No Bowls for Goldfish

Did you know that in NY State Goldfish are protected under the Animal Cruelty Law and that "A person is guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals when, with no justifiable purpose, he or she intentionally kills or intentionally causes serious physical injury to a companion animal with aggravated cruelty."


So I've been asking the question and will continue to ask the question.."why do pet stores sell goldfish together with a bowl?" If your not up on your fish keeping, goldfish cannot survive in a goldfish bowl. There isn't enough surface area to provide the amount of oxygen they need to live a healthy, happy life. Water quality is an issue and stress on their systems can easily allow the "Ich" parasites to take hold and feast off the goldfish.

I found all of this out the hard way. I am an educated person and tend to research things before jumping in. But my son wanted a goldfish and all I could remember of goldfish was having one as a child. I opted for the biggest bowl they had, already intuitively feeling that the bowl was an issue. And even asked 'will the fish be OK in this bowl?" "Icy" as my son quickly named the fish, arrived with Ich. Ich is a parsite that latches on to the fish and feeds off the fluids of the fish. As I placed Icy in his new home, I noticed two white spots on his tail. I went back to the pet store the next day looking for help. The owner said 'yes, I saw that a few of the fish had Ich. Bring him back and we'll exchange him." Exchange him? My son took this fish out of his bag and said "Hi Icy, I'm Caidin. Welcome to our home." I wasn't about to 'exchange' him. So I bought the Ich treatment and set about my mission to save Icy.

During this process, Icy struggled for enough oxygen (as I found out by jumping on line...wishing I'd done this first...and now writing in the hopes of sparing another goldfish the same cruel fate). He seemed to be getting better and then the bowl sprung a leak. And why is it that when this happens it's always after hours. So I put him in the biggest bowl I could find and did frequent water changes using Poland Springs water (I went through 33 liters of Poland Springs). Icy didn't make it though. He was found lifeless on the bottom of his bowl and thus began a running conversation about life and death with my 4 year old.

Icy was buried in a Metropolitan Museum of Art Jewelry Box in front of our apartment.

So not only do I feel really awful about Icy's life, I am really questioning why pet stores, especially in a State where goldfish are protected under the animal cruelty law, are allowed to sell a goldfish and bowl together.


We now have a 10 gallon take with a filter going through a cycling process awaiting the arrival of our next goldfish. It's been two months and is currently home to one snail. I'm not sure where it came from but it's growing by the day. And I am not sure about getting another goldfish, so for now, it's just speedy the snail.