PETA against fish keeping

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Johnny32561

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Fish are intelligent, sensitive animals who think and feel pain the same way that cats and dogs do. In fact, scientists at Oxford University have discovered that some fish can learn faster than dogs. Fish crave stimulation from other fish and from their environment. They are meant to dwell in the majestic seas—even the biggest, most well-maintained aquarium can’t compare to the open ocean.

Fish are often treated as mere merchandise. Each year, millions of them are purchased as decorative ornaments or “starter pets” for young children. Few people realize just how much fish suffer before they reach pet stores or know how to care for them properly once they get them home.

Approximately 95 percent of the saltwater fish sold in pet shops are captured from the wild, mostly from the waters around Indonesia, the Philippines, Fiji, and other Pacific islands. Fish divers often squirt cyanide or other poisons into the coral reefs where the fish live. Cyanide is used to stun fish so that they will drift out of the reef for easy collection; it also sends many fish into spasms, making them easy to grab by hand or net. Marine experts estimate that half the affected fish die on the reef, and 40 percent of those who survive the initial poisoning die before they reach an aquarium.

About 90 percent of the freshwater fish sold in stores are raised on fish farms. Goldfish, for example, are usually bred and raised in giant tubs on farms that raise as many as 250 million fish a year. Many of them are doomed to live in plastic bags or tiny glass bowls, neither of which provides the space or oxygen that goldfish need. For this reason, the city of Monza, Italy, banned keeping goldfish in bowls. One sponsor of the law pointed out that bowls give fish “a distorted view of reality.”

Fish are living beings, not artwork, yet some fish breeders “paint” fish by injecting fluorescent dye into their bodies or alter their genetic makeup to make them more attractive to buyers. Pet shops, discount superstores, florists, and even online catalogs sell “decorative” Betta fish (Siamese fighting fish) in tiny cups or flower vases. The fish often live in just a few ounces of water, which isn’t enough to turn around in, much less swim in.

When you purchase fish or support businesses or fairs that give fish away in contests or promotions, it encourages the pet trade to continue kidnapping fish from their ocean homes and breeding them on crowded, filthy farms. If you enjoy watching fish, consider downloading one of the many colorful and realistic fish-themed computer screensavers available on the Web.

As Gill, one of the characters in Finding Nemo—a charming movie about a clownfish who struggles to escape from an aquarium and find his way back to his father in the ocean—says, “Fish aren’t meant to be in a box, kid. It does things to ya.”

But don’t despair if you already have fish. Although there’s no safe way to return captive fish to their natural environments—which are often located in far-away regions of the world—because of difficulties in locating a suitable habitat and the possibility of introducing disease to existing fish, the following are some ways that you can make your fish friends happier:

Provide a stable environment. Keep the tank on a smooth surface that won’t rock or jiggle, and place it away from windows, direct sunlight, and temperature extremes. Tanks should generally be kept between 68°F and 76°F.
Make sure that your fish get proper nutrients. That jar of flakes might not be what your fish would choose to eat. The type and amount of food varies from fish to fish.
Provide at least 24 square inches of water for every 1 inch of fish. Fish become frustrated and unhappy when kept in bowls and small tanks.
House fish in a large filtered tank instead of bowls, which don’t provide enough space or oxygen. All tanks should have a pump to keep water flowing continuously.
Decorate! Bare homes make for bored fish. Place structures in the tank for your fish to investigate. A few plants, plastic or real, will make your fish feel more at home. Some fish will use the tank-lining rock bits to build nests for themselves.
Keep them in a quiet area. Fish “talk” with one another through a range of low-frequency sounds. The pumps and filters necessary in many home aquariums can interfere with this communication, so use quiet equipment, and don’t place radios or televisions near your fish.
What do you guys think about this? Most FW haven't even had a look at their natural habitats.
 
I mean, aside from their moral disagreement with fishkeeping in general.... good fishkeepers already do most of the things they suggest. Most of the problems they list in the aquarium trade are real problems that I think we all would like to see disappear. I might even respect their opinion if they actually took steps to stop certain attrocities of the trade, rather than making idiotic pokemon parodies to stop digital animal abuse.
 
I agree with PETA. While I do have fish and I enjoy them very much, I feel that fish should be in their natural environment. The fish trade is harming the natural habitats of these animals (the ones that are wild caught). Same goes for many other pets. But where do you draw the line? It depends on an individual's perception. My husband draws the line at none. He thinks that people should not keep animals at home. Any animals. One type of animal I would never own is birds. I feel it is incredibly cruel to keep a bird in a cage. However, the same can be said of keeping fish in a tank.


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If PETA wants to make a difference they need to go after the chain stores. Educate employees on cycling and stop selling tanks under 2.5 gallons.


Caleb

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Educate employees on cycling and stop selling tanks under 2.5 gallons.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

I agree!

I hate hate HATE seeing 1/4g, 1/2g, and other small tanks under 2 or 3 gallons for sale in stores, but those tiny cubes... they should be banned!
 
Agreed

Most good fish keepers DO follow those rules and they are for the most part problems we all want to see disappear just want to see what YOU guys think whether its :) or :(
 
If PETA wants to make a difference they need to go after the chain stores. Educate employees on cycling and stop selling tanks under 2.5 gallons.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS


And the companies that sell fish tanks! None of my tanks had any instructions on cycling! And I followed them to the T. But then again, you can buy all kinds of animals without knowing a single thing about how to care for them.


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Actually, let's be real. It's good that PETA isn't trying to go after chain store. Everyone thinks PETA is crazy, so it would only make things worse.
 
Actually, let's be real. It's good that PETA isn't trying to go after chain store. Everyone thinks PETA is crazy, so it would only make things worse.


Please explain. They SHOULD go after chain stores. They are the worst about unethical fish keeping. No info on cycling, no knowledge on stocking, compatability, etc.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS
 
Please explain. They SHOULD go after chain stores. They are the worst about unethical fish keeping. No info on cycling, no knowledge on stocking, compatability, etc.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS

Yeah but PETA is all about extreme positions. Any time I see the PETA involved in something I expect some bat-poop craziness. If PETA starts pushing for better fish care in chain stores, people will dismiss it as a fringe movement and associate normal, ethical fishkeepers- who believe that these reforms should take place- with PETA. But we're not that crazy and what we are advocating for isn't crazy at all.
 
I think the fish being kept is more a hot topic then just keeping.
I do not agree with MANY things in the aquarium trade(small tanks,defect species fish, water treatments.....),
But we all started somewhere!
1/2 gallon cube or 220g!
I will probably never keep my very favorite fish ever again.
An arrowana honestly has no place in home aquaria.
Nor red tailed cats,clown knifes.....) ,but I would never have grown to love and respect this hobby with out going through my own phases.
PETA has no knowledge of what to even look for.
 
I think the fish being kept is more a hot topic then just keeping.
I do not agree with MANY things in the aquarium trade(small tanks,defect species fish, water treatments.....),
But we all started somewhere!
1/2 gallon cube or 220g!
I will probably never keep my very favorite fish ever again.
An arrowana honestly has no place in home aquaria.
Nor red tailed cats,clown knifes.....) ,but I would never have grown to love and respect this hobby with out going through my own phases.
PETA has no knowledge of what to even look for.
I 100% agree with this. I used to want some of those fish like nothing else but now I think fish that get bigger than a foot or so just shouldn't be kept in tanks unless it's practically an indoor pond. Leave the bigger fish in the wild. I don't hold it against the people who keep them (as long as they have a proper setup) but it just doesn't feel right to me.
 
I think the fish being kept is more a hot topic then just keeping.
I do not agree with MANY things in the aquarium trade(small tanks,defect species fish, water treatments.....),
But we all started somewhere!
1/2 gallon cube or 220g!
I will probably never keep my very favorite fish ever again.
An arrowana honestly has no place in home aquaria.
Nor red tailed cats,clown knifes.....) ,but I would never have grown to love and respect this hobby with out going through my own phases.
PETA has no knowledge of what to even look for.


I have to agree with this.

Many fish in the hobby especially when you get into some saltwater species have no place in an aquarium unless you have a MASSIVE tank/pond. Certain starfish, monster fish like RTC, Motoro Rays, knifefish, etc.


Caleb

Sent via TARDIS
 
I don't want people to get me wrong,I have kept my fair share of stuff we all just shouldn't.
Both marine and fresh.
We all learn from mistakes and experience and without others sharing theirs and placing some "merit" to it who could know all?
That being said,
There are plenty of fish that are here specifically for this hobby and NOT FOR US(fish keepers) they would not have been bred or ever offered for sale!
One of my "general goals" in life(all facets) is to put back more then I take.
Sometimes simple,sometimes not.
I don't really worry for any of those fish at chain stores.
They wouldn't be there if it wasn't for us!
 
I do like to "rescue" fish at chain stores; it's my little way of makling a difference. My fiance's and my angelfish was a petsmart angel. I like to think he feels really lucky ending up with me and my fiance who dote over our fish so much. Lord only knows he could have ended up in a 10 gallon with someone who just didn't care.

As cheesy and silly as it sounds, fish are intelligent and complex beings, and I think that many common aquarium species gain something personally from being in the aquariums of good fishkeepers. Maybe it's not the same depth or closeness we experience with other mammals we have as pets, but I like to think that we bond with our fish and that they bond with us as well- to as much of a degree as a fish is capable. Not very scientific, but I feel it's true. And that's why I have no real moral qualms with fishkeeping. But at the same time I see why people would have a problem with it.

Commence mocking my silly ideals!
 
I do like to "rescue" fish at chain stores; it's my little way of makling a difference. My fiance's and my angelfish was a petsmart angel. I like to think he feels really lucky ending up with me and my fiance who dote over our fish so much. Lord only knows he could have ended up in a 10 gallon with someone who just didn't care.

As cheesy and silly as it sounds, fish are intelligent and complex beings, and I think that many common aquarium species gain something personally from being in the aquariums of good fishkeepers. Maybe it's not the same depth or closeness we experience with other mammals we have as pets, but I like to think that we bond with our fish and that they bond with us as well- to as much of a degree as a fish is capable. Not very scientific, but I feel it's true. And that's why I have no real moral qualms with fishkeeping. But at the same time I see why people would have a problem with it.

Commence mocking my silly ideals!

I agree!

We certainly have a relationship with our female betta... she knows us! She's a smart little buggar... and a brat... she jumped out of the tank onto the floor one time ( about a 5.5ft drop she took! :( ) and scared us real good, thankfully she has suffered no ill effects from that... she did swim funny for the rest of the day afterwards though. Hubby had to scoop her off the floor as carefully as he could...

The fish in our 20g could care less about us though, lol! They don't care if we are there or not. They get scared if we get too close to the tank, though or move suddenly near it. The male betta we have upstairs is so cute... bettas have such different personalities, they truly do! And lots of other fish do too... just not the ones in our 20g tank apparently lol :p We love watching them, and our shrimp are HILARIOUS I love them.

Your angel IS lucky that she/he ended up with you two :)
 
Petco

In petco it said that red finned sharks max size is 4 " I don't know about that...
 
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