I know
It's pretty ridiculous...
But it doesn't surprise me...
I remember that one day at a pet store a customer argued with me over the effects of water changes. I tried to explain that animals are defecating in the water, of course you have to clean it.
He swore up and down that that was BS and he could slam as many goldfish as he wanted into his tiny tank....he knew better than me of course...after all...he was a Veterinarian back where he came from and was angry that we wouldn't accept his degrees here.
....well dude....since you won't admit that fish are living animals and crap...well...I'm thankful you are not operating on any of my pets.

Another one was a Marine Biology student who argued with me over filtration, water changes and the whole "fish grow to the size of the tank" ordeal.
-sighs-....it's sad that someone with apparently so much education...can be so stupid.

I've had doctors argue with me as well over algae as well after all I must have a low IQ since I am not a doctor, I'm younger and well...working in a store.

-sighs-....

I don't think he actually had the PhD, yet. The article says he is a PhD candidate. But, still. He should have known, better.

While reading this thread, and the part about one source saying tank and another saying bowl, I thought about how the media is so huge, now, with so many people involved that it seems they get alot wrong these days and you can't trust anything they say anymore.

This interpretation, (ie: "PhD candidate" to "he has a PhD") I think illustrates my point. Facts get distorted.
JMO, and not trying to justify this "Save Nemo" thing. Just making an observation about the media, is all.

Cheers,

"The largely unregulated trade not only depletes coral reefs of prized species such as clownfish, its methods are also controversial.

Harvesters often capture live fish from tropical reefs by stunning them first with liquid cyanide. As a result, a majority of the fish die before even reaching retail outlets in countries such as Canada."

True for most fish, but I read that due to the clownfish's trusting personality that clowns tended to be "cup caught" and are not often cyanide caught anymore. Not really applicable to the story at hand, tho it does add some sensational finesse.

The Doctor had a PH.D... the student was a PHD candidate.
"Dalhousie oceanography professor Dr. Alan Pinder " - The Doctor
"That's when his students, led by PhD-oceanography candidate Ibarra, stepped in to sell the fish directly to the public" - The student

The sad thing is there are a lot of pet stores that would sell you the same thing. :sad:

With this said it doesn’t matter how much schooling you have, I had a Biologist argue with me that you can keep Bettas in a bowl with a plant and the Betta would live a healthy life as long as there was water in it. They said the Betta would eat the plant and the plant would keep the water chemistry and water quality good. I tried to tell them Bettas are mostly carnivorous they argued with me and said they are herbivores and they knew better because they were a Biologist.

So would I trust this person (Biologist) with my tank NO.

But there are Biologists like Christy would I trust her with my tank, Yes.

I also know a Biologist that calls me when they have problems with their tank and my title is “Retail manager” in a grocery store.

School only teaches you so much the rest is up to the person.

A title is only a title.

What was the intent of this student? I’m sure they were just trying to do something good. Mistakes happen and I’m sure they have learned from this.
We all make mistakes, have I killed a fish do to the neglect of not doing enough research, YES. Most everyone has at some point in this hobby.

Did I learn from it yes, will I do it again I sure hope not.

To end my comments I say lets give this student some slack they, I hope were just trying to do the right thing but just didn’t do it right.

Just my 2 cents

Cheers
Tyler

Would it not have been better for them to contact a LFS and sell the fish to them This way they could get some money and help ensure the fish went to better homes.

I fear what the mortality rate will be from these "fish bowls"

Greg

Would seem to be a logical solution to sell the fish to a LFS. Not that it's going to ensure a long-term solution for the fish.. but surely they will be better of than in these "bowls"

Aww, thanks :redface:

But you do know about my affinity for growing algae right? :wink:

Of course the logical solution would have been to sell to a LFS, but logics don't necessarily play a part in everyones life :wink: Most likely with the Nemo craze maybe the guy thought it would be better (and more money could be made) to just sell them with a tank? After all, he could have just sold them in the bag, he didn't have to provide tank setups and all.

Who knows what people are thinking when they do stuff like this? Quite frankly I'm surprised it took so long for the school to shut him down, or that his supervisor didn't.

alot of peopel don't know you can sell fish to a store. figure it's a one way arrangement.

That'd be my, uh, guess.
Hard not to speculate, isn't it? :neutral:

Cheers,