Concern about Taking Fish to a LFS

[CalmedByFish]

For the amount of tank maintenance I'm able to do, I'm on the edge of overstocked. I'm considering offering some livebearers to a lfs, as one way to decrease the problem, but I've never done that before. (I'm also increasing plants and water volume.)

My primary concern is that my fishies would end up with people who won't take good care of them, and end up causing them to suffer. 

If you have insight on the topic - maybe even a way to decrease risk to the fish - I'd appreciate hearing it. 

(If you also are having an overstocking problem, you might want to know that my tank that's stuffed with hornwort has the lowest nitrates of my 7 tanks. Hornwort's helpful.)  

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I have some insight I guess because I totally understand where you're coming from. When I started back in the hobby all I really wanted was my one 20 gallon tank. I purposefully picked fish that supposedly wouldn't breed or are near impossible to breed. I did that because, like you, nobody is good enough for the animals I raise. (I worked in an animal shelter for a time and I had to stop fostering because I didn't like "giving away" my furkids, to people who no matter how good they were- were never good enough for them). 

My Otos spawning was the best and worst thing that could have happened. It started a chain reaction and now I have 5 tanks that all were started in some form or fashion because of the Otos. The plan was to put as many of them as I could into the new tanks and then take the "leftovers" to the LFS. Well. I still don't like that idea, it just feels so very animal shelter to me. So I have what might be considered an "overstocked" tank (that gets daily maintenance and tests well). 

I think I would feel better if I could give fish away to people I knew were fish people. What I need to do is join the local fish club(s) and participate in those sorts of functions, but I haven't yet. It's something I really shouldn't be procrastinating with because future fish babies count on me. 🙂 

....I need to get some Horwort....

[Guppysnail]

I know this feeling. I feel like I’m abandoning my guppies every time. The pleco babies went to a hobbiest and were distributed through a club so it was easier. I used to go check on the guppies every week at the lfs until the fish manager left and they no longer take fish. I’m with @xXInkedPhoenixX no one is good enough and that feeling is real to me. Ive tried to start looking at it as I have already given hem a better chance in life than they would have being born into a mass breeding operation. I also try to think of all the folks who will be delighted with guppies that are hardy and not weak like at big box stores. Maybe if an inexperienced aquarist starts with my guppies they will grow to be full on nerm aquarists and further the hobby. It is hard each and every time for me but I also think of my kids I keep and keeping their tanks from becoming so overpopulated it becomes unhealthy for them. I did manage to find one person (my pharmacist) to give some too. I get tickled because she sends me updates and is crazy excited about a girl getting ready for her first drop so that makes me happy. A girl at the hardware store may take some. I make it a point to mention my fish to every retail/doctor/(add profession here)  worker I come in contact with in hopes of finding homes. My veterinarian has a pet adoption board I was considering hanging a flyer on their board. Best of luck I know how heart wrenching giving away babies is. 

[Flumpweesel]

I would try to look at it this way, your don't know who will buy them but they are spending money on owning them and choosing those fish above all others in the shop to own. They might make mistakes as we all have but everyone's intention when buying a fish is to do their best. 

You absolutely can't keep every fish you breed with causing issues either in your tanks or your home. So focus on the fact that you are giving people a good chance of learning the joy of fish by getting some good quality local adapted fish. Just think how good that would have been when you first started.

I understand the concern but they are just as likely to end up in a good home if not more.

I feel that lfs customers in general tend to care about what they are doing because if they didn't surely the big box pet stores are cheaper and easier to get to.

[laritheloud]

I know exactly what you mean and I'm like this with all of my animals. Case-in-point: a lost chicken wandered onto my property, and after no one in town claimed her, I decided the best recourse was to get a chicken coop and run and adopt her as my own rather than turn her into animal control or a local farm. 😅

If you have one, the local fish club is a good idea that could give you some reassurance.

[CalmedByFish]

There are some great points here. Thank you.

I don't know if I have a local fish club, but I do at least know there are several lfs around. I think I'd visit it first, but that might be a good option.

[HH Morant]

I have sold fish to an LFS. I recently sold 72 young plecos (for a dollar each). I don't know what their chance of survival is, but it is certainly better than for plecos born in the wild. There was no way I could keep them, and the LFS will give them a shot at finding a decent home.

I think selling them through a club is probably better, but finding buyers for hundreds of fish (I currently have 250-300 young angelfish) is difficult unless the club is really huge.

 

On 12/11/2021 at 7:59 AM, laritheloud said:

Case-in-point: a lost chicken wandered onto my property, and after no one in town claimed her, I decided the best recourse was to get a chicken coop and run and adopt her as my own rather than turn her into animal control or a local farm. 😅

Did you name the chicken "Dumpling"?

[laritheloud]

On 12/11/2021 at 3:09 PM, HH Morant said:

I have sold fish to an LFS. I recently sold 72 young plecos (for a dollar each). I don't know what their chance of survival is, but it is certainly better than for plecos born in the wild. There was no way I could keep them, and the LFS will give them a shot at finding a decent home.

I think selling them through a club is probably better, but finding buyers for hundreds of fish (I currently have 250-300 young angelfish) is difficult unless the club is really huge.

 

Did you name the chicken "Dumpling"?

Her name is Agnes! 😝 We STILL haven't wrangled her into the coop yet, so if you have any chicken-catching tips, I'd love them. We're trying traps (she won't go in), we tried grabbing her off her roost (she flew away).... She won't leave the tiny little area she's carved out in my garden.

[PineSong]

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. Like xXInkedPhoenixXx, I have an animal shelter and fostering background and have fostered more than 150 cats and kittens, 60-some dogs, uncounted guinea pigs, ferrets, hamsters, gerbils and bunnies over the years. 

It's never easy to entrust a stranger with a traumatized pet, let alone one you've bottle fed or nursed back to health for weeks or months. It was very hard to part with some of them.

At the same time, I've had the fantastic experience of seeing critters I have fostered end up as treasured family members in their adoptive homes--with care just as good or far better than I could have provided, for sure. So I know there can be happy outcomes 🙂

In that spirit, here are my ideas for splitting the difference between keeping all the fish and giving them to "just anyone".

• If there are aquarium servicing companies where you live, contact them and ask if any of their client tanks might be a home for the fish you're parting with. This is how I rehomed the goldfish that were outgrowing my relative's tank. Tanks with professional servicing are probably getting good care.
• Email science teachers at your local schools, ask if they keep fish and want some of yours. Most schools have an online directory with email for staff. 
• Ask your vet and their office staff. Put a notice on their Lost/Found or Rehoming board if they have one. If there are any exotic animal vets in your area, likewise. A lot of exotic pet people also keep fish.
• Check Facebook for local fish rehoming or breeder groups who sell/trade fish, and 'screen' anyone who expresses interest in your fish by checking out their post history, pictures of their tanks, etc. Check your local Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to see if anyone is selling guppy grass, java moss, etc.--anyone selling plants might be a good home for your fish.
• If your LFS will take your fish, ask them if they will let you post a sign on the tank or in the store with some way for buyers to contact you for help with the fish if they need it--not sure if "Aquarium Coach" is a thing, but it should be!
• Last but not least, I agree with Flumpweesel that customers at an LFS are likely more informed than those at a big box store, and with HHMorant that your fish will have a better chance with LFS customers than they would in nature. 

 I did rehome some fish before my last cross-country move and I did it via posting them on Craigslist as "Fish for Adoption into Established Tanks" or something and then asked the people who contacted me a bunch of questions about their tanks to make sure they were a good fit. I charged enough to deter feeder-fish seekers, too.

As I am also on the path to being overstocked with livebearers, these are all the the things I am keeping in mind if/when I have to part with some fish. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gardenman]

There are good LFS and really bad LFS also. A good old fish store was the Mantua Tropical Fish and Pet Island in Mantua NJ. Maryann, one of the owners, would pretty much make you sign adoption papers before she'd sell you a fish. She'd make sure you had the right sized tank, the right conditions, and knew about the fish you were buying. If you failed her tests, she'd not sell you the fish. I'd have no issue selling (or giving) excess fish to a LFS like that.

In contrast, there was Discount Aquarium over in Delaware, off of route 202 on Silverside Rd. (Both stores are now out of business by the way, so I'm not helping or hurting anyone, just using them as examples.) I was in there one day when two young men who had apparently come into a lot of money were buying stuff. They'd bought a 125 gallon tank, stand, filters, gravel, and were also buying fish at the same time (with the tank still in the store, unfilled, uncycled, and not even at their home.) They bought every large predator fish he had and then went from tank to tank asking, "Will those fish eat these?" and if the answer was yes (and it was for almost every fish) they'd have him scoop up some of those fish for them. They bought koi, orandas, angelfish, African cichlids, and even some saltwater fish just to feed their new predator fish. The store owner was just happily scooping up anything and everything for them and seeing dollar signs flash before his eyes. I would not want to sell or give fish to such a store owner. He made no effort to educate or inform the two morons. They had money and he wanted it. They almost certainly killed every fish they bought simply out of ignorance and stupidity. I shopped there because his prices were good and he had a good selection of fish, but would I sell him any of my fish? Oh, heck no! 

If you have a good LFS, then work with them to find homes for your fish. A bad one is a whole different story.