider it.

 

[Durbkat]

Yeah for example feeders supply will take the fish and let you exchange it or get store credit but the bad thing is they kill the fish after you leave.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Or offer them for free on here, there should be a few people near you who wouldn't mind taking them.

 

[SirMinion]

Or offer them for free on here, there should be a few people near you who wouldn't mind taking them.

[snapback]921010[/snapback]​

Good advice.

When we bought a second hand Juwel Rio 240, it came with three scissor tails and a tiny albino cory.
We kept the cory and added him to our albino cory flock and gave the rasboras to our LFS who sold them on.

We didn't ask for store credit because the store was doing US a favour by taking them.

 

[WAG741L]

I've seen a few tank set ups for sale on ebay with fish included.

What would be members attitudes to this?

I want a bigger tank but I want it with the fish of my choice.

What would you do with unwanted fish?

[snapback]920907[/snapback]​

We bought a 4' from Ebay with fish included.

I was not particularly interested in the fish, really just the set-up. We discussed via email with the owner as to how it would be done, and I asked him to half-empty it so that when we got there, the fish could be bagged immediately for minimum time, and we could take down the tank.

We had already set up a 10g to take the fish temporarily while we set up again. We thought it would be for a day or two.

When we went to collect it, the owner had half-emptied it as requested, but tank was disgusting - u/g filter with three uplifts, two blocked off, and middle one only operating a power filter - wholly inadequate for environment. Gravel was black, rank and slimy, and it was clear that everything in tank would need thorough cleaning before fish could be returned. But we did take a bucket of cloudy brown water to add to the hex, despite our reservations.

Felt very guilty about fish in 10g, but they were still better off than they had been.
We managed them with frequent water changes, much aeration, and an abundance of 'hiding' plants. They are now back in the 4' tank, no fatalities since (one fish was DOA when we got home) - and all this trouble for fish I did not particularly want!

But if you do it, you have an obligation to the fish. I suppose there are some people who will 'go through the motions' (and believe me, there were enough motions in THAT tank), and possibly dump the bagged fish in a bin down the road so they can do their own thing as and when they choose.

The fish in this transaction were nothing special - but they were part of the package, they are my responsibility, and I will accommodate them until they are gone. I doubt any LFS would take them on because they are of uncertain age, they are oddball remants of a kind of graveyard community tank. And I could not live with myself if I thought they were being killed as I walked out of the door ...