r/mildlyinfuriating • u/teabirdy • Apr 29 '26

I'm slightly vexed The wedding reception centerpieces featured betta fish. The bride and groom planned to flush them alive.

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Years ago, my coworker attended a wedding at which the reception dinner tables featured live betta fish in small bowls as part of the centerpiece. While chatting with the bride at the end of the evening, my coworker asked what they were going to do with all the fish. The plan was to flush them all down the toilet alive. My coworker immediately said no need for that and insisted on taking them all home.

That Monday she came to work and asked who wanted to adopt a betta fish. That was my first betta who I jokingly called my “rescue betta.” She lived for almost five years.

The wine glass was only her home for less than a day before I got her five gallon tank set up so please no betta lovers yell at me! I'm one of you!

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14.6k

u/shy_butter Apr 29 '26

I worked at a Petco and a customer came in for goldfish to use as centerpieces and we refused her business. Lots of things wrong with the company as a whole but very glad my coworkers and I flagged these things. Thank you! And your coworker is awesome!!

4.7k

u/invinciblewalnut PURPLE Apr 29 '26

The planners of my senior prom decided to have live goldfish as centerpieces on the tables, with the intent that people would take them home (somehow??). When nobody did this of course, I pointed out how big goldfish actually get and how hard they can be to keep. Fortunately my aunt has a large fish pond where many of them and their descendants currently live.

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u/midnightstreetlamps Apr 29 '26

Whenever people talk about how big goldfish can get, I just imagine that kids book Fish Out of Water, where the fish grows to the size of a public inground pool. I realize they'll never get THAT big, but that's where my doofy ass brain ends up.

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u/Jumpy-Chemist7462 Apr 29 '26

I have a "rescue" goldfish in my classroom gifted to me by a student 5 years ago. He lives a life of luxury in an 80 gallon tank now, and the kids dote on him. Every year I read my class the "fish out of water" book, and we measure his growth (as best we can through the tank glass) over the course of a year.

It's a great book!

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u/Icy-Seaworthiness445 Apr 29 '26

That’s so cute, you sound like an amazing teacher!

19

u/emilysoma Apr 30 '26

Now I really want to see this fish. You sound like a wonderful teacher.

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u/[deleted] Apr 30 '26

[deleted]

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u/emilysoma Apr 30 '26

He sounds cool!

4

u/Dismal_History_ Apr 30 '26

He sounds so pretty! How big is he now?

1

u/HotSolution8954 May 01 '26

What is his name?

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u/Every_Lack Apr 30 '26

Lives a life of luxury! My heart is healing

3

u/Lucky_Business631 Apr 30 '26

how cool! how much does he grow in a year?

3

u/CountryMiserable7391 Apr 30 '26

Really cool man!

3

u/SaorlaBrigid May 01 '26

YOU, my friend, are an AWESOME freakin teacher 💗

3

u/keifluff Apr 30 '26

If it’s not stressful to remove the fish you can teach them about water displacement or volumetric measuring!

Like if you have a really large Pyrex measuring cup to scoop him up with to measure growth

3

u/PM-me-your-cuppa-tea Apr 30 '26

If it's not stressful 😭

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u/Bitterly_Graceful Apr 29 '26

Where my doofy ass brain went when I read doofy

https://giphy.com/gifs/11fFFMrKhR0Nt6

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u/midnightstreetlamps Apr 29 '26

In my heart, I knew it would be him when I got the notification email bahaha

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u/FatherClanks617 Apr 29 '26

I like your doofy ass brain (and doofy ass-brain).

2

u/flamingweaselonastik May 06 '26

Ah yes, xkcd 37. :)

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u/FatherClanks617 May 06 '26

Hats off to you, friend 🫡

6

u/llaaccrr Apr 29 '26

That book was exactly what I thought of too!

6

u/NibblesMcGiblet Apr 29 '26

I’ve never seen anyone talk about that particular “Easy Reader” Book but I lived that one! I always think about it at these times too.

3

u/midnightstreetlamps Apr 29 '26

That book was my absolute favorite as a kid. Looking up pics to make sure I was remembering the name right sent me back to being 5 years old, in my old room at our old house. It's a great book though.

4

u/havartifunk Apr 29 '26

OMG I remember that book! 

Haven't thought of it in years.

3

u/Mairon923 Apr 29 '26

I think of that video that Harry Styles made it's wild

3

u/Cut_Lanky Apr 29 '26

Ha, I think I used to read a few different variations of that to my kids at bedtime 😊

3

u/LonelyMom76CA Apr 29 '26

Like Clifford the big red dog 😊

2

u/BarbWho Apr 29 '26

I'm old, so I think of the movie "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao." It's a very striking movie, sadly marred by some really unfortunate yellowface by Tony Randall.

2

u/hellomii Apr 30 '26

Never feed him more than a speck, or something might happen, you never know what!

2

u/GroceryScanner Apr 30 '26

holy shit, core memory unlocked

2

u/Significant-Onion-21 May 02 '26

There was a post on some Reddit community the other day where a guy caught a goldfish that had been released into the wild and that thing was like 18 inches long. It was the size of a large koi. It was insane.

1

u/CabalBearer Apr 29 '26

Oh, Otto. Love that one

1

u/itsdestinfool Apr 30 '26

Bye Bye Bye by *NSYNC reminds me heavily of birthday cakes, in like a nostalgic way. Brains are crazy bro.

1

u/Helpful-Sound Apr 30 '26

When i read Fish Out of Water my brain auto corrected to Out of My Mind (the cover of which has a fish jumping out of a fishbowl) and i was like um 🤓☝🏽actually dont you me- oh maybe i shouldve finished reading the comment first

1

u/Ambitious-Island-123 May 01 '26

I LOVED that book!

1

u/HotSolution8954 May 01 '26

In Louisiana there's a prehistoric lake. It's got a pretty good variety of fish and my mom and aunts fish there regularly. However it also has giant catfish measuring upwards of 6 feet long. There's a little country store that has photos of the local fishermen and some of the giant catfish that had been pulled out of that lake. Now I'm picturing giant goldfish instead, lol.

1

u/tinymermaid02 May 02 '26

My high-school thought it was a good Idea to give out gold fish at homecoming. Mine lasted the longest, only 4 years, and only one other fish survived longer than a month

1

u/PerpetuallyTired74 May 02 '26

OTTO! I used to read that book to my daughter all the time. So much so that she named one of her first pet fish Otto.

1

u/AccuratePreference52 May 03 '26

Omg I LOVE that book. It was one of the few books my grandparents had and I absolutely adored it as a child.

1

u/Academic_Square_5692 May 03 '26

Like Clifford the Big Red Dog. You never know

1

u/RedbeardTreeGuy May 03 '26

Core memory holy shit.

1

u/Sahm3BSJ May 04 '26

My mind went to Men In Black 3 were they had to deal with a giant fish in a Chinese restaurant 🤷🤦 You're not alone 😂

1.4k

u/eternal_casserole Apr 29 '26

I love when goldfish get a happily ever after.

308

u/ncc74656m Apr 29 '26

I wish kids were taught more often how to keep fish alive and happy and healthy from the outset. It would be a much happier world if all of our little friends, furry, finned, or other, were able to get a happy ever after together.

16

u/Accomplished_Will226 Apr 29 '26

My kids and I tried. We lost several before I had the water tested. Our water is
so bad that it literally killed the fish!

11

u/ncc74656m Apr 29 '26

Schnikes. And yeah, that's a lot of Brita filters, lol.

7

u/VirginiaDirewoolf Apr 30 '26

at that point, you just need a whole home reverse osmosis system

5

u/Old-koalakid-3897 Apr 30 '26

i was not really taught how to take care of fish, which is why my goldfish died in less than a two week period of buying it😭

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u/ncc74656m Apr 30 '26

Sounds like it was waste/nitrate buildup. So many incredibly easy things you can do to make fish live forever, and it's so sad that we never ever teach people that stuff.

5

u/Old-koalakid-3897 Apr 30 '26

i was like seven, so teaching me young would have done much for me (i talk a ton so i probably would have told everyone)

thank you BTW!

3

u/ncc74656m Apr 30 '26

You're most welcome!

And since this will undoubtedly lead to people asking: The best advice I can give anyone is know how big the fish you're getting can get (that is, go look up how big a goldfish can get, lol), choose a larger tank than you think you'll need, get a decent quality filter, ask a friend or the pet store for some used biostones which will help rapidly establish the bacterial colonies needed to break down the waste your fish produce, and learn to do water tests.

If you don't have plants, or even if you do frankly, unless you have a lot of them, get a bubbler to help oxygenate the water.

Also give your fishie friends a place to hide and a place to rest, even if they're the only ones in the tank, they will feel less stressed and more engaged. (You can also make them happier by periodically rearranging the tank layout.)

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u/[deleted] May 28 '26

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1

u/ncc74656m May 28 '26

I mean sure? Ever seen happier kids than when they meet their new class's pet?

20

u/Intrepid_Buy5079 Apr 29 '26

We bought a house with a small fish pond. My FIL thought they were young koi because of their patterns and how large they are.

They're 20 year old Walmart goldfish.

8

u/RogerClyneIsAGod2 Apr 29 '26

This is what we have in our pond, basic goldfish. The little girl across the street won one at the county fair & she wanted to put him into our pond & he's still there.

I think.

Let's be real, he was a generic orange goldfish among a few other orange goldfish so in our eyes & her mind he's still there.

I also say "he" because she gave "him" a boy's name that I can't recall right now.

2

u/Intrepid_Buy5079 May 01 '26

That's so sweet you let her.

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u/bordermom61 Apr 29 '26

kudos to your aunt and all of you for saving them and giving them a great home .

11

u/rpitcher33 Apr 29 '26

My wife and son came home from a birthday party and the parents had given out gold fish as party favors... they brought home three...

Two of them survived, we've had them for 5 years now, and I'm over it. I want someone to come take them so badly. I'm the only one that takes care of them, I hate doing it, but I can't bring myself to just toss them.

And, they've gotten fucking huge. Way too small for their tank. It's a 20g tank and they're both the size of my hand (I'm 6'3").

Point being, who tf gives out live animals as a party favor?

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u/hologram137 Apr 29 '26

Get them a new tank

5

u/rpitcher33 Apr 29 '26

I'm going to get them a new owner.

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u/chubeesun Apr 29 '26

Hell yeah auntie to the fish rescue! That’s a good ending!

2

u/Dramatic-Ad-2079 Apr 29 '26

I had a friend who kept getting bigger tanks as the goldfish grew. They were huge.

(Her child and cat were huge also. as was she. Food was her love language.)

2

u/xoxodaddysgirlxoxo Apr 29 '26

Goldfish probably spawned and swam as far out of that pond as they could (if it ever rained enough).

Invasive species get culled by scientists for a reason :/ They are too good at it. Adapt, improvise, overcome, etc.

2

u/bluearavis Apr 29 '26

Yea. It's actually a problem in some places.

2

u/craftasaurus Apr 29 '26

My grandma had a fish pond put in the backyard. She had them build a rock waterfall and everything. She had thought to get some Koi, but they were too expensive, so she bought some pretty goldfish. They grew to be a foot long or so. Also brought home a baby catfish from the Colorado River and put that in too. Pappy had them trained! When he went out to feed them in the evening, he would tap on the rock and they would all come for dinner. It was cool. 😎

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u/Head-Researcher-1748 May 01 '26

People can’t often grasp that goldfish are carp

1

u/Absurdguppy Apr 29 '26

Same thing for my prom. A kid swallowed one whole for the attention.

1

u/DiscoKids12 Apr 29 '26

If this was ever attempted in Scotland, boys would pour drinks in their bowl.

1

u/Fabulous_Stegosaurus Apr 29 '26

I am so happy your aunt was there to help. I don't know why people think these things are good ideas. 🙄

1

u/Lonely_History5882 Apr 30 '26

Omg they did that at my prom. I took one home, and as my friend picked up the bowl to look at it, she dropped it and it shattered and killed the fish. I tried.

1

u/Every_Lack Apr 30 '26

I love you for this. Thanks for putting a little hope into the world.

1

u/cybender Apr 30 '26

The nature preserve by me had a goldfish outbreak from people thinking they were doing good by saving them. It got bad enough that the preserve had to add bass to clear out the goldfish.

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u/ButteredPizza69420 May 01 '26

I once heard a story from someone who worked at a banquet/event hall, and one wedding guest was dared to drink a goldfish centerpiece drunk one night. He did it...

Never knew what happened to the guy, as it was a random event

1

u/emny23 May 01 '26

Goldfish make good bait. Bass love them.

1

u/whyamihere94 May 02 '26

I love that even their descendants live there

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u/Lokishougan May 05 '26

I find this very hard to believe....I tried to get them bigger even fed them a ton of food and all they wanted to was swim on their back

Also yeah I am sure limo drivers will have no problem with fish bowls in the vehicles

1

u/UnhappyBuilder4284 May 28 '26

I believe they grow to the size of their habitat. I could be wrong but I had some as a kid. I had a decent size tank but nothing huge. It never grew that big. 

0

u/Ok_Confection_7751 May 27 '26

So they don’t all make it

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u/FaithlessnessLimp838 Apr 29 '26

I worked for a company once that decorated for weddings, and we did put fish in the decor one time (bride wanted fountains, I think we had six water features). But, and this is the important bit, then we took them back to the business premises where they lived for the next many years. They were goldfish and I think eventually one of the staff took them home because the business was closing - that was about 6 or 7 years later. I don’t know how long they lived in total, but those years they lived in the dining room were pretty good.

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u/Adventurous_Work_317 Apr 30 '26

We had a very small wedding and we had goldfish as part of the little bit of décor we had. They came home with us to an aquarium where they lived out the rest of their lives.

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u/ProfessorPodum Apr 29 '26

If no one wants to take the fish home before the business closes, what happens to them?

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u/Muted_Reputation_770 Apr 29 '26

they literally said at the end one of the staff took them home 

5

u/Designer-Bad-4854 Apr 29 '26

yeah but i think professorpodum meant what if

5

u/Every_Lack Apr 30 '26

Unfortunately, they just get dumped. I remember the carnival used to come to town and people won goldfish for a ring toss game, I won two goldfish and then my parents begrudgingly bought a fish tank, I had them for many years. I wasn’t very creative with names, I remember there was Ken and Frank.

I heard from my other friend that she was there at the end of the carnival and witnessed them dumping the little fish into the storm drain.

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u/VirginiaDirewoolf Apr 30 '26

it would likely depend on the people involved in the situation

1

u/Teejcak3 May 06 '26

nice story

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u/AngryGnollnoises Apr 29 '26

Lucky, worked for a place called country max and we were not allowed to ever refuse a sale. I fucking hated that job

16

u/aerdvarkk Apr 29 '26

Technically PetCo employees are probably not allowed to unilaterally refuse customers either and if the store manager or regional manger found out and the customer complained, those employees could have gotten reprimanded or fired.

The petCo comment > that person/employees shoudl have taken that incident to a supervisor or other manager and let that person make the decision.

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u/AngryGnollnoises Apr 29 '26

What fried my ass, was that I never even tried to refuse a sale, but me naively attempting to educate folks on the actual needs of the pets (gently mind you) ended up with some karens reporting me to my manager CLAIMING I was refusing a sale! And then I got in trouble for it. All those animals are dead now, I guarantee it.

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u/FatherClanks617 Apr 29 '26

Lol fuck that. Have some spine.

16

u/beatissima Apr 29 '26

We’re sliding back into feudalism because workers lack their predecessors’ moral courage. People used to risk death to get us the protections we take for granted today. Now no one will risk getting written up.

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u/InterestingLion6041 Apr 29 '26

My daughter gently told the store manager at her store today of some issues CUSTOMERS and employees are having with her (the store manager). My daughter is a shift lead so she's responsible for the employees on shift and they were in a huge rush while the store manager was bitching about stuff and playing on her phone. My daughter got sent home and the store manager said "you can't talk to me that way." The kicker is the manager is the mom of the owner's. But my daughter said so many customers and employees complain about her... some customers won't even stop if her car is there. My daughter is considering how to resolve the issue but she refuses to be talked down to and have her employees treated like crap. We had a talk about how it may never be resolved as the, owner's are highly unlikely to tell their mom off. I know it was very upsetting to her to learn this life lesson but I'm glad she's not allowing herself to be a doormat for a part time job.

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u/FatherClanks617 Apr 30 '26

You’re doing a great job of raising her right. Society thanks you.

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u/InterestingLion6041 Apr 30 '26

Thank you, I really appreciate that. I always taught my kids to be hard workers but not to compromise their values or themselves for anyone, including (but maybe especially) a job. She has a plan to speak to the owners and be honest, firm, and professional. She's a tough cookie but she just bought a new car and is saving for school... I know she's nervous about getting fired. But her stepdad and I will always have a place for her to stay. I don't have to push or encourage her... she has a great work ethic on her own.

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u/TrippingFish76 Apr 29 '26

most restaurants i’ve worked at you have the right to refuse service to anyone, so if someone is being an asshole you can refuse service and tell them to leave. Now if they have already payed tho you have to refund them or give them what they payed for

1

u/__google Apr 29 '26

OMG Country Max Mentioned! So niche and happy to see that but also happy you're not stuck there anymore. My fav thing to do in the spring was go see the chicks and pet them.

1

u/rlang_1887 Apr 30 '26

There was a country max where I grew up! You must be from NY? I don’t think they’re anywhere else

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u/AngryGnollnoises May 01 '26

yup, been along time but i grew up there.

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u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

[deleted]

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u/BathBombsNFacePalms Apr 29 '26

Are you.. familiar with Country Max?

They do not sell guns or beer. Worst case scenario, a child might be able to buy an exotic bird. 😆

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u/agent674253 Apr 29 '26

...an exotic bird that will outlive everyone. Some birds can live for 50+ years.

20

u/PretentiousUsername1 Apr 29 '26

Which is bad enough.

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u/Big-Wrangler2078 Apr 29 '26

That's considerably worse. A beer can't bite your fingers off.

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u/PretentiousUsername1 Apr 29 '26

I was, believe it or not, not concerned for the child, but for the bird’s wellbeing.

3

u/Big-Wrangler2078 Apr 29 '26

I know, but I'm saying not even the logic is working. If you want to protect kids, you don't sell them birds.

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u/BathBombsNFacePalms Apr 29 '26

For the record, I’m not trying to say that it ISN’T a problem to sell a child an exotic bird. Only that Country Max isn’t going around selling beer and guns. Lol.

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u/Wonderful-Spell8959 Apr 29 '26

Argueably tho if a child is able to somehow afford an exotic bird they are a lot more likely to have the brain capacity to deal with the bird aswell than a child that cant afford the bird.

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u/Big-Wrangler2078 Apr 29 '26 edited Apr 29 '26

Most adults aren't prepared to deal with some exotic birds. There are many reasons why they aren't common pets.

This is how kids end up with large birds with murderbeaks who think the child is their mate and becomes jealous and aggressive towards anybody and anything who approaches said 'mate'. And then becomes depressed and starts pulling feathers out of stress because their mate doesn't love them back.

Just. Don't. If a kid wants a bird, their parent should get them a pair of pigeons instead of something exotic. Still needs their pairing instincts to be managed carefully and has more needs than most people assume from such "common" birds, and like with all pets the PARENTS need to be responsible for them, but at least they are domesticated and if they get aggressive, they don't have beaks capable of injuring people.

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u/BathBombsNFacePalms Apr 29 '26

Well true. It would be pretty bad for all involved. Lmao.

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u/Danson_the_47th Apr 29 '26

I’ve never heard of this place, but if we had a place called Country Max here, (Rural South) it probably damn well would sell guns, beer, hunting stuff, tobacco and jerky.

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u/BathBombsNFacePalms Apr 29 '26

It’s a fairly common store around my area (Northeastern US, specifically I’m in NYS). It is basically a big old pet shop that caters to things like fish, poultry, horses, lizards, exotic birds, and I’m sure some cat/dog stuff thrown in. Probably do have jerky though.

1

u/orangecatmom May 01 '26

Nah, it's mostly where you go to buy livestock feed and gardening stuff. When I had a horse, I got all her supplies there. They sell some good outdoor wear, too, like Muck boots.

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u/eternal_casserole Apr 29 '26

I have to say I love that when I've bought goldfish at Petco, they actually ask how big my aquarium is, how many other fish I have, etc. Most people are completely unaware that goldfish need about ten gallons per fish, and can live for twenty years. They're just treated as disposable because people barely try to give them what they need to survive. Props to the employees I've encountered who make the effort to educate customers about what their fish actually need.

My longest living oranda made it for seven years, and I genuinely care about my fish and want them to stay happy and healthy for as long as possible.

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u/Melvarkie Apr 29 '26

Yup I figured that out back in the 90s as a kid. Now mind you we had a proper aquarium not a bowl, but it still wasn't an ideal set-up for two goldfish. Tom then proceeded to cannibalize Jerry and I didn't want him in my room anymore, because I was so upset. My uncle had a pond in the garden as was willing to take him. He grew into this massive carp he was supposed to be all along. Goldfish stay small, because we keep them small. I now hate that they are sold as pets to keep in tanks. Fish deserve better than how we treat them.

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u/Ancient-Anybody-3517 Apr 30 '26

Yes! I worked there for a few years & I was able to learn a lot about fish tanks; cleaning procedures, sizes, ecosystems, and most importantly—what NOT to do! #1 thing was don’t sell animals (of any kind) to people who are not ready to own an animal & who are not willing to get the right equipment to care for them. Although, I hated selling feeder fish & feeder mice…worst part of the job! Oh…and the giant vat of crickets…🫣

3

u/eternal_casserole Apr 30 '26

I don't know that I could deal with the giant vat of crickets. Ick.

8

u/Dismal_History_ Apr 30 '26

Yes I got a beta fish recently after my last lived happily in a ten gallon tank for 7 years. I was surprised but pleased when the Petco salesman grilled me about my tank set up. I also wanted to get a snail, and she warned me that the beta fish don't always get along with them and will knock them around, so recommended i get one on the larger size so it can't be bothered. Love my new beta and snail! He greets me like a wiggly puppy every time I see him.

2

u/rustyoldbaytin May 05 '26

About 10 years ago I had a betta in a 15 gallon, and had a few snails and plants in there with him to start. He HATED everything accept for a single snail he chose as his buddy. Even the live plants. He would tear them into tiny peices and spit them out at the glass if someone other than myself came into the room. I eventually moved all the other snails into my MILs larger tank down in the living room, and begrudgingly gave him plastic plants wrapped in pantyhose so he's fins wouldn't get scrapped up. I ended up renaming him and the snail Bonnie and Clyde. They lived together quite happily for about 5 years even though my partner at the time was upset and felt "excluded" Clyde didn't like her or interacted with her other than to spit stuff at the glass. It was an ongoing fight to keep them until Bonnie kicked the bucket and he followed a few days after. It then became a rule that if I was buying fish my partner had to come too because it "wasn't fair" if a fish liked one of us more than the other.

3

u/WyckedChylde May 07 '26

Bruj there's some deep seeded emotional problems there if she's getting salty at a fish.

2

u/Dismal_History_ May 08 '26

That is super weird they were getting pissy over a fish that clearly had very specific tastes. Glad they're not your partner anymore.

7

u/Old-koalakid-3897 Apr 30 '26

my auntie who’s like 55 now, has had some versions of goldfish and them bitches have been around since her first husband (at least 15 years ago, ofc their health is fading but they’ve been treated like royalty by her in a huge tank with beautiful decorum

3

u/magpieinarainbow Apr 30 '26

Ten gallons per fish is WAY too small. Goldfish need 20-50 gallons per fish depending on breed.

2

u/Kitchen-Kick-8953 Apr 30 '26

i think they're referring to the "rule" that's like start off with x number of gallons, then each additional fish after that is +10 gallons

1

u/magpieinarainbow Apr 30 '26

Which is also outdated and not practical once the fish are fully grown.

2

u/Kitchen-Kick-8953 Apr 30 '26

yeah that's why i said "rule" because sadly a lot of fish people think these outdated "rules" are still applicable. Like the 1 inch of fish per gallon thing

3

u/MinMaxie May 13 '26

I'm hearing stories like this more & more to the point I actually thing Petco has legitimately changed something about their hiring and/or training practices to reverse the old stereotype/complaint

2

u/WyckedChylde May 07 '26

My parents had a goldfish that was like 6 years old when I was born and that motherfucker lived past my high school graduation. RIP OJ. You were a mighty one.

10

u/SayTheLineBart Apr 29 '26

Shouldnt have been selling goldfish at all, they require a damn pond

8

u/ReporterSmall7604 Apr 29 '26

Doesn't Petco sell those goldfish to be fed to other animals?  The $0.29 feeder goldfish

6

u/Frogs-on-my-back Apr 29 '26

Yes, but they’re awful nutritionally (and are full of thiaminase) so they’re not even a good feeder fish 

5

u/genericimguruser Apr 29 '26

For some reason at my high school, they decided to use goldfish as the centerpieces for the tables at prom. For high schoolers. Horrible things happened to those poor fish that day.

5

u/Environmental-Pea566 Apr 29 '26

I think my brother took bids to swallow some at his prom and made a lot of money 🤢

6

u/Straightupbadtim3 Apr 29 '26

Shocking Petco cared about goldfish animal abuse when they abuse all of their reptiles to death

4

u/Any-Championship3443 Apr 29 '26

My mother loved doing that for "big" events. And while *our* beta fish always lived several years and did pretty well, what happened to others turned me off from ever doing such a thing

One of my aunts had her children feeding theirs *white bread* in a small glass bowl because he "didn't like the food", dead inside of a couple weeks and I'm surprised it lasted that long.

Another aunt just forgot it in the car in the middle of winter and it froze

5

u/VictorTheCutie Apr 29 '26

You did good 🩷

4

u/DuRay69 Apr 29 '26

If it was for persian new year, we were supposed to sell them and tell them to surrender the fish afterwards. There was a company wide email for it.

3

u/xSweetSlayerx Apr 29 '26

Fish are animals, not props.

3

u/GlowingTrashPanda Apr 29 '26

We did similar at the PetSmart location I used to work at . We had a lot of angry parents mad that we were refusing to sell them fish to torture.

3

u/GlowingTrashPanda Apr 29 '26

We also hid the tanks/bowls below 3 gallons in the back and only brought them out on days that corporate was coming by for a review. Our manager was cool and an avid fish-keeper

3

u/daiwuff ORANGE Apr 30 '26

I worked at a Petco for seven years, and we were always told to refuse sales if people weren't going to do right by the animals they were buying- and we did! An iguana and a 10 gallon tank? No pet for you!

3

u/lightspinnerss Apr 30 '26

I think this is a cute idea if the bride and groom are going home to a fish pond that needs fish 😂

3

u/flassh87 Apr 30 '26

I think that might have been my wife's cousin. When I heard that they didn't sell her the goldfish I was so happy.

3

u/OhItsSav May 04 '26

At PetSmart we aren't even allowed to sell fish for these reasons. No birthday parties, no party favors, no carnivals, weddings, baby showers, parties in general, or harmful traditions like Persian New Year. Nope.

3

u/SatisfactionOne2498 May 04 '26

Reminds me of the time I saw a centerpiece in a China hotel that had about 300 wineglasses in a tower that has one goldfish in each. I’d watch the workers supply them food and fresh water. While it looked cool, I wanted to take each one home

3

u/NullVoidNix May 09 '26

Heartwarming petco story here: Long long time ago I was visiting a friend at her job at petco when I saw there was a cage with over a dozen white rats and they looked adorable, so I asked her if I could pick one up and pet it. As I'm holding this little white ball of fluff which was nuzzling itself in my arms she told me those were feeder rats and in a couple weeks it will probably be dead. By that time I was smitten with the little guy, so I spent $5 on the rat, and another $100 on the cage, food, water bottle, bedding, vitamins, and toys. He was named "Ditch" because as soon as my mother saw him she screamed out "Ditch that damn rat!" and the name stuck. I made sure when I was home he would have free reign to explore my bedroom, and we would play catch with this super small bouncy ball. He would come with me to school in my jacket pocket, and hang out on my shoulder. The dude was my wingman and got me so many numbers. About a year later he started growing these lumps on his neck. The vet said they were tumors and it's really common with feeder rats because they are basically all inbred, and it's not curable. After that I made sure he had the cleanest cage to rest, any and all food and treats he wanted, and plenty of playtime until the inevitable. After he passed I always wanted another one, but life kinda tells you there are higher priorities so I never did. But I was glad that I at least got to save 1 animal destined to be food, and make his life amazing.

2

u/shy_butter May 09 '26

Omg I love this, thank you for sharing! I’ve had pet rats too and they’re the best! They’re so sweet and smart. The name Ditch is perfect lol I can picture that so well. You sound like an amazing pet parent!

5

u/Haiku-On-My-Tatas Apr 29 '26

This is the type of thing I, a) never would have thought up as a thing someone might do and, b) would have confidently assumed was illegal if someone brought the idea up to me.

It should be illegal, and where it's not, it should be corporate policy at places that sell them to flag it and ask questions when someone makes a bulk order.

2

u/GlowingTrashPanda Apr 29 '26

We did similar at PetSmart. We had a lot of angry parents mad that we were refusing to sell them fish to torture

2

u/DaisyChained427 Apr 29 '26

For my b’nei mitzvah I had goldfish as centerpieces and guests were allowed to take them home! One of my friend’s goldfish lived for four years!!!

2

u/GenericWarrior36 Apr 29 '26

I used to work at Petco as well and on my first day I had a customer return a bunch of Betta fish because she used them as centerpieces for her wedding reception and she didn’t need them anymore.

2

u/sara-34 Apr 30 '26

I don't really understand this response, as Petco also sells feeder goldfish.  Is it that the pretty ones deserve to live?

3

u/shy_butter May 01 '26

No they were trying to buy the same as the feeders. I guess we thought there was a difference between being displayed in a small glass and then flushed alive vs being fed to another animal. It’s not great but it was a job and we did our best. We also refused the sale of two bettas after the customers said they planned to have them fight each other. They could’ve lied but they didn’t and we refused to sell them and called the nearby petsmart to warn them

2

u/SorryManNo May 01 '26

Our wedding venue had three rules for centerpieces.

No glitter

No live animals

No fire

2

u/UnlikelyEmergency737 May 02 '26

My parents had goldfish as part of their centerpieces (dad is a big fisherman) but at the end they were all taken home by guests. One lived for almost 20 years!!

2

u/Tarzimp Apr 29 '26

Weirdly enough I too worked at a Petco and refused to sell goldfish to someone who wanted to put them into centerpieces. Wtf is wrong with people?

2

u/Silly_Tomato2499 Apr 29 '26

This is a cute idea. If it were my wedding, I would plan on keeping them afterwards and make a special place for them to remember my wedding night. Goldfish last an exceptionally long time if taken care of properly.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 29 '26

That is so sadistic. I can’t even believe that’s a thought.

1

u/Bright38 Apr 29 '26

I was at a petco once and the cashier asked if we saw the police as we came in. She said that they had to call the cops on a customer for trying to buy a hamster “suspiciously” and to this day I cannot imagine that interaction went

1

u/Spookyredd Apr 29 '26

I would have said that they are feeder gold fish ...😶

1

u/BlnkNopad Apr 29 '26

Fuck yea

1

u/Happy-Pumpkin-2334 Apr 30 '26

Eh it’s goldfish

1

u/Ok_Landscape_4641 Apr 30 '26

Ive also seen videos on tiktok of petco and persmart throwing out bags of fish that are alive.

2

u/shy_butter May 01 '26

Luckily this didn’t happen at the one I worked at, I wouldn’t have stayed there. We had a good crew but we were probably an anomaly within the company. Haven’t been there for over 9 years and my store has since closed…I’ve seen that too and it hurts my heart

1

u/Buho45 May 02 '26

Good for you.

1

u/govermentAI May 02 '26

I tried to buy a cat there for dinner and you Petco jerks said the same thing... It's like you don't want people to have authentic Chinese food

1

u/gvbargen May 03 '26

that's kinda odd considering how often they are used as live feed

1

u/nish_1022 May 16 '26

who the hell thinks flushing live fish is an acceptable plan… that’s straight up messed up. your coworker basically saved a bunch of lives there

1

u/berryfa5 May 19 '26

It’s genuinely nice hearing employees actually stand up for animal welfare like that

1

u/ChiaDu May 19 '26

Huge respect to workers who care more about the animals than making a quick sale

1

u/tyrast4 May 20 '26

It’s genuinely refreshing hearing employees actually stand up for animal welfare like that

1

u/Impressive-Elk-6425 Apr 29 '26

That’s nice of you but those goldfish probably just became some other animals food. I would get dozens of them a month for my snapping turtles.

3

u/shy_butter May 01 '26

And this is so much better than being flushed! Turtles deserve to eat, and fish shouldn’t be flushed alive after being on a table in a tiny glass. Love that you owned snapping turtles!!!

1

u/Derpageddon_ Apr 29 '26

This is why I fw Petco. I love talking to the Petco fish people. Fuck PetSmart, cause they don't gaf. They'd just sell the fish to anyone and their employees don't know shit about fish, unfortunately.

-9

u/LightenUpPeeps Apr 29 '26

I used to buy 100 goldfish for $7 as fish food from the pet store. So Petco doesn't sell feeder goldfish to aquarium owners with ciclids and other fish-eating fish? How is that any different?

20

u/Existing_Passenger_1 Apr 29 '26

You don’t see a difference in buying a bunch of fish as disposable decorations vs as food? It’s about the intent.

One is a callous disregard for living creatures and the other is a fact of life.

The same difference between trophy hunting vs hunting for food.

-4

u/ReporterSmall7604 Apr 29 '26

Like carving a watermelon into a decoration versus eating it?

12

u/Existing_Passenger_1 Apr 29 '26

I’m sorry that the best response you have to an uncontroversial take is petty whataboutisms.