Why are these being sold????
- Thread starter Mitchell The Monster
- Start date
Oscars & bettas are a dime a dozen, in all my years of keeping fish I have never known or seen anyone breeding them for profit. I have never even seen a home hobbyist, or shop, attempting to sell home grown bred juvies.
In my town of 40k I know 6 people that could house an oscar, i don't know of anyone in the 64 million in the UK that could realistically house a pima. So why would a lfs have a fish in stock that no one could house?
No this is you putting words in my mouth. Im using oscars and betta as an example of fish that are mistreated far more than primas. Yet no one is up in arms ? Some claim to not want animal suffering then both should be equal. Some are claiming the fish to be order only because of the possible mistreatment. All the while we have a betta in a cup....seems very hypothetical
All fish are mistreated by some.
There are plenty of hobbyists that give good care to all fish. It's within their capabilities. Yes cruelty and neglect will go on but hardly anyone despite their empathy for fish can look after a pima.
There are plenty of hobbyists that give good care to all fish. It's within their capabilities. Yes cruelty and neglect will go on but hardly anyone despite their empathy for fish can look after a pima.
Did you mean hypocritical?
You say that no one is up in arms, au contraire my friend. The same people that you are going back & forth with here in this discussion, are the same people that will (and have) vehemently supported proper care and housing when someone on MFK starts a thread about caring for (fill in the blank). That includes Oscars, and many other species of fish. I also just said: I would personally vote to ban selling fish in a cup, such as betta, in a heart beat.
Hello; The "dime a dozen " sort of thing is the point. In the quest for new phenotype variations of both species breeders are doing a lot of selective breeding trying for that new look. In the process at least two things occur. One is they cull a lot of mistakes while the other is they wind up with a lot of more common looking fry. That means there are way too many bettas and young Oscars available for the number of suitable aquariums around to give them "forever " homes. So bettas and Oscars are common.
While I cannot say from experience about bettas and Oscars, I can say about angel cichlids. I wound up with a breeding pair of angles back a few years ago. I raised a small number of fry to decent size ( maybe 75 all told). I was able to trade most of them to two area fish shops. I gave a few to a friend and kept five of the runts and slightly deformed. In fact if the runts ever pair off I will try to see if their offspring come out small or grow to regular size.
Yet common sense isn't being practiced, hence the reason for the hundreds of invasive species currently spread across North America, the majority being found in the good ol' USA.
The thread has gone from restricting sale to banning, back to restrictions then most recently to having prima sold as an order only fish. Imo this is a mute point. What they are saying is having the fish out of sight will help solve the mistreatment problem. I dont agree with this.
We live in the internet age. Everything is a click away. Even then what does having fish on order only status do ? So i ask my lfs to order me a prima they tell me i need a 15k tank. I disregard this amd tell them i already have said tank. Even though i do not. They sell me the fish. Not much accomplished.
Oscars and betta was just an example of where does this end ? Why give special treatment to one fish vs the others.
Its starts with prima, maybe then its wc fish, then maybe someone argues that oscars are next.
Regardless if they are a dime a dozen wouldnt someone who cared for the mistreatment of animals so deeply that they want certain fish banned or restricted sales to equally care for the dime a dozen fish ?
That makes sense but out of the 40k how many still purchased an oscar besides the six that can house them ?
are prima readily available in your town ?
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I can speak from experience, no one is breeding O's or bettas as you described. Oscars & bettas are bread & butter fish, hence the reason why so many shops stock them - not because of hobbyist or shop breeding overload.
Your previous comment, and this one, does not apply to Oscars, or bettas.
Typically speaking, shops order Oscars and bettas from wholesale suppliers, they do not source them from hobby breeders, nor do they breed them & raise them for sale themselves. I am speaking from experience with the shops that I supplied across Canada for a decade. Perhaps things are done differently where you live.
