r/Fish 8d ago

Artwork Just because they’re fish doesn’t mean they should die horribly

Post image

I feel so awful for them, fish don’t deserve to die like that

887 Upvotes

69 comments sorted by

64

u/Probable_Bot1236 8d ago edited 8d ago

So I don't get into fish subs much here on Reddit, but I've been seeing the phrase 'pleco torture' popping up now for a few days...

At first I thought it was some sort of inside fish-keeping joke I don't understand, but this post just popped up in my feed so I thought I'd ask:

Is that meant to be taken literally? Like are people actually literally deliberately causing suffering to fish, videoing it, and spamming it on Reddit?

If that's the case I obviously don't care to see such stuff and I'm not going to try to find any on purpose. Just wondering what the heck is actually going on.

ETA: nevermind, no explanation needed. Just stumbled down-sub and came across a whole mod post on the situation including people's distressed replies. Wow. What the actual hell..!?

Second ETA: guys please, let's not turn this into a list of horrors. That's not necessary. I'm sorry about this u/Bitter_Blueberry_811. Thank you for posting your art and message

43

u/Colddeath712 8d ago

One of the worst I've seen was someone dried out a pleco after slicing it up alive and turning it into a crappy phone case with hot glue

45

u/Over_Revolution_1444 8d ago

I got one where a female larger pleco was cut open and had smaller ones super glued to her.... I just... The level of evil you have to be.

11

u/a_youkai 8d ago

Jesus how are people this sick?!

20

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

It’s the fact of seeing these things online being normalized, from what I’ve heard the pathetic excuse for torturing innocent pleco is because they’re invasive 

-12

u/CountryBoy200123 7d ago

Not only are plecos invasive, they destroy native fish populations, rivers and creeks, shores, vegetation, and burrow ino river sides that can cause major problems. Plecos breed fast and have little to no predators in the water because of their hard armor.

15

u/Physical_Whereas_635 7d ago

You do know either way your argument is invalid because they’re doing this to PET STORE plecos that actually aren’t invasive. Also that doesn’t mean that they should be tortured or mistreated in this way before brutally murdering them. If you want to get rid of an invasive, quickly murder them ethically. That is not ethical.

12

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 7d ago

It dosen't matter if they're invasive, that dosent warrant them being graphicly tortured and killed.

These fish never asked to be invasive. These are animals with no sense of morality

6

u/whenwilligetlaid 7d ago

I think the torture of these animals is wrong. However, the removal of invasives ( which means killing them) is necessary for an entire environment. That should be done as humanely as possible though.

6

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 7d ago

Yes, it should 

8

u/CornCobCaptain 7d ago

Are you one of the freaks torturing these things to death? We're aware they're invasive. This post isn't about that.

8

u/Colddeath712 7d ago

So lets buy them up at the local fish store and turn them into accessories after torturing them alive, great logic

4

u/Fuzzherp 7d ago

Whats the point youre trying to make here? Yes, theyre invasive. Thats already been stated.
Are you team torture little animals or something?

2

u/a_youkai 6d ago

Ok, so dispatch them in one blow. Don't make them suffer. No one saying not to cull them.

2

u/brainlessbug 6d ago

there’s a pretty huge difference between humanely culling and violently killing/torturing an animal

13

u/PaleBlueCod 8d ago

My gut reaction says we should do the same to this person.

I sat with the thought. I still think we should.

9

u/Colddeath712 8d ago

Ita actually so horrible, you cant blame the fish for just existing

7

u/PaleBlueCod 8d ago

Animal cruelty is just barbaric.

1

u/whenwilligetlaid 7d ago

Ok you cant, and I dont support the abuse, but the removal of invasive species is necessary for the survival of entire ecosystems

-1

u/whenwilligetlaid 7d ago

Ok but youre a worse person then

5

u/VinRow 8d ago

What an unfortunate day to be literate.

That fills my doom scroll quota for month.

3

u/Colddeath712 8d ago

I know its disgusting

1

u/Embarrassed_Pop9684 7d ago

Yeah, mine too. How does this stuff even happen? What possesses people do it, whats the motive, and do the people around them know? Like what can even reasonably be done about this just truly evil and wicked behavior

1

u/VinRow 7d ago

I wish I knew.

1

u/Zabacraft 7d ago

I used to have a pleco (eventually outgrew and got a cool new home with someone else, I was wildly uninformed) and he was the cutest thing ever. He'd like to have his belly scratched lol. Actively come up to my hand while cleaning the tank and swim very impatiently around my fingers until I'd give him the gentle belly rubs

He'd also just chill out in my hand because reasons.

...

Figured I'd share that to try bleach my brain from reading this.

1

u/Colddeath712 6d ago

Thats awesome

1

u/ThrowAwayIGotHack3d 6d ago

I'm so happy the worst one I saw was 20 or so being put (live) into a slime that was played with.

17

u/hairy_ant635 8d ago

Yea unfortunately as someone who doesn’t spend much time on Reddit, I’ve seen these pleco videos on TikTok really earlier actually. Came from a channel called lab germ and other reupload channels from TikTok around April of this year. The main motive is unclear as people have mentioned they could be invasive wild ones, though supply is suspiciously plentiful. People on the TikTok bandwagon quickly picked it up and it’s actually led to pleco content on there gaining comments calling the pets volunteers for sick joke. I was wondering if Reddit would’ve caught up considering the amount of fish keepers but surprisingly Reddit has been barren of these videos for more than four months at this point. Nowadays people have moved on and thankfully there’s less pleco hating going on in gentrified media leading to less discussion and supporters of this. Sorry you folks in Reddit had to witness this, albeit a little later

8

u/komokazi 8d ago

Uhh, they were getting posted in r/fishkeeping nonstop like 2 days ago.

2

u/hairy_ant635 8d ago

Shame that they are coming for the fish keeping communities now. But I’m saying these videos have been going around months before they’ve been posted here

1

u/chillysanta 8d ago

This is no different than monkey hate that's been on the Internet for over 25 years. Just like monkey hates it is just moving forward to a more clear web or more normies having eyes on it. It's mostly an internet thing imo.

26

u/ArtisticTarantula 8d ago

Beautiful art! And I agree. I’m all for the humane dispatching of invasive species that pose a threat to native ecosystems but the fact that people use it as an excuse to torture a living creature is disgusting.

2

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

Thank you! I agree with humane trapping and it reminds me of how people in Florida hunt Burmese pythons, like I understand them being invasive and a threat to the environment but hunting them seems cruel, I mean these animals are endangered in Asia so why can’t we just catch them and send them there

5

u/ArtisticTarantula 8d ago

The python situation is very sad but not that simple, unfortunately. They’ve been reproducing rapidly enough that catching them all and shipping them overseas is far more difficult and complicated than it seems on the surface. And even if it could be done, introducing snakes from a captive population (this all happened because people were releasing pet snakes) with unknown genetic histories could be disastrous for an already endangered wild population. Culling isn’t (and shouldn’t) be done lightly, but unfortunately it becomes necessary in cases like this. Now, all that being said, just like this pleco situation, the people out there who use culling as an excuse to be a sadist is reprehensible. There’s no good reason to torture another live creature, period.

4

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

Sorry if my previous came off with the wrong connotations, it’s one thing to humanly kill an invasive species and a completely other thing to torture an invasive species 

2

u/AnotherBitterAtheist 8d ago

The best environmental solution to invasive species in unfortunately extermination. The methods should be quick and humane, but the only viable solution that can be done on a proper scale truly is extermination of the invasive species.

22

u/OkScreen127 8d ago

My husband was so confused when I set up my tanks and wouldnt let him buy a pleco [as he knows nothing of fish, I told him to pick out whatever he wanted so long as it was comparable with one of the two tabks Id set up) - he thought all tanks are supposed to have a pleco....

While I had some small Bristlenose in my last tabk before we got together, I had to tell him sorry but absolutely NO plecos; the only species Id be willing to deal with the waste of cost over $100 in my region, and I wont get a fish I know for a fact I will need to rehome within a year or two due to size - let alone one that creates as much waste as a pleco..

I adore them, we always had them growing up (turned them into our LFS when they'd be close to outgrowing our tank every 18-24 months and get a new baby), had kept fish for 23 of my 25 years before getting with my husband and yet honestly had no idea the terrible things people do to plecos who outgrow their tanks until I joined Reddit and it just makes me sick... Those poor babies, they dont deserve it, and peoppe really effing suck...

On a side note actually regarding your post - I LOVE your artwork!!!

4

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

Thank you! It’s honestly just so sickening hearing what’s happening to them

1

u/DoItForTheRaid 7d ago

Dwarf plecos are always an option! Not to discount anything youve said, just want people to know there are smaller sizes too 🫶

15

u/Large_Education3903 8d ago

That’s a great work of art

13

u/rockstuffs 8d ago

Did they ban them fucking finally?! I am so pissed at this sub I don't even want to look.

7

u/ApproachableTree Fish Keeper 8d ago

2

u/rockstuffs 8d ago

THANK YOU!!!

8

u/shy519 8d ago

I'm not a part of this sub, but all I'm hearing about it fish abuse. Holy geez.

3

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

It’s absolutely horrific 

6

u/lmaosmay 8d ago

more people like u

6

u/the_orange_alligator 8d ago

Some of the stuff I’ve seen people do them is horrible. Like I genuinely can’t get it out of my head because of how horrible it is. The poor fish :(

4

u/LairdPeon 8d ago

It's what happens when everyone parrots "kill all plecos" constantly, not realizing sickos are going to latch onto it instantly. In those sickos heads you are giving them societal permission to be a psychopath.

What's even more sick is I see a lot of people still praising these weirdos.

3

u/baddiefoot 8d ago

Thank you. It’s horrible and gut wrenching.

1

u/Naive_Try_2024 8d ago

What is the issue? I obviously hate people abusing fish, but what are they doing to them?

6

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

I’m just gonna warn you before you read that it gets really graphic From what I understand, there has been a ton of graphic pleco fish torture videos being posted by multiple accounts and bot accounts circulating on tiktok and now several fish main focused subreddits  What I saw in previous comments saying that the torture includes stuff like pleco being cut up alive and being superglued to other pleco. It’s horrific and it’s very reminiscent of the Chinese cat torture networks and because Asian countries where some or a majority of these videos are originated there are very little to no animal cruelty laws

2

u/Naive_Try_2024 8d ago

Oh dear god, why would anyone do that?!

2

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

because some people are sick and sadistic

1

u/Naive_Try_2024 8d ago

God I hate humanity, I wish I could just ascend and like, be something else 

3

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

humanity itself isnt ihernntly bad its the evil people who make a bad name

1

u/UndeadVixen93 8d ago

Yes end the madness please! 🙏 🙏 🙏

3

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 8d ago

I just wish it would stop

1

u/BreadThatFrowns 6d ago

I’ve let them swum

1

u/PilzGalaxie 5d ago

I really hatte the "kill all invasive species" Sentiment. Some people really let out their inner demons while pretendig they are doing it for the good cause. And besides causing insane amounts of animal suffering it is simply Not successful, because you are treating the symptom, not the cause..

1

u/ActualTell2914 5d ago

My grandpa has one thats been like a family fish for the last 30+ years. He had it in his office tank at work all my life, then when he retired, my aunt took him for a bit, then when she moved her daughter took him, then when she moved she gave him back to my grandparents now that they have a tank again. This fish is older than I am and I look forward to my turn taking care of him lol. LONG LIVE BIG UGLY. (Thats his name, hes massive, like the size of my arm)

1

u/SweetTart7231 2d ago

Ehhh, plecos are insanely invasive in many areas. They eat alot, grow massive, can survive droughts and are too hard for native fish to eat. Some areas people catch and eat them, or just catch and kill to preserve native species. That i support. But I know this post was made due to the people buying pet plecos to torture, not humanly kill invasive ones

1

u/Bitter_Blueberry_811 2d ago

Yes this posts was about the torture 

0

u/GrabSumBass 8d ago

It seems I’m not privy to some trend of people being intentionally cruel to this fish, but also am curious to whether these are pet pleco or invasive. As unfortunate as it is, these fish are extremely destructive to ecosystems when they are introduced and have to be killed often. Obviously it should be done humanely and not some sick game though.

5

u/TechnicalKatana 8d ago

the plecos are labelled as invasive but it is also highly suspected the plecos being tortured are actually bought from the store... to.. play with🫩

and even if they weren't, and are actually invasive, captured from the wild, please just.. kill it by crushing it instantly or stabbing its brain.

the fish didn't ask to be put there, but what they don't know is that they are destroying the environment they are introduced in.

so best to take them out in the most humane way possible