Improving Fish Care

[rainbowpuddle]

Hi all,
I am a member of a group that is trying to change the way pet shop animals are treated (www.petshopsoc.com), we are really still finding our feet.
I am in charge of comming up with a fish care sheet for the public, for reference when checking shops ect.

Im new to fish so help would be appreicieted. Key points or whatever comes to mind

We think we will concider the animals from conception to ownership

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Argh...where to begin?

Well advocating "fishless cycling" is a good start. There are stickied threads about that posted here.
Also, the stickied "how to perform weekly maint" thread has some very good info.
Advocating proper labeling of fish including how large they grow and what size tank they need as adults also good.
Stocking information is a little bit more difficult since different species require their own considerations.

It should however be understood that pet stores do have limitations on what they can do and still stay in business. Pet shop tanks are usually overstocked and often run on centralized systems because that's what makes sense economically. A good pet shop will run a UV sterilizer on their system to help prevent transfer of diseases, label sick tanks, and quarantine very sick fish and new arrivals, but it must be understood that there are limits on what they can do. Not to mention, it's usually the sale of dry goods that keeps a LFS running...not the livestock.

 

[rainbowpuddle]

Thanks
Were do shop fish come from?
When you breed do you have to know the lines or does it not matter?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

Fish in a pet shop can come from a variety of sources...
- some fish (like guppies) come from local people whose fish have spawned (usually out of control in the case of guppies)
- "fish farms" are a major source of fish. There fish are bred in large numbers for the aquarium trade. Some of the biggest production goes on in various parts in asia, but there are fish hatcheries all over the world.
- others are "wild caught" because breeding is difficult. Some common wild caught fish are cardinal tetras, and ottos.

Fish don't have pedigrees like dogs, although for some species (like endlers and cichlids) it's important that they are "pure" because hybrids are often far too common.

 

[rainbowpuddle]

Is wild caught bad? Does it damage wild communities?

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

There have been a few cases in which wild populations have dropped because of over fishing for the aquarium trade, but usually with really high demand fish there are always breeders trying their hardest to figure out how to breed them in captivity. Also a lot of the times it's juveniles that are collected which may or may not have survived to maturity in the wild anyway. There are of course groups that try to watch out for different fish species, and work to get laws past to limit collection to safe quantities too...although they are not always successful of course.

So wild caught can be one of those iffy things. To me it depends on the species.