unwanted fish/ otherwise healthy

[Annie/Aggie]

I'm writing on behalf of Aggie today. She has a 10 gal. with a small black moor and a shubunkin? goldfish. These guys make such a mess together, they are poop machines LOL. Anyway she doesn't want to just flush them, they are her first fish, what else can you do with them? She would like to go to female bettas instead. Is there anywhere that takes fish that are otherwise healthy?

 

[GlitcH]

Ya your LFS should take em. Most times I can get them to buy back the fish. Not that I get more than 30% of what I paid for them but at least your not flushing them.

 

[Annie/Aggie]

oh great, thank you. I was under the impression that they only take fish back with a receipt, don't have it, or within 14 days. I'll check around some.

 

[DepotFish]

Those fish belong in a 30+ gallon anyway. Maybe if the LFS won't buy them they will take them for free. Please tell her not to flush them because the fish will die a slow, painful death in the chemicals of the septic system.

 

[Annie/Aggie]

Both of the above are why she is here asking this stuff. It wasn't until after they were purchased that we found out they are too big for this tank but limited space prevents getting a larger one. Thanks, she doesn't care if they won't buy them she just doesn't want to flush the poor guys either.

 

[Zagz]

Another option is to check with your local aquarium society. Someone may want them for their own tanks.

 

[Annie/Aggie]

thanks, we can take them to "big Al's" here in Edmonton. They are happy that someone knew they had not been properly informed and wanted to do something about it. She bought them at petsmart, asked the clerk for an "easy" fish, etc. etc. She bought the tank at the same time so they knew what she was putting them into. Let me say here that not all petsmart employees aren't very helpful, just not this time. It's thanks to you guys here that we are both more informed than when we started, it's really appreciated and all 3 tanks we have are doing great, Aggie just has to clean hers allot LOL

 

[DepotFish]

I'm glad you found a place for them. Female bettas are fun, but it can be a pain to find non-aggressive females. Its easiest to buy from a store with a community tank, otherwise you have to buy a few in cups and hope they work out or return ones you find aggressive. I just suggested that my local petsmart start a community for females the other day, they told me they had tried and failed. Apparently they just bought the ones in cups from the supplier and dumped them together without further monitoring for aggressors. For a store I rate as best around for fish and supplies, I was shocked at this really stupid move on their part.

 

[Annie/Aggie]

Aggie has found an aquarium store here that is awesome, Aquarium Illusions it's called and they specialize in coral so it's a beautiful store to see. Anyway, they have female bettas in community tanks and she is going to buy 3 or 4 from the same tank at the same time. Hopefully that will be succesfull. Just out of curiosity I saw a clown betta at walmart the other day, are there females does anyone know or do they do some mean razor thing on them for those fancy edges LOL They really are pretty though.

 

[Jchillin]

Anyway, they have female bettas in community tanks and she is going to buy 3 or 4 from the same tank at the same time. Hopefully that will be succesfull.

See if you can stop her. 4 betta's in a tank is asking for trouble. Male betta's are notorious for fighting each other (they have contests in Asia).

 

[Annie/Aggie]

how many would you suggest, I'm glad to find someone who has already had the experience. LOL

 

[Jchillin]

In a community tank, betta's need to be alone and with no other fish that like to nip fins. Gourami's, serpae tetras are definitely a no no.

Check out this site: http://www.bettatalk.com/basic_care.htm

 

[DepotFish]

She means FEMALE bettas. They can be housed together fine. There are exceptionally agressive girls that need to be seperate though. That website is wrong anyway, first- bettas only live in shallow water during the dry season, second- they live for 8+ years in good conditions, and third- you should never never wash a bowl with soap.

 

[maxwell1295]

I have 3 female bettas in my 7 Minibow.....the get along great ans are really entertaining fish. No fighting at all...

 

[Jchillin]

You are right about the soap issue Depotfish, this is the exact quote from "Bettatalk"

DO rinse very thoroughly my jar if you wash it with soap. Never let soap (or any chemicals) drip or come into contact with in my water or I will die.

I'd rather think it would be best served if the quote were: "DON'T use soap".

The other information in my post was from personal experience with betta's. I know that some folks have had opposite results. Better to utilize caution IMO.

 

[Annie/Aggie]

it's nice to hear both sides and I thank you for your help as usual.
I am talking about female bettas though. We are going to watch them for awhile in their tank at the LFS to try and see how they get along.
She has a golden algea eater that she is going to keep alone while getting some plants established and she needs to start over again to get all the goldfish poop gone LOL

 

[RoK]

I've seen about a dozen female bettas kept together with no problems.
I personally have only kept 2 females together in a tank. They got along fine and didn't bother anyone.
It does help if they all came from the same tank.

 

[Annie/Aggie]

that's what we saw as well when we went looking. The LFS had several females in the same tank and we didn't notice the same aggression you would see with the males.