Why the Monsters? Is It Ethical?

[packer43064]

People need to be responsible and selfless enough not to keep fish they cannot properly house. Heck, even the attitude toward what is proper gets skewed by the gang mentality of boards like this. I can't think of a single monster species that can't be almost exactly replicated by a more easily maintained micro-species!

I'm sorry but this is MFK, why would we want to have a smaller species. The thing is that we do not want the smaller species. Not that some of the smaller species are bad or not as great as a monster fish. I want a big fish though. I will be getting my first aro(silver) for my 125 here shortly after cycling. Will it spend it's whole life in this tank, no it will not. But it will stay till at most a length of 20 in.Yes the width of a 125 is 18 inches wide but silver aro can bend incredibly well. It will be filtered by a FX5 and a 55 sump with at least a 600gph pump inlcuding head. Now would this be unethical to you? I want your honest opinion, not trying to sound mean or anything just your opinion.

 

[Bderick67]

Sad thing is though, the bigger the fish the smaller the acceptable tank to fish size ratio. If a silver arowana keeper can provide a tank that is three times the aro's length and width at least equal to the the aros length, they are providing well. Now take that ratio to the SA/CA forum and see what happens when you put a 12" cichlid in a 3' x 1' tank.

 

[Fat Homer]

Okay, using myself as an example, i currently have two palembang puffers in a temporary tank holding roughly 120L with driftwood + plants, and thought that they may have found it a little cramped, considering that 2 of them should have a total of 300L+

Any way, long story short is that just 2 days ago the female (i previously thought was a male) laid eggs in the tank, which is something i never expected... so wouldn't that mean to a certain extent that they must be happy or else they probably wouldn't have mated???

So what i'm trying to say is, given that people can't always give larger fish a huge tank to live in, doesn't mean they can't be happy in a small tank with just enough space and a nice surrounding they feel comfortable in decor wise?

Coz personally, i've always thought that a fish would probably enjoy living in a 250G with lots of Plants and Drift Wood etc VS say 500G tank with absolutely nothing in it but 4 glass walls...

Just my 0.2 cents

 

[Noddy]

I never want to keep a fish anymore if I can't keep it for it's whole life!!
It's really sucks having to give up animals you raised and cared for for a long time.
I love RTC but could never give it the home it needs in my house...
And I upgraded my 18 Gl communitytank to a 90 Gl 2 weeks ago.
It's only very small fish but I saw a Incredible change in behaviour from the moment they went in.
They need the space to act natural.

 

[cguarino30]

It's true, and the really sad thing is that many of the stores out there sell monster fish to people without even giving them a heads up. How many times have you seen an id card for a pacu that said "max size: 8 inches" or something like that. It should be illegal for stores to misrepresent information like that.

 

[jcardona1]

it seems as though a lot of people in this thread are humanizing fish a bit too much.

somebody please define "happy" as it relates to a fish

 

[banjocat]

Wal-mart selling pacus makes me sick. The majority of people buying pacus from Wal-mart are obviously not going to have the right sized aquarium. Most people think a 50 gal is huge. People who have spent a lot of money setting up a big enough aquarium are probably not going to buy a pacu from Wal-mart just to save a few dollars.

People find fish interesting. I'm sure uneducated customers are not going to stop buying fish just because a fish store doesn't carry pacu. I think oddball fish draw more attention anyway. Too bad they are usually not taken care of properly either

 

[sandtiger]

somebody please define "happy" as it relates to a fish

I would say an ability to act naturally in a healthy environment with a minimal of stress. Surely something these overstocked...er "Japanese" style tanks don't provide. Just look at how a species lives in the wild and try to replicate it, quite obvious really.

 

[Zifiah]

I am actually against wild caught and catching fish period. All of mine are glofish.

 

[Bderick67]

I am actually against wild caught and catching fish period. All of mine are glofish.

Why?