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I agree with getting a bigger tank or a new tank.

Inky

each fish is going to be provided with a home that is appropriate, If the LFS won't take them and if I can't give them away then I will keep them as it is the only option....what other option is there?

i'm STILL trying to get rid of a common pleco i've had for a year or so.. hes too big for my tank... my hopes are my friends will buy tanks with income tax money... if not.. then... i'll probably try calling people. its not life or death if i dont get rid of him.. but my tank is a bit overstocked.

*Chelle*
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I love the fishes cuz they're SOOO delicious...

Most of the disagreements ive seen so far are actually inclusive as permitted as acceptable behaviour, certainly the unexpected can happen, but then very little about fish behaviour is really that unexpected. I think its a question about sensibly coming to an accomodation of risk and your ability deal with it. If you want to keep aggressive and territorial species but only have the one tank , and arent willing to go for more, or a bigger version, then perhaps you need to have a rethink,if you do proper research on you fish species, which frankly is something we should all be doing all the time, all these problems should be very rare.

The normal human reaction would be to have a fish, perhaps a bit of ignorance in the beginning is the norm unfortunately, as is having the odd spill or mistake , and have to correct it, unfortunately this does sometimes involve having to rehome the fish.

Nobodys slamming people for that, but what I would unrepentantly and immediately slam people for is not making even the vaguest attempt to learn by those mistakes, or take warning and advice from books or experienced keepers before making such mistakes , especially when such advice is often freely available on sites such as this. Complete ignorance is one thing, is usually forgiven and is easily corrected by a little education and the acquisition of a little patience.

Patience is unfortunately the one trait a lot of people lack, and learning it is essential to give you the time to make good fishkeeping decisions concerning the sensible acquisition of new specimens. You also have to make sure your reasoning is crystal clear and if a potential situation has a few grey areas, that you dont have the money or the tankspace to correct it, then for gods sake, steer clear. I think that is the MINIMUM requirement for fishkeeping.Its really not rocket science. Those little entries in books and magazines about social behaviour and growth , tankspace , water conditions and compatibility, are there for a reason. To impart to you the knowledge that prevents you from making mistakes , looking like a fool, and killing your fish , or habitually having to give them to someone else.

Everyone will get the odd difficult situation, fish can be unpredictable, and if people are willing to correct it as part of the initial attitude to responsibilty of pet ownership,then theres nothing for me to whine about, its all eminently forgivable, what I dont approve of however, is those experienced keepers who dont respect the fish, dont know the limitations of their own abilities, or worse ignore them and continually buy monster fish for their 20 gallon aquariums , predators likely to maim cagemates, and people who are insistant on jamming their fish full of territorial species that obviously cant be housed together without soe potential conflict, and then swopping them out continually until they get a passive specimen. LFS shops are for the purchasing of fish, not the constant swapping out of specimens until you get one you like. Not to do research and keep doing that is just plain retarded, or at the least very cold and rather sociopathic behaviour. Like I said before, people who are incapable of at least aborderline empthy with the creatures they keep are not truly suitable for pet ownership. They might make a good shop owner or importer, but they should never be ultimately be put in a position of long term care, its just asking for animal abuse to happen.

Everyone is responding here like im slamming their behaviour, and im not, primarily because the problems described are one off mistakes not likely to be repeated outside of some seriously bad luck.

But folks who keep trading fish and returning them (not talking about arranging breeding or the supply of fry here - im not against little trading for captive bred specimens you need to attain for projects that will increase animal numbers) just because it selfishly suits them to do so , or have no conception of the suffering they cause are the people I actively despise. Its one thing to swap out a fish for a specific reason that will benefit the fish, but it is not justifiable if you are the reason it needs to be moved on, ie buying a fish you knowingly realise will get too big for your tank or too aggressive PRIOR to the time you purchased it. Its just not good enough. I might forgive the odd stock swapout one or twice in a lifetime if you really hate the fish, but if youre doing it every month because you fancy a change you have become vain, pathetic, and selfish , because it can bring needless distress to the fish.

Its one thing for someone with a truly scientific research background to aquire specimens, do research behavioral , breeding and otherwise, who will share those results for the betterment of the hobby and the increase in knowledge available to keepers, but a lot of people are on a private mission to keep as many different fish as possible, are unlikely to share their results in any meaningful way, and contrubute nothing to the hobby except the deaths of fish and causing some fish to have to be rescued or incessantly repurchased. For me at least, that is a stretch beyond reasonable limits of petkeeping behaviour and something I find morally unacceptable, and I will do what I can to stop it happening.

Its only ever a matter of personal choice if it doesnt end in repeated suffering, and that for me is the nub of the arguement. Everyone makes mistakes, but some folks out there are taking the collective urine, and I dont see why it should be tolerated.


I appreciate that stopping your LFS from accepting returns would be a catastrophically bad idea. It may be the only option in life that unlucky fish have to stay alive, but as far as possible I think we should be striving to make that trip a comfortable , and preferably one-way ticket to good and caring owners.


Does anyone here really have a problem with that?

So in complete answer to the original question what do or should you do with fish you cannot keep the options are as follows in order of preference.

1) doublecheck that you cant keep it. Perhaps with a new tank, or increasing the suitability of the old one, making modifications etc.

2) doublecheck again.

3) give it to a friend or acquaintance that you have vetted to the best of your ability, preferably within distance of perhaps visiting it occasssionally or parhaps even incidentally in the course of your travels. Dont be in a rush to rehome the fish if it literally isnt in danger of death, bide your time and find a good home . ps this is really the last nice option on the list, after this it gets a bit crap frankly.

4) If you must go to the lfs, do it to see if you can meet another keeper who would take it off your hands and look after it well before actually rushing to offer it to the shop. A lot of shop owners may keep their own fish and if its a nice specimen they want the fish themselves or know someone who will blissfully take it off your hands. Dont expect amazing results though.

4b) flog it on aquabid , total lottery unfortunately.

5) An animal rescue, these folks are busy, and hard up for cash, a lot of them dont have the equipment to cater for fish, but if things are that desperate give it a go. If they will take it , dont forget to give them a donation you miserable swine . Smile and say thanks a lot, hang your head in shame.

6) A zoo. If you have a common species of fish this is probably a non-option, but the odd keeper might keep fish privately or know someone else who does,. Rehoming fish isnt their job, and for many reasons it almost certainly wont end up on display in an aqaurium unless they were in the market for specimens. They usually arent. That zoos will want your fish, frog, reptile, mammals , or anything else for other than feeder items is probably the biggest myth people seem to regularly believe. If you have an exceptional and rare fish , they might indulge you, but dont expect that as an average reaction. The average reaction will be a more pleasant version of the statement " im not putting that manky fish in a tank with my beautiful rare, and prized specimens, and frankly ive got enough to do without quarantining every damn guppy that comes my way. Ask jim over in reptiles, hes got some newborn caiman and the food order is late ". Some really compassionate animal lovers do hang around in zoos though, so it might be worth a shot as a last resort.Some zoos have active communities both on the net and in clubs and seminars they hold, and its there that you may find the odd willing home. The zoo itself will have no structured help for the rehoming of unwanted pets. Besides which a lot of zoos are run on a tight budget and they cant just take in an influx of unwanted pets , even if they might want to help.

7) The termination of the animal. This is the ultimate failure of any petkeeper. You are an irresponsible , lazy and immoral fool, who if you have an iota of pride left should seriously avoid the responsibilty of pet care for the rest of your life. It is however marginally better than letting the fish slowly languish and die of disease in a crap tank.
No pet should ever end up here because you wanted a pet and simply wanted to get rid of it. It is the final avoidance of suffering for the truly rubbish animal keeper, and the very last shred of dignity an animal may have.

er.. thats about it.

Actually esandbergers comment is the most interesting one - feeder fish that the fish wont eat, thats kind of hilarious, mind you it happens with reptiles too, a lot of reptile owners have ended up with mice rats, even guinea pigs and rabbits they hadnt planned on.And its a tricky one to solve, do you keep the fish in with a predator that might psychologically stress them , or if they look happy enough, do you just go with it? Anyone out there want some rosies who lives near him? lol. Ok, technically that might be a good arguement for rehoming at a rush, especially since a lot of laws (depending whereyou are) state that you must offer prey items only once in 24 hours and that the animal must be otherwise well treated.. the get-out clause might be that rosies eventually grow beyond the size some angels may consider them prey, then I guess they go from feeder to community fish. Legal context for animal welfare is a bit confused to say the least... some places fish have no rights in any context. I guess the moral of the story is dont offer angels live fish, a lot are very happy on flake and worms and never think of touching a live fish.

Wow, Longhaired writes long replys.

I think i got most of that...

But i do think that unless you can provide the fish with a PERMENANT home, then you shouldn't buy it, or get rid of it, it is however different if you buy a fish well suited to your tank, but the they start bullying all your other fish (EVIL platy) or another reason where it is in the fishes best intrests to have it rehomed.

My platy though, is going to a 55 gallon tank, so i think he should be VERY happy in there

Wow!! When I posted this question I really didn't expect it to turn into a philosophical discussion on what was moral or amoral in fish keeping. Or who should be keeping fish or who shouldn't be.

But, if you ask a question you must be willing to hear all opinions and answers.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Questions change a lot. When i was posting about stocking, it turned into a debate about weather or not Corys ate algea

Lol its all connected, while it seems a little off-topic the reasoning behind the decision is important. Its also common culture for a lot of people to just keep chucking fish back at shops for almost any reason, so I thought it might help to elaborate.I would have been churlish of me not to explain why

Dont you feel better for having the input?

You might have had one response that said "yeah , I give em to the shop " and that be it.

Stirred it up a little for ya

Dont you feel better for having the input?

Absolutely, I wanted all inputs from anyone interested in the subject. I'm just always a bit surprised by the thought processes from one member to the next.

I agree that returning a fish to the LFS is not the necessarily best thing to do, but if the only option left to an individual is to otherwise euthanize, then the question becomes "Which is best?".

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I have done several things. I have given to friends. I have given to LFS(or sold). Another option is looking into local fish clubs. I am lucky to have 2 in my area, both which have fish auctions. I have sold many fish at those. Mind you I will never move a sick fish, all my specimens sold/given away are better quality than any LFS. I happen to be in this predicament today, although fairly new grounds,with a SW snowflake eel. I have a lionfish arriving tomorrow. The eel attacked and killed my last Lion about 5 weeks ago. The Lion was the main goal of the SW, so not trusting the EEl, he must go. I hope Joe, my LFS guy, is having a good day. They just happen to get their fish shippment in today, so I hope they didn't get any Eels, LOL.

Well, I did have to return 1 fish and I hope to never again. At the time i only had a 30gal show.When I went to stock the tank, I really wanted a Black Ghost Fish. The LFS said they were slow growers. He was only 3" large. I know in time I was going to buy a 55+ tank. However, not in the amount of time I needed to. I hardly ever saw the guy, he hid a lot so didn't know how big he got. One day, I went out and bought 10 Neons. The next morning 2 or 3 were missing. I surched the tank and could not find him. The following morning all 7 that were left were accounted for so I thought nothing of it. Third morning, again, 3 missing. Damn i thought, I again searched and searched. As I was searching, mr knife came out, "S*#t" he was huge. And he was not hungry at all. lol. My Black Ghost was 15" long in only 6 months. (grow slow my a**) So I took him in to a very good LFS who were more then happy to have him and they found him a home in a much much larger tank. I am sure, right now, he is One HAPPY Happy fish. (I think he is in 100gal tank)

.....slow growers not

See my profile (link below) for fish and setup.

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.