Carnival goldfish

[CometKeith]

There is a carnival down the street from us this weekend. I know it not something new that carnivals give out goldfish as prizes but just wonder what other people think of it? Many of the kids had 3 or 4 fish awarded to them all in their own little plastic baggies.

 

[fishin4cars]

So many ways to view that scenerio. Could it be good for the pond business and aquarium business in town. Sure. How many will actually survive a month. Probably minimal. Is it Humane for the fair to be able to give them away? Guess they have a better chance than a bait shop. I imagine PETA isn't fond of the idea. APCA Would require multiple reports of animal abuse before they would check in on a business. I myself am not greatly fond of the idea, but there is at least one pond business that was started by helping kids start there own small ponds and getting them started with a small planted pond tub and they schedule there seminar right after the fair comes to town. This company has become one of the largest plant and pond wholesale companies and they help a lot of families get good starts at ponding. So I guess yes it can be viewed in multiple ways.

 

[CometKeith]

yes, I agree. One family that knew I had a pond asked me if it would be safe to add a third goldfish to their aquarium. They were very concerned that all their fish would be healthy. We talked about filtration and water changes and after they told me how they kept their other fish I thought it sounded okay to add a third. I happened to buy fish food yesterday at a Petsmart and there was a mom and young daughter buying an aquarium for the carnival goldfish they won. I'm sure the fish were from the same carnival because the store was close to where it was. The girl had won four fish and she told the woman at the cash register her friend won 5. They were getting a full set up including water conditioner and everything you could think of so these were going to be happy little goldfish. So my first thought when seeing all these kids with their little baggies of goldfish was what a waste with all these goldfish not living more than a couple days, has now changed to seeing families introduced to the hobby of keeping fish as pets and thinking maybe the giveaway was not a bad thing. Certainly no worse than someone buying 100 feeder fish to give to their lizard. It would have been nice if the kids got some info how to care for the fish, but maybe that is something that can be encouraged in the future.

 

[fishin4cars]

Keith, IMO, that's where we come in. Take a minute to hand out the gardenforum email address. It's really easy to tell someone a email address these days and point them in a positive direction. I know you took the time to notice this concern, you visit pond tours, you have the key to help them go in the right direction. In todays economy we need every jump start we can get in this hobby. Many times we don't think beyond the giveaway. But that carnival may well help a business survive, It may help get a family envolved in the hobby. Who knows, that little girl that had the four goldfish Might just become the spokes person for the pond tour and have a beautiful pond to show off. We as experienced hobbyist really neeed to take the time and get families involved in this enjoyable hobby. It can and does become a family project. This day in age, family ties, helping the economy, and building our love of the hobby are all positive.

 

[CometKeith]

Larkin, I agree. I think at this point it might be too late with the fest and carnival ending today, but since since the event is an annual fundraiser for the park district things can be more proactive for next year. Maybe if the carnival operator does the goldfish giveaway again next year it can be encouraged for them to give out some information about goldfish care and the gpf.

 

[Fishylove]

The two goldfish i have in my pond were from a carnival two years ago :goldfish: :luxlove: :goldfish:
My daughter won them and wanted to put them in my pond, i was skeptical, but we did and they are beautiful!
And, it has turned her on to ponding now too even my 6 year old loves to watch the fish and frogs.
Think you guys are on to something here. Our city Fall Festival is in October, maybe ill talk to the Nut Clubers and see if
I cant provide a card with our web address and simple care instructions on it, to give away to everyone who wins a fishy
worth a try!

 

[CometKeith]

Fishylove, That is a great idea. Our family's first few tries at keeping goldfish ended up in disaster a number of years ago. I will forever keep in my memory goldy I and goldy II. Obviously I know a little more now, but if someone had given us some info with those first few fish it would have made for a much better experience.

 

[Fishylove]

Thank you Keith anytime I can turn kids on to the wonders of nature and how it all works together. Love to watch their little eyes light up

 

[Mmathis]

I really like how this thread has taken such a positive, pro-active role. When I first saw the title, I avoided reading it 'cause I was afraid it was going to be a basher. Well, got bored last night and decided to read it anyway, and glad I did

 

[ididntdoit99]

I'm glad to see that the people you saw at petsmart were buying a proper tank for their goldfish, and not a one gallon bowl for the fish to suffer in for a month until they died.

It is sad to see them giving away fish like that, that you know will probably end up dead in a month, of course I still buy and feed my tropical aquarium fish feeders, so its not like I'm one to talk about not killing goldfish, but i don't take them home and let them slowly suffer in a glass bowl either. They go quick

I don't know if you guys ever visit the Yahoo answers site and go through some of the questions there... There really are some clueless people out there asking questions about their fish. I love the ones that say things like " I have 10 goldfish in my 10 gallon tank and one died, why?" and then when you try to explain to them that goldfish are very dirty fish, and get rather large, they get all defensive and say MY FISH ARE VERY HAPPY, or you get the people that are keeping koi in small tanks, or keeping goldfish and koi with tropical fish.... some people just don't learn. and I don't think carnivals, or places like walmart really help when they sell these fish to anyone off the street.

I have noticed that even the petsmart and petco in our community are getting a lot better about asking questions now. Last time i went to buy a plecostomus, they asked what size tank it was going in, and let me know that they can grow to be very large. Also, the last 2 times i purchased koi they asked if i had a pond they were going in.

Like you guys all said though, I was that same kid 20 years ago, and maybe I did kill a few goldfish in a bowl before I convinced my parents that i needed a larger aquarium, and it all led me to where i am today.

Heck, i don't really remember how many fish I killed, but I do remember killing about 4 rabbits when i was 12 or so before somebody at the pet store finally told me that you weren't supposed to put mulch in the bottom of their cages, you think they would have caught that a little sooner considering I was there every week buying a new rabbit and saying my other one died, and I'm pretty sure bought mulch with the dang rabbits each time.

 

[CometKeith]

ididntdoit I agree. It is a huge problem that camps and carnivals give goldfish away to people who have no idea how to care for them. That's why I was encouraged by the way several people sought to get the right information or equipment. I think that as hobbyists we can help educate people and I liked what Larkin had to say and also the comments by Fishylove. The same day I was at the petsmart there was another family buying a tank. The dad was buying all the equipment and proper chemicals. His son really wanted the fish right there and then. He had decided on 10 fish. The dad asked the salesperson if it would be okay to buy the fish and leave them in a bowl for a day until he had a chance to set up the tank. The salesperson said it was better to wait to buy the fish because they really needed filtration and the dad said he would be back the next day. His son was really upset that they didn't get the fish right away. When we were at the fest we sat at a table with some friends. We talked about the fish giveaways and they asked about my pond. They hadn't seen it in several years. I happened to have some pics of the pond tour I was recently on and showed them a slide show of the pictures. We talked about frogs and other critters that end up in ponds and my one friend pretty much decided then and there to build a frog pond for himself because it is something he always wanted to do. I offered to help him dig it for a few decent beers in exchange. This all came about because of the goldfish giveaway. I'm sure there were other discussions about fish as well that night that might have encouraged proper aquariums or pond keeping. So there is good and bad mixed in with this sort of giveaway and we can contribute to people making good decisions and furthering the hobby of fish keeping. I think in a way we are all ambassadors of the hobby. I keep a picture of my pond on my screensaver on my phone and am always happy to discuss my pond. It can actually be a nice icebreaker before a business conversation with a client.
Thanks mmathis regarding your comments. When i started the conversation off I wanted to hear what other people had to say but had already in mind the story about the woman I saw buying the equipment for the fish. What struck me was that she told the cash register attendant that she had a small setup for a few fish but now that they had more she really wanted to do it right.

 

[ididntdoit99]

I keep a picture of my pond on my screensaver on my phone and am always happy to discuss my pond. It can actually be a nice icebreaker before a business conversation with a client. Thanks mmathis regarding your comments. When i started the conversation off I wanted to hear what other people had to say but had already in mind the story about the woman I saw buying the equipment for the fish. What struck me was that she told the cash register attendant that she had a small setup for a few fish but now that they had more she really wanted to do it right.

I do the same thing on my computer here at work, dual monitor setup, running display fusion so that I can have a different picture on each monitor. One of my pond, one of my motorcycle. It doesn't matter if a customer sits down with me, a new hire I'm training, or just an employees from the shop up here to ask me a question, anyone will have something to say about one of both of those pictures.