Going To Re-home Them Later

[Miss Wiggle]

seen a load of topics recently saying someone wants x fish but they know it'l get too big but they'll re-home it when it out grows the tank..... just wanted to ask what people opinions on doing this are..... do you think you should only get a fish if you can accomodate it's full adult size, or is it fine as long as your prepared to make the decision when the time comes to get it a better home?

I don't mean getting a fish and growing it on in 1 tank then moving it to it's eventual home when it's big enough to cope with other tankmates or that sort of thing. But people getting things they don't have the room for and just keeping them as juvis then selling then or taking them to a LFS when they outgrow your tank.

Is it OK or not?

 

[SamUK]

i dont think so.


you wouldnt do it with any other animals.

 

[PaulEbs]

In my opinion, fancy goldfish when small are fine in a smaller tank, as long as the filtration is sufficient and the gravel is being vac'd. I know a lot of people would tell me I'm wrong, but so be it.

As long as you realise that your small fish won't be so small in a year or so, and you will be able to accomodate that, then I think that's fine. Obviously this won't work for all types of fish, some species may require large amounts of room even when they are fry.

interesting.

 

[SamUK]

thats not what was asked lol.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I don't think it's quite as bad as growing tired of a cat or dog, as a fish is unlikely to suffer emotionally from a change of owners.

I'd say it is all right:

IF you can be sure that when the day comes, you will be able to find the fish a better home
IF you are not encouraging an lfs to order in more specimens of fish that can only find homes as juveniles (what happens to all those cure baby irridescent sharks in the end?)
IF you are sure you realise in time that your fish needs to move on and do not leave it too late

But those are big ifs. Even if your lfs says now that they will rehome it, can you be sure that they will honour this promise 2 or 3 years later, when their policy may have changed, or the shop may even have a new owner? And will they actually be able to find homes for all the juvenile specimens they sell of some fish? Some shops seem to churn out enormous numbers of fish that grow very big, is it realistic to believe that there will be loving homes awaiting them all? And if there aren't, wouldn't it be better if these fish were only bought by people who can provide for them for life?

But if you have the right contacts, and know that a loving new home is waiting for your fish, then I don't see a problem. Some owners may actually prefer fully grown specimens, and then that would leave a niche for someone who prefers growing on juveniles. So I'd say this is something for the experienced fishkeeper with contacts.

 

[CFC]

Providing it is pre arranged where the fish will go once it has outgrown your ability to care for it properly i see no problem in keeping large growing fish, for instance if you have a friend with a large tank who is willing to take a large fish from you or you know someone at the local public aquarium/zoo that will add it to an exhibit.
The trouble is that there are already so many of the common tankbusters such as redtailed catfish, tiger shovelnoses, pacu, North American garfish and giant gouramies that most public aquariums already have too many to be able to take any more in and often these fish have to be euthanised the same as unwanted stray cats and dogs are so a huge ammount of consideration needs to be taken before buying them.

 

[Boo]

My honest opinion on the "will re-home later" To me this makes me think they are really saying " I don't care if you think my tanks too small, im keeping it, but to shut you up on the topic, im saying this"

i'm probably wrong (I usually am!!!) but that's what I think when I see that statement.

 

[PaulEbs]

what is this bloody ticker factory crap?

anyway, if you can keep upgrading your tank to suit your growing fish then that seems ok. but if you buy a fish young and think to yourself, I'll just get rid of it when it's too big, then that seems a little ignorant.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

My honest opinion on the "will re-home later" To me this makes me think they are really saying " I don't care if you think my tanks too small, im keeping it, but to shut you up on the topic, im saying this"

i'm probably wrong (I usually am!!!) but that's what I think when I see that statement.

yeah I've thought that before, but I'm sure it's not ALWAYS the case.


aye I think your all right about having something pre-arranged, if you absoilutely KNOW you have a good home for it to go to when it gets too big and it's not a million miles away so transporting the fish won't cause undue stress etc then it's fine, but sadly I think it's quite rare that this is the case