AIBU - Pets at Home Goldfish Fiasco

[MoronsandNeurons]

Went to buy a replacement goldfish (DD's lasted 6 months) and I was refused by the most miserable assistant because I didn't have a filter in the tank. Bought an overpriced filter.
Went back today and they refused because it hadn't been switched on for a minimum of 3 days. Then they asked what size tank I had, I said a starter kit. They said for ONE goldfish I need to have a tank around the 60L mark as they can grow upto 30cm and that the (goldfish!!) starter kits weren't big enough.
AIBU to want to buy my daughter a goldfish without needing a degree in marine biology and a huge aquarium?! Fair enough for tropical fish but a humble goldfish? And does anyone know where I can buy one without a background check?

[BarkGruffalo]

P@H are being responsible about the fish in this case - they do need a filter and goldfish grow to massive sizes. Fish tanks are not easy to maintain well, and a lot of the "oh but I did this and it was fine" stories are of fish that survived for a while in pretty unpleasant conditions (from the fishes' point of view) but died long before their ideal lifespan. Goldfish are crap indoor fish because of their size. Have a look at temperate fish - temperate platies are v pretty and only grow to 6cm or so.

However, for P@H to sell you an unsuitable tank is really not on and worth taking up with head office.

[987flowers]

But they aren't being responsible selling the starter tanks!! They are choosing when to be responsible and when to not care! It's laughable.

[Mia1415]

Sorry YABU. It's good to hear they are being responsible.

[TheSkiingGardener]

No corythatwas . She wanted plain, simple goldfish and was treated as though she'd asked for a small dog for cage fighting. She was very upset and embarrassed.

[HPsauciness]

I agree about starter kits for hamsters, absolutely inadequate. We got one as a package and it was far too small. On doing some investigation when we got home, it turned out that not one of the PAH cages in the entire shop was the right size for a Syrian! We bought the largest cage available online, my dd paid for it out of her own money, and the little hamster went from doing nothing/ being depressed/never coming out, to being as happy as anything.

It's ridiculous to sell these grossly inadequate cages, yes, ideally people should check out the minimum sizes beforehand, but when you are going to buy a pet with a child, you tend to be focused on getting the right hamster or whatever and presume (wrongly) that the pet store isn't doing anything unethical or to harm the animals. I now know they are not experts although the actual PAH shop assistant was very knowledgeable and helpful.

[corythatwas]

TheSkiingGardener, were the goldfish your mother wanted to buy ordinary goldfish, or were they by any chance one of the more sensitive breeds?

[rainbowrocks]

I think they have done a bloody good job in your store!

In our store there useless and we were advised a 25L starter kit would be sufficient for 2 goldfish! WRONG VERY WRONG!

We have had these fish approx 3-4 months, we were also told they didn't grow much bigger as they were miniature fish! AGAIN WRONG!

I have a large filter and I do weekly / every three days water changes. Recently did a water test and the results were shocking there swimming in there own filth despite how often I change the water.

We're now in the process of upgrading them to a 175L tank.

I would never get goldfish again they are so messy. And you need to know a lot of the science stuff.

[Alfieisnoisy]

I hate starter kits for fish, rodents or anything else. They are rarely big enough and PAH should not be selling them.

Don't even get me started about those highly unsuitable novelty containers for Terrapins. Terrapins need UV lighting, basking lamps and enough wanted to swim in plus basking areas. My tank cost nearly £200 to set up and is likely to need replacing as they grow. They live for around 30 years too and are Britains most disposable pet it seems. The local park lakes are full of them...they decimate the native wildlife and contrary to popular belief that "it's too cold for them to breed" are in a sizeable minority of cases raising young.

[TheSkiingGardener]

My mother had this experience. They have an outdoor pond. Have kept fish in it for years. P@H wouldn't sell her any fish as "a pond is not a suitable environment"

[ProudAS]

Glad to hear that Pets at Home are being responsible. Still don't know whether I'd purchase fish from there though.

[blackheartsgirl]

The teeny tiny cages in p@H for guinea pigs make me mad. They told me that a cage not much bigger than a hamster cage was suitable to keep two piggies in. I went to an independent pet shop and bought the biggest cage I could find, nearly 5 foot but I don't think even that's big enough, so saving up for an even bigger one, and will be building them a run in the summer.

I've had gold fish before and tropical fish, goldfish are not starter pets

[Crispbutty]

That's a lovely tank with the Buddha in it. :)

[Springdew]

My local pet shop (not p@h) was shockingly bad. Although I do of course take full responsibility as I should have done the research first. I won a 20L tank at a school fair and went straight to the pet shop after who promptly sold me one bottom feeder, (panda cory) two neon tetras and two guppies. There may have been more I can't remember it was many years ago. Anyway you can imagine the shock and upset when they started dropping like flies. Did the research, ditched the tank, got a big one, cycled and spent a small fortune but had a beautiful healthy set up in the end. Found out all those fish should've had lots more of their own kind and that particular pet shop was a shocker

[Misnomer]

YABU, although it is how lots of people get into (and then back out of) fish keeping.

This website is good for info on what goldfish actually need, as well as tips for more suitable fish for small tanks - by small, I mean around the 50-60litre mark. And the pp poster is fit in that the smaller the volume of water, the harder it is to be successful since the water chemistry can go tits up much more quickly in a small volume of water.

injaf.org/care-and-information/the-goldfish-section/what-size-tank-for-goldfish/

Also, I second the recommendation of practical fish keeping and the forum there for great fish keeping advice.

[SistersOfPercy]

On a similar note, these tanks annoy the shit out of me. 'Siamese can live in puddles' is a line trotted out far too often. To thrive and be happy they need at least 15l as well as proper filtration and a heater.
I think these type of tanks are more prevalent in other countries but it does seem to be catching on here.
Betta's are the next goldfish I think.

[SistersOfPercy]

This is my 'big' tank, but at 45l it's still small. It's home to 4 neons, 3 glowlights, 2 Angels (that will go into DD's Boyfriends 200l tank when they get bigger), 2 guppies, a small cory (called Laurence Fishburne), a random Serpae tetra I felt sorry for in a tank on his own and a Hong Kong Pleco. Thats full now and I wont add more to that. I'm fortunate that DD's boyfriend is a keen fishkeeper with many tanks so if I have anything problematic (like the rainbow shark that was evicted for attacking Laurence) it gets evicted to his big tank

[corythatwas]

Pet shops have stopped doing that, 5Foot, since they've worked out that if a fish has managed to stay alive in the shop but dies within days of being popped into the tank of a customer there is most likely something wrong with the customer's tank.

[5Foot5]

Blimey times have changed. When DD was small Pets at Home just had a money back policy that you could claim if your goldfish died within 48 hours. IME they always managed to last just a bit longer than that.

[Crispbutty]

My tank. 95 litres with a few guppies, a gourami, pleco and a couple of clown loach, and lots of plants!

[SistersOfPercy]

Notthe thank you, and what a handsome goldie!

We have guppies in another tank but I made sure to get 2 males
Smaller tanks tend to be more of a faff than big ones tbh. I spend more time cleaning and water changing the 15l Siamese Tank than I do the 45l Tropical one. I reckon I'm water changing the 15 once a week, the 45 once a month.
Obviously bigger tanks need more space but they are easier.

[corythatwas]

Nothing humble about a goldfish: they are in many ways more difficult to keep than many tropical fish. That is, if you want them to live for more than a fraction of their natural lifespan.

MIL used to claim that there was nothing wrong with keeping goldfish in a bowl since hers had lived for over 2 years. Was rather taken aback when I pointed out that goldfish can live for 40 years and that 15-20 years might be considered a normal lifespan. Keeping a goldfish for 2 years is like claiming you are an expert dog keeper because your puppy survived for 8 months in your care.

As I see it, the problem is not with shops selling small tanks (some of us actually use them for perfectly sensible things like shrimps or a betta or for growing on fry), but in labelling them starter tanks. The truth is the opposite: the more inexperienced you are, the more space you should allow yourself- small tanks are very unforgiving.

Otherwise, everything TeamSteady said.

[Theoretician]

We got white cloud minnows instead of goldfish, they were lovely.

I also suggest white cloud mountain minnows for a small tank without a heater.

[Veterinari]

Goldfish have a natural lifespan of up to 25 years. The fact that your previous one survived only 6 months is pretty telling of the unsuitability if your husbandry and environment.

You have a duty of care under the animal welfare to provide for your let's needs. If you can't be responsible, don't get a pet

[Ameliablue]

YABU. You shouldn't buy a pet if you don't have the right equipment to look after it properly.