water changes

[sgtmyers88]

lol I have heard some pretty funny stuff about them.

[hadla]

PETA does consider the hobby unethical. I do not.

the hobby of keeping fish? seriously? they need to stop walmart from selling fish! or any store that isnt devoted to taking good care of them and seeing that they go to good homes!

not to mention all those poor little hermit crabs that almost never get the care they need!

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, my GF is a strong member of PETA. She always gets on me about keeping fish in my tanks & buying corals that are not aqua-cultured.

[hadla]

it seriously pisses me off that everyone goes after dog and cat (and things bigger than them) abusers, but never about birds, rodents, and small animals like fish and reptiles, etc.

[kcartwright856]

The slimy wet things are in their wet things cage where they belong, of course.

RTR, how many instances are there, if any, where we can feel confident that we are providing the fish a home (water quality, tank size and decor, food all considered) that might be better than the wild?

I'm not trying to depress myself. I guess a big part of me wants to feel that we can guarantee our fish the quality water and food that they need to thrive and be happy, but we can never give them a river to swim in.

Is every fish better off in the wild?

[kcartwright856]

To add, for instance, my cats.

They were taken from the wild, as strays. Ferals. But, I know for a fact that they are better off (and happier for it) to be living under my care. They are guaranteed to be fed quality food at every meal, warm shelter, and protection from predators and other dangers in the outside world.

Can the same apply to most fish?

[bertie 83]

Very few intelligent fish will be as happy in aquarium as in the wild. They have little space to swim etc etc, on the flip side we care for them, keep them from predators and disease as best we can, we cannot provide the same water quality without flow through systems, we can keep water at sensible conditions

[kcartwright856]

...

Yup. Depressed now.

[scpion]

Remember Tarzan? The was brought to a whole new world. But eventually still chose to go back to his own.

[hadla]

...

Yup. Depressed now.

now im starting to feel bad... but i like to think of it this way, im giving them a better home than someone else might have who didnt know a thing about fish, let alone puffers

[sgtmyers88]

now im starting to feel bad... but i like to think of it this way, im giving them a better home than someone else might have who didnt know a thing about fish, let alone puffers

I second that, hence why I feel so terrible for Walmart GSP's, if anyone else had got the ones I had "rescued" they would be long dead by now.