I have often wondered how you could afford to do what you do as I know how expensive our hobby is and you are one of the ones that has taken it to another level
Still wondering (and in wonder) ?
Still wondering (and in wonder) ?
Thank you. Right. Overgrown fish is no commodity, the market is tiny and the able adopters are few and they usually don't want the "common fish" as they already have it or had it. For these reasons, the rescued fish barely moves. Ohio Fish Rescue (OFR) move most fish to Public Aquaria and Zoos and are very lucky that these institutions would work with them. The AZA - Association of Zoos and Aquariums - only deal within themselves and don't generally work with others, hobbyists, private people, rescuers, etc. The OFR don't get paid for their fish.thebiggerthebetter ... till the right buyer comes along...
Thank you. We thought about it. It seems to come down to individual store managers and the corresponding department managers to make a decision. We've not found one locally yet. To them, this can be a liability or at least a hassle. To us too - the donated expired products would have to be sorted by them or by us and mistakes can be made, which may wipe out the benefit.Have you ever thought about contacting local grocery stores or pet stores on potentially getting recently expired products? WalMart has programs like that for predator sanctuaries and stuff.
Thank you. Definitely on a shoestring Once you see it, you will drop the "probably" haha... but I understand using it before you see it. Seeing is believing...., the doing it probably on a shoestring...
Thank you. Visitors have never been stopped but it has been by appointment and free of charge so far and not really encouraged because we are a one-man show (sponsored by one wonder woman) ... so when I entertain visitors, I am not building, and we are not progressing to the opening.... once visitors are allowed to visit your facility again...
Thank you. Right and true on paper but as always reality bites. One in 50 is able and willing to bring their fish to us, no matter same city or 2-3 hours away. The same one in 50 gives us $20-$50 to go along with their donated / rescued fish. It's a droplet in the bucket as you see from the original post but every little bit helps and appreciated a lot, of course.If it’s worth anything I think it’s pathetic people try to dump their fish on you for free, let alone make you come get them. I would think or hope anyone unable to care for a monster fish would not only drop it off to you but pay you something for the inconvenience...
A weird hybrid of business and charity, huh? That's an awesome way of articulating what we do, thanks! I don't feel people take advantage of me. Far from it. Not at all. I just hold up my end of the deal as best I could and don't analyze what others think or do. If I can go rescue a fish, I do. If I can't, I don't. Live and let live is one of my convictions. It's a free country (with all the caveats), praise the Lord!...Possibly you may need to start putting your foot down and saying no to some people if they cant deliver the fish themselves or pay the fee. You are operating a weird hybrid of business and charity but I dont think you should let people take advantage of your good nature.
Thank you. Now you know my shining huge secret of finding one in a gazillion wife and can put to rest one of your wonders I personally struggle to understand how she still tolerates me and believes in me after 10 years of building this venture.I have often wondered how you could afford to do what you do as I know how expensive our hobby is ... Still wondering ...
an obvious crude joke that surpassed what you can comprehend.Moreover, it's not a good idea to feed humans the fish that wasn't raised as a food fish and wasn't killed as a food fish. Food and Drug Administration of the USA is a serious organization. I'd like to stay within legal means and avoid fines and jail.
Irrelevant to the question being asked. How many do you PROFIT from.How many fish do you profit from?
***We lose money on about a 100 new fish a year.
The typical and easy to grasp example happens to fit the idea that it’s a money losing situation yet you point out these extreme losers make up a mere 1% of what you adopt. Like I said, using an extreme example.An RTC and paroon shark are obviously difficult fish to sell. Using such fish would be an extreme example.
***I gave a typical and easy-to-grasp picture. Giving extreme examples equates to intentional misleading.
I don’t recall koi being difficult to resell at any size. Hundreds of thousands of ponds across North America are filled with koi. A highly desirable fish for people. If that makes up 33% of what is donated that would be a profitable venture in my mind.99% of rescued fish are common stuff - common pleco, koi, goldfish,
I’m sure even the lowest quality of koi can quickly be flipped to fill ponds. Not everyone is a critic to the quality of fish and I would argue most people filling koi pond would prefer larger fish that are easily seen as opposed to tiny fish that hide.I dont think he's being combative, just critical, and understandably so. Lots of scammers out there these days, though even I would never be so brazen as to call thebiggerthebetter one of those.
I will comment on the koi issue Lepisosteus . Florida is a state overrun with koi ponds, and 99% of koi out there, especially those being put up for adoption, are what koi hobbyists would call "low quality", so I can easily see somebody offloading dozens at a time to a fish rescue when they can no longer care for them or have lost interest.
The other inherent point I would like to make is why would thebiggerthebetter create this thread, drawing attention to the profit or lack thereof of his enterprise, if there was something to hide? Seems counter productive to draw attention to oneself if it was a well oiled fish flipping machine all along.
Valid point, but those that do pay beaucoup dollar for fish more often than not do pay attention to quality ime.I’m sure even the lowest quality of koi can quickly be flipped to fill ponds. Not everyone is a critic to the quality of fish and I would argue most people filling koi pond would prefer larger fish that are easily seen as opposed to tiny fish that hide.
as for bringing attention to the non-profit, is that not how all charity’s claim to operate?