fungusonmytoe

So today I was watching Finding Nemo with my little sister, and she began to ask if my fish in my tanks were sad like the ones in the dentist's tank.
She was really concerned that my fish were taken from their families and put in my fish tank.

Now I know that fish don't have emotions as humans have emotions, but I felt super guilty about it (I hope my fish aren't as unhappy as the fish in the dentists tank are)
What should I tell my sister to make her not hate me?

Is fish keeping detrimental to the over health and behavior of the fish (for example wild species tend to be bigger than their tank bred or tank kept counterparts)

susitna-flower

To each their own! For me, I choose to think that anyone who is serious about fish keeping, provide an environment where the fish are "happy" , that is the goal. There are species that are over gathered from the wild, and others that only exist now because experts breed them. People who want to make a point like in that movie, are also the ones who turn around and say we shouldn't eat fish because they have feelings, like what just happened up here in Alaska this week, where PETA was holding a protest....They maintain that we know fish have feelings because so many people have 'loving fish' in tanks! Well like I said, to each their own, I personally feel the PEOPLE who own and love their fish are the important ones to understand, and it is good for us to have something to fret over and love....

COBettaCouple

.and all drains lead to the ocean.. it's a cute movie but naturally has little to do with reality, especially the fish family concept. So many fish eat their young or only care for them about a month or so.

If a fish has clean water, room to swim and food (maybe buddies or our attention for some species) and is taken care of when sick, that's a happy fish. a lot of fish bought at the store wouldn't make it in the wild after many, many generations of tank breeding. In a tank, they don't have to worry about being eaten 24/7 - if we don't put the wrong fish in the same tank.

sirdarksol

As long as you try to buy from reputable sources, and if you get involved in keeping odd fish, be aware of breeds that are usually taken in an unhealthy manner from the wild.
It used to be that many reef fish were collected by either dynamite hunting or by cyanide spraying. This killed massive numbers of fish and reefs, and made for unhealthy fish.
International law, however, makes this kind of thing much less likely. Still, some fish are probably collected in a manner that is bad for the fish/environment.
Going for aquacultured/aquarium bred critters is a good way to get around this worry.

Other than this, don't try to cram a betta into a flower vase, or a pacu or arrowana into a 20g tank, or put fin-nippers with angels, or any other no-no, and your fish are likely happy.