Thoughts on Ohio Fish Rescue and Big Rich

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There are a lot of idiots out there who buy monster fish as juveniles and then realise they can't house them any longer when they get too big. This guy, from what i've seen, is saving huge fish from a very bad life and giving them a much better one.

The fact that he has a huge quantity of massive tanks, not to mention the 58000g pool he has just finished, all full of fish just goes to show you how many idiots are out there.

I feel for him really because as his popularity rises he's going to get more and more fish lumped on him, at great cost to himself, not to mention the time and dedication needed to look after all those fish.

The title of your thread should have been "thoughts on idiots who purchase monster fish, can't house them properly, and then lump them on big rich". I think you'd get a much better discussion about that rather than a thread about trying to diss the guy.

I dont think most people who buy those fish are idiots. Most of the stores i go to list the maximum size for iridescent sharks at 8 inches or red tail catfish at 12 inches. The ones that would list their true size are honest enough businesses to never sell them. All of the others just lie to people looking for advice to make a few a dollars and dont care about the fish or the customer. The real title should be "unscrupulous businesses that have no problem scamming the public into buying monster fish and they end up getting lumped onto big rich".
 
I think that with information freely available online one has no excuse for buying the wrong fish.
If one's getting a dog, they'd look up the breed and size it gets to, why not fish?
I also don't understand the nature of people always blaming their own choices and wrongdoings on someone else, be it your parents, the shop assistant, your bad luck...
 
what's wrong with feeding hotdogs, i fish using hotdogs too and i know of a person from another forum that feeds baked beans to his fishes...?
 
I dont think most people who buy those fish are idiots. Most of the stores i go to list the maximum size for iridescent sharks at 8 inches or red tail catfish at 12 inches. The ones that would list their true size are honest enough businesses to never sell them. All of the others just lie to people looking for advice to make a few a dollars and dont care about the fish or the customer. The real title should be "unscrupulous businesses that have no problem scamming the public into buying monster fish and they end up getting lumped onto big rich".

In this day and age of technology, where more information you could ever read, about any subject you could ever imagine, is at your fingertips on a phone, lap top, computer, whatever, I think the blame solely lies with the would be fish keeper. Yes, we all know about misinformation at fish stores, they are businesses though, and in a niche business at that, so you can't blame them.

It all comes down to research by the would be red tailed catfish owner (other brands of fish are available), who should educate themselves on the fish they want and then decide if they can keep it for life.

But even then when people have done their research it still dosen't stop people making bad decisions because we all have different ideas about tank sizes and what size fish is suitable for whatever sized tank and it just goes on and on and on.

All I can say is that poor old rich is going to be a very very busy man for a long long time yet.
 
I think he overstocks tanks.

I think he is a hoarder of fish.

I think he feeds hotdogs to fish.

I think he cannot provide proper care to all those fish and it's board line animal abuse. He can't even take care of himself let alone the fish.

I also think he sends the wrong message. About buying and keeping monster fish.
Haters gonna hate. That’s all I can say. It’s always easy to judge people when you’ve never been in their shoes.
 
If someone just deliberately lies to people about their product then that is their responsibility as far as i am concerned. We dont tolerate that with any other products or even most other pets, so why should that be tolerated when it comes to fish?
 
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I’m very glad that Rich is doing what he’s doing. I’m sure that if he could have more tanks, he would. He adds tanks all the time and does partner with zoos to try to rehome fish. Also, the fact that he just turned his swimming pool into a giant aquarium shows his dedication. He doesn’t buy any of his fish, as mentioned, but also doesn’t turn any away. The hot dog thing, although a bit strange, works out very well for him and is probably a very economical option for feeding. When you have that many fish to feed, buying pellets, frozen fish/shrimp/scallops, or other typical aquarium foods is just too expensive. He is doing a fantastic job and is providing a service that nobody else does.
 
I love him, I think he is a great person doing great things. The only thing I have against him is that he doesn't feed the fish very well, he feeds them a lot of processed meats like hotdogs, but aside from that I think he is doing a great thing
 
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Maybe his methods aren't perfect, but he's about the only person offering help to the animals who are doomed to slow death in tiny tanks. His tanks (many of which are huge) are overstocked because of the crazy amount of people who are in the predicament of having a monster in a small tank, and see his youtube videos etc. and want to donate their fish. A huge tank, with probably too many large fish, is probably better than a tiny tank with a huge fish, to me.
It's easy to throw labels on him like hoarder- but then the no-kill animal shelters which are overflowing with animals because people want to buy puppsies and not adopt- are they just hoarders too? You're applying the same standards to him as you would a hobbyist fishkeeper- but he's not just a hobbyist, it's a rescue organization. Seems to me from everythign I've seen about him, that he's doing the best that he can for the fish, which is more than anybody else is doing. Also saying things like "he can't even take care of himself"- what are you basing that on? his hair? I'd be interested to hear where that comment came from. Personally I have respect for the guy.
 
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