newhobbist
Aquarium Advice Activist
Is there anything wrong about keeping fish only to be able to enjoy a view of the tank full of beautiful fish moving around? Very ofter female fish is not as colorful as males. Also, very often it is recommended to keep one male per several females to prevent aggression. That will lead to having 4-5 colorful fish in the tank and 10-15 plain looking fish.
I understand that having both sexes is a natural way of keeping fish and we all are so worried about them feeling as if they were in their natural habitat. And, when I told a friend of my that I'm keeping males only (with an exception of a pair of Mollies), I suddenly became an enemy of all living creatures! Not trying to sound cynical, if we were so interested in well-being of fish, we would not buy fish in the first place. For every nice little pet we have in our glass houses, how many of them died when being caught, on the way to our LFSs, and in LFSs? Some would argue that some species exist only in hobbists' tanks and would be extinct otherwise. But, the main reason (with some exceptions) for extinction of species is that they are being caught in huge numbers to satisfy our "wants", not "needs".
In conclusion, I will openly state that I buy fish based on their look and behavior. If I decide to breed fish either commercially, or just to see "how fish does it", I will buy females. Otherwise, for species with males looking much better than females, I will buy only males no matter how bad someone thinks of me!!!
I understand that having both sexes is a natural way of keeping fish and we all are so worried about them feeling as if they were in their natural habitat. And, when I told a friend of my that I'm keeping males only (with an exception of a pair of Mollies), I suddenly became an enemy of all living creatures! Not trying to sound cynical, if we were so interested in well-being of fish, we would not buy fish in the first place. For every nice little pet we have in our glass houses, how many of them died when being caught, on the way to our LFSs, and in LFSs? Some would argue that some species exist only in hobbists' tanks and would be extinct otherwise. But, the main reason (with some exceptions) for extinction of species is that they are being caught in huge numbers to satisfy our "wants", not "needs".
In conclusion, I will openly state that I buy fish based on their look and behavior. If I decide to breed fish either commercially, or just to see "how fish does it", I will buy females. Otherwise, for species with males looking much better than females, I will buy only males no matter how bad someone thinks of me!!!