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Is it true that feeder goldfish are not meant to be pets, because they are raised in water that has certain chemicals in that would prevent the fish from living long?

My Scapes

I dont know about that, i have a regular goldfish that is about 10in long that i bought with other feeders two years ago, and i threw him in my fancy gold tank with my orandas and my lionheads for the heck of it when he was about half an inch long and so far he has outlived all the fish he was added too, hes as tough as nails, way tougher than the fancy golds i keep. The eating S*i*ing machiene is what i call him. But honestly i wouldnt recomend doing what i did without quarintine the fish first cause feeders carry tons of dieases because of the poor quality in wich they are housed.

Good point about disease. Reason I asked was because I was at my LCFS (Local Chain Fish Store), and many parents who didn't know any better were buying these feeder fish as pets for their kids, when there was a large selection of other goldfish to choice from. This place disgusts me anyway, but I go in there to rescue fish once in a while.
The other day had gotten a bristlenose pleco and sold it to me as a common for $2 USD.




My Scapes

Yea thats cool, i got a sailfin plec as a common once for 5 bucks, it was a steal.

Not true at all. Those fish have the same potential lifespan as any other goldfish, they just have higher instances of disease as mentioned. When cared for properly most of those are common goldfish and will eventually be 2 feet long.



Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

What everyone said is true, and it also depends on the store and their distributor. Eventhough they're used for feeding and therefore won't be living long anyway, they still need to be healthy. You wouldn't want to eat chicken infested with salmonella, would you? If I had a fish that required feeders, there are some stores around here that I wouldn't buy them from if my life depended on it. Others keep everything so clean it looks like you could dive right in and swim with the fish.

If you're looking to but some feeders as a cheap way to stock a pond, just be sure to look for stores that keep everything clean and get healthy feeders.

><>Dani<><

Last edited by gartenzwerfe at 19-May-2005 10:13

Yea and on top of that pick out the healthyest looking ones, most fish dippers arent used to diping specific feeders but they will if you ask. What i do when stocking my pond is i make the guy dip 30 fish and then i pick the healthiest 10 out of thoes.

What does dipping mean? Sorry, i am not familiar with the term.

"Dipping" and "netting" are the same thing in this case. The "fish dippers" being referred to here are just fish store workers.

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