I went to a pet store that had a 5 ft long alligator in a 6 ft tank, and a 4 ft shark

[tekisui]

in a tank it could barely turn around in. It was sickening. Big discuss fish were in small boxes about the same size as the fish. All of the tanks had lots of algae, the place stuck. They had cages of some small mammals stacked in the corner. Snakes, frogs and turtles were in small tupperware containers.

I had the worse feeling when I left the place. I couldn't believe it. Needless to say I won't be going back. It was the last fish store in town that I hadn't visited, and I wish I hadn't gone there.

[flvegan]

1. Maybe a call to your local authorities is in order?

[tekisui]

2. Animal control?

The place has been there for years. I don't see how they haven't any problems before. There were a few animals that I don't even know what they are, making me wonder if selling them is completely legal.

[flvegan]

3. I'd start there.

Maybe also whatever your state fish & wildlife authorities are, since some animal control outfits only handle domestic animals. Sadly I don't believe a single animal you've listed is protected by the Animal Welfare Act, but they should need permits for some of them, and if any are endangered, they may be protected by the Endangered Species Act.

[tekisui]

5. Animal Control is forwarding my complaint to the state.

It falls under the state's jurisdiction and they do random inspections.

[Kali]

4. maybe even the health dept,

if the conditions might affect other stores nearby

[jmowreader]

6. Sadly, I don't think it would work

Animal protection laws are for cats and dogs, not fish.

Check this shit out: I was on YouTube once looking for paroon shark videos. A paroon shark is not a shark, but rather a catfish--one that grows to 10 feet long and enjoys eating dogs. (The fish is native to the Mekong River in Vietnam.) It's also famous for being able to kill fishermen; there are stiff spines on its head, as many catfish have, and they're poison-coated, as many catfish spines are, but most catfish spines aren't attached to a fish this big. You bring one up in a net, and it CAN fuck you up and WILL if given the chance.

But back to the point of this thing: there are videos of people with paroons in 120-gallon aquaria. A 120-gallon aquarium is no small thing--it's 6 feet long by 18 inches square at the end--but it's minuscule to a fish that size. But morans look at these videos (most of which feature the very, very predatory paroon shark eating live fish) and bitch about anyone saying they need to put the animal in a larger container...like a koi pond, or a breeding pond in Thailand, or to just leave the fish in the Mekong. I've been called a faggot repeatedly for suggesting that a fish so large is eventually going to be released, where it would cause an environmental catastrophe especially if you live along the Gulf Coast, where there are waterways warm enough for the fish to survive over the winter in. In reality, you could do the Vietnamese thing and eat the paroon shark when it outgrows your container, but most people won't. This would be more humane than keeping it in a 55-gallon tank (which has been done, on the grounds that it will grow to the size of the tank then stop...guys, that doesn't mean "wait till it gets three feet long before you think about getting it out of there")

If there were animal cruelty laws for fishes, this would end some of the more bizarre things you see like this one tank at Petsmart that contained three species of fish--pacus and two I don't remember--that won't fit in any aquarium they sell. Pacus shouldn't be sold anyway because they get too big to handle, but come on: you can almost get away with pacu if you've got 500 to 1000 gallons of water for one to swim around in. Those puny little 150-gallon aquariums will not do it. And the 29-gallon aquariums their stupid clerks recommend?

[Obama2012]

7. The fish you can't remember is probably an arowana

They get huge, and they sell little babies in pet stores recommending a 55 gallon.

[jmowreader]

8. Arowanas are illegal in North Carolina

The Fish and Wildlife Service won't let pet stores sell predatory fish that get large enough to threaten gamefish populations in states where they can survive in the wild. This because people are infamous for turning their pets loose in the public waterways when they get too large for their aquariums. (Which explains why Florida and Hawaii, at least, have oscar fishing seasons and people go out specifically to catch them.) But as far as illegal fish, you can't sell arowanas or piranha south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Thinking back...it was pacus, channel cats and some huge bagrid cat. They sell THIS shit, but they won't sell any of the really interesting cats like panaques or chacids. Then again, I can kinda see WHY they wouldn't sell frogmouth catfish--they will eat anything that can fit in their mouths, and most of them will only eat live fish. Some moran would buy a chaca bankanensis, throw it in a tank with $75 worth of ornamental fish (there is nothing "ornamental" about a frogmouth catfish, which is without question the ugliest fish that ever lived) and come back three days later to have a species tank with one frogmouth cat at the bottom of it.

[Obama2012]

9. Ah, up by me, arowanas and pirhanas are all over the petshops

I don't really have a problem with the pirhana, because they stay small enough to be okay in a 125 or so.

Channel cats are sold up here, too. I don't know why someone would want one. They're not pretty, and as far as I'm concerned, if it's something I can catch in a local lake for dinner, what's the excitement in keeping it?

[jmowreader]

10. Because they're huge, and highly predatory

That's something I love hearing from the rednecks: "All catfish are mud suckers." Bullshit. The only catfish family native to North America is Ictaluridae, and every fish in the genus is a predator. Last time I saw my freeper brother he told us the scavenger lie. I put it to him like this: I live on the banks of the Cape Fear River. Hundred-pound catfish are pulled out of that river on a regular basis. Do you really think they got that way eating nothing but dead shit?

But seriously, people LOVE keeping predatory fishes because it's just so much fun to feed them.

You know what the very best food for piranha is? It ain't live fish, although you can throw one in every once in a while as a treat--small convicts would be best. No, imagine making a stew. You'd have some beef (best cut for carnivorous fishes is the heart), some carrots, potatoes, maybe green beans...now take that mixture of foods, run it through your food processor and drop it, RAW, into the tank by the spoonful. Piranha are actually omnivores. They just love the smell of blood, which is how the rumors all got started.