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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think that goldfish should be protected from abuse

28 replies

reallytired · 14/11/2011 10:23

Gold fish are large fish and need large tank with a good filter. There is no way that a gold fish should be kept in a small bowl. They deserve the same standard of care as more expensive fish,

I think that pet shops should insist on testing the water quality of a tank before selling fish. I also think that potential owners should show they have some understanding of how to look after their pets.

OP posts:

TroublesomeEx · 14/11/2011 11:28

YANBU. They shouldn't even sell goldfish bowls.

Mind you most of the small rodent cages are too small too.

StrandedBear · 14/11/2011 11:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TroublesomeEx · 14/11/2011 11:37

Is it one of those black moors SB? That's really sad. Could you make a small change, rather than a massive one?

mummymccar · 14/11/2011 12:12

YANBU. They shouldn't be marketed as starter pets either. I've heard so many people say 'prove you can look after a goldfish first and then you can have a dog/cat/pony/whatever'. It isn't fair to the animals. Some of these pet shops are disgusting. I bought a half dead goldfish from a pet shop once just because I was so worried about it. Brought it back from the brink and he went on to live another few years.

worraliberty · 14/11/2011 12:14

Most pet shops don't even look after their own fish, let alone bother about other people's water quality.

I've lost count of the amount of pet shops with dead fish floating on the top of their tanks.

They just see them as 'stock' and nothing more I'm afraid.

Honeydragon · 14/11/2011 12:16

UANBU

Our fish came from a store that insist on a water sample before they supply them.

cuteboots · 14/11/2011 12:22

Last year my six year old son came back from the fair with a goldfish despite my repeated words of "dont get a goldfish" The bowl was tiny so I being totally outraged by this and think its really cruel have rehoused him in a huge glass tank complete with a pump and lovely coloured gravel and other related things! Im not sure why they still do the goldfish at fairs thing as its really horrid. I have now taken over looking after this fish as my son has no interest but at least I know i have given him a better life! ha ha

ScarlettIsWalking · 14/11/2011 12:26

What is most sick is when they sell a bunch of flowers in a table vase with a fish in it for " decoration"

so so cruel

MrBloomsNursery · 14/11/2011 12:26

Pets at Home test your water quality before selling you a fish. We got one 2 months ago.

happydotcom · 14/11/2011 15:09

I know it's so wrong. I'm shocked that they're still given away at fairgrounds as 'prizes' :(

toboldlygo · 14/11/2011 15:24

YANBU.

I used to keep, breed and exhibit fancy goldfish (don't all point and laugh at once). I wouldn't keep the fancy variety in anything less than 180l (that's a good 4-5ft aquarium) and wouldn't keep the single tailed kind in anything less than a pond.

The spoilt few who lived inside the house as opposed to the series of tubs outside (with huge home-made filter system) cost an absolute fortune in gear, the aquarium and two supersized external filters would easily have cost £500. Even with the filters it needed a 50% water change every week, they were huge, messy and time consuming.

People also don't realise that they should live for 10+ years.

It's not just goldfish, a lot of pets are badly kept and suffering in this country. Rabbits in particular seem to get the shitty end of the stick, I'm not a rabbit bod but even I'm aware that most of the cages and hutches on sale are far too small and how many live a pitiful, lonely existence at the end of the garden when the kids lose interest? :(

makachu · 14/11/2011 16:18

The problem with shops testing water quality is that the water quality in a fish tank will be fine until you put a fish in it, which will produce waste that needs to be removed biologically and through water changes. So people take in water that has no fish waste in it, and therefore no bacteria which breaks the fish waste down so fish goes into brand new tank, makes ammonia (fish poo and wee) and dies anyway.

Stranded Bear Your fish will not die from the shock of being moved to a bigger home. I re-homed a goldfish who is getting huge after 5 years in a tiny tank,he was very stunted, but now he is getting so big that he's going to have to go and live in a pond in the next couple of years. The thing that might bother your fish is that it's current home will have bacteria that break down the fish's waste and make it harmless, whereas a new fish tank won't have this. As long as you transfer everything in the old bowl to the new tank, including gravel, any stuff in any kind of filter you have and the water the fish will be fine and will be much much happier.

Original poster

reallytired · 14/11/2011 17:26

Surely its possible to do a fishless water cycle to build up bacteria in a new tank for a goldfish. There are products like fiter start if you want to speed up the fishless water cycle. Its just a matter of eduation.

Stranded Bear, I think your fish would survive the move and be happier.

OP posts:

ZeldaUpNorth · 14/11/2011 17:29

I got 2 fish about 4 years ago and they grew really quick, i think i've had a new tank every year, however i can't go any bigger as i dont have the room so have been thinking of finding a pond for them. I dont know anyone with a pond so would you consider putting them in a local pond in a park or not? Really dont want to part with them but if they get any bigger i'll have to for their own sakes. :(

Andrewofgg · 14/11/2011 17:36

reallytired I also think that potential owners should show they have some understanding of how to look after their pets.

Have you any idea about retail trade at all?

somedayma · 14/11/2011 17:42

yanbu. My friend won 2 goldfish at the fair. he had a party and people poured beer in the tank and put biscuits in the water etc :(. They didn't last a week, unsurprisingly. Made me so angry that people think it's ok to do shit like that. Also, if you win fish at the fair, they sometimes come in a plastic sandwich bag?! How do they breathe if the bag is sealed and theyre not put straight in a tank?! shudder.

having said all that...when I was a wee girl, my sister and I each won a goldfish at the fair. They had a nice tank and lived for years :)

hiddenhome · 14/11/2011 17:45

No fish should be treated as a pet. Fishkeeping is a hobby and involves a fair amount of amateur science ability in order to keep them alive and healthy.

My tip is to buy the largest filter you can afford - preferably an external filter rather than one of those things that sits in the corner of the tank. An external filter has vastly improved things in my tank and costs less to run than a smaller one

OhWesternWind · 14/11/2011 17:47

I let my children get two goldfish from the hook a duck at the fair just so we could rescue them. Behind the stall there were tens of goldfish crammed into a really shallow tray, about the depth of a lunchbox. We felt so sorry for them but at least we have been able to give two a better life. When they get big they will go into my parents' pond.

Popbiscuit · 14/11/2011 17:51

YANBU. Our fish are more work than our dog. Luckily my DH has a chemistry degree so he enjoys all the water cycling/ph stuff (I just enjoy the fish).

Dillydaydreaming · 14/11/2011 17:58

YANBU, I inherited a Biorb (30 litre) from my parents some time ago and was told by Pets at Home I could keep Goldfish in there. I keep two Goldfish, do a 30% water change every week and they are thriving. The biggest fish had white spot when he got to me and needed lots of treatment but is fine now. I plan to eventually rehouse them both in a much bigger tank (ie NOT a Biorb which is apparently only suitable for tiny Minnows).

The Biorb website shows their product with goldfish (or used to - have not looked recently) and many pet shops display Biorbs with goldfish in - nobody ever said "er they are not really suitable for Goldfish". Only now do I know....so it's on with the water changes and the ammonia remover on a weekly basis until I can afford the big tank I want for them both.

ButWhyIsTheGinGone · 14/11/2011 18:04

somedayma - that is awful! I would murder someone with my bare hands if they did something so cruel to my fish.
I don't like Pets at Home due to their total lack of understanding about the species they stock - they once suggested a clown loach for my two foot tank (clown loach grow to 14 inches!) Plus I agree with the poster who pointed out they always seem to have dead fish floating/being nibbled at in their tanks - most off-putting.
StrandedBear, if you're in the Northants area and would like to offload your Black Moor into my tank I would be happy to take him - it's a great big tank and has been up and running for ages now?

StrandedBear · 14/11/2011 19:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SparklyRedShoes · 14/11/2011 19:09

I think we should stop keeping fish altogether. Unless we have a large pond. Tanks no matter how large are inadequate homes for fish.

peeriebear · 14/11/2011 19:20

YANBU. I love my fish and keep on top of their welfare. I bought my first goldfish when I was pregnant with DD1, he lived for ten years before suddenly dying. He was huge with a beautiful trailing long tail.
I am currently in a panic as I have been given seven fairly chunky fish out of a friend's pond (she has had to move house, the fish were her late partner's and she didn't want to leave them). I have them variously in my aquarium and two of my ponds but they are really wildlife ponds and not deep enough for overwintering fish. My grandparents have offered me a larger aquarium than the one I have but I have nowhere to put it! I've even knocked on a couple of doors where people have established fishponds but there's no room at the inn!

springydaffs · 14/11/2011 19:29

I was once at a very posh hotel and as decoration there were gold fish bowls up the stairs in alcoves re one fish to a completely empty bowl. I called the RSPCA and reported it and I hope they did something about it.

re pets - I never stopped feeling guilty about the small pets we kept when the kids were small and was constantly trying to vary their lives for an approximation of 'normal'. Mind you, I hate zoos for the same reason - animals being caged up for humans to gawp at - and tried twice when my kids were small but lasted about half hour each time. Couldn't stand it.

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