HOW TO CARE FOR LIVEBEARERS THAT ARE OVERCROWDING MY TANK

[meezazee]

Hi all, I’m in desperate need of advice / a listening ear. In March last year I got a 30 L fish tank, went to the pet shop and told lady that my dream was to have a planted tetra tank. She told me my tank wasn’t suitable and I understood. I said for now can I have a beginner level fish that wouldn’t multiply and that was suitable for my sized tank. Anyways, she sold me two platy fish, which she said aren’t livebearers and are suitable for my tank. Being new to the hobby I just expected she would know what she was talking about. I of course later researched and realised she was wrong.
Anyways, I got home and a few days later the fish gave birth to fry (of course haha). I ended up with 30 + growing babies and they all survived. I didn’t know what to do, as they were stressed being in such a small tank, pet shop wouldn’t take the babies, and told me I needed a bigger tank to care for the platties.
I have since bought a 200 L tank and put 6 neons in there which was my dream, plus the platties, but the platties multiplied like crazy, and I’m scared it is getting far too overcrowded for the tetras to thrive.

I have tried to donate the fish to pet shops and have called EVERY pet shop within a 3 hour radius of my home. None will take the fish. I tried to give some away online on Gumtree, and after a year of the ads being up, have managed to give away two fish. I have tried to ask for help on Facebook groups, but you are not allowed to bring up fish exchanges, Even if just asking for advice. I’ve called a bunch of aquarium shops in this country too, all of which told me that I will find it near to impossible to give away fish here in Australia as people don’t want the chance of infected fish affecting their stock.

Does anyone have any advice on what to do? I know this is a long post and perhaps I’m just venting more than anything, but has anyone had a similar experience?

And please bare in mind I will do my utmost to care for the platties and will of course keep them safe. If anything, I can laugh over having so many babies despite having no boyfriend. XD

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Oh man, I'm so sorry you've had this experience! What a rough introduction to the hobby, and you're sadly not alone there in being given bad advice from a fish store.

My first urge would be to return to the fish store that gave you the advice and sold you the platies, and do your best Karen impersonation. Insist that they mis-sold you these fish, and they must take back the fish and the offspring. Ask to speak to the manager. Threaten bad online reviews. Kick up a bit of a fuss if they give you aggro, because they've ruined your introduction to the hobby by giving you terrible advice and giving you gravid female fish. They could have sold you platies even, if they'd made sure to only give you males. That you'd asked for fish that wouldn't breed out of control like this, and they lied to you.

Are there any other sale/trade platforms besides Gumtree in Aus that are more popular now? Do some searches for platies for sale, and you might find where you can sell or give them away. Try to sell them in batches - that's how I rehomed the last batches of my guppy fry. Also look for livebearer clubs or societies in your area, and see whether any members of those will be willing to take all of the platies off your hands.

I ran into the same issues with trying to rehome fish on FB. FB has cracked down hard on live animal sales/trades on their platform for good reason, but it does make it tough for hobbyists like us.

@Colin_T is in Aus, he may have more ideas!

 

[meezazee]

Oh man, I'm so sorry you've had this experience! What a rough introduction to the hobby, and you're sadly not alone there in being given bad advice from a fish store.

My first urge would be to return to the fish store that gave you the advice and sold you the platies, and do your best Karen impersonation. Insist that they mis-sold you these fish, and they must take back the fish and the offspring. Ask to speak to the manager. Threaten bad online reviews. Kick up a bit of a fuss if they give you aggro, because they've ruined your introduction to the hobby by giving you terrible advice and giving you gravid female fish. They could have sold you platies even, if they'd made sure to only give you males. That you'd asked for fish that wouldn't breed out of control like this, and they lied to you.

Are there any other sale/trade platforms besides Gumtree in Aus that are more popular now? Do some searches for platies for sale, and you might find where you can sell or give them away. Try to sell them in batches - that's how I rehomed the last batches of my guppy fry. Also look for livebearer clubs or societies in your area, and see whether any members of those will be willing to take all of the platies off your hands.

I ran into the same issues with trying to rehome fish on FB. FB has cracked down hard on live animal sales/trades on their platform for good reason, but it does make it tough for hobbyists like us.

@Colin_T is in Aus, he may have more ideas!

Thank you for the sweet reply @AdoraBelle Dearheart !! Oh man, I can't be a Karen haha. I have gone back to the shop multiple times and they unfortunately can't do anything, as it would jeopardise the health of other fish mixing them in together in shop tanks (and the lady doesn't work there anymore so they can't vouch for what happened).
There are a few platforms other than Gumtree which I've tried but no luck. I'll definitely look into livebearer clubs which I haven't done yet. Thanks for the advice!
And yep for sure, I don't blame FB for their rules, I understand, it's just frustrating. I of course also know that it's partly my fault for not researching enough before all this, so I don't blame the shop lady and I know as with most hobbies, there is a learning curve. I hope I get it right one day!

Thanks again,
Mia

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Thank you for the sweet reply @AdoraBelle Dearheart !! Oh man, I can't be a Karen haha. I have gone back to the shop multiple times and they unfortunately can't do anything, as it would jeopardise the health of other fish mixing them in together in shop tanks (and the lady doesn't work there anymore so they can't vouch for what happened).
There are a few platforms other than Gumtree which I've tried but no luck. I'll definitely look into livebearer clubs which I haven't done yet. Thanks for the advice!
And yep for sure, I don't blame FB for their rules, I understand, it's just frustrating. I of course also know that it's partly my fault for not researching enough before all this, so I don't blame the shop lady and I know as with most hobbies, there is a learning curve. I hope I get it right one day!

Thanks again,
Mia

The shop will have quarantine tanks out back that aren't on the same sump system where they could quarantine your fish - they just don't want to deal with it. It's simple enough for them to run a sponge filter on a separate tank for them.

If they have every tank in their shop connected through a shared sump system, then trust me, never, ever buy fish from them again! Fish arrive from fish farms abroad with diseases too - ich outbreaks are super common in stores because of this and the stress fish go through with shipping, and it spreads like wildfire. Many fish also arrive carrying worm burdens. If all of their tanks are connected, then if one fish is sick, they're all at risk. Terrible way to run a fish store these days when there are better options now!

 

[emeraldking]

I'm more amazed about the fact that an lfs employee considers a platy not being a livebearer. Of all livebearing toothcarps... platies, swordtails, guppies and mollies should be basic stuff for them.

 

[Colin_T]

The big issue with pet shops in Australia is the new chain stores that have opened up and only buy fish from their suppliers (Aquarium Industries and Bay Fish). They refuse to buy anything from customers for fear of disease. However, when I said the only fish I had in my tank was from their shop, and therefore any diseases that might be in my tank came from their shop, they weren't interested. So you have to find a non chain store to sell to and there are a few around.

If you are in Perth there are a few shops that buy fish. Veba's Aquarium, Pet Magic in Cannington, Morley Aquarium, Midland Pets.

In the eastern states there should be pet shops that aren't chain stores and they buy fish. There are also 2 fish wholesalers (Aquarium Industries and Bay Fish) over east and they might take them or know of a local store that might take them from you.

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I don't know of any livebearer fish clubs in Australia but there might be an aquarium society in your town and you could go to the meetings and donate the fish for the raffle table. However, most societies closed down due to covid and meet online now.

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You could contact the local primary schools and high schools and see if they have an aquarium and want some platies.

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Post an add at the library or local shopping centre bulletin board saying free platies, local pickup only. Same deal with eBay or Gumtree.

 

[meezazee]

I'm more amazed about the fact that an lfs employee considers a platy not being a livebearer. Of all livebearing toothcarps... platies, swordtails, guppies and mollies should be basic stuff for them.

Right! Now that I know more I'm very surprised too! But at the time, I just thought, okay, fair enough. I guess she knows what she's saying.

 

[GaryE]

It's a tough situation, for sure.

The disease issue is ludicrous. I bought a pair of fish yesterday, from a pet store. farm raised. They will live in eternal quarantine, and get nowhere near my other tanks.

Hobbyist bred and raised fish are infinitely better than farmed ones, as are ethically sourced wilds. Numbers alone mean diseases travel through large systems more easily. Here in Canada, we see a lot of fish from Asian mega-farms coming in with Camallanus parasites now, as well as with Mycobacter infections, Ich and all the usual suspects.

A lot of the people selling fish know as much about them as they do about shoes. This may explain why I keep buying ugly shoes.

 

[meezazee]

The big issue with pet shops in Australia is the new chain stores that have opened up and only buy fish from their suppliers (Aquarium Industries and Bay Fish). They refuse to buy anything from customers for fear of disease. However, when I said the only fish I had in my tank was from their shop, and therefore any diseases that might be in my tank came from their shop, they weren't interested. So you have to find a non chain store to sell to and there are a few around.

If you are in Perth there are a few shops that buy fish. Veba's Aquarium, Pet Magic in Cannington, Morley Aquarium, Midland Pets.

In the eastern states there should be pet shops that aren't chain stores and they buy fish. There are also 2 fish wholesalers (Aquarium Industries and Bay Fish) over east and they might take them or know of a local store that might take them from you.

---------------------
I don't know of any livebearer fish clubs in Australia but there might be an aquarium society in your town and you could go to the meetings and donate the fish for the raffle table. However, most societies closed down due to covid and meet online now.

---------------------
You could contact the local primary schools and high schools and see if they have an aquarium and want some platies.

---------------------
Post an add at the library or local shopping centre bulletin board saying free platies, local pickup only. Same deal with eBay or Gumtree.

Thanks Colin. Yep that makes sense.
I'm in the east. I have called most if not all of the independent pet and aquarium shops in NSW (within reasonable distance to me) with no luck. I haven't contacted those two wholesalers directly, but I mentioned them both to the aquarium shop I spoke to in Sydney and they said neither of those take fish either. I will try to ask them directly though just to make sure.
I will definitely take up your other suggestions, thank you very much!

 

[meezazee]

It's a tough situation, for sure.

The disease issue is ludicrous. I bought a pair of fish yesterday, from a pet store. farm raised. They will live in eternal quarantine, and get nowhere near my other tanks.

Hobbyist bred and raised fish are infinitely better than farmed ones, as are ethically sourced wilds. Numbers alone mean diseases travel through large systems more easily. Here in Canada, we see a lot of fish from Asian mega-farms coming in with Camallanus parasites now, as well as with Mycobacter infections, Ich and all the usual suspects.

A lot of the people selling fish know as much about them as they do about shoes. This may explain why I keep buying ugly shoes.

I'm sure your shoes are wonderful.

 

[meezazee]

I'm sure your shoes are wonderful.

And I agree. It's frustrating considering the farmed fish come with way more issues.

 

[Colin_T]

I'm amazed the local shops aren't willing to take fish from customers. Any diseases in your tank will be in the shop tanks too because the shops have new fish coming in every week. And the fish they get each week aren't always free of disease.

If the staff know anything about fish and diseases, they can look at a fish and say it looks fine, or no thanks it has whitespot or fungus or something else. If the fish look fine, it's unlikely to introduce a disease.

You could try writing to the CEO of the big chain stores or even the smaller stores and ask them why they won't take fish from customers. If there are any diseases in your tank, it came from their store because that is the only place you bought fish and plants from. Then explain that the diseases found in home aquariums originated from pet shops, and the pet shops got the diseases from the importers/ wholesalers who supply fish all over the country. And the importers get their fish from the same suppliers in Asia. So if there is a disease in your tank, it came from them and is in everyone's tanks as well.

Sorry, going off here. Bad shops are not helping the trade.

Another option might be consumer protection. There might be a law saying the company that supplied you with a fish, has to take the fish back if it was wrongly/ falsely sold to you, or if you need to get rid of the fish. If shops don't take fish back, then people release them into waterways where they can cause problems to native fish.

 

[emeraldking]

Right! Now that I know more I'm very surprised too! But at the time, I just thought, okay, fair enough. I guess she knows what she's saying.

So, it's good to inform at an lfs but be careful to take it for granted... This might sound weird. But if an lfs puts sales first when it comes to animals, I sure gets some doubts. I need to feel the urge of the wellbeing of an animal at an lfs before I give them my trust.

This may explain why I keep buying ugly shoes.

So, I'm not the only one who does that...?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I, having the very same problem.

 

[meezazee]

I, having the very same problem.

Have you found any solutions?