about keeping certain pets

[Neyra]

My theory is to care for every living thing the best way possible. I deceided recently to keep fish. But I don't know how ethical would it be or be not.
I don't feel brightly the guidance of the Holy Spirit since I've backslidden in faith, so I don't know if it would be moral or not. What I think about that is I don't know how right it would be to keep a fish in a glass cube with unnatural environment taken from it's natural habitat, only for the view. I would keep them in a big aquarium(just for you to know 112 litre), great filter, heater, soil with neon or led lamp, plants, and I would be checking constantly every water parameter possible and I would be careful which fish I chose for not every withstands the company of other species (+they have other needs). Still my consious it's not clear. What do you think about it? Is it moral?


...added to that when they're keept in good condition depending on the species they can live up to 5-22 years. So they're a long term company

I have a cat, I would do anything for my cat

 

[Waggles]

Fish are a burden and will enslave you to their constant need for tank maintenance.
I had goldfish and tropical fish and it proved to also be very expensive.
Stick to your cat. Maybe get a kitten.
Cats and dogs cost enough if you look after them responsibly - vet visits, desexing, flea & tick treatment, bedding and quality foods.

 

[Mayflower]

I had a beta in a regular fish bowl and it lived a very long time. I don't think they really care. As long as you clean the fish bowl and care for them and maybe throw in a castle, that is all my fish cared about. Don't put another beta in with it. They are loners. Beautiful fish. These days I have a cat and kids.

 

[Neyra]

I don't think fish would be happy in a bowl. I had once a 54 litre and a smaller 12 litre(I would not have one now) near each other and I saw fish from the 12 litre wanting to get into the 54 litre. When I've put them in the bigger one, they didn't wanted to go back to the small one. they didn't swim near and the remaining always tried to get in the bigger tank.
Fish have hapiness two. I had one ancistrus and He had a favorite leaf near the filter, he was always hangig on that because it wobbled...one ramirezi always came to the glass when He saw me He was happy and always came for interactions, it seemed to me that He was ok. One person can recognize a happy fish when He saw one ever. They have memories over a week, and they have "little" personalities, emotions...all they need is stimulation, big environment.
A person's personality neither wouldn't come to the surface if He was kept in a 4×4 cage. It would kill Him morally. Wouldn't be happy.

Also fish have an organ called lateral line organ it's s system of sensory organs used to detect movement, vibration and pressure degrees in water. It's used in the detection of movement of fleeing prey.
In a bowl every vibration that a fish produces, reflects back on them. And because they have this organ, they are sensible to every vibration in a bowl they make and can make them crazy, that's why in some countries prohibited to use bowl for keeping fish only regular tanks.

And it's also not to mention that without a 24/7 filter they swim in their own excrement, which toxifies them constantly with NH3 and nitrit and reduces their lifespan more than to 1/3.

I don't know what to do. I may not have the enery needed to care for them, but I they fascinate me so that I slowly can grow that energy .. until then I learn about them, read much, inform, select products. I may get the energy needed.. if not I will stick to my Purring machine Thank you for your answers. Waggles, what kind of tropical fish do you have and how big is your goldfish tank? We had also goldfish, but they outgrow the 54 litre .. we had them in our ornament lake to we could have eaten them to dinner they multiplied by so much.

 

[Neyra]

... oh, now I see you both had fish, not have one. I understand..

 

[Waggles]

Waggles, what kind of tropical fish do you have and how big is your goldfish tank?

My goldfish tank was my first adventure with aquarium fish.
It was a small tank - a couple of feet long by a foot wide and 20 inches high.
My tropical fish were in a much larger cabinet tank - Pearl Gouramis, Cory Catfish, Neon Tetras, Zebra Danios.

But I found that the upkeep - the cleaning of the filters and the tanks, etc, became time consuming and kept me "chained" to the high needs of keeping fish.
It also proved very expensive with the cost of aquarium filters and pumps and food and so on.
In the end I gave it all away. Now I just have the two cats.