Is a fish, just a fish?

[The_Geeza]

i kept them for yrs and took me yrs to ask "y do they die"...found the answer..if u do the right thing and keep um clean and change there water with conditioner then usually they KARK IT,,,if u abuse them and not change water offen till u cant c them cause the green algae on the sides .....well then they thrive...funny hey!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[KaotikJezta]

i kept them for yrs and took me yrs to ask "y do they die"...found the answer..if u do the right thing and keep um clean and change there water with conditioner then usually they KARK IT,,,if u abuse them and not change water offen till u cant c them cause the green algae on the sides .....well then they thrive...funny hey!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. fish don't like brand new water and people always wash their filters out in tap water and kill all the bacteria.

 

[zaphyrr]

I kinda feel sorry for all those fish that are so disposable. I'm sitting here watching my Tanganyika tank (frontosa, compressiceps, calvus, leleupi, synodontis) and see them very much as an animal that deserves as much care as any other pet...
They may not be the brightest buttons, but then again my stimi spends half an hour chewing on her rats butt before she swallows it. I still make sure she has everything she requires to be happy and healthy. I do the same for my fish.

I'm sure some people will think I'm a bit strange for having such an opinion, but so it goes.

OP, don't beat yourself up. I kept a few fighters in those little tanks (on the pet shop clerks advice). It wasn't till I got into african cichlids that I really researched things like the nitrogen cycle.

 

[saintanger]

sorry to hear you work with such nasty people. a fish is sold at the pet shop because its a pet, just like a dog or cat. i become attached to fish i have had for years. wen my massive barramundi died i was shattered, i had watched him grow from a baby. you cant interact with fish they way you do with most other animals thats why some people see them as disposable. but they are still living and breathing and have feelings too.

and placing bets on wen a living animal/ fish will die is just nasty and uncalled for.

if i were you i would take photos of the chart they made up with the bets and keep it incase you ever get fired/ harrassed and sue them.

 

[bk201]

I don't think you would win that lawsuit.

 

[The_Geeza]

Sort of off topic but i Culled a couple of mice testing out my new co2 set up.........was a sad moment as been handling these mice for few weeks.....gota sort me head out!!!!!!!!!!...kids caught me also (and i got 6)...1 of them played up.....might have to just buy um frozen!!!!!!but i need a supply of pinkies when next yr hatchies pop out!!!

 

[KaotikJezta]

sorry to hear you work with such nasty people. a fish is sold at the pet shop because its a pet, just like a dog or cat. i become attached to fish i have had for years. wen my massive barramundi died i was shattered, i had watched him grow from a baby. you cant interact with fish they way you do with most other animals thats why some people see them as disposable. but they are still living and breathing and have feelings too.

and placing bets on wen a living animal/ fish will die is just nasty and uncalled for.

if i were you i would take photos of the chart they made up with the bets and keep it incase you ever get fired/ harrassed and sue them.

We have a 12 year old giant guarami at work called Lilly, she is huge and has a lot of personality. She throws tantrums if you don't feed her. i think we would all be pretty shattered if she died. we also had a Barra called barry who was quite forthcoming for a barra. One of the guys at work left the cover glass open a bit and he jumped out, we were all pretty cut about that as well.

 

[Sleazy.P.Martini]

So no one here has ever used feeder fish? If they have, why not feeder rats? Or feeder guinea pig? A fish is a fish.

 

[emmalene_bunny]

Thanks for all your advise and comments everyone, it really means a lot to me, I think it's all really disappointing, but at the end of the day whether I voice my opinion or not, I don't think it will ever change where I work, no one likes the youngest staff member standing their ground on subjects as to some because thy are older they know so much more, and don't get me wrong, I feel I am the type of person who seriously takes in as much information that I possibly can and keep learning and growing with it. I felt like there wasn't even an option to have a good conversation about it because it was my whole office who felt like that against my feelings as such, and now I can only take care of this little fish (I named him Peter) as much as I possibly an and just hope he survives. Thank you again everyone for your knowledge, experience, and personal opinions on this subject.

 

[Stuart]

Thanks for all your advise and comments everyone, it really means a lot to me, I think it's all really disappointing, but at the end of the day whether I voice my opinion or not, I don't think it will ever change where I work, no one likes the youngest staff member standing their ground on subjects as to some because thy are older they know so much more, and don't get me wrong, I feel I am the type of person who seriously takes in as much information that I possibly can and keep learning and growing with it. I felt like there wasn't even an option to have a good conversation about it because it was my whole office who felt like that against my feelings as such, and now I can only take care of this little fish (I named him Peter) as much as I possibly an and just hope he survives. Thank you again everyone for your knowledge, experience, and personal opinions on this subject.

Dont feel bad about being young and standing your ground. Just remember that when you are older to keep the same open frame of mind you have now otherwise imagine someone else in your shoes in 20 years time. Keep doing what you are doing, there is no shame in having a different opinion on animals and a deeper level of care than others and while they miss out on the learning experience, you gain the knowledge of whats needed so that when you are older, you can pass it down.

Chin up and know that as long as you believe you are doing the right thing and you may not have the support of your office workers, you will always get support from some random strangers on the interwebs.

 

[emmalene_bunny]

Thank you so much Stu everything you said just made me feel so much better about the entire subject, thank you all for your support.

 

[TheJoyces]

Sort of off topic but i Culled a couple of mice testing out my new co2 set up.........was a sad moment as been handling these mice for few weeks.....gota sort me head out!!!!!!!!!!...kids caught me also (and i got 6)...1 of them played up.....might have to just buy um frozen!!!!!!but i need a supply of pinkies when next yr hatchies pop out!!!

How did you make your CO2? Just curious, as I have made a CO2 tank no dramas, however I use bi-carb soda & vinegar to make my CO2

 

[The_Geeza]

How did you make your CO2? Just curious, as I have made a CO2 tank no dramas, however I use bi-carb soda & vinegar to make my CO2

Using a home brew CO2 bottle

 

[Waynecam1]

Hi I breed fighters you can keep them in whatever you like remembering that they breath at the surface air breathers you can even keep them in a community tank just remember that the nice big fins are targets for other fish to attack if you are worried as long as the temp is comfortable to you they don't need a heater. You could always take him home on weekends if you are worried and let him have a nice big tank at home. Each person has a different thought on an animal it is all individual no matter what the animal is.

 

[emmalene_bunny]

Hi I breed fighters you can keep them in whatever you like remembering that they breath at the surface air breathers you can even keep them in a community tank just remember that the nice big fins are targets for other fish to attack if you are worried as long as the temp is comfortable to you they don't need a heater. You could always take him home on weekends if you are worried and let him have a nice big tank at home. Each person has a different thought on an animal it is all individual no matter what the animal is.

Thanks so much for your insight and information I don't have any lunch on convincing my boss to let us eat the stuff he needs, so fingers crossed with all my effort he lives for as long as he possible can thanks again!

 

[Mavrick]

I love Siamese fighters, and they IMO are tough little buggers. I know they can live in extremely poor conditions, cold water, poor quality water, little/no light. When I lived in SE Asia they sold them in tiny soda water bottles and told me they could stay in there forever. I keep my current fighter in a 23L tank, with a hide rock, plants, proper filter and some snails. Would he live just as long in a half L cube?... probably. Do I like watching him swim up and down and hide in his rock and wriggle about in his filter pour out?.... yes. As long as the essentials are taken care of, it's what makes you happy that matters.

 

[Jazzz]

i get attached to all of my animals...

i had a giant burrowing cockroach growing up and made a mini gravestone for it when it died!

i also just spent nearly $300 at the vets for my frog that i could have replaced for far less.

i love all of my animals and would spend just as much healing my frog as i would my cat.

I am a vegetarian though, so i dont kill animals for myself. I think its a lot easier to empathise that way...

 

[Justdragons]

Yep. fish don't like brand new water and people always wash their filters out in tap water and kill all the bacteria.

guilty

 

[mcbuggsy]

I totally agree with Kaotikjezta here. Why is there a need to place Bettas in a tiny cup of water......They are not long lived at the best of times anyway, but shops still insist on selling them in those stupid tiny thimbles of water where the fish doesn't even have room to move.
Snowman, do you keep your reptiles in a shoebox? They would probably survive given heat light and food but without being too anthropomorphic, would that be fair on the animal.
Wild Bettas are supposed to be able to survive in small drying up puddles sometimes but just because they may be able to exist for a short period of time in these conditions does not make it right. Also, it appears that the old "They live in puddles in the wild" is evidently a bit of a myth.
(not only that but those mythical puddles are supplemented with rainwater whereas in captivity the water is rarely changed and too much food is placed in with them making water quality impossible for the fish to live in).
Add to the fact that Bettas for sale are not "wild" bettas but captive bred tropical fish spawned and raised in tropical, optimum environments, not some mythical muddy puddle in Thailand.
Add to the fact that even though they have a labyrinth organ to supplement their breathing the silly male will build a bubble nest on the surface of his little coffee cup home and get even less oxygen...(and then suffocate
The reason some Pet shops sell them that way is so the fish will die in 6 months (or when the weather cools down) and the poor fool who bought it will go and buy another one. I too have bred Betta splendens many times in my youth and they should have at least 10 litres of water per fish and plenty of surface area.
Sorry, spent far too long on that reply ha ha ha....

 

[LittleHiss]

Fish have never worked out for me, but I did once rescue a feeder fish because all the others were picking on it and I kept it as a pet for years. I was sad when it died, especially as it wasn't quick.
I think, regardless of whether 'a fish is just a fish' they should respect the fact that you care about it and they are upsetting you. Anything only has the value that you give it, no matter whether it's just a fish. If you were talking to the Japanese about one of their priceless Koi, they'd go right off. Some people eat snakes, so does that make a snake just a snake?