The Sad Side Of Fish

[steve_jones83]

I am now a keen fish keeper and so am reaping the rewards of owning and looking after these beautiful things, but I really feel for some fish I see.

I work as a paramedic so go to many different houses a year. I have seen some fantastic tanks over the years but have also seen the opposite.

Why some people have fish I dont know. But saying that you can get a tank and 5 fish for £30 and many people under estimate Care fish need and deserve (fish in a funfair anyone) I have seen tetra's stuck in a slime more than water, a fighter in a Chinese box, a 30litre tank with must have been over 50 fish in. The fish must be under horrendous stress.

I find it all quite distressing especially as there not much you can do.

I take light knowing that there do many good fish keepers out there who provide a good home.

Just wondering of anyone else's line of work leads them to see these type of situations and how does it make you feel?

 

[jcabs100]

At my old job I was working at an air conditioning company and I went to this house where a guy had an adult sized oscar in a 30 gallon tankand this guy swore he was an expert on fish poor oscar

 

[micko]

I don't see them in my line of work but often see them on TV and wonder about the care they actually give fish.
I've watch parts of "the hairy bikers" they have a bowl and whilst I've never seen a full shot of the bowl you can see its clearly not big enough for the number of goldfish in it. I'm unsure how many are in it but the water is always crystal clear.

 

[MBOU]

Try working in aquatic shop mate. Wouldnt be the first time i've gone home and just cried because there was nothing i could do. People just dont listen...

And the people that would have listened dont either because they've been on forums and see all the 'dont trust your lfs' posts that decent shop staff dont get believed either.

Take yesterday... customer got angry when i refused to sell them any fish, let alone the 3 clownloach they wanted when to my utter disgust/horror.. they pointed out they already had 3 clown loaches and 16 neons.... in a 15L baby biorb....

 

[Gilli]

I know how you feel. I went into an arcade in Margate where they had a tropical tank that looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years! There was thick brown and green sludge covering everything and some sorry looking fish complete with ulcers lying on the bottom. When i pointed out that it was in bad need of attention the owner said "Yeah it needs a clean I havn't done it for a while". Why do people keep fish if they cant be bothered?

 

[holidayinn]

My job is stuck behind a desk, but have seen many ads on auction and classifieds sites, I remember one ad for Red Devils, seller must have had approx. 20-30 looked like stunted red devils in a 3 foot tank, think there was another ad just the other day - a pair of Jags and 6 month old fry in what looked like a 3 foot tank, couldn’t see anything in the photo, just murky water 

 

[Tizer]

As a thief i see many nice fish tanks, mostly by torch light, but there are the odd few that look terrible. Occasionally i've felt the need to do a water change for them while they sleep, but its a little risky so i dont bother.

 

[the_lock_man]

As a thief i see many nice fish tanks, mostly by torch light, but there are the odd few that look terrible. Occasionally i've felt the need to do a water change for them while they sleep, but its a little risky so i dont bother.

Tell ya what, Tizer, can you leave one of my business cards when you've done your burglary - personal recommendations are worth more than advertising. Cheers mate!

 

[steve_jones83]

As a thief i see many nice fish tanks, mostly by torch light, but there are the odd few that look terrible. Occasionally i've felt the need to do a water change for them while they sleep, but its a little risky so i dont bother.

Cool, feel free to rob my house and don't worry about waking us up

 

[-FighterFishh]

I have seen things in programmes like The Cafe where they have a tiny bowl with a goldfish in it on the counter. In some shots it's gasping at the surface, and in others it's just dead at the top

 

[xamy_valox]

On an episode of Come Dine With Me a guy had a clown loach in a Bi-Orb! The poor thing was in the same position every time it showed the tank!

 

[onidrase]

It doesn't help when the media and even those pictures on tank kits show such poor tank stocking like it's okay. My 29 gallon tank kit box showed a tank with loads of black skirt tetras, neon tetras, and like 12 angelfish on it. And the half moon 30 gallon marine land picture stock is like 6 blood parrots.

 

[tmh0921]

Unfortunately, I don't think a lot of people view fish in the same light as other animals....I think most think fish are mindless, nervless, decorations, where they look at mammals as animals that feel stress, pain, and emotions.....Unless you're a real animal lover, or you bother to get educated, they'll never know what they are doing to their fish who do feel pain and do feel stress....