Is it really about $?

[reeferstace]

I have recently joined this online community and have been enjoying reading through the wealth of posts here. I do have a concern though....I have noticed several posts (in various threads) about someone getting upset at the death of fish because of the money that particular fish cost. Maybe it's the animal lover in me but I feel that a $5 green chromis should get the same respect, consideration, and care as a fish that cost MANY times that. What is the general consensus here? Are there a large number of reefers who only see their fish as having some kind of monetary value? Am I being overly sensitive about this?

 

[jterrell]

I recently had a Midas Blenny jump from my tank and ended up behind my tank for a day before I found him. I don't remeber how much he cost but my family and I loved that fish. Not only us but my green chromis too. After the jump we all looked at the tank with a certaian amount of grief and the chromis wouldn't come out from hiding for days. I want to get another fish but I can't replace "Carl".

 

[Eric the half-bee]

Well, a fish is not a dog or cat. So yes, a $200 tang is more valuable than a $5 damsel.

 

[billsreef]

Lots of different perspectives with different people. While a $200 fish might cost more than a $5 damsel, it's life is not any more or less important than the $5 damsel, or a dog or a cat. IMO they should all get the same consideration

 

[bbehring]

Wife, kids, dogs, $200 tang, gold fish in pond, $5 chromis, cat in that order for me!

 

[terimar]

If when a fish dies the first thing you think about is what it cost you should have spent the money on something else.

 

[A.T.T.R]

while its valued the same
more then likely ill want to replace it
and i may stress about it more if it was a more expensive fish


hounestly the fish im sadest about was a 1 doller rescue that was literaly skin an bones because bigals didnt know they needed to be in a tnak with copepods and not a copper treated system ( scooter blenny) so i threw him into my fuge and got him nice and fat. and moved him to the display tank where he found the ONLY opening and wound up on the floor..

 

[bbehring]

I've always taught my kids about the delicate balance of life and to respect and cherrish it. My kids are always sad when the smallest (or cheapest) fish perish. Let's face it, LFS are in business to sell fish and most of the their business is repeat because fish die. It's just the way it is. While I've had most of my fish live since I placed them in my display tanks and my pond, I have experienced death. Some of the time, there was no reason, others it was user error or disease.

 

[iCam]

Re: Is it really about $?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13503362#post13503362 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reeferstace
I have recently joined this online community and have been enjoying reading through the wealth of posts here. I do have a concern though....I have noticed several posts (in various threads) about someone getting upset at the death of fish because of the money that particular fish cost. Maybe it's the animal lover in me but I feel that a $5 green chromis should get the same respect, consideration, and care as a fish that cost MANY times that. What is the general consensus here? Are there a large number of reefers who only see their fish as having some kind of monetary value? Am I being overly sensitive about this?

More than likely (as a generality), an expensive fish is going to be less readily available than a common $5 fish like a damsel. In that aspect, yes, it can be more upsetting to lose the more expensive fish.

 

[kmf507]

I'm more concerned with the loss of an expensive fish than a cheaper fish. Don't like either one though...

Is it tasteless for me to say I'm waiting for my damsel to die?

 

[BigJay]

In my case it's not a matter of money, it just so happens that all of my $5.00 Chromis have survived without a single issue since the first day in my tank. I'm sad about the $80.00 blonde naso because it was my second loss ever. The fish never ate a thing and wasted away despite my best efforts.

 

[DGee]

To me it's not really about money as it is the time I've had the animal... my tank pretty much revolves around my blue tang and my yellow striped clown. I have quite the emotional attachment to the both of them since I've have had the both of them for about three years now.

It would be weird to reach my hand in the tank and not have the clown try to bite me to death, it makes me remember that it's really their tank not mine =)

 

[swencel]

I love all my fish the same. Isn't that what we're supposed to say? No wait.... that's the kids. Anyway I am very upset when any of my fish die and it doesn't matter how much it costs. The only difference is that the "expensive" fish take time to buy so on top of the cost you have the difficulty in finding it to replace. Not that any fish is less important though.

 

[WHiteout]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13518621#post13518621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DGee
To me it's not really about money as it is the time I've had the animal... my tank pretty much revolves around my blue tang and my yellow striped clown. I have quite the emotional attachment to the both of them since I've have had the both of them for about three years now.

It would be weird to reach my hand in the tank and not have the clown try to bite me to death, it makes me remember that it's really their tank not mine =)

+1 its the time and effort that really kills me. I dont even have anything in my tank but during the process i felt bad just taking the LR out of the tank a second time because i put tap water in it instead of RO. Just knowing that there were things that lived on that died because of my mess up kinda hurt.

i had a red beta fish for 4 years. I went to block Island for 2 weeks and had my friends watch my house, take care of my dog and feed the fish. When i got home i noticed something odd about it. There was still a fish in the bowl but it wasn't red any more.

The fish died 2 days after i left and they bought a blue one to replace it hoping i wouldn't notice. now we all know betas are cheap but regardless i had the fish for 4 years and loved every second of having it. and that's what hurt the most. not the price.

 

[kblack3]

when a fish dies it does not bother me as long as I tried all options to save it. Going back to the more expensive fish, I will spend more on medication to save that one (it is stupid to spend significantly more on the medication than the value of the fish). Let's all be realistic though, if we were all going to do what's best for the fish then we should get rid of the tank and leave the creature in the ocean. all of the "do what's best for the animals" stuff bugs me. We have tanks, we all kill animals before they should die.

 

[reeferstace]

Thanks to all who have responded. I appreciate the input and viewpoints.

 

[Putawaywet]

Try losing a fish you've had for over 12 years, that's seen you thru 3 tanks and winds up dieing because of a careless mistake on your part.

I guarantee you the question of money does not enter your head.

I'm not too proud to admit I have cried over the loss of a fish.

Brett

 

[cdness]

well I ran into an issue when killing some aiptasia on rock I was storing in a bucket. All of the kalk paste dissolved and turned the water to very high PH. That killed everything in the rocks, including all the worms, pods, etc... I didn't like the fact that I kiled that many things all due to my mistake.

I will say that replacing a $50 fish is harder than replacing a $5 fish though.... but that's just the pocketbook pain....

 

[jhildebrand]

It's funny in a way because most of us eat fish. Also virtually every island that you visit nets damsels and puffers by the truckload just to dry them out in the sun to sell them to tourists as curios. I don't think twice about baiting my hook with a minnow to catch a walleye. It's the food chain at work.

On the other side, we're taking delicate organisms from a fragile ecosystem so we can enjoy their beauty and have them entertain us. They undoubtedly suffer through the chain of custody to our favorite online vendor or LFS before finally finding their way to our homes. After subjecting them to all of this it would be nice to think that people would have consideration for these animals regardless of cost.

I hate to see something die under my care (or carelessness) whether it was $5 or $50. Granted, it's insult to injury when an expensive fish dies, but it's disheartening to see people treat these fish as disposable.

One of my first fish was an $18 baby red volitan lion that just perished this year after a swim bladder issue prevented him from eating. He was just months away from turning 15 years old. When my wife's sailfin tang died she was an inconsolable wreck. These fish had become members of the family. If it is all about the money, as an individual we should find another hobby. Just my 2 cents...

 

[DGee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13518621#post13518621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DGee
To me it's not really about money as it is the time I've had the animal... my tank pretty much revolves around my blue tang and my yellow striped clown. I have quite the emotional attachment to the both of them since I've have had the both of them for about three years now.

It would be weird to reach my hand in the tank and not have the clown try to bite me to death, it makes me remember that it's really their tank not mine =)

Ugh... I went this morning to turn on the lights on my tank and couldn't see my little blue tang anywhere in the tank and not hiding in his little hole he sleeps in every night. I looked all over the tank as I tuned to walk outside I saw him lying on the floor. He'd been there for a while. It's a sad day for me. He was one of the first two fish I bought when I got back into the hobby a few years ago after taking a break. I'm honestly numb right now, the tank just looks empty without him. I haven't lost an animal in almost two years.

Today pretty much sucks, and I can say it has absolutely nothing to do with money.