Who's to blame for the big fish problem?

Who's to blame for the big fish problem?











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When it comes to tankbusting fish that rapidly outgrow their homes, who's really at fault? The buyers who think only for the moment, or the sellers looking for a quick profit? Nicolette Craig investigates.
When researching a recent news analysis feature for PFK magazine, one investigator witnessed a man, who was looking to add to his Neon tetra and guppy tank, asking shop staff if a certain fish might be suitable.
He was told his choice would be fine, but might need to consider a slightly bigger tank in a year or two due to that fish’s adult size. The creature in question was a fast-growing albino Oscar!
Advice like this first pushed BIAZA (the British Zoos and Aquaria Zoological Association) into launching the Big Fish campaign in 2006.
The aim was to highlight the increasing problem public aquaria face after people buy cute little fish for their tank only to discover they don’t stay little for long and may turn into huge 'tankbusters'. The campaign’s launch created a stir at the time, but seems to have slipped out of the spotlight since.
However, aquarium scientist Dr Peter Burgess, who compiled the original survey, told PFK: "The big fish problem hasn’t gone away."




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In 2008 more than 100 fish were offered to 12 zoos and aquaria. They included 60cm/24” plus Pacus, a Red tailed catfish more than 100cm/40” long, puffers, a 60cm/24” plec, a 40cm/16” electric eel, Blacktip reef shark at 50cm/20”, 30cm/12” Lemon stingray and 35cm/14” Long-nosed spotted gars. Less than a quarter were accepted.
However, a leading wholesaler told PFK: "I don’t believe this problem is as big as some people make out. Only a tiny part of our business comes from selling these 'big fish' – probably less than 0.5%. I think that as long as people are correctly informed about the requirements for these fish they can make excellent pets."
Daphne Layley, of the Southern Counties Catfish Rescue Society, sees a different argument.
"The situation is worse in recession,” she says. "When people feel the pinch, the first things to go are their hobbies and this often means that fish are dumped."
Sometimes the sellers are clearly to blame. I’ve been told of a small retail outlet with shoals of Pangasius sanitwongsei just 7.5cm/3” long, being sold for £6.95 each as community fish. These can grow to 3m/10’ long!
However, other shops have taken a stand and Maidenhead Aquatics, list 'tankbusting' species they refuse to stock. Paul Tapley, Maidenhead Aquatics’ livestock coordinator, told me: "For nearly ten years, we’ve had a policy of avoiding certain fishes that do poorly in captivity: not based solely on adult size or housing requirements as some private enthusiasts are capable of meeting the needs of big fish.
"We are one of the few retailers able to house larger fishes and this means that our stores are often obliged to rescue tank busters from members of the public either poorly advised by retailers or failing to do their homework before making a commitment.
"It’s disappointing that the retailers who persist in selling Pangasius, Pacus, Red tails, Giant gouramis and Clarias are usually those that lack scope to house even half-grown individuals of these species."
Dr Burgess added: "If the trade doesn’t get its act together and self-regulate, then another possible route to tackling this ongoing problem is to consider invoking the Trades Descriptions Act.
"Commercially, live fish are 'goods' so could it be argued that, for example, a Red-tailed catfish sold for the home aquarium is 'goods not fit for purpose'?”







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The Animal Welfare Act of 2006 includes fish kept as pets. It stipulates that animals must have a suitable diet and place to live, be free of pain, injury or suffering and exhibit normal behaviour patterns. Any keeper not meeting these criteria may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000 and/or sent to prison. (in the UK)
Brian Zimmerman, of the Zoological Society of London, agrees that legislation should be examined and tightened up.
He said: "Freshwater stingrays, for example, are big and dangerous. In public zoos and aquariums we ensure that the public and untrained volunteers cannot come into direct contact with them. It’s therefore ridiculous that anybody can walk into a shop and buy one."
Anyone wishing to own a potentially dangerous terrestrial animal is governed by the Dangerous Wild Animal Act, however a Defra spokesperson stated: "We have no fish on the dangerous wild animal lists as they cannot survive out of water. We therefore do not perceive people to be at risk from them."
It seems high time that this situation was addressed!









Biggest busters
The top eight tank busters in 2008 were Pacus, Pangasius, Red tailed cats, plecs, Oscars, Clarias cats, arowanas and Pseudoplatysoma cats.
Pacus, piranhas, Pangasius, plecs, Oscars, Giant gouramis, Silver sharks and Red tailed cats were listed in 2002.



Catfish rescue
Chris Ralph and Daphne Layley are the chairman and secretary respectively of the Southern Counties Catfish Rescue Society. Here's what they have to say on the issue of tankbusting fish:


You are part of a catfish rescue society, but is there really any need for one?
You would be surprised! We can be offered anything up to four fish every month.
Although we always try to help fishkeepers over the phone, that approach doesn’t always work! Once we know the owner’s locality, we tell direct them to their local shops. Sometimes they’ve already tried them, sometimes not.
Sometimes one of our own members can take on the fish, depending on size and space they have available.


What kind of fish do you get offered?
The sizes range from 30cm/12” for a plec, through to 49-60cm/18-24” for a Pangasius or Auchenoglanis (Giraffe cat), up to 76cm/30” plus for a Red tail.
We are also starting to see problems with Auchenoglanis spp. and all the Redtail/Tiger shovelnose hybrids (pictured above). These seem to have hybrid vigour and the potential to grow very big!
Occasionally, we also get asked about Clarias spp., especially the marbled variety. You can still buy 7.5cm/3” ones for under a fiver in some shops and they look very cute: pale and pinky-white with large black blotches.
However, unless the customer has done his or her homework, or shop staff warn them, 18 months down the line it will have grown out of all proportion, eaten every other fish and require a brick on the cover glass to keep it in!

Do you think the big fish problem can be rectified?
This is not going to go away. Quite frankly, as a catfish rescue society our members have almost reached saturation point in being able to rehouse tank busters.
The powers that be are going to have to look at this problem with a view to licensing individuals, or even banning species growing over a certain size!
If these animals were wrapped in fur or feathers and were warm and cuddly the whole world would be up in arms at their treatment. As they are cold blooded, no one seems to care if they are badly treated.

Public debate
ZSL and The Deep aquarium want to open this issue up to public debate, and ZSL may host such an event in the future. Contact www.zsl.org if you’re interested.

good article! I wonder if there is a possibility of treatments used in dogs and cats, like sexual sterilization and gps microchip, that can be applied to large and possibly invasive fish. It wouldn't help the problem of people buying the babies to put in small tanks, but it could at least help down the road if/when the owner decides to set it free because it's too big(as humane as it sounds it's not responsible). That way the large species can be located by gps, and it could not reproduce in the non-native wild.

I don't have any dogs or cats, but isn't there a paper trail of ownership when you buy or formally adopt through an organization? Could this be applied to adolescent large/invasive species? The downside is that people can buy the little fishes from Joe Schmoe private breeder, with no ability to trace where the fish came from.

Perhaps owners and keepers need to be licensed to care for such species in order to control and therefore educate people on the proper treatment of large/invasive fish, and hold them accountable with fines that prevents the sale/buying of those fish to people who aren't educated in the proper treatment.

IDK. I'm ranting I think, as much as I hate Big Brother dipping their hands in every aspect of our lives, this is another case where people are given the freedom to do what they want and those who are irresponsible with the privilege are once again ruining it for everyone else, forcing Big Brother to hold our hands in everything we do.

this is and always will be a major problem in the hobby.

blame me.... i like tank busters lol

Good article. I wouldn't even begin to know how to slow the big fish problem but I know something needs to be done.

CajunGator wrote:

blame me.... ilike tank busters lol

BUT, I believe that it isn't just one person or the other. Before anyone decides to own a pet, they should be researching their possible choice to know what they are getting themselves into. You can't always trust store employees, because they are human and do not know everything there is to know about what they are selling, and have even had some at my local store tell me when I ask a question, that they simply "Do not know" the answer. Maybe they should start putting signs on the tanks that they are selling the fish in to warn people. I don't know, but I love my big fish and if I had the room, I would take them all in!

My was a tank buster. His solution: eat em. Seriously. When I was a kid he had a large oscar. One night it was dinner. Years later he had a large red devil that died from a spook after a house in the area blew up in a gas explosion. There was red devil soup.

If there was a food market for tigerfish, asian carp, etc, they'd be overfished in our waters, no big problem with non-native species LOL

Considering I've given a home to a student's 10" pleco, as well as keep panfish, mbunas and soon my EB Jack Demspeys - all in the classroom. Perhaps I may trigger one of my students into wanting them. But I TRY to lead by example. And have tank sizes suitable for current sizes of the growing fish - and have plans at set times (summers) to increase tank sizes by 50% each time the 'big fish communities' outgrow current housing.

Students not only see and assist with tank maintainance - they learn the water chemistry as well. I'm hopeful that any young person that I spark the fish-owning interest in will remember just HOW big these fish can grow. Since I fully intend to have most of the same classroom fish that I have now in 20 years - students will see just how BIG they can get in person, not just in some picture.

It all comes down to proper education of the future fish buyer. Pet stores are NOT the best place to get that education since they have a direct conflict of interest. But teachers, zoos and public aquariums are the perfect place for non-biased and honest information.

What do you mean,who's to blame?If the store sells them,people will buy them.Key words-the store,the store,the store. ........every store sells em!!!!!!!!!people dont know any better than the idiot at the store who saya "i dunno"who maybe does know but doesnt want to say.

LOL@ KMX

I don't really agree with Jake. Yes a store has a responsibility, especially when it comes to ethics, but after all it is a store and they can sell whatever they legally can unfortunately. It also boils down to demand. A car company CHOOSES to make and sell the guzzlers because there was(still is) a demand for the bigger/brawnier car. Did people know better? I think we did, at least 10-15 years ago definitely. What affected car companies now is that we are more educated nowadays, and have begun to make preferences for the better, causing the demand to change.

A store can't be blamed for selling a rarer fish species for serious hobbyists when a family with kids comes in with the "I wannas" wanting the cute fishies before her pony or his truck. That family also isn't going to buy the great white shark like they saw in the city aquarium because they know by education that it's more than they can handle. Likewise it should be the same for other fish. It's definitely consumer education for me.

I believe its up to us as hobbiest to educate as many people as possible by way of forums like this one and just random acts . I have stopped so many people from buying id sharks and pacus i cant count on fingers and toes. Like was already said lfs can sell whatever they want people need to do research and educate

IMO if you the buyer makes a purchase it is your responsibility to know what you are getting. Would you buy a car sight unseen because a sales person says it looks great and runs great!? Not a chance... so why do different rules apply to people who buy animals... cats, dogs, snakes... you name it. People buy things they have no idea how to care for and because it is "just an animal" and cost less then say a car we somehow equate that to not needing to really care and just wing it. Also like to add that I know people buy things that they know are not good (the gas guzzler car example) but again it is the persons fault for buying it not the car dealership... the dealer is selling to demand if they don't do it someone else will. You have to change the consumer to have an effect on the products...

What ever happened to consumer responsibility... I think that just because a store carries a large growing fish does not mean anyone has to buy it. I think this boils down to "protect people from themselves" which if by that you mean educate them on the fish they are selecting OR guide them to a place like this then fine, heck even putting a sign below the fish that says "I get big"... if however, that is being done by removing the fish entirely I think it is unnecessary and keep in mind that just because one store does it does not mean everyone would follow suit unless mandated to do so and it is my belief we have Plenty of pointless laws already...

Hear hear!

You definitely hit that on the head Chris.

albyoscar wrote:

I believe its up to us as hobbiest to educate as many people as possible by way of forums like this one and just random acts . I have stopped so many people from buying id sharks and pacus i cant count on fingers and toes. Like was already said lfs can sell whatever they want people need to do research and educate

Everyone has great points. Thought this topic would create a convorsation. Me personally I think it's our job as people in the hobby to spread knowlege and help people learn. Also Belive it should be the buyer that should spend just a few mins. doing research on what they want.

Unfortunately, I believe that another problem lies in the education of our LFS employees. Whenever I go to a new LFS, I always ask a few questions just to get a base of what kind of knowledge the employee has about the hobby. Ask about species that you are very familiar with, ask what things are, how big they get, what they eat, what they are compatible with, etc. Again, unfortunately, many times I see employees that dont know what fish are compatible with what fish. I have had employees try to see me Blood Parrots as "fancy goldfish". Very sad. Another time I was starting a community tank for my daughter and I asked for some recommendations, and they told me to get some mollies and some oscars for a 20 gallon tank. There needs to be some sort of certification program in LFS's. Education will quickly remedy this problem in my opinion. I do agree also that customers also need to educate themselves. When I am looking to introduce a new species of fish to one of my tanks, I do extensive research for a month or longer before I even make my order. Like for example, right now I am researching Motoro Stingrays. If I decide, that even though I want one very badly, that if I am not able to give it the appropriate home, then I will not order it.

I have no problems with tank busters as long as they are a "pure" species and not a "shop" created hybrid. There are plenty of "big and pretty" natural fish so there is no reason to go about creating anything else. Those that support and sell these fish are the "PROBLEMS". If you get rid of drug dealers then there wouldn't be any druggies.

As for being able to legally sell it making something right, you can legally sell tattoo'd and gene mutated glow in the dark fish as well as Parrot cichlids with "I LUV U" written on their sides. If you think this is ok then you are a head.

[quote="As for being able to legally sell it making something right, you can legally sell tattoo'd and gene mutated glow in the dark fish as well as Parrot cichlids with "I LUV U" written on their sides. If you think this is ok then you are a head.[/quote]

Those things are horrible. Poor guys. Unfortunately they are novelties and uninformed consumers will by them. Does it make it ok? Or course not, but they're and we can't make a business not sell them, least no directly. People sell unethically raised animals for food, people sell blood diamonds, people sell products that harm the environment. Either the consumer doesn't know or they just don't care to know. How many people here knows if their wife's engagement ring is Kimberley Process Certified, ensuring the diamonds are not a from a blood diamond source? Very few, and probably because jewelers don't really advertise that. Others don't care anymore because it's bought and done. However if we educated ourselves as a consumer and cared to know, our purchase choices would make difference in the demand(or rather non-demand) for these kinds of products.