Why the Monsters? Is It Ethical?

[armac]

Look at the length of time most people stay in the hobby, in one month, buy up all the fad fish next month, and out six months later. For many this hobby is a fad, nothing more.

They have no real love for the fish, just the attention they receive by buying the "in fish" and attempts to bond with others on the internet. Two months after they abandon their fish they are caught up in the next six month "love".

You can tell the real fish keepers here, just look around.

All the "in and out fish keepers" have to have the monster fish, it draws more attention for them, and that is what they crave.............attention.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

your on mfk!!! if we cant keep the adult fish we build a tank or pond that can or we sell the fish to another member who can.
i have 3 florida gars, they will max out at close to 24". when they get bigger than there 125g they will be in a pond.

 

[captaincaveman93]

I would call it more of a moral than an ethical issue. Big fish in small tanks is cruel, but there are cases where it is ethical....

 

[cchhcc]

Great points from everyone!

I really feel like the vendors and fish stores are getting off the hook from a responsibility standpoint. They have the stats. "Let's see........ We sell 1,000 Oscars every year but only three 100 gallon or larger tanks...... Hmmmm. Oh well. ORDER MORE OSCARS!"

Of course, a LFS can't take responsibility for someone else neglecting their fish, but I think we can all agree they don't offer a realisitic assessment of the needs of many species.

 

[EVAN YUNCK]

Look at the length of time most people stay in the hobby, in one month, buy up all the fad fish next month, and out six months later. For many this hobby is a fad, nothing more.

They have no real love for the fish, just the attention they receive by buying the "in fish" and attempts to bond with others on the internet. Two months after they abandon their fish they are caught up in the next six month "love".

You can tell the real fish keepers here, just look around.

All the "in and out fish keepers" have to have the monster fish, it draws more attention for them, and that is what they crave.............attention.

YEAH AND YOUR AVITAR DOESNT SCREAM ATTENTION

 

[polish]

YEAH AND YOUR AVITAR DOESNT SCREAM ATTENTION

Zing.

As for the monsters, it's really hard to say. If fish could talk then maybe they could tell us. I agree though there are a few poor fish species who really get shafted 99.9% of the time.

 

[Fat Homer]

I think most people here have covered it, big fish that are sold when young for a cheap price to people who just don't know any better, and LFS staff not educating the people buying these fish about sizes and requirements just to make a buck...

Living in Hong Kong you see this all too often, you can see RTC's that are maybe 5 inches or under being sold for around USD $10 in a bag... then people bring them home start keeping them never knowing any better...

OR

You see a person walking around with a new a tank say a 5 - 10G, they then walk into another store say, and the store owners there will try and sell you as many fish as possible knowing that some of these fish will not make it in the long run. one example i've seen is one LFS selling a kid 10 (3-4cm) chichlids for his 10G tank!!! and said they would be fine...

Although this is just a very general thought about LFS stores in Hong Kong, since there are a few out there that do try and educate their customers, and make sure the fish do go to a good home...

 

[DB junkie]

YEAH AND YOUR AVITAR DOESNT SCREAM ATTENTION

I think there's a reason for the avatar..... But I'm sure reverse will touch base on that.... Like maybe job related more than attention?

Subject at hand..... Couldn't agree more. Lots of fad keepers. But it's not hard to find the true ones. The true ones WILL provide good homes for thier animals. And will be here tomorrow, next month, and next year.

And for the person felling sorry for rays...... Take a look around this place. There are many keepers here that are housing them more then adequately and cutting down the need for wild caughts with captive breeding.

 

[Lepisosteus platyrhincus]

job related or not, it still screams attention

 

[packer43064]

job related or not, it still screams attention

I don't think so at all. He probably just has a nice job which he worked hard to get, could have just sold something and that's the way he was paid. Who knows, who cares, leave the man alone. Let's get back on topic.