Life Is a Life

[Delapool]

It must do for me to some degree but I'm having trouble finding an example. I've easily spent 5 times the value of the fish on meds with pretty limited chances. Both cheap and more expensive fish.

I do triage though. So if say I had a cottonmouth outbreak on the mollies and angel fish, the angels would go into QT and if I was protecting other fish in DT - the sick mollies would be put down. It's tempting to think I'd get a bigger QT but idk.

 

[emerald76]

I also think that we become more attached to expensive fish by virtue of their expense.


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[Caliban07]

I also think that we become more attached to expensive fish by virtue of their expense.


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This goes without saying. The question you have to ask is why is the fish so expensive in the first place. Whatever the reason is is more likely the reason why it's easy to become attached. Colouring, age, size, strain, rarity.

This doesn't mean that someone can not be as in awe of their guppy as they are of their oscar for example but value certainly changes things for many people.

I would be as equally interested in keeping a £5000 dollar fish alive as I would a £5 fish.

For me it's the frustration of not being able to Prevent a fish from dying.

I can't even bring myself to euthanise a dying fish even when the cause was my own, That's pretty weak.


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[meliboouk]

Weather a fish cost a doller or more they are still a life none of my fish cost more then £5 and they are all family to me, I couldn't feed a fish to another fish, my goldfish is a feeder goldfish and is huge, the thought that someone was gonna feed him to anything makes me sick. **** I've been in tears when one of my fish have died


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[meliboouk]

I can't even bring myself to euthanise a dying fish even when the cause was my own, That's pretty weak.


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Just gotta say that dosent make you weak, just means you have heart and care, you wouldn't put a family member down because of an illness and there's always hope they could get better......I say with 2 tiny cory babies the other night that was dying, I'd rather make it as comfy as possible then just kill them, 1 of them died the other got better and they were both as bad


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[Ricky 1]

Some people feed fry to their fish, I would find that hard to do, yet I could feed fish eggs is that as bad

 

[PB_Smith]

One faulty assumption that is often made is anthropomorphizing an animal such as a fish that gives rise to such questions.


Life is a life.......and no life would exist without the death/sacrifice of other living things, except maybe some plants that are 100% photosynthetic and some types of bacteria, but they generally comprise the lowest strata of the food chain, soooo....


Concerning the $$$ value of a fish, I agree with Caliban, you have to ask why is it so expensive?
More often than not higher price denotes wild caught, rare, and/or difficult to keep.
Given that, it makes sense to me to anguish over the loss of the more expensive fish mainly because I know it was taken from the wild and will decreases said population by one.
I hate seeing octopuses for sale because they have about a 99% chance of dying in captivity.
The "bread & butter" fish; tetras, mollies, guppies, etc., that are mass bred evoke less of a guttural groan from me when they kick it, but only because I know that their loss didn't directly deplete wild stock #'s.




A life is a life, all made possible by the ending of other lives.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

I treat all of my fish with the same care, no matter the cost of the fish or the care. Who said livestock! Yes they are livestock, some individual specimens get a name though naming a shoal is silly!
(Saying that, my C. agassizii shoal is the spaghetti mob!)
They have Latin names. That's all you really need.

I have bred feeder fish for a bichir, those platy were treated exactly the same, a tank with plants etc. just one day they go for a little walk. If you keep piscivores it is only fair to feed them properly. (Actually it's quite exciting if a little barbaric)

Equally, I will do what I think is necessary when the time comes.
How I do it is personal and not a subject for conversation. It is quick.

I find a fish that I've kept longer is harder to dispatch. Once it is netted and a decision has been made that is it, done. I hate killing fish but sometimes it is required. I always exhaust all other possibilities before I choose this route. Sometimes there really is nothing you can do except what is right.

If a fish dies in my care I always take the time to consider myself and whether or not I could have done things different, sometimes a fish is just old, sometimes it is my fault and sometimes it is neither.

Cost is irrelevant! If I was worried about the cost, I'd pack up and shut down tomorrow. The entire hobby is really a waste of my resources, but you get a lot of return on your investment! It's a shame joy and pleasure have no official measure.

 

[Ricky 1]

Good post JM, Just one day they go for a little walk.......awww

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Good post JM, Just one day they go for a little walk.......awww

It's for any little kiddie winks, plus it's a real neat trick to see!

Just a regular platy, taking a stroll!



Cheers.