Why do so many reefers disapprove of buying fish with the intention of rehoming them after a couple of years?

[ca1ore]

I never really had much of an issue with folks rehousing fish that outgrow their tank .... particularly since I’ve been the beneficiary of it on more than a few occasions . Depends on the fish though. Years ago I had a vlamingi Naso tang outgrow my 300 ... not all that easy to rehome frankly. The whole ‘I’m planning for a bigger tank’ annoys me more.

 

[User1]

Simple answer is because fish are not a commodity. They are a pet. Sort of like owning a high drive dog in a small apartment. Intent is good but soon the walks and working sessions are far and few between and the dog suffers. Or people who buy parrots not understanding that some live to 40 or 70 years of age...

Ignoring that for a minute then there is this other thing called age or maturity of the tank. This is here where I 100% disagree with BRS and their last live stream video on 20 mistakes of fish because they said it again. Something along the lines how they disagree with putting a tang in a 60 gallon with intent to rehome. Yes, you can. However, as the tank ages, and matures, that means the rock starts to encrust via algae and other forms of life. Or maybe you puttied / glued it together. You have since added coral frags. If you are doing it right corals grow. You add more corals, maybe an anemone, and now you want to capture said large fish.

You may get lucky if it sleeps in the open. You may get lucky if it sleeps in a place tucked away that you can capture it at night. You may get lucky and be able to use a trap. You may not. What happens then?

To answer your quest the couple "good" reasons hobbyist disapprove is because you have to capture the fish to rehome it. And that may mean disruption of the tank to do so. By disruption I mean removing rocks, corals, and even the possibility of draining water to only a couple inches.

Let me then ask you a question besides if it was worth it. The questions is now what do you think that chaos just did to the rest of your tank occupants be it fish, coral, or invert?

Yeah - that is why. You can but the question is should you. Stock properly and this isn't an issue unless you are really going to upgrade to a larger system. And even then I wouldn't recommend it. Just my opinion.

 

[Arthacker87]

I think its fine as well. The whole though of "could you trade your kids in" and " don't plan on getting rid of my dog when they get older" lol ones illegal and the other is a dumb reference. If we had tanks the size of our house and yards we can keep any fish. I get what they are saying but its a bit extreme lol. Gotta remember a lot of times we start w fish then get coral then everything has a place so when that fish gets big are you willing to destroy a tank to get it out. If you are then go for it.

 

[TriggerFinger]

I don’t plan on buying a fish I know will outgrow my tank simply because I don’t want to tear my tank apart to catch it. It was hard enough catching a 3” blenny in a 29g. Nothing is coming out of my 90g so everything must be able to fit comfortably

 

[piranhaman00]

Buying an animal without the intention of properly housing it for life is simply irresponsible, it’s as simple as that.

 

[vetteguy53081]

People do it for the experience of having that particular fish and trial and error to see if they are capable of owning similar fish when they upgrade in the future.
Some buy them on impulse because they love the color and an LFS was gracious enough to sell it to them rather than ask what tank size, age of tank level of experience, etc and collect the sale.
There are many reasons and its not a blame game but rather a behavior that comes with Any Hobby.
Why do we buy paint with a 20 year wear warranty when we know we will paint the room in 3 years or sell the house in ten years, Why do we buy a car with an extended warranty for 6 years when we know we will trade it in 3 and so forth.
Its a behavior. We humans sometimes " fall in love too easily ".

 

[Sebastiancrab]

If you can't find a good new home, give them to your LFS.

 

[piranhaman00]

People do it for the experience of having that particular fish and trial and error to see if they are capable of owning similar fish when they upgrade in the future.
Some buy them on impulse because they love the color and an LFS was gracious enough to sell it with them rather than ask what tank size, age of tank etc and collect the sale.
There are many reasons and its not a blame game but rather a behavior that comes with Any Hobby.
Why do we buy paint with a 20 year wear warranty when we know we will paint the room in 3 years or sell the house in ten years, Why do we buy a car with an extended warranty for 6 years when we know we will trade it in 3 and so forth.
Its a behavior. We humans sometimes " fall in love too easily ".

Cars and houses arent living things...that analogy doesn’t work.

 

[User1]

Cars and houses arent living things...that analogy doesn’t work.

That is true. He wasn't coming at it from a live perspective though. It was "intent".

 

[AcroNem]

Buying an animal without the intention of properly housing it for life is simply irresponsible, it’s as simple as that.

I'll just quote this is it's basically what I was going to say. We see it all too often. Large Tangs, Sharks, Rays, Eels, Octopus, Grouper and other miscellaneous tankbusters are kept with the knowledge that it will either magically find a new huge home, they'll try to dump it at a public aquarium(they'll usually say no, we were asked constantly at the facility I worked at) or they'll just be able to offord going from their 55gallon budget build to something 8 feet long(or 8 feet across for a small shark) in a year. It's a silly and irresponsible concept. If you aren't prepared to keep said animal, whatever animal you're thinking of, don't get it until you are.

 

[lion king]

People have made some great points, one has been that the lfs might just not take them back. There are many species that certain lfs just won't take back. An lfs has to consider whether they have the customer base for such a fish. Part of my hobby for years was growing up baby triggers. I got 1-2" picasso, blueline, clown, and niger; as well as some angels and grew them up to be housed in various large tanks around town. I didn't have a tank large enough to house them but I enjoyed them for a few years. But my plan was well in place before I brought the fish home. It worked as well on both ends as these aggressive nature fish do behave better when captive raised, vs being capture at adult size

 

[Flame2hawk]

I suppose its ok if becomes necessary to move your fish. I do however always plan stocking level considering adult size and with intention not to have them move again...We yank ‘em out of the ocean and already stress them out enough so planning to have them settle into their first stop after QT and focus on them thriving seems to be the least we can do....

 

[ca1ore]

I don’t plan on buying a fish I know will outgrow my tank simply because I don’t want to tear my tank apart to catch it. It was hard enough catching a 3” blenny in a 29g. Nothing is coming out of my 90g so everything must be able to fit comfortably

You just wait until it’s grown so large that it cannot turn around. Then easy to catch. Buddy of mine kept Oscars in college and we would always chuckle that his tank was 28 gallons of Oscar and 2 gallons of water.

 

[Arthacker87]

I think the idea was getting a cool tang that wouldn't be the right size as an adult (depending size could take a few years to get to) most people don't want sharks. This is getting fun but a bit farfetched. I could say most of us who can house a bigger tang would love to get their hands on a tank raised tang (at least in my opinion). There are a bunch of variables in this. Finding someone or upgrading or trading in etc. I have 2 tangs in my 65g with intent on transferring them to my 265. They have been there 1 up 3 months and look happy. I'm sure they would be more happy in the 265 lol. But regardless its apple to oranges. We all have bought a fish that maybe wasn't as suitable to our tanks and we all make our reasons to have them. I'd say with a good way to get rid of them (preferably another hobbiest) go for it!!! I am lol

 

[Arthacker87]

1 yr*

 

[KTrevino]

For me giving a grown fish back to the LFS is like getting rid of a dog after it is a puppy. First taking a fish from its natural home, keeping it, giving it back to the LFS to sit. Its kinda sad. I would only do it if I seriously planned on upgrading the tank or knew someone beforehand that has a tank and wants it. Just be responsible. We don't need anymore stray animals in this world.

 

[BullyBee]

It’s kinda like re-homing a dog because it isn’t a puppy anymore.

Edit: I didn’t read the post above mine. Same thing.

 

[Arthacker87]

would a stray fish be back in its habitat though?

 

[Arthacker87]

or dead I reckon

 

[Signalhead]

It's like trying to re-home your kids. Ya want to sometimes, but you end up loving them no matter how much they eat. It's not for me.

I did, once they turned 18 I was like are you guys leaving?