What To Do About Fish That No One Can House?

[jgray152]

YA bring fish back to the LFS sometimes is not the best thing but really, there is not much else you can do besides maybe build a very large tank somewhere in your house.

I brought back a Electric Blue which was about 5 inchs plus I didn't know he was a HAP and I have Mbunas so it didn't mix very well. I gave him to the LFS for free and they neve rput the cover on the tank, he then jumped out over night and commited suicide. I was very angry and so was my GF that spent $24 on him at PetSmart.

 

[Azaezl]

The lfs I got my senegalus from had them in a tiny tank, couldn't have been more than 30 litres with 3 parrots and no lid, they are escape artists, which the guy knew! Also the next day when I went back for another I asked what they'd been feeding them on as the first one wasn't fussed on bloodworms or prawns(he eats both now) the person who sold me the second hadn't a clue. He didn't even know what they were called, I had to tell him what to write on the slip. A few months back my husband bought me a black moor goldfish with a goldfish bowl(he knows nothing at all about fish) they didn't say anything to him about it being unsuitable and also told him to put 2 satchets of stress coat / zyhme in which nearly killed the fish! I went out and got a bigger tank straightaway.

Anyway my point is that if a lfs is selling fish to people without warning them aboout the size they grow to or asking if they have a tank suitable for it then they are just going to keep on selling these fish regardless of how many returns they get. Because for every 1 return they get they probably sell 5 of them. I think best thing is to report the shop to the rspca, or trading standards or someone like that who will investigate them. IMO I think the best thing for these huge fish are to try and find them a suitable home elsewhere or if you can't then it's not fair to let them suffer so a humane death is the only other option.

 

[fenwoman]

If u really care about cruelty ... spent ur money on helping the needy (human) rather than animal.

people say that to me a lot as I'm involved with animal rescue.
My answer is always " we each do what we can where we feel we can. I choose to use my time and money on animals. If you fel so strongly about needy humans, what are you personally doing to help that cause?

 

[oddball_lover]

But then again, if you take a monster fish back to the LFS, there is no reason why it should stay there.

The LFS should be able to send it back to their aquatics supplier, who dealt them the fish in the first place - one would assume that the supplier would have the sort of tank space to accommodate large fish, especially if we're considering large, commercial suppliers.

From what I understand, a lot of suppliers give the LFS the option to send fish back to them, if they are unable to comfortably accommodate the fish in the shop.

What the suppliers do with the fish, I don't know. Perhaps i'm being idealistic believing that the suppliers will look after the fish until it reaches the end of it's natural life

But then again, i'm sure that the large, commercial aquatics suppliers would also supply public aquaria and the like? So possibly passed on that way?


But of course, ultimately it's down to the LFS not to stock them, and even down to the supplier to stop importing them, making them unavailable to any old LFS employee who sees a pretty Red Tailed Catfish and orders a bunch in

 

[Miss Wiggle]

If u really care about cruelty ... spent ur money on helping the needy (human) rather than animal.

people say that to me a lot as I'm involved with animal rescue.
My answer is always " we each do what we can where we feel we can. I choose to use my time and money on animals. If you fel so strongly about needy humans, what are you personally doing to help that cause?

OT but...

yup, i've always said if every person on this planet picked one cause that was close to them, be it animals, cancer, poverty whatever and put just 1% of their wages and 1% of their time towards helping it out this world would be a massivley better place. It's not a massive commitment, sadly there are a lot of selfish people out there consciously or otherwise.

 

[KhaosInc]

So I had a random thought while brousing this thread after it was linked by another one.. and it might be better suited to better minds than mine.

What about a class action lawsuit... Especially here in the US, where you can sue and win over dumping coffee on your crotch, why not sue the LFS?

Picture this, little johnny bought himself a pangasius and the LFS told him it would be fine in his 29 gallon tank. (I know for a fact that my local petsmart has 8" as a max size on the tank they sell them in.. I've complained more than once) So little johnny loves his fish... and being a good parent you have to buy him an appropriatly sized tank and equipment to care for this fish that they sold him fraudulently..

I bet dollars to doughnuts Petsmart would settle out of court for $25000 to keep it out of the news.. now... if more people did this... bet those fish would disappear from the trade right quick.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

So I had a random thought while brousing this thread after it was linked by another one.. and it might be better suited to better minds than mine.

What about a class action lawsuit... Especially here in the US, where you can sue and win over dumping coffee on your crotch, why not sue the LFS?

Picture this, little johnny bought himself a pangasius and the LFS told him it would be fine in his 29 gallon tank. (I know for a fact that my local petsmart has 8" as a max size on the tank they sell them in.. I've complained more than once) So little johnny loves his fish... and being a good parent you have to buy him an appropriatly sized tank and equipment to care for this fish that they sold him fraudulently..

I bet dollars to doughnuts Petsmart would settle out of court for $25000 to keep it out of the news.. now... if more people did this... bet those fish would disappear from the trade right quick.

hmmmm good call. don't it would catch on significantly in the uk, although the claim culture is infiltrating more and more over here. perhaps someone with a better understanding of the legal system can comment with their views!

 

[alessasavoca]

It really saddens me when I see any animal, fish included being treated badly, an lets face it a tank too small is mistreatment. I myself have recently fallen victim to buying a fish too big. I was in Maidenhead aquatics of all places looking for some kind of bottom dweller for my 90gal 4x2x1.5 feet. I was shown to a Goby of some sort and told 8" by the salesman so I bought it knowing I could do some research on it once home as I very rarely go that far out to Maidenhead aquatics so wouldn't have a second chance. Anyway upon getting him home and settled I found out it wasn't the Goby I was told but a Marbled Goby which can grow to just over 2foot in length and will eat fish. This means I now have a fish that I cant take back there as they will just sell it to someone probably with an even smaller tank than me, but I am not going to keep this in its tank beyond about 10" as it is going to start eating all my other fish. This is an example of the situation people face. Unfortunately I have no idea what I will do with him (already quite attached to him as he's very personable) but this kind of thing will continue until there is a law passed where you require a liscence to own any fish that grows beyond a certain size.

Having a law that requires a liscence is the only possible solution to it, no other way will stop shops selling these.

I thought Maidenhead had a 'no big fish' policy?

 

[alessasavoca]

Blood worms are a single cell organism.

I'm sorry I have to debate that point.
bloodworms are the laval stage of the Mige, an insect from the Gnat family
therfore they are not singal celled organisums.

I agree, an example of a single celled organism is an ameoba (is it spelt right?)

 

[andywg]

What about a class action lawsuit... Especially here in the US, where you can sue and win over dumping coffee on your crotch, why not sue the LFS?

Picture this, little johnny bought himself a pangasius and the LFS told him it would be fine in his 29 gallon tank. (I know for a fact that my local petsmart has 8" as a max size on the tank they sell them in.. I've complained more than once) So little johnny loves his fish... and being a good parent you have to buy him an appropriatly sized tank and equipment to care for this fish that they sold him fraudulently..

I bet dollars to doughnuts Petsmart would settle out of court for $25000 to keep it out of the news.. now... if more people did this... bet those fish would disappear from the trade right quick.

I bet they have a small sign saying any advice they give is unqualified and each person must do their own research before making any decisions, thus defeating any such lawsuit.

Also, how does one actually prove that the advice was given? And the advice is free advice which is not the same as advice received from solicitors or accountants (and as such is considered professional advice).

 

[KhaosInc]

I don't know.. wouldn't be hard to bring pictures of the tanks with tags saying 'skill level : beginner' and max size 8".. and on the grounds I suspect none of those people are paid more than $8 an hour I don't suppose it would be hard to entice them to testify. Not to mention they are representing themselves as "experts" (just look at their adds) I think the burden of proof would be on them to prove they are not intentionally misleading the customers.

I don't know... Im a millwright, not a lawyer... just wondering about options to get these fish out of the trade..

maybe I should pester my laywer.. I'd be curious what he would say... or better yet, call the lawyer that sued me when the annoying human hit my truck, (that was parked on my property, not running and uninsured)... cost me almost $1K just to fight off that lawsuit.. and I know in other threads, people have worried about giving "unqualified" advice over things like how much weight a floor can tank for a fish tank... so why shouldn't people delibratly selling fish that almost no one could care for be immune?

 

[andywg]

I don't know.. wouldn't be hard to bring pictures of the tanks with tags saying 'skill level : beginner' and max size 8".. and on the grounds I suspect none of those people are paid more than $8 an hour I don't suppose it would be hard to entice them to testify. Not to mention they are representing themselves as "experts" (just look at their adds) I think the burden of proof would be on them to prove they are not intentionally misleading the customers.

You are missing the main point. There will be a disclaimer stating that each individual must conduct their own research and not rely solely on the staff. That disclaimer is there to protect them from any lawsuits.

 

[KhaosInc]

out of curiosity... I will look for one this weekend when Im in there (need some stuff anyway.. ) I know several of the employees pretty well I'll ask them as well..