They do sell Bettas, which CAN do well in bowls if it is done right (and
poorly if done wrong), and for bigger bowls they sell Paradisefish
(Macropodus opercularis), which in larger (2 gallon and up) bowls are about
the best fish for such a setup since they are not tropical and won't suffer
when the heat is turned down in winter. :-) Sometimes they even sell
killifish, but always into a covered "bowl."
Even with the Bettas and Paradisefish, since they are a retail store, and in
the buisness of selling things, their salesfolk try to get those fish into
desktop aquaria with little filters and even heaters, plus **covers** and
decor and such. This amounts to a $30.00 to $50.00 sale for a $2.99 Betta to
live in. Good money! One girl there is so good at it, very few Bettas go
home in just a bowl. :-)
FWIW we now have two top-of-the-line LFS in the Metro area here now and both
do well and do not compromise their values to do so. They do not sell dyed
fish, nor do they sell those infernal "Bloody Parrot" cichlid hybrid things.
They also do not sell Pacu nor Irridescent Sharks (aka Pangasius Cats). One
sells Red Tail Cats, sadly. Not sure about the other, as it is VERY new
still. I hope they don't but time will tell. Also the one that sells marine
stuff sells ONLY captive raised or certified net caught, and avoids the
stuff that does not do well in captivity. Why do this? They feel they do not
need to compromise their values to do well in business.
It can be done and I am glad that shops are out there trying to do so.
I understand trying to make a living, and not argueing with the customers,
but I have also seen sucessful shops that stick to their guns and still make
a good profit.
Julie <'><
>From: Andrew Boyd <andrew at friendlymanual.com>
>Reply-To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
>To: r_m_l at yahoogroups.com
>Subject: Re: [RML] Digest Number 162
>Date: Fri, 28 Oct 2005 19:58:47 +1000
>
>Hi Mike,
>
>I can see your perspective, and Dave's.
>
>Despite the Bettas, and the size thing, and the 'they can take my fish
>from my cold dead fingers' (all valid arguments), the basic fact remains
>that as long as there are goldfish bowls, people will put goldfish in
>them. It is a bit like the old tonics for children that were full of
>cocaine and morphine - people didn't HAVE to feed them to their kids,
>but many did. When in doubt, people take the easiest way. This easiest
>way is a bit hard on the poor old goldfish. Better, I think, that they
>die swiftly in the belly of a pet Barramundi than suffer in the bowl.
>
>I am not a legislator, or a member of Animal Liberation, or a fanatic. I
>just don't like goldfish bowls because to me they symbolise everything
>that is wrong with the aquarium hobby. There is a lot right with it, but
>a few things wrong with it too. I believe that as soon as we start
>seeing live animals (including people) as commodities, we lose a bit of
>ourselves. If I see a man beating a donkey with a stick, I will offer to
>help him understand the error of his ways. If someone asks me my opinion
>on goldfish bowls, I will tell them.
>
>Your opinion may vary :)
>
>Best regards, Andrew
>
>Mike Luchsinger wrote:
>
> >Dave,
> >
> >You are absolutely right. Education beats legislation. Banning of
> >"goldfish bowls" would also prevent the keeping of the Betta, which
> >prefers, even thrives in, the confines of a bowl.
> >
> >I have been in the pet shop business (and a rainbow hobbyist) for almost
> >20 years. We used to give coupons for a "free goldfish"to the local
> >fairs as prizes. When the winner would come in to claim their prize we
> >would do our best to sell them on a Betta. The benefit of the coupon,
> >though, is the same principal retailers use when they give a rebate.
> >Only a small percentage of the winners actually claim the fish. Out of
> >the 500 coupons that we would usually give out, maybe 50 would be
> >redeemed, and 10 or 20 of those could be talked into buying a Betta and
> >the necessary accessories. Often after the goldfish died, they would
> >return for something "longer-lived". This is a strategy that give a
> >local fish store the ability to make more money, so i don't understand
> >why most of them have not adopted a similar policy.
> >
> >Use of the word "ban" on such a ubiquitous item as a goldfish bowl is
> >certainly excessive.
> >
> >mike
> >
> >
> >Does bowl equal aquarium. How big is a bowl. Careful Andrew, I think the
> >intent of the bunny huggers is to stop you keeping pets all together. I
> >put Blue-eyes in 200 litre water lily bowls on my front verandah to eat
> >mozzies. I know what you mean by bowl but there are those out there hell
> >bent on stopping you keeping that nice fish you have in any
> >aquarium/bowl at all. Education is way better than legislation. If you
> >are dead set against goldfish in bowls you should prove to all those
> >buying little bowls and big goldfish that what they do is not nice for
> >the goldfish. If a law in Australia was passed banning goldfish in bowls
> >the NT Govt would interpret that to include all aquarium fish in any
> >water anywhere. In Darwin I can only keep one New Guinea species of fish
> >legally. In the NT you can only keep NT Native fish and most of the
> >species on the allowable import fish except Oscars. The recent 6 species
> >added by DEH Minister Ian Campbell have been banned here in the NT.
> >Australian native Pacific Blue-eyes are a prohibited import here in the
> >NT. My advice is be very careful when siding with fanatics who have an
> >agenda much bigger than yours. Dave On 26/10/05 9:15 PM, "Christophe
> >Mailliet" <christophe.mailliet at web.de> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>>Hi Andrew,
> >>>
> >>>Good on you for that!
> >>>
> >>>Cheers,
> >>>
> >>>Christophe
> >>>
> >>>r_m_l at yahoogroups.com schrieb am 26.10.05 13:35:12:
> >>>
> >>>Hi fiesta,
> >>>
> >>>I've been subtly trying to ban goldfish bowls for years :)
> >>>
> >>>In an interesting moment last week I applied for a part-time position
>at
> >>>one of the local pet shops - apart from a bit of cash to supplement the
> >>>'writing career', I was also after some human contact. One of the
> >>>reasons I did not get the job was, I believe, a statement I made about
> >>>the abject uselessness of anything smaller than a 100 litre tank for
> >>>keeping goldfish. Bad for business, I guess. If being in the pet trade
> >>>means I have to actively promote cruelty then I will sleep better if I
> >>>am not part of it.
> >>>
> >>>Best regards, Andrew
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >Yahoo! Groups Links
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>--
>-----------------------------------------
>Andrew Boyd andrew at friendlymanual.com
>Web Development/ePublishing Solutions
>http://www.friendlymanual.com
>http://www.successadvances.com
>-----------------------------------------
>