The Black Shark PROBLEM!

[Amelia]

Whats with all the Black Sharks popping up on the market recently? I've seen dozens of them! Personally it makes me really angry. These things are sold as cute babies for a cheap price to unsuspecting customers with little community tanks, unaware that they reach upwards of 2 feet in size! In my opinion fish with the capacity to reach that kind of size should not be so readily available, we have enough trouble with Silver/Bala Sharks and Clown Loaches. People seem to love shoving them in their small tanks regardless of the fact that they get to a foot long and require schools.

I understand that of course there is always going to be people who want AND have the space for this kind of thing but the average aquarist is not equipped to deal with a 2-foot fish. Hence, they should not be sold next to the neon tetras in a standard pet shop! At least with other tank-busters like Aros they come with a hefty price-tag to deter some would-be buyers intent on seeing just how small of a tank they and shove it into (not that even that works all the time).

GRRR what next! Irridescent Sharks?!?

[Godly3vil]

:gopo: :iag:

[disgustipated]

put tin foil barbs, common plecos and clown knife fish on this list too.

[v8jaggy8]

Some shops like the one I work in we have limited numbers of them in stock and have the tank clearly labeled that they do get very large and don't sell them unless we honestly think people realise the size.

[livingart]

don't forget their aggression

[calculator]

There is alot of fish that I put in the same category, for example most of the larger growing cichlids (I mean how can you resist that cute oscar in the pet shop), most goldfish and lets not forget turtles. They are on the whole fairly cheap, which as some one who will house them correctly is what I want when buying them, but is bad for the fish as it puts them in the price range where people can afford to replace them regularly.

The main problem though is that fish aren't seen as being on the same 'level' as pets. On the whole they are seen as something that can be put into a tank as an ornament then not cared for. What people dont realize and/or don't care is that fish require more effort to look after then some other pets, like cats. This leads to them being abused, but again no one seems to care that they are living in substandard conditions and dying prematurely.

And lets not forget 'fish only grow to the size of their tank'....

[Insectile]

There is alot of fish that I put in the same category, for example most of the larger growing cichlids (I mean how can you resist that cute oscar in the pet shop), most goldfish and lets not forget turtles. They are on the whole fairly cheap, which as some one who will house them correctly is what I want when buying them, but is bad for the fish as it puts them in the price range where people can afford to replace them regularly.

The main problem though is that fish aren't seen as being on the same 'level' as pets. On the whole they are seen as something that can be put into a tank as an ornament then not cared for. What people dont realize and/or don't care is that fish require more effort to look after then some other pets, like cats. This leads to them being abused, but again no one seems to care that they are living in substandard conditions and dying prematurely.

And lets not forget 'fish only grow to the size of their tank'....

:iag: :gpo2:

Had a lady at work the other day who told me that she should get away with having 3-4 Silver Sharks as feature fish in her already overstocked 30 litre hexy tank because fish will only grow to the size of the tank they are in! :facepalm: Lets just say I had a few things to say about that...

[jackp]

Sadly issues like this are not confined to fish. Many people treat pets as possesions rather than a living thing that they have made themselves responsible for. From keeping birds in tiny little cages, to buying dogs and leaving them tied up all the time because they can't be bothered excercising them and don't have a suitable property. It would be nice to think that one day the requirements for animal ownership consisted of more than just having enough money to purchase them. While I suspect the major issue is lack of education/information, there are a lot of cases where it is just selfish and calous behaviour based around the premise that "it's just an animal".