I Don't Get It !!

[webcat5]

I don't get it. Maybe it is just me, but I have read quite a few postings in this forum (and others) that just amaze me. I don't understand why people purchase a fish only to return it. Maybe people should be doing more research before they go out and buy a fish that B) "looks cool" B) , or maybe when they ask for advice they sould take it.

I have a 3 hour drive just to get to a fish store, never mind the 3 hour drive back home and believe you me, I do my research.

Maybe other people have it just too easy and they have the luxury that if they get the wrong one, they can just go back to the LFS and say OOPS! Wrong Fish! )

This is just my opinion and I hope I haven't offended anyone.

Your opinion would be greatly apprieciated, because then maybe I could understand what other people are thinking when this happens.

 

[clutterydrawer]

I think somretimes people buy a fish that they believe is suitable for their tank eg based on what the lfs staff tell them, then realise it isn't.

Personally I research a fish for weeks before i even go to the store to look for it, i don't want the faintest chance of ending up stuck with a fish I can't care for so it just lives miserably till it dies. My lfs won't even accept returned livestock.

 

[OohFeeshy]

I research. Unless I go there and see a fish that I know they are not likely to get in for a long time and I know will definately be OK in my tank, I won't get it. By this I mean if the shop had a pair of killies, I'd get them, because even though I haven't done much research, they are hard to find, small and OK in community.

 

[WILDER]

Never bougt a fish to big for my tanks, though my sister has and i ended up with him a fancy goldfish in a 6 gal.

 

[sylvia]

I should first say that I don't return fish unless it's absolutely necessary (emergencies like if a tank cracks and I have no where to put them etc) and I personaly research every fish I plan to buy before stepping into the LFS.

However, I know a lot of (particularly beginners) fish-keepers expect the LFSs to offer sound advice - and so they should - but unfortunately it simply doesn't work that way. Or they might place their trust in friends or family who claim to know what they are talking about. No matter how it happens, these people think they don't need to do their own research (through no fault of their own mind you) and end up finding out they got the wrong fish too late. Oftentimes, getting a larger or seperate tank or making the tank suitable for these fish is too costly or whatever and their only option is to return fish. I don't like this, they should have done research beforehand, but it isn't realy their fault and hopefuly they'll learn from their mistake and next time will be different...

On the other hand, there are those who are irresponsible and knowing very well the possible consequences, walk into an LFS and buy whatever takes their fancy on impulse. I don't think it is fair to play with fish lives like that or risk them just because they know they can always return the fish or because there's a guarantee or for whatever other reason. Unfortunately, there isn't much anyone can do about these people besides telling them again and again and hoping that it will eventualy be absorbed and they'll learn and change.

Last there are people who have kept the same fish for a very long time and are getting bored and want something new in their tanks but cannot afford a new one. I understand this and I'll admit there have been times where I have even considered exchanging some of my fish for something else I realy realy want. I never have. I simply cannot take back a fish I have owned for several years, leaving it at an LFS with no control over who eventualy gets it, and replace it with another fish. In my opinion, if people want new fish, they should take the time to re-home their old ones with people they believe will take good care of them. We all know the sort of people who might end up buying fish from an LFS and I wouldn't want to take that risk with my fish' lives. Better yet, they should stick to their fish and let them live out their lives. Most people would never think of taking a dog to a shelter and then just replacing it with another and, IMO, people should think of fish in the same exact way. It may even teach people that maybe next time they should research their fish even more carefuly and make sure they want what they are getting and are prepaired for the full responsibility.

Sure, there are exceptions like in emergencies when your realy need to get rid of a fish or if you end up with an individual that is particularly aggressive or whatever and I udnerstand that people can change their minds and end up disliking something they already have and I accept all this and have no problem with it. Still, I think many people need to learn to value their fish more as living things and less as replaceable ornaments.

Anyway, that's just my opinion and everyone is entitled to their own so...

 

[BigC]

Some people will go into their local fish shop and are drawn to a fish straight away, maybe because of its colouration etc. The shopkeepers advice is non existant or is often ignored, they just gotta have one of those, regardless of what size it grows to, not to mention it's feeding habits. The extreme of this exercise is that they get their new charges home pop them in the tank watch in horror as everything goes haywire, the new fish is netted out and goes straight down the loo. The ones that make it back to the shop are the lucky ones. Next time you are in your local aquarist shop listen to what's being said around you, you'll be amazed at some of the things you hear....

 

[WILDER]

That went striaght through me, putting them down the loo, people who do that don't deserve to be keeping fish anyway.

 

[BigC]

I totally agree with you Wilder..

 

[webcat5]

The Point that I am trying to make is that with all the different resorces out there for people to use, wheather it be a computer or books, there is absolutly no reason for people to be returning fish to thier LFS or sending them down the loo. Like I said this amazes me ( and maybe frusturates me a little ).

The day people start to understand that your fish are a pet, just like any other kind of pet, will be a happy one for me.

 

[Blue Lobster]

Sometimes fish are listed compatable and when in the tank they are not. Research is only soo good.

Considering I have 3 LPS and one good LFS within 20 minutes, it leads to experimentation.

 

[webcat5]

Considering I have 3 LPS and one good LFS within 20 minutes, it leads to experimentation.

Experimentation with what?

Would you put a budgie with a siamese cat, just to see? I don't think so.

So why would you put two different kinds of fish that don't get along, just to see.

What Is The Difference?

 

[Ferris]

I sometimes have to return fish. The reason is I keep African Mbuna which are extremely aggressive fish. The rulebook goes out the window with these guys, sometimes I have to take a fish back because it is being picked or doing too much picking itself. Research helps but there are no guarentees with Mbuna, in all cases it is better for the fish to be returned.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

when i was a n00b, i selected what i *thought* was a trio of guppies, with an especially beautiful female. well, one week later i learn what a genopodium is and suddenly all the aggression made sense. since the "female" had been biting the points off the lyretail of my other male, i exchanged him for a lonely little tetra i had seen.

other than that there's just my pleco that i'm looking into rehoming. but if i can't find him a good home to go to immediately, i'm just going to keep him until i graduate. i won't make him go sit in some cramped LFS tank and possibly never be bought. eventually i will need to rehome the rest of my 70g as well. right now my plan is to take them to an aquarium society auction and redistribute them directly to tank owners. the guppies might be taken the LFS, but everyone else will go to a good home.

i remember in oddballs someone mentioned that their "brackish" dragon goby was doing extremely poorly and they were taking him back as soon as the shops opened on monday. someone else got onto him about returning a fish, but i can understand why that was the best choice. the brackish and freshwater dragon gobies are only slightly distinguishable and it would be extremely easy for any non-devotee to confuse the two. i don't think i could do it with a classification chart myself, simply because i don't have any familiarity with the animal. this is the sort of situation where i envision returning a fish because it couldn't be properly kept.

unless a fish has formed a bond with you, i don't really think its cruel to find it a good home when you can't keep it. mine will suffer less by being sold than they would if i were to pack them up, drive them home, keep them in overcrowded 10g's for a few weeks, then pack them up, drive them several hours north and then plunk them back into a barely cycled tank. up until about two months ago, i had been planning to stay at this school all the way through my doctorate. now i'm switching majors and plan to do my graduate work at a university 10 hours away. sometimes your life takes on unexpected changes and you just have to do the best you can.

 

[nightlife20]

soooo then.. what happens if you wish to start a new tank? ie.. u had livebearers but u wish to go onto somthin better.....

ppl can and do get bored of a certain type of fish.... not all of them have the option of settin up a new tank just for these fish that they can take back to the lfs...


i hate to admit it but i myself have done this (only once mind u)

i had livebearers but couldnt stand them after about 4weeks of them being in my tank... not only did i seem to have a stream of fry off them... but they were awufully big poopers not only that... but they were boring!


imo, if you can do this, and know that they can an will be resold.. then sure take em back.. as long as u do it properly (dont just turn up with a bucket!)

 

[abstract]

you all have approached this in a slightly different manner than i am about to...i relate this entire issue to human nature...


many, many humans are stubborn, stupid, all-knowing, greedy, naive, etc.....take for instance how many CHILDREN there are up for adoption...and how many different types of pets are being killed everyday because owners couldn't take care of them (dogs, cats, rabbits, etc)....

if we can give our KIDS away, what is a measily little fish (granted this is NOT MY BELIEF WHATSOEVER)? whatever the reason is, it often comes down to someone not wanting to admit that they are wrong, or being naive enough to belief that when their fish grows to over 2 feet long they will be getting him that nice new 240 gallon tank....it's not gonna happen....and people will never change....so all we can do is our best to inform others of their mistakes, and try to change their train of thought....without changing the WAY in which people think (not WHAT they think), problems like this will NEVER be solved.