should goldfish be given away at fairs

[GSD]

yeah i agree that there mabe afew kids who look after them....like you did.But the majority dont theyre in tiny bowls.i mean i have loadsa of goldies in my pond that have came from bowls and to see them once i take them from theyre bowl and put them in their pond and to see them swimming about with loads of space makes it all worthwile for me.No animal(not just goldfish) deserves to live in a place which is so small they cannot grow or even move,just imagine it,not being able to move properly walk or anything liveing in your own muck. some people say there just goldfish,but they deserve better and im glad people are starting to realise that

 

[OohFeeshy]

The thing about goldfish is they are portrayed as a cheap, very low maintenence first pet for children. Its amazing what people can ignore- I commented on someone selling a 1 gallon goldfish bowl on Ebay, not being rude, simply saying its too small for goldfish but could be sold as a betta bowl. This is the reply I recieved-
Ornamental fish, not outdoor fish. I can understand outdoor fish getting to that size, but my six goldfish are all fully grown, and each are about 1.5 inches... when purchased along with the goldfish, I was made aware that two goldfish could live comfortably in this container, and so they did. This is meant as a starter pack, maybe for a child... not for larger fish.

See what I mean? I politely said that fully grown is the size they are ment to be, not the size they are stunted to, but as yet, I have no reply. It seems people are unwilling to face facts- that they cannot look after 'just a goldfish'. Pet shops tell them, they nod and smile and take their word for it. They don't even take just a few minutes to do a simple Google search on goldfish care.

 

[Sandusky]

This is just COMMON SENSE in my opinion. Where do you pick the goldfish from? Display TANKS, filtered, airated TANKS. Why in your right mind would you buy a fish that's in a tank and put it in a BOWL? Why don't they just put them in bowls at the store if they could live in them, it'd save all the effort in care and cost? The store can give the most BS information but they know enough to display them in tanks, why people don't get this is beyond me.

Because it wouldn't. They put goldfish in tank (and indeed, other fish) because-
1. Tanks are rectanglular so you can stack them up etc.
2. You can cram more fish in a tank than in a bowl
3. You'd have to do more maintenence on a bowl, as the dead would be more noticable, bowls get manky quicker etc.

You missed my point. I know they don't display the goldies in bowls because of those reasons, I was simply stating that the people whom buy the fish pick up bowls and walk to the tanks to look at fish. Now, those people just don't understand that they're taking a fish from a relatively good enviroment and placing them in a hap-hazard one by neglecting to purchase 1) a correct size tank 2) filter 3) air stone and pump. YET all those can be seen in the stores tanks and clearly the people must notice these but blow them off as something unnessisary for the fish. The stupididty and sheer ignorance of some peoples attitudes sets me on fire when they forget to acknowagle basics. (Not you Oohfeeshy, the bowl buyers. )

 

[OohFeeshy]

Ah right. Generally becuase thats what shops tell them. Where theres money to be made, shops will, and I guarentee less people would buy goldfish if they realised they could only have one if they got a 2ft tank. In this world where most people live in flats, people don't want a pet that takes up half their table. They want something to keep the kids quiet. And the fact is, if shops can continue exploiting the goldfish's hardiness, they will. It has become the norm to think goldfish only live a few years at most.

 

[paige]

i voted for no because its cruel and can be quite stressing for the gold fish but i'd love to go to a fair and win a gold fish though, another member of the family

 

[bribones]

people whom buy the fish pick up bowls and walk to the tanks to look at fish

now its at this point the man behind the counter should say hey that bowls no good but does he ?

common sense

? the first time fish keeper doesnt have any thats where the dealer should step in and advise does he ?
NO

Where theres money to be made, shops will

never a more true sentence has been typed even if it means selling a 18" tank with 6 fish when he knows its wrong

fish will be dumped put in bowls once again all speculation ,if we dont have faith in our kids they will amount to the beasts you all make them out to be

ill stick by my guns its bad advice that causes the problems nothing more nothing less

 

[Amber]

I voted no

We all know that some lfs aint so good but you can't tar all shops with the same brush and some do give good advise ive heard it myself, certainly better advise then u would get from a guy behind a stall urging u to 'throw the dart in the card' to win a goldfish

 

[The-Wolf]

people whom buy the fish pick up bowls and walk to the tanks to look at fish

now its at this point the man behind the counter should say hey that bowls no good but does he ?

common sense

? the first time fish keeper doesnt have any thats where the dealer should step in and advise does he ?
NO

Where theres money to be made, shops will

never a more true sentence has been typed even if it means selling a 18" tank with 6 fish when he knows its wrong

fish will be dumped put in bowls once again all speculation ,if we dont have faith in our kids they will amount to the beasts you all make them out to be

ill stick by my guns its bad advice that causes the problems nothing more nothing less

I have to disaggree bri
now I work in a lfs, I've lost count of the amount of times I, personally, have refused to sell goldfish to people that have/want bowls.

Just today I refused to sell two bala sharks to someone with a 2ft tank, he was sad that he couldn't house them properly but happy I told him of their potential size and that they need to be in groups.

Not all lfs's are in it for the money, however (sadly) most are.

 

[Paul_MTS]

I have to disaggree bri
now I work in a lfs, I've lost count of the amount of times I, personally, have refused to sell goldfish to people that have/want bowls.

Just today I refused to sell two bala sharks to someone with a 2ft tank, he was sad that he couldn't house them properly but happy I told him of their potential size and that they need to be in groups.

Not all lfs's are in it for the money, however (sadly) most are.

here here!!

 

[GSD]

there mmight be 1 or 2 (Eg mine)that really care about the fish but most dont and only care about selling more fish bcoz it makes more money.If they stopped seling them to bowl people theyd sell less fish which = less money

 

[OohFeeshy]

Yep, I know it was a generalization but true for most places. TBH, even my lfs (which I'm stopping going to due to their poor fish source) who on tropical fish, like dragon goby, put a label saying 'gets to x inches, keep only with large tankmates etc. etc' has a label under the smaller common and fancies saying 'aquarium/bowl fish'. It makes me want to shout at them. Lots. TBH though the traditional view of goldfish will be very very hard to disperse.

 

[cheekeyarab]

TBH though the traditional view of goldfish will be very very hard to disperse.

Totally agree with oohfishy on this. Whilst you may wish to berate people for the way they treat goldfish it is a belief that will be hard to change. Very few people feel the need to research gold fish as generally we all know somebody with two of them in a tiny bowl, we've seen it done loads of times and it creates our mindset. Until manufacturers stop producing these bowls attitudes to goldfish are unlikely to change. Winning goldfish at a fair just ontributes to the problem.

 

[bribones]

fair enough wolf and paul ,but your 2 stores out of how many ?and we are looking at worldwide here ?

ill just raise another point ,where do the fair folks get the fish in the first place if not from dealers ?

hahaha get out of that one

 

[The-Wolf]

ill just raise another point ,where do the fair folks get the fish in the first place if not from dealers ?

A valid point
maybe it is time to "educate" wholsalers/importers too

 

[cuba408]

I just wanted to bring this post back on top.