Changing fish

[lunch]

When i started my first proper tank 6 months ago i didnt really have any idea about the selection of fish available at any lfs, i only really upgraded my tank to 290 ltrs cos my two fancy goldfish looked a little cramped in a 15 ltr without filter, i had no idea of anything before the tank was delivered to my place to be honest, i learned about cycling my tank the night i filled it with water, opting for fish in cycle cos i figured they would be better off in a 290 un cycled than a 15.
Along the way i added some zebra danios and some white clouds and as soon as it had cycled i added two orandas and there lies my problem, while i adore my goldfish ( 1 male 3 females ) theyre really limiting my options, i recently added but had to remove a school of giant danios ( which were awesome ) because they were just too **** quick and my clouds were struggling to get any food, i want to be able to have more than just 4 fish in my tank.
I think ive made the decision to move my goldfish on ( 1 of my lfs is an oranda fan ) and step up to a more challenging tank but ive had them since i started getting my sleeves wet and i cant bring myself to do it.. I dont have a problem taking fish back to dont work in a community tank but these guys have done nothing wrong and id really hate to see them get divided.. I currently know no people with fish tanks so you guys are it.

My questions are:
Have you done it?
Is it common to return fish that have been in home aquariums for a while?
Should i just suck it up and get it done?

 

[Chels10117]

Yeah, I've returned fish I've had for awhile before. Trust me I worry like you do. But just the other day I talked to a lady at petsmart about how they do their returns and they are actually really good at it. I always thought they just killed them lol. But they actually monitor them for awhile and put them back out for sale. So I assume any fish store would take great care in finding a new home for fish. Petco takes in fish when people don't want them I don't think petsmart does tho. Especially if big chains do it a smaller fish store will be sure to take care of them. You could also always see if there is a Facebook aquarium group for your area. Or Craigslist. There are some people out there with really nice fish tanks looking for fish.

Yes. It is a common occurrence. You should do what you feel is right.

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