ScandiDefense Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 Hi there! Hope everyone and their fishes are safe and well. Just a random thought. How often do fish keepers buy new fishes? Weekly? Monthly? Do fishkeepers buy new fishes to refill their tanks after old fishes die? Or for some other reasons? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Craft Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 (edited) Me, not often at all. More often than not years apart. I go through phases. I will buy a number of fish this year and decide that is what I am keeping. Then a few years down the road, do it again. This time around I have decided to go with more than one tank, so I bought a fair number of things over some months. Different snails and shrimp. White clouds have been the only constant in the hobby for me. I'm considering breeding them as a project. Edited November 23, 2023 by Kit Craft 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScandiDefense Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 This thought creeped into my mind because a few of my friends (i got to know them because of our common interest in fish keeping) seem to be buying fish every other day! This tuesday they went to a discus farm and each of them purchased a few discus. Then today they went to another shop where they got a few plecos. They each have a 4 feet aquarium and they fill their aquarium up with nearly 30 plus fishes! 😱 And they have a habit of to flushing away (down the toilet bowl) any fish that appears to them to have weaken. Then they will go buy another new fish to replace it!!! Unbelievable!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmark285 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 I am currently setting up a 75 gallon Mbuna tank, the plan is to make one major purchase (~20 fish) then just watch them mature. My other tank has Tiger barbs which limits me on buying fish. So I rarely buy fish. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScandiDefense Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 Me too. I like to watch my fish mature and grow big. I buy them small and watch them grow. My friends are the exact opposite whereby they buy large adult fish. Something like a shortcut for them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 On 11/23/2023 at 3:14 AM, ScandiDefense said: And they have a habit of to flushing away (down the toilet bowl) any fish that appears to them to have weaken. Then they will go buy another new fish to replace it!!! Unbelievable!!! When dealing with a larger number of fish this (not flushing but humanely euthanizing) is a practice folks employee. In wildlife management they use this technique to keep the herds healthy. When one becomes ill it’s often due to a weak or weakened immune system. Culling them is best for the group both to not spread disease and not spread potential weak immune system traits. It seems cruel if you are dealing with only a few critters and each are loved pets. When dealing with larger groups that are loved groups, often you do what is best for the group vs endanger the group to coddle an individual. That being said the alternatives are have space and resources to heal the fish and house it alone through its life so it does not fall ill again in a more stressful community or pass on weak genes. I buy fish more often than I should 🤣 Usually when one I’ve wanted for awhile actually becomes available. I have fish that are permanent pets and fish that are interesting breeding projects and fish I intend as pets I find are not as interesting to me as I imagined. August through October I rehome those I’m not as fond of as I thought I would be or those I find I no longer am enchanted with, and those that have produced so many babies I can no longer easily rehome the offspring. This allows me to start new adventures and learn about new fish. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogpulchra2 Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 I don't buy fish that often because I've come to accept that I want ALL of the fish, but I can't have ALL of the fish. Plants on the other hand... 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Marie Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 My present average is every 6 months to a year. Mainly because I have 2 tanks and tend to buy smaller, shorter lived fish on a timeline stagger. (That way they all don't start dropping dead of old age all at once LOL. My heart couldn't take that.) I just bought a new fish (a betta) for the first time since this time last year. So the pattern of six months to a year continues. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Craft Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 On 11/23/2023 at 3:14 AM, ScandiDefense said: This thought creeped into my mind because a few of my friends (i got to know them because of our common interest in fish keeping) seem to be buying fish every other day! This tuesday they went to a discus farm and each of them purchased a few discus. Then today they went to another shop where they got a few plecos. They each have a 4 feet aquarium and they fill their aquarium up with nearly 30 plus fishes! 😱 And they have a habit of to flushing away (down the toilet bowl) any fish that appears to them to have weaken. Then they will go buy another new fish to replace it!!! Unbelievable!!! My former boss buys fish monthly, at least, because they die. I won't get into specifics, but he is a goldfish in a bowl kind of guy. On the other hand, I don't think my uncle has bought fish since the late 90s when he got into convicts and firemouths. They tend to make more on their own. Opposite ends of the spectrum. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScandiDefense Posted November 23, 2023 Author Share Posted November 23, 2023 I aspire to be like your uncle!!! Never having to buy fish ever again becaue my fishes are breeding and providing me with new fishes! On 11/24/2023 at 1:12 AM, Kit Craft said: My former boss buys fish monthly, at least, because they die. I won't get into specifics, but he is a goldfish in a bowl kind of guy. On the other hand, I don't think my uncle has bought fish since the late 90s when he got into convicts and firemouths. They tend to make more on their own. Opposite ends of the spectrum. Very very true! We want ALL of the fish but our spaces are so limited... On 11/23/2023 at 11:57 PM, Ogpulchra2 said: I don't buy fish that often because I've come to accept that I want ALL of the fish, but I can't have ALL of the fish. Plants on the other hand... No clove oil. Nothing. Just flush the fish down the toilet! Very shocking to me! The fish was just swimming in an odd way and my friend concluded that it is in a weaken state and flushed it away. And he happily went to buy a new replacement fish the very next day. Shocking!!! On 11/23/2023 at 11:02 PM, Pepere said: Do they flush them down the toilet without euthanizing them first? or do they at the least dispatch them first? I have administered clove oil to a few fish to stop the suffering, that were not improving despite multiple courses of treatment. After that a toilet is an efficient means of dealing with the remains… I have 4 tanks. 2, 29 gallon tanks, a 20 high and a 17 gallon globe tank. I have 3 quarantine tanks in my basement. For a while I was bringing a batch home every other week. I do a 6 week quarantine period so this way after a bit I was transferring in to display tanks every other week too… I like to add bioload in smaller increments giving beneficial bacteria time to mature and handle increases in bioload… I am approaching full stocking now so fish purchases will slow down considerably and become replacement purchases as fish age out… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted November 23, 2023 Share Posted November 23, 2023 I'm pretty "full." So, I don't buy many fish. Also, with the livebearers, I'm mostly a fish exporter (to friends). 🙂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AllFishNoBrakes Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 (edited) When I was first setting up up all my tanks I was buying and quarantining fish left and right. Once things got stocked, I haven’t really bought many fish. I’ve waited for groups of fish to enjoy their life, and then when they’re gone I move onto the next ones. For example, my cube started with CPD’s a few years ago. Those have since passed, and I left it with just plants, snails, and my 2 Amano shrimp for probably 6 months while I decided what I wanted to stock the tank with. 2 weeks ago I got a group of Blue Axelrodi Rasboras to go in the cube. My 29 gallon tank started with 10 or 12 Glowlight Tetras. That tank has since been converted to a blackwater tank, and about half the Glowlight group is still kicking it. However, I’ll be adding a group of Black Neons to that tank. I’ve definitely culled some fish with clove oil. They’ve either had obvious tumors (betterment of the group as mentioned above) or once the quality of life crosses the line I’ve euthanized. I don’t enjoy it, but it has been necessary at times as it’s just another tool in the tool belt. Edited November 24, 2023 by AllFishNoBrakes 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 Unless I decide to add a new group, I buy fish about once a year. I like to keep them in groups of six, and purchase in groups of three. I have been fortunate that most of my fish are alive and happy until they aren't. I've only had to euthanize one. The smaller fish usually just disappear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonkley Posted November 24, 2023 Share Posted November 24, 2023 Seems like every few months ill have a couple guppies die of mysterious circumstances. Then I'll get a couple more. Although my tank is starting to hit equilibrium with my fry reaching adolescence. Nitrates have been stable instead of dropping to 0 with my plants. So soon I'll need to rehome a group of them. There's very few guppy color variations here, i only have box stores, and a couple LFS. So I try to them when I see them. If I were to get rid of all or most of my juveniles, I'd probably buy some from various online sources, but I would really like to figure out why I'll go months without problems, then have 1 fish die every week for like 3 weeks, then everyone is happy again before adding the expense of better fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted November 25, 2023 Share Posted November 25, 2023 On 11/24/2023 at 3:58 AM, Pepere said: I can’t imagine flushing a live fish down the toilet myself. If a fish is swimming odd, I will remove itto a quarantine tank and try to nurse it back to health. From a dollars and cents standpoint it would be far cheaper to dispose of it and buy new than to treat it with meds, but these are living creatures, not inanimate objects… In all fairness though fish in the wild who are injured or sick are more likely to become food or not recover than to recover.. At the very least I would have a yogurt cup with a cover near the tank to place a culled fish in with a bit of clove oil. Minimal expense and a much kinder death than flushing alive…. Some fish euthanasia options: https://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/hospital/euthanasiaoptions/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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