animalwelfarists:

dumbpetstorecustomers:

Goldfish are literally the worst “starter pet.”

You wanna know why?

Media has tricked most people (including myself until recently) that goldfish are happy in a bowl. This is blatantly false. The rule of thumb for most fish, space-wise, is a gallon of water per inch of adult fish. Since goldfish are incredibly messy, most experts recommend at least 2 gallons per inch of fish. Goldfish at adult size reach 12-15 inches, meaning that you will need 25-30 gallons to keep your goldfish alive for its whole lifespan. An average bowl is ½-1 gallon. What happens is that the goldfish’s organs will keep growing, but its skeletal frame cannot, eventually suffocating it. How long is the average lifespan of a goldfish? If kept well, goldfish easily live 30 years in captivity. So when people tell me, “Oh well mine lived in a bowl just fine for a year,” it’s the equivalent of saying, “Well I kept my dog alive for 6 months, so I know what I’m doing.” Do goldfish a favor. Keep them in a pond if you’re set on having them (they can be quite beautiful fish), or if you want a fish that can live in a smaller tank, get a betta or a guppy. They are just as beautiful and you won’t be cutting their lifespan short by 29-30 years.

^^^ This.

I’ll also add that in addition to being terrible starter pets, goldfish (like most animals) are not appropriate pets for children. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen parents buy goldfish just to shut their kids up about getting a dog, and even worse, I’ve seen them buy the fish under the pretence of allowing their kid to get a puppy if they can only “keep the fish alive for a week”.

It’s legitimately disgusting how little a goldfish’s life means to some people, and honestly, the media is at least partially to blame.