Aquarium fish as playing cards...but with diseases...

[jjohnwm]

I am exactly the type of keeper you described. I don't think trying out different species is such a bad thing, as long as...

1. You go in with the expectation that you're paying for the experience of keeping the fish for a time, i.e. don't try to sell them back for market price once you're done. I mostly hand them back to the store.
2. You keep a "trial" tank, separate from the fish that you keep long-term as pets. This also serves as quarantine: if you decide that you do want the fish, it will have stayed long enough to observe and treat any disease.
3. You don't slack on incompatibility or stunting issues, and return fish in good condition instead of invalids with bent spines and tattered fins.

In fact, I do have a baby fish that I've grown quite fond of in the 20g right now, and it will go to the 75g once it's finished cycling. That will also be my first true "monster" fish. Any guesses on what it is?

I don't think you fit that mould at all...and bravo for that! I'm certainly not against trying new fish, not against selling/donating healthy fish to a LFS. My comment was referring to people who seem to have a shorter attention span than the fish themselves, and those who buy a nice fish, abuse/neglect/mistreat it nigh unto death...and then take it back to the store!

Then some soft-hearted hand-wringer pays the store for it a second time...takes it home...and calls it a "rescue".

 

[jjohnwm]

PS. It would be a dream to meet a MFKer in person, especially you jjohnwm . Getting roasted in real life has to feel better than reading it on a screen.

Be careful what you wish for...I have lots of air miles saved up...

 

[FINWIN]

On a recent trip into town I ran into an acquaintance who pretty much exemplifies a certain type of aquarist that we also see posting here on MFK; a type that causes me some concern, and I can't help but think that I'm not alone in this. This fellow was buying a half-dozen small cichlids and telling me about his plans for them. His hope was to "grow them out" and then hopefully get a pair to form, which he would then proceed to not breed successfully. Okay, maybe that's not what he said, but based upon past experience it's likely what will happen.

So far, so good, right? Typical strategy that many of us use to get a mated pair of cichlids, right? But, it's the other stuff he told me that got my goat. An arowana and a couple of catfish purchased a month ago had already been "donated" back to the store...some goldfish that he got from me only a couple weeks ago had been "re-homed" already...one of his live-bearer tanks had been decimated by Ich recently, so he just "sold" the survivors and got out of them completely...he was asking me if I wanted another catfish that he had only purchased last week, because he simply didn't have room for it...and a Flowerhorn had gone from "I gotta have that fish!" to "I am soooo tired of that fish..." status within only a couple of months and was now looking for a new home.

It was a real-life version of those threads I mentioned. "I bought an XYZ fish...dropped it into my tank at home...it killed one of my fish, so I moved it to another tank...those fish beat the crap out of it...moved it into a bucket for a couple days...but it got tail fungus, Ich and rabies all at the same time, so I brought it back to the store (!!!)....and they didn't give me a dime for it!"

I didn't ask about quarantine, because I already knew the answer: "I've never needed to quarantine!", usually stated with some level of indignation at the very idea.

He showed me a picture of the Flowerhorn; it looks like a fish that was hooked while angling and then dragged behind the boat on a stringer for the rest of the day. Still breathing, but...that's about all...

No quarantine...no thought given to compatibility or other factors that should have prevented the purchase in the first place...just fish getting sicker and sicker and eventually put back on the market for others to "enjoy".

Am I just being crabby? Okay, I know I am...but am I wrong when I say this is tiresome to see and hear? My wife was with me when my "friend" ran into us outside the LFS, and she raised an eyebrow when she heard me mutter "Oh, jeez, not this s**t again..." as he hailed us from across the parking lot and came over to chat. She didn't say much through the conversation...neither did I, actually...and when he left, she asked me "Is that the guy who had that fish he wanted to give you?"

I answered "Yeah, that was the fish in that picture he showed us". She just rolled her eyes and got into the car.

How about it? Am I the only who feels this way? Rant over.

Sounds like dude don't know what the f____ he's doing and just treating fish like disposable toys. Wonder if he would do that with puppies?

 

[jjohnwm]

I worked with an unbelievably cheapskate foreman a-hole years ago, and my apprentice and I were having a discussion about the young fella's new puppy. I am a dog lover and so was the appprentice. The a-hole listened to us chatting and when I mentioned that the dog should be put on a heartworm preventative medication, the jerk had to interject "Ya know, if I had a dog and it was going to cost me more than $25 for a vet visit, I'd just put the mutt down and replace it!"

I saw red. "Well, that's one lucky dog, then!"

He seemed puzzled. "Whaddaya mean? I don't have a dog."

I replied "Yep...that's the lucky one...the one you don't have."

Thankfully, it went no further. But there are far too many people who think and act that way.

 

[abominus]

I am a dog lover

 

[justintheodd]

I worked with an unbelievably cheapskate foreman a-hole years ago, and my apprentice and I were having a discussion about the young fella's new puppy. I am a dog lover and so was the appprentice. The a-hole listened to us chatting and when I mentioned that the dog should be put on a heartworm preventative medication, the jerk had to interject "Ya know, if I had a dog and it was going to cost me more than $25 for a vet visit, I'd just put the mutt down and replace it!"

I saw red. "Well, that's one lucky dog, then!"

He seemed puzzled. "Whaddaya mean? I don't have a dog."

I replied "Yep...that's the lucky one...the one you don't have."

Thankfully, it went no further. But there are far too many people who think and act that way.

You tell em man, some people really need to hear this kind of stuff, and we need more people in this world like you. Someone who isnt afraid to tel someone what they need to hear, but not so intense that people discredit your opinion based on attitude. I mean this with the utmost respect, but keep up the good work!

 

[HUKIT]

You tell em man, some people really need to hear this kind of stuff, and we need more people in this world like you. Someone who isnt afraid to tel someone what they need to hear, but not so intense that people discredit your opinion based on attitude. I mean this with the utmost respect, but keep up the good work!

jjohnwm He's the hero MFK deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

 

[justintheodd]

jjohnwm He's the hero MFK deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

Genuinley curious, how do you mean?