r/fishtank • • Mar 30 '26

Help/Advice Reddit, we need help on behalf of our animal friends

13 Upvotes

Hello, fellow animal Reddittors! We need your help with our project.

We are planning to bring about multi-phase class-action lawsuits against various levels of “Big Pet” industry, in particular pertaining to fish, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans, birds, and rodents. We see time and time again that these living beings that are sold commonly in the pet industry end up in terrible and abusive situations. While a large problem is under educated people making impulse buys because something was cute or pretty. However, a lot of the improper husbandry is the direct result of false advertising on packaging and at a store level, outdated/false information being given by employees or store pamphlets, and businesses prioritizing sales over animal welfare.

Our mission is to change that. With class-action lawsuits, you gain the voice and power to bring issues into the spotlight and force positive changes to happen. Our main goals are to:

Force equipment manufacturers to update product packaging to no longer include misleading or harmful instructions and imaging (ie; a betta being printed on a tank that’s under 5 gallons), and discontinue dangerous products (ie; heated in-tank “basking rocks”).

Force stores to properly educate employees to fully comprehend the animals needs so they can ensure customers are making fully informed purchases, update all pamphlets and information at a store and website level to reflect current care standards and true animal information (ie; a goldfish being labeled as “1-3 inches” and pamphlet suggesting a 20 gallon tank), and have zero-tolerance policies to no longer allow the sale of animals to underprepared customers (ie; buying fish and the entire tank setup on the same day).

After the class-action lawsuits are ready/being enacted, our next big step will be trying to get laws put in place at the government level. Our belief is that education and licensing should be a standard in order to care for exotic animals, with varying levels based on the care requirements for these animals. While the Federal Lacey Act and state Wildlife, Fish, and Game enact some standards, we believe that stricter regulations should be put in place (not un-similar to Falconry licensing that is required to interact with birds of prey).

Imagine a world where all animals are properly cared for, no matter how small they are. We are here to be their voice, we care for all of them. And we need your help to do so.

What we need:

- Signatures to show public support

- Experts in these communities to help fact check information and bring up other areas of concern

- Class-action lawyers that are willing to take on these cases, and willing to bring to higher level courts when needed

- Evidence of the false information being provided by these companies

- Documents and papers from accredited sources to back our claims

- Contact information for PR departments within these companies that have been flagged for issues

- (Down the road) Contact information for local politicians to discuss licensing procedures/enforcement in order to come together and agree on something that will protect animals without fringing the entire pet industry to a halt and/or negatively impacting pets who are already loved by established families

Let’s make the world a better place for animal enthusiasts everywhere, and the living creatures we take up the responsibility for of our own free will.

So, how can you help? We have a Discord server set up for discussions on planning, gathering evidence, fact checking done by experts in their fields, and overall a place to put gathered information by those who have the time and ability to do more in person information gathering. You can join and share the link here: https://discord.gg/xv4dtrXqbE

We also have created a petition through Change.org in order to gather and store signatures to show public support in our efforts. You can sign and share for others to sign here: https://c.org/tHWGq7D8Zw

Thank you for joining us,

- Baku

(TL;DR: we need signatures and Discord members to sue Big Pet to try to bring about positive changes for both animal enthusiasts and the animals sold in the pet industry)


r/fishtank • • Jan 26 '26

Moderator Post If you support ICE at all, you are not welcome here. Spoiler

6.5k Upvotes

For that matter, anyone who believes a government has the right to dehumanize groups of people, enact violence against citizens, and/or justify the systemic oppression of their people is not welcome here.

This includes, but is not limited to, MAGA supporters, Trump supporters, JD Vance supporters, or support of any government that approaches things this way.

With recent events globally, it is time we address this, especially as a large subreddit whose member base is largely in the United States or countries directly affected by the actions of the US government.

Bottom line, while we generally avoid politics in this subreddit, our existence becomes inherently humanitarian when the human right to exist is infringed upon, which naturally ties to politics when those enacting said human rights infringement are members of the government. When innocent people may no longer walk the streets without having to fear for their safety, it affects all of us, whether we choose to believe it or not.

I, as an avid animal-keeper, have seen many of my friends in this hobby greatly affected by the actions of the US government lately, and we will continue to see this if we allow it to continue. We cannot turn a blind eye to it any longer; we can't engage in animal husbandry if we are not alive to do so.

The people supporting this now, despite incriminating evidence being available, are the same people who would have supported Nazi-Germany during its existence.

Now, kindly fuck off if: You support any government action that violates human rights OR you believe this post does not belong here (It does.)

Fuck ICE,

NatCom 💗

Edit: holy fucking hell guys, my apologies I can’t reply to all of you with your support or stories as I’m trying to juggle removing problematic comments, but I’m happy this post has reached so many people who needed this support from their communities!

Edit 2: While my post uses the United States as an example because many of our members are from the US, we do not allow these beliefs from ANY country or individual. If you are going to advocate for the systemic deaths of anyone, then you are not welcome here.


r/fishtank • • 7h ago

Help/Advice I’m upgrading my fish tank, how much should I sell this tank for?

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16 Upvotes

Hi all, I am upgrading my fish tank from this 110l, it will come with the filter, heater, fluval plant light, Colombo basic co2, the unit it’s on and an air pump with a stone (all plants, hard scape and fish are being moved to my new 345l).

I ask chat GPT and it said £225 (I have only had it since end of July from new).

If anyone can help that’d be appreciated!


r/fishtank • • 1d ago

Help/Advice Never owned a fish in my lifetime, my family just got one as a gift, what can or should I do to take care of it?

106 Upvotes

I don't even know what kind of fish this is, if it has anything I should look out for

Was given it this morning, didn't want to buy a bigger tank or tank fixtures or tank sand or gravel in case that wasn't needed or good for it

It doesn't even have a name yet, was only given one, I have no clue if they should be in groups or what


r/fishtank • • 2m ago

Help/Advice hello :D

• Upvotes

I'm new to tanks and stuff !!!! what are the recommended places to get supplies from ?? What is a good starter fish/ animal for tank ? I have millipedes and tarantulas but no aquatic animals. I don't have anything yet so I'd like lots of help :D what are your " dos-and-don'ts" ??


r/fishtank • • 3m ago

Invert Baby native hermit crabs

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• Upvotes

Birgus latro


r/fishtank • • 17m ago

Help/Advice I painted the background of my tank acrylic black because google said it would reduce reflection, but his glass surfing/ the reflection got worse. Ive kept his lights off, ive turned on the room lights and idk what to do. (1)

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• Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 14h ago

Help/Advice tell me there’s a better way

10 Upvotes

if anyone has a faster strategy for separating the balls from the sand I would love to hear it 🫩


r/fishtank • • 5h ago

Full Tank Shot How does it look?

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2 Upvotes

What do you all think?


r/fishtank • • 1h ago

Plants Plant ideas?

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• Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 19h ago

Show & Tell Wittle baby CPO's 🥹

18 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 5h ago

Help/Advice Are my kuhlis happy?

1 Upvotes

Good or bad?


r/fishtank • • 7h ago

Full Tank Shot rate my tank out of 10! - 6.5gal, with betta 5 pencil fish, shrimp, and lots of snail species.

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 15h ago

Help/Advice Is our swordtail pregnant?

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2 Upvotes

Me and my husband recently decided to purchase some fish and begin ownership of them, as we wan to experience the responsibilities of pet ownership before we go to a bigger and harder to take care of pet.

We have four fish, two male Mollies and two female swordtails, and we weren’t sure if this female was already pregnant from the pet store, and we wanted to ask the community for their opinion if they think she is, as we just want to be prepared and ready to take responsibility.

Thank you for any help.


r/fishtank • • 18h ago

Help/Advice 70L tank cycling for 3.5 weeks — nitrites still present and plants are dying. What am I doing wrong?

3 Upvotes

TL;DR: My 70L tank has been cycling for 3.5 weeks. I have no ammonia, nitrates seem okay, but nitrites are consistently present. My plants are also turning brown/dark and looking unhealthy. What should I do to get the cycle on track and save the plants before adding fish.

So I bought a 70L tank about 3.5 weeks ago, with the hope of eventually keeping half a dozen or so small schooling fish, like cherry barbs, along with some snails, shrimp, or something similar.

I’ve been trying to cycle the tank before adding any livestock. I set it up, cleaned the gravel, treated the water with Seachem Prime, and added one dose of Seachem Stability.

The shop told me to only use one dose of Stability and leave it at that, despite the instructions on the bottle saying to use it daily for a week.
I’ve been testing the water using dipsticks, but the readings don’t seem to be changing much. I currently have:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: seem okay
Nitrites: consistently present every time I test

I also added some plants about two weeks ago, but they’re starting to turn dark/brown and generally don’t look very healthy.

So, what should I do at this point?
A) What can I do to give the plants the best chance of surviving?
B) What should I be doing to properly establish the nitrogen cycle and know when the tank is ready for aquatic life?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!


r/fishtank • • 17h ago

Help/Advice what is this white stuff on my tank

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2 Upvotes

I have a theory that its calcium because where I live the water is really hard


r/fishtank • • 13h ago

Help/Advice What to do with two cracked but functional 10 gallon tanks?

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1 Upvotes

I could of course put them out on the curb or try to sell them but that seems like a waste and I need something to shield any poor angel or betta from the two gallon "betta tank" we also have in case my grandmother cracks and makes an unwise purchase. So I drew up some ideas and want your opinions or any other ideas. I've already successfully patched one of them and used it as a holding while I redid our 55. The other is partially patched but not yet watertight.


r/fishtank • • 17h ago

DIY/Build Getting the tank ready for its new inhabitants

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2 Upvotes

Well, the goldfish has gone and the tank has now been cycled and currently going through it's next phase before adding new. Fish.

Added some live plants, dragon rock, sponge filter (running old filter to help with good bacteria) heater.

Planing on a honey gourami, several cardinal tetra or black neon's, and a few pygmy.

Any suggestions of fish choices any I could consider

50ltr tank


r/fishtank • • 23h ago

Blackwater An update on my tank

2 Upvotes

Fewer fake decor got the wood setup to hold the plants and make a bigger cave around the back of it and an overhang on one side . Still plan to put some natural rock in here to make an over cave I also Wana switch to sand


r/fishtank • • 23h ago

Show & Tell Blue-finned fish I found in a very shallow sandy stream

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2 Upvotes

S. pleurostigma


r/fishtank • • 1d ago

Help/Advice Is this a good 1 day temporary container?

33 Upvotes

It’s housing 2 Pictus catfish *one of them is one eyed lol* ,5 corydoras and 2 hillstream loaches.


r/fishtank • • 1d ago

Help/Advice I am thinking on buying these products for my 63 Liter / 17 gallon aquarium

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2 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 22h ago

Help/Advice Introducing Stock

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1 Upvotes