I need a goldfish in its prime
May 13, 2011 7:19 AM Subscribe
Can New Yorkers with pet fish experience please recommend a store where I might purchase a healthy, ethically untarnished goldfish?
We would like to get a goldfish for our 16 month old daughter. The desire to do business with a reputable establishment surfaced during a recent trip to Pet Smart. As we stood there, marveling at the shoals of brightly colored fish, we noticed an employee with a small net removing all the dead ones from the tank.
Me: "do you do this every day?"
Employee: "Oh, several times. The manager tells you it's time to round up the ones that have bought the farm."
Me: "what about the sick ones?"
Employee (winking): "Those we put in a special hospital tank upstairs."
We would like to get a goldfish for our 16 month old daughter. The desire to do business with a reputable establishment surfaced during a recent trip to Pet Smart. As we stood there, marveling at the shoals of brightly colored fish, we noticed an employee with a small net removing all the dead ones from the tank.
Me: "do you do this every day?"
Employee: "Oh, several times. The manager tells you it's time to round up the ones that have bought the farm."
Me: "what about the sick ones?"
Employee (winking): "Those we put in a special hospital tank upstairs."
Response by poster: Yes, but surely being born and bred in factory conditions, then living in crowded tanks, makes them very vulnerable to disease. I'm wondering whether there's a store that specializes in what might, ridiculously, be called "free range goldfish." Lovingly raised by hand on a commune upstate, etc. etc.
posted by Morpeth at 7:25 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Morpeth at 7:25 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
"Free Range Goldfish" would be a great name for a band. I would find a locally owned specialty aquarium store. The kind of place where people spend $100 on a single fish probably has a little higher standards.
posted by COD at 7:36 AM on May 13, 2011 [7 favorites]
posted by COD at 7:36 AM on May 13, 2011 [7 favorites]
I have no idea where one might ethically source a goldfish, except perhaps from a specialist breeder with delivery by FedEx. Alternatively, you can consider yourself to be "rescuing" a store-bought goldfish from near certain death and give it an elysian "retirement" in the green, green pasture of goldfish: a single fish in a 20 gallon tank.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:45 AM on May 13, 2011
posted by DarlingBri at 7:45 AM on May 13, 2011
I mean, if we were talking about another type of fish which might have been gathered from the wild I could understand the concern (I am not a serious aquarist). But goldfish...I think are all bred in captivity. That said, no idea about more ethically sourcing one. Except yes, go to a locally owned store.
And in my experience, goldfish DO in fact live a long time if taken care of properly. Even the tiny "feeder fish" you see crowded together, many dead or dying, in pet stores. If given enough space and a fish tank with a filter, I've seen them grow to be very large, healthy, and happy (though not always bright orange). But you can't just plop them in a fishbowl and expect them to thrive.
posted by bennett being thrown at 8:00 AM on May 13, 2011
And in my experience, goldfish DO in fact live a long time if taken care of properly. Even the tiny "feeder fish" you see crowded together, many dead or dying, in pet stores. If given enough space and a fish tank with a filter, I've seen them grow to be very large, healthy, and happy (though not always bright orange). But you can't just plop them in a fishbowl and expect them to thrive.
posted by bennett being thrown at 8:00 AM on May 13, 2011
There's an awesome fish store on delancy, called Pacific Aquarium & Plant. I get all of my fish gear from there. this is their yelp review page the guys there are suuuuuper friendly, practical, and they've got some pretty spectacular setups. Their showpiece aquarium outfront is a fully planted tank that's mindblowingly awesome. (heck, I spend an extra 15 mins each trip there just admiring the front tank...)
However, you can avoid absolute sticker shock and get your tank and gravel and filter refills from petco/big box store (usually much cheaper/bigger selection). As the school year is ending, you can also scour craigslist for an aquarium as people leave the city- occasionally you find stuff there for next to nothing. Buy your fish and food from the local aquarium store. Keep in mind that goldfish are really really dirty fish (they poop alot) so get a real filter for the fishy- don't just rely on waterchanges to keep things clean.
Fish stores won't necessarily state which fish are ethically sourced, (you don't ever really know for sure- particularly with the saltwater fish, which are more difficult to breed in tank), but the guys there really do know their stuff and are happy to get you set up.
posted by larthegreat at 8:24 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
However, you can avoid absolute sticker shock and get your tank and gravel and filter refills from petco/big box store (usually much cheaper/bigger selection). As the school year is ending, you can also scour craigslist for an aquarium as people leave the city- occasionally you find stuff there for next to nothing. Buy your fish and food from the local aquarium store. Keep in mind that goldfish are really really dirty fish (they poop alot) so get a real filter for the fishy- don't just rely on waterchanges to keep things clean.
Fish stores won't necessarily state which fish are ethically sourced, (you don't ever really know for sure- particularly with the saltwater fish, which are more difficult to breed in tank), but the guys there really do know their stuff and are happy to get you set up.
posted by larthegreat at 8:24 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Goldfish kind of suck. I have a zebrafish, Maurice, who is more than two and a half years old and will not die, no matter how much I neglect him. (Not that I neglect him on purpose, of course.) I got my guy at PetSmart, which isn't the answer you're looking for by any means, but he's a very healthy, hardy little fish.
posted by phunniemee at 8:25 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 8:25 AM on May 13, 2011 [2 favorites]
Also, here is an excellent old comment about taking care of a goldfish.
posted by phunniemee at 8:27 AM on May 13, 2011
posted by phunniemee at 8:27 AM on May 13, 2011
if you do go to a locally owned fish store, you should ask where they get their fish from. There's a chance that they use the same supplier that my large chain pet store employer does. I know of two locally owned fish stores around me that use the same supplier as the store I work at.
posted by d13t_p3ps1 at 8:47 AM on May 13, 2011
posted by d13t_p3ps1 at 8:47 AM on May 13, 2011
As someone who used to work in an extremely ethical locally owned pet store, I can tell you that the goldfish are probably coming from the same place as they are at Petco/petsmart.
The difference is that if any appeared sick we didn't put them on display or we would pull them off display and we got rid of dead ones immediately so there was never a daily dead fish roundup.
posted by magnetsphere at 8:49 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
The difference is that if any appeared sick we didn't put them on display or we would pull them off display and we got rid of dead ones immediately so there was never a daily dead fish roundup.
posted by magnetsphere at 8:49 AM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
Pet goldfish can live a ridiculously long time and grow to be enormous, if you take care of them. I got an inch-long baby comet goldfish, free, as a kid. Four years later Max clocked in at ten inches from snout to tail-base (bit over a foot, including the long tail) and was tame enough to be hand fed. I'm sure he had more growing to do, he'd just slowed down long enough for me to find a new home for him. He'd outgrown the three-foot 30gal tank I had him in.
If anyone has told you that "goldfish grow to the size of their tank," they mean that literally. Full-grown Max The Fish was almost as long as the five gallon tank I'd started him in. Unless you want a tank the size of a small car, or are planning to install a pond, I'd recommend against goldfish.
That said, you can get healthy fish at a chain pet shop. Look for fish that are swimming easily, with nothing on their bodies (white spots, open sores, parasites) and flowing fins that aren't ragged or discolored. Ask to see them fed, and choose a voracious eater.
posted by cmyk at 9:35 AM on May 13, 2011 [3 favorites]
If anyone has told you that "goldfish grow to the size of their tank," they mean that literally. Full-grown Max The Fish was almost as long as the five gallon tank I'd started him in. Unless you want a tank the size of a small car, or are planning to install a pond, I'd recommend against goldfish.
That said, you can get healthy fish at a chain pet shop. Look for fish that are swimming easily, with nothing on their bodies (white spots, open sores, parasites) and flowing fins that aren't ragged or discolored. Ask to see them fed, and choose a voracious eater.
posted by cmyk at 9:35 AM on May 13, 2011 [3 favorites]
in high school, I worked at a small, family-owned pet store, and later, a Petco. I'm pretty sure we did get our goldfish from the same supplier, and we certainly scooped out "sleepers" at both places daily. I'd think the only way to be sure your goldfish was healthy and ethically untarnished would be to find an independent goldfish breeder, if those exist.
posted by changeling at 12:29 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by changeling at 12:29 PM on May 13, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Tylwyth Teg at 7:22 AM on May 13, 2011