Big Fish Problems

[weezawoo]

I found this quite an interesting read

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/content.php?sid=3759

The part about the The Animal Welfare Act of 2006 is the most interesting....

Sorry if already posted somewhere!

 

[england]

Hmmm well thats a question that will never get answers, i mean id blame the shops for selling them, but the whole-sale should not import them, then also people as a whole a weak, i had a addiction for tank busters myself, but i know until i sort my huge tropical pond, mini lake then im leaving the pacu / arowana and ariprima well alone, but one day, oh yes

 

[Liamm]

I believe the blame lies with both the customer and the LFS, shops should make you aware of the size of the fish you are buying, but also the customer should not buy fish without any knowledge of how to care for it.

 

[Gvilleguy]

I think buyer beware. With the easily available information you can find on your smart phone or computer, you should not buy a fish without googling it at least once!

 

[seizethecupcake]

I think buyer beware. With the easily available information you can find on your smart phone or computer, you should not buy a fish without googling it at least once!

+1

 

[Fishrule]

I hate it when I see people walk into the fish shop and see Afish and just look it up quickly before making the snap decision to buy them!

 

[MICKEYSWIFT]

You should do your home work on every fish you buy. You dont go buying a fish because its got pretty colours, or how cute it looks.
Every fish has a future and every bit of information on them should be taken on board! When i visit a LFS i always go there twice to buy a fish. For example i visit the shop see a fish i like, ask the shop to put it on reserve. I then go home look through books and on the net and get as much information on this species, not just for size but temperment and water perameters etc etc...... The next time i go to the shop its a look at health and see if there is any difference from the last time, if there is not and your happy buy it.
Its down to the buyer i think and the buyers knowledge they have or learn decides the final decision, no one forces a sale!!

 

[cheeky chappie]

over the years the food/drink industry has somewhat reluctantly put more and more information on their packaging for consumers, ingredients, GDA etc and there appears to be a constant review of how this information should be displayed for consumers to make it easy to understand and to ensure what is stated is accurate (e.g. is it accurate to say something is 'made in uk' if it's simply been packaged in the uk, that sort of thing.)

i digress a bit on mentioning the above, but i kind of feel animal retailers should be forced to do something similar e.g. for lfs a basic information note attached to each tank maybe detailing:

- common and actual fish name.
- country of origin.
- agression level (maybe the green, amber, red system.)
- numbers best kept in.
- food types accepted.
- required water paramaters.
- average size the fish will grow to.

okay all the information might not be digested e.g. a beginner might look at the water stat bit and be but at least the information is there. it would also assist the lfs staff in answering questions they maybe aren't sure about. i don't doubt many lfs would resist this type of legal requirement (e.g. folk might not buy a fish if they know it'll actually grow to 30cm) so it comes back to the welfare vs business question i posted before, but i feel, given we're referring to living creatures, the above step would at least help. and just because there might be resistance (as there was and continues to be from the food/drink industry) doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do both for consumers and the 'product.'

 

[Althamon]

There are a couple of retailers I have experience of in peterborough, uk and out of 5 local to me 3 say the average size, temperament, food type (eg flake, pellet etc) and ideal communities 1 of which doesn't use a colour system and the other two don't provide any such info.

The 3 are Maidenhead aquatics, pets at home, and the barn garden centre and aquatics, and out of these p@h is the only one which uses generic staff not always knowing what the fish is but they are also the only one who take a written note of number of fish, tank size and how long it's been running so all they need is the staff and you have a good baseline for others to follow.