Exchanging Fish

[New Boy]

How many people take fish back to their local fish store and exchange them? I'm tempted to exchange some of my fish as they'll eventually get large/or have begun to nip fins of other fish and I wondered if that's fair on the fish.......part of me says they'll get to mix with their own kind (larger shoal in the shop than I've got that would be more natural for them) and be brought by an experienced fishkeeper, the other part of me says they'll be sold to someone with little experience who'll put them in a 2 gallon tank and it would be stressful for them either way .......

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

The way i see, somtimes you just have to take that chance...If your fish is gonna outgrow your tank/not suitable with your other fish/has become a bully fish/or your tank is over stocked/conditions not good for it/breeding too fast etc, then its better to rehome it and give it the chance it needs.
It may be bought by somone who knows bugger all about fish keeping or treats it badly, but on the other hand it could be bought by somone experienced and who has a good heart and can give it the love and conditions its needs; but either way the fish will not benifet from being with you if you cannot give it everything it needs- its better to give it a chance and rehome it.

 

[eudielynn]

I have taken fish back. I had three golden gouramis that ganged up on a fourth and chewed him up pretty bad. I took the three agressors back and got a couple of dwarfs. They are much more peaceful. I think it was better to take them back and get some fish that were compatable with what I had than let them terrorize the rest of my tank. Fish are just like people with different personalities, and sometimes they just don't get along together.

 

[OohFeeshy]

You could always put an advert up. Since your taking back larger fish, you could say something like-
Wanted, good home for *insert fish*. Grows to *insert adult length* so needs at least a *tank size*. Experienced fishkeepers only please.

 

[Zenn]

Now i only do this for a couple of reason, one if the fish dies, i take i back for a replacement because it goes under garantee, but only if the fish is actually dead, like my Red Tail black shark today, and so i got a replacement, because no one wants to waste money in this world, not when it cost me £3.99 for him, second i take fish back and excahnge them if they are aggressive, because the last thing i want is more dead fish on my hands, and these new fish killing my favorite fish that have lived in the tank for so long, otherwise i keep my fish and if they get out of hand i have other tank in which i can put them into now, so i dont think i will be returning a fish again soon unless this replacement Red Tail black shark dies for unknown reasons as well even when all the other fish are in perfect condition, it annoying and depressing, because that was the first ever red tail black shark to ever die on me

 

[pnyklr3]

I "gave" 2 black skirts back to my lps because they were god awful nippers. Killed a female betta of mine. I didn't care about getting any money for them, so I said "here they are, you can have them."

 

[Blue Lobster]

I have done it with Catfish after buying them and then doing research online.


That's how I found this place, and I haven't made a bad purchase since.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

For the last year and a half, the only reason i rehome fish for is my livebearers which breed alot, i raise the fry to a suitable size and then give them to my lfs usualy in exchange for fish supplys.
I try not too get emotional about them and i try to give them as good a start in life as posible and they have good genes so if they ever breed with other livebearers the fry will be healthy and also have a better start in life than most other fish farm bred fish.

 

[parker313]

I've done it several times and have no regrets about it in the slightest

I have a great lfs and they actually encourage returning fish as opposed to keeping them in unsuitable conditions. Just one example, I have 2 severums that I know will eventually outgrow my 46g tank. At that time, I will return them to the lfs and swap them out for something else.

They're just fish. I know that's like heresy to say around here, but it's true. They're not dogs or even kids, they're just fish. I do what I can to give them a great life while they're in my care and when my tank's not suitable for them anymore, I will send them back to the lfs so they can be re-homed appropriately.

 

[Tolak]

I feel that I am doing the aquatics hobby a favor by supplying quality angelfish to a couple of privately owned shops. They ask questions, & ask for water samples of your tank before they sell you anything besides feeders. People at auctions who buy fish pretty much know what they are doing, or they wouldn't be there in the first place.

The fish I see in corporate shops (petsmart, petco, etc.) are for the most part poor examples kept in bad conditions by clueless employees. There are some private shops that I won't sell to due to the lack of concern for their fish.

The shops I deal with carry quality supplies, we both help each other out enjoying aquatics.

Tolak

 

[troutfly]

I think that returning fish to a LFS is questionable depending on the situation. I have to agree with Zenn on this one. If a fish I just purchased has become a nuisance to my others, he'd better have is bags packed because it is shipping out. I have removed fish in the past that have decided to make targets of my resident fish and I will not tolerate that. If a fish dies(within 15 days) I feel it is the LFS responsibility to replace that fish, or refund your money. I had that happen when my local PetCo. sold me my first BGK(before I knew this much about them) and it was dead within 6 days. (It was in a 10gal. w/ Firemouths-They said there was plenty of room) I guess I proved there wasn't.

Do me a favor, I know I'm asking alot but it bothers me: B)

When referring to a LFS (Local Fish Store) don't lump them in with PetCo., PetsMart, Pets Plus, Wal-Mart or other box stores who can sell you a fish, bycicle, blender and a video all on the same visit. LFS are store like Aquarium's Plus, Bob's Fish-o-rama, Fins and Friends, etc. I know, I'm barking but it isn't fair to the honest fish vender when you throw the LFS monicer on the box stores.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

There isn't alot you can do in ensuring your fish getting a good owner when you take it to be rehomed at your lfs, but somtimes you can help ensure it goes in the right tank in the right lfs.

I remember a long time ago i had 2 HUGE female guppys- seriously they were 4inchs long, but anyways i had some probs with them as first of the females was producing huge quantitys of fry(like 40+ every 1 or 2 months) and the second was bullying other fish in my tank so i took them to my lfs to be rehomed.

I made sure the guy there put them in an empty tank and chatted to him about guppys, testing his knolege of them just to make sure they had a good chance of been looked after.

But it is true things don't always work out; once i had a batch of platy fry which had raised to adulthood and i took them to my lfs. All of them got sold within 2weeks but one of them stayed in the tanks and a couple of days after that they had a large whitespot outbreak and i came back a week later to see him on his last breath lying on the bottom of the tank looking very thin...

 

[Zenn]

I feel that I am doing the aquatics hobby a favor by supplying quality angelfish to a couple of privately owned shops. They ask questions, & ask for water samples of your tank before they sell you anything besides feeders. People at auctions who buy fish pretty much know what they are doing, or they wouldn't be there in the first place.

The fish I see in corporate shops (petsmart, petco, etc.) are for the most part poor examples kept in bad conditions by clueless employees. There are some private shops that I won't sell to due to the lack of concern for their fish.

The shops I deal with carry quality supplies, we both help each other out enjoying aquatics.

Tolak

I actually concor with your comment, it is a prime example of how poor people buy fish, because of lack of understanding on the employees behalf, and the lack of being able to facilitidate the requirements of the fish they are actually trying to sell, when i buy a fish from Pets At Home i spend one whole hour looking through them and seeing which are ill, which have torn fins, which ones fight and whichs one are new in, i always try and aim to go on a Wednesday to Pets At Home, because they get delievery of fish on Monday, the fish get quartine tuesday (They dont sell fish on tuesdays) and so go in wednesday when the fish are fresh and new, an hopefully in good condition, i always pick out the best fish i want and i sit there until they catch the one i want making sure they dont short hand me, i am sorry, it seems picky, but when you dont want illness or aggressive fish, you sometimes have to do these things, because the staff would have no clue what you are on about, the only thing is on a few occassions the fish seem fine at the pets store, but when ya get it home it turns out to be aggressive towards you fish and though it be depressing, it not a thing i want to have in my tank, i like peaceful community tanks, and so Pets At Home see me on a Regular basis that half the employees remember my name now and know my address off by heart, they know i want perfect fish that wuill suit a community of neons and livebearers, angels, one pleco and a RTB shark (New addition)... Sometimes you have to be fussy to get what you want even if it means exchanging fish, because if you look at it this way, someone else is going to come along, buy that fish and take it to a tank and community it will enjoy and then you would have done the fish a favour

 

[New Boy]

OK, so everyone seems to agree on aggressive fish etc, how about if you obtain some fish when you first get in to fishkeeping and really didn't research at the time, you then research as you get more in to the hobby (and don't rely on lfs staff as much - some give good advice but for every good one there's probably two bad in my experience) and discover that the fish are not going to be ok in your tank for the long term - do you exchange then? Or look after them as much as poss until the point you have to change....

 

[abstract]

do you exchange then?

why not?? i don't see anything wrong with returning fish at any point in time...