Ethics in fishkeeping

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pepe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 7, 2012
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virginia
Just browsing through various posts today and found the nature of some to be rather disturbing.The number of people keeping arapaima in home aquaria is amazing.Are there really that many of us that can provide the conditions needed for such a beautiful creature to thrive in? In most of the U.S. and U.K. this would mean a heated outdoor pond just to start with. If you can provide all this great but for 99.9% of us this would be impractical if not impossible ; no way will it turn out good for the fish. Arapaima are an extreme example but we should be asking the same questions regardless of what species we choose to share our space with.Can we provide a home for this animal that will allow it not only to survive but thrive ?
The second thing I noticed was the infamous "how many fish can I keep in a whatever" question.Well, how many people could live in your bedroom? With food and a semi-clean environment probably more then that would make it a pleasant existence. I strongly believe that creating an environment with minimal added stress is more important to successful fish keeping then tinkering with water chemistry. Let' start bragging how long we have had a fish instead of how many.
I'm not an expert on anything ,just an old guy that cherishes life,of all forms. These questions can only be answered by ourselves and our decisions only have to make the individual comfortable.
 

Owain4

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 9, 2011
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amongst the trees
i see this alot with rtc's aswell. unfortunately they are in the aquarium trade and that doesnt seem to be stopping so there will always be people improperly caring for fish
 

aldiaz33

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Jun 19, 2007
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I'm glad there are others on this site that share my view on fishkeeping. I also find it disturbing. This site is dedicated to "Monsterfishkeeping", yet I only know of a handful of people with monster (1,000G+) fish tanks. Of the US MFK members, I am only aware of two people with tanks big enough to keep Arapaimas (JohnPTC and ArapaimaG), yet there are many threads with people showing off their newly acquired 6" baby Pimas. I see nothing wrong with buying a fish that grows huge, as long as you have a huge tank. The people buying these fish are in denial.

I questioned someone in regards to their future plans for a fish that grows to be 4'+that they were keeping in a little 75 gallon tank and this was their response:

"why wast my time going back and forth with you. You worry too much about other peoples monster instead of actually purchasing one for yourself and enjoying it. You live life scared, you think and plan life too far down the road. Why wast your time trying to cut me down I think you would have a better time asking sea world why do they keep shamu in a small aquarium."

The ignorance of some people is mind-blowing. He actually thought that saying that I "think and plan" was an insult! :ROFL:

The irresponsible and unethical MFKers really give the site a bad wrap. I know there is a group of members on this site that thinks asking about tank size is taboo. It's the equivalent of "snitching." I will continue to question those who buy these fish knowing full well they cannot care for them. I think the more people speak up about appropriate husbandry, the better off our hobby will be.

Fiat Lux.
 

pepe

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 7, 2012
6
0
0
virginia
To the man from Michigan; I don't mean to bash anyone! I just want people to realize the huge commitment they are making when they get such a large fish. Also ,this is the perfect place to state an opinion ;after all we are here because we all admire the beauty and grace of large fish and we would never keep a fish because it would be some sort of ego boost.I imagine a corvette would be less expensive over time then the care of just one Arapaima
 
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