myriam
Aquarium Advice FINatic
A friend was asking me about fish-keeping, because her 4 yr old daughter went to a birthday party where the gift bags for the dozen or so children contained--you guessed it--a goldfish.
She was irritated because she knows nothing about this hobby, and had no intention of getting into it, and now they are stuck with a live animal they know nothing about; besides the fact that they already have a young cat. She put the fish in a tiny bowl with some rocks, and she wasn't sure what to do about keeping the water clean, how to feed it, etc. So I gave her what basic advice I could, and then she was not pleased to find out she'd need a bigger tank for the fish, a filter, substrate, water test kit, plants, etc.
We both agreed it was extremely irresponsible of the birthday child's parents to give fish as gift bag items to small children. I mean, would you send a kid home with a new puppy?! I guess some people don't think fish are that hard to keep and don't need a lot of love and care, which is of course rather ludicrous. And then there are those who just think, "Oh what a cute gift bag item! If it dies, oh well, it's just a fish."
ARGH!
She was irritated because she knows nothing about this hobby, and had no intention of getting into it, and now they are stuck with a live animal they know nothing about; besides the fact that they already have a young cat. She put the fish in a tiny bowl with some rocks, and she wasn't sure what to do about keeping the water clean, how to feed it, etc. So I gave her what basic advice I could, and then she was not pleased to find out she'd need a bigger tank for the fish, a filter, substrate, water test kit, plants, etc.
We both agreed it was extremely irresponsible of the birthday child's parents to give fish as gift bag items to small children. I mean, would you send a kid home with a new puppy?! I guess some people don't think fish are that hard to keep and don't need a lot of love and care, which is of course rather ludicrous. And then there are those who just think, "Oh what a cute gift bag item! If it dies, oh well, it's just a fish."
ARGH!