I am currently spending nearly thirty dollars trying to heal a six dollar gorami that could be easily replaced. This hobby does unexplained things to people.

As someone with a 20 gallon and a 15 gallon full of guppies. There is no such thing as a throw away fish. All the guppies I currently have were free born in the tank. I still cry when one dies.

All fish deserve the best care. Love them all.

We see this a lot in goldfish communities 😢 People who treat any pet as "throw aways" shouldn't have pets at all!

“Tetras for $1” Petco: 😂 “you wish”

My pleco went from a small black fish I couldn't even see in my old tank, to being the centerpiece to my new tank, he's probably about 16" long now

I have such a soft spot in my heart for common plecos. They're honestly some of my favorite fish in the whole hobby. My dream someday is to have a MASSIVE (Like 500+ gallon) tank and have a bunch of commons. Nothing else. No centerpiece fish. Just majestic 2' long dinosaur fish that I would spoil the heck out of them. I rescued a very stunted common that someone dumped on my lfs after they outgrew their tiny 10 gallon tank. Poor baby was like 4-5 years old and barely 8". I had him for about the next decade in my 75 gallon (which I do know was still too small) and barely topped 16" by the time a disease outbreak took out most of my tank while I was away for a few days. I was utterly heartbroken.

I'm obviously shopping in the wrong places. Cardinals and neons for a dollar? I haven't seen that since the 90s! Lol And Glofish were created to help researchers fight pollution in our waterways. But happy accidents and here we are with Glofish in every store AND my aquariums because they are awesome!

At my work, we had clown loaches as some kind of "starter kit" for the store... Most of our costumers have small aquariums. What we did was to sell them to people that actually had big enough aquarium (yes, we refused selling them to some), and then decided not to get more. Simply because they get to big (but if someone wants them and can take care of the, we can place an order just for them). However, I was shocked to see how the Bettas in your video were treated! I've never seen anything like that! How can that even be legal?

All living things deserve to be treated with care and respect. Well, except for that creepy spider chillin by my back slider.....he can get to steppin! I won't kill him, but I sure will scoot his butt outside 🤣

Got a common pleco a few decades back before I knew better. He was so tiny and cute. After about 5 years in a 35 gallon bow front he was still cute but not so tiny. He ended up living in there longer than he should’ve. Did upgrade to a 50 gallon but still he was just growing and growing. Ended up making him his own indoor pond (100 gallons) He lived a little over 20 years. Got a rescue from an acquaintance who was just waiting him to die. I think they bonded. Died within a week of each other and I was sad to see them go.😢They should only be sold in specialty shops for people with large tanks and ponds.

All fish deserve to be treated with care and love in best tank the owner can afford

I would prefer fish stores put neons on sale , rather than to need space and throw them in the dumpster.....every petsmart, Petco, throws living fish in bags in dumpers. sometimes reptiles too. generally this happens on the day they get delivered...they get a bag with 100 fish in it and half are already dead, in the trash the whole bag goes...bettas that have been in store for a while and are starting to look sick ...in the trash. IT SUCKS ! so I have made friends with the fish department people at my local Petco and 2 local petsmarts ....if fish are going in the trash, I get a text if any of the people I know are working that day...I go get them before they get dumped. lots of the ones I get die really soon anyway, but not all, and at least they get a chance to live. I guess I'm just a sucker for animals. I've been seeing, and trying to catch for the last month, an abandoned dog between my work and home. down in a river bottom where the highway crosses 3 bridges. I stopped and tried to get him 4 times and he would run off and disappear . but last Thursday , 10 days ago, he was laying on the side of the highway, I stopped , he was so starved he couldn't run, he just played there trembling. I said " hey buddy, please don't bite me," then picked him up and carried him to my truck and brought him home. he was covered in fire ants, now so was I ...he had maggots in his ears and flies ...ticks, fleas...... he should be about 80 lbs but he weighed 23 lbs . 4 times a day, I'm feeding him , 2 cups of kibble, 1 raw egg from my chickens , half a cup of raw goat yogurt, and some chopped up beef kidney , given to me by a friend that raises organic beef. as of yesterday he weighs 38 lbs and he is supper happy to be at his forever home. soon as I got him home I dusted him with food grade diatomaceous earth , and cleaned his ears and pulled all the ticks off of him. next Friday , 5 days from now, he goes to the vet to get tested and dewormed . then we will start his shots and get him neutered once his full weight. so now , we have 3 dogs , 5 cats , everyone that somebody dumped and I caught and brought home. my wife, Sunflower, is very understanding ....and she loves animals as much as I do. so, selling neons for a dollar isn't always so bad.

Guppies and neons cost $3-$5 each here...no such thing as cheap fish in northern Indiana anymore 😞

I have two clown loaches. One is growing great, but one started to start losing weight, but im treating him with parasite meds and hes improving!

My cardinals are watching this and thinking AMEN!

I don't know about in the USA, but here in the UK, clown loach prices have increased massively in the past year or two. Not that I buy them but they used to be relatively cheap as 1.5 inch and obviously very popular but now it's a serious purchasing decision just purely on price. Around £10- £15 each ive seen.

$1 neons/cardinals only exist in my memories from the early 2000s. In the past decade I've never seen them for less than $3 each here in NJ, oftentimes more (up to $7 each for big cardinals).

I'm in Australia and a store near me only sell beta's to 18yr and over after a few teenagers brought several just to throw at cars driving past. I was completely shocked.

In 40 years of fish keeping in the UK I’ve only ever seen two one foot long clown loaches. I’ve also kept them in a group of five for around ten years and they only reached around 5 inches.

I agree with the bettas I hate how small the containers they are in are. At a local shop they have a flow tank system and it makes them look great.

I miss all my bettas. They were so happy just to see me everyday. I cried over them when they ended up dying.

I bought the lonely last clown loach in the pet store aquarium. started it in a small 32 gal for 6 yrs then moved to 60 gal. it hasn't grown big. its very nice looking. its kinda harsh on the plants but has a funny little personality. I would have included Pictus catfish on your list for sure.

I have heard people consider cory catfish garbage fish but I really love them so I spend a lot of time making sure the tank is clean the ph level is right making sure the amount of food is right and they have lots of hiding places my only problem is that when I feed them algae wafers sometimes algae starts growing in the tank

I had a 55 gallon tank that had 20 cardinal tetras. I absolutely loved them, they where super active. I had that tank set up for about five years until they all passed away. They definitely live longer than people think.

My neighbor dumped his fish on me when he moved, which was better than actually flushing them. But I feel so bad for these finned babies. All of them are in this list and I am fussing over them like new mom. Never even had an aquarium before. This channel has been a lifeline for me as an improvised fish rescuer.

My friend had been given 4 fan tail gold fish, because her auto technician had them in a 10 gallon tank and did want them any more because they were high maintenance. She didn't want them so she knew I loved goldfish and had one when I was young that lived 20 years and got 12 inches long. So I now have them and getting tank up graded soon they went from a 10 gallon to a twenty gallon soon to get a 37 gallon . I water change Twice a week and live in an apartment so I am slowly increasing the tank size as they grow. I know this isn't an Ideal set up BUT I ONE WANTED THEM. I didn't know what would happen to them if I didn't take them . Sometimes people think they can release goldfish but NO YOU CANNOT. SO I ADOPTED THEM BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WANTED THEM. SOO SAD. PEOPLE THINK GOLD FISH SRE EASY. THEY ARE NOT THEY ARE ALOT OF WORK TO KEEP UP WITH THE BIO LOAD. I DO IT FOR THE LOVE OF THE FISH. THANKS FOR DOING THIS VIDEO . EXACTLY WHAT PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR. Greetings from Pennsylvania 😊🐕🐾🐾💕💕

I love my glo fish. What I hate is the day glo plastic plants and multicolor substrates. Put them in a planted natural setting and they are beautiful.

I miss you guys making these type of videos with the cool background music lol.. Thanks

John, Great list. I was surprised by a few of these fish that are on here. All fish deserve the tank and to be treated with care. ❤😢

Where do you find cheap Cardinals? They are over $5 each, that bright straight red bottom doesn't compare to the neon. Neon tetra for young Veruca, Cardinal Tetra for Aquascape. Got to agree with the Bala Shark (Carp), had to have a school of them in my old 30 long, which turned into a 125 long a couple years later. I still can't figure out how we get the Bay out of Bet 😂

No fish is throwaway fish. At first I used to buy feeder fish but I felt really bad seeing them get eaten as they looked just like guppies. Yeah they were cheap and it's how nature works and I could buy like 50 for like $10 but after a few times I stopped and I haven't done it again. I used to give my Oscars/Pacu these fish but since they came from a real river I got afraid of parasites and bacteria as well. Now I bought some high protein high quality food and I haven't bought more feeder fish in months. I know nature works that way, I don't enjoy seeing my fish hunt feeder fish as I only did it for the nutritional benefits. Should I go back to buying feeder fish or should I continue feeding them what I already give them?

I had an aquarium with goldfish for YEARS. They were small when I got them but all ended up getting huge, to the point where I had to size up their aquarium and it was already big. I got them some treats (for goldfish) from the pet store one day, the next day every single one of them was dead. I *sobbed*. It's been over 20 years. I still think about those fish

Dig the vids. About 3 months ago found a 2 1/2 gall hex shaped tank with filter that connects to the bottom and a heater in the trash. I had a tank back when I was a kid about 65 years ago LOL. I used and use still spring water in gallon bottles since Philly water is not only loaded with chemicals, it's radioactive according to the Fed report as far back as 2012. After a month set up, got a crown tail betta (pronounced "Beta" ) that I named Alpha. He's dark blue like both my Harleys LOL. Also put a Pygmy Cory in there to help clean up until I saw your vid that Corys prefer to school, so bought a few more. Need to get some decent live plants. Tried with some from one of the chain stores that barely had roots and came with complimentary pest snails that suddenly popped up in large numbers clogging the filter. Thanks for the tips, bro.

Man, I love how you don't hold back with your opinions. One of the reasons you are one of my favorite channels

I always enjoy watching your videos. I agree with everything you said and many are the reason I don't have clowns in my current tank. Although I have had them for years in my 55 gallon tank, and they lived to be 20, I just don't want to have to think about their ultimate size. Mine never got larger than 6 inches. I got a Yoyo this time and will stay with fish who are happy in my 55.

Thanks John Clown Loaches are not throw away ! I bought 4 of them in 2006 I still have two! I lost the other two a year ago! The biggest one was a foot long , 16 years old!! And you are sure right “ no fish is a throw away “

55 or larger for angels, yes, also a 37 gallon is a good tall tank for them with plenty of room to move around. The 37 is a great option if you can't afford the 55.

This video is the reason why I love your channel. You educate like modern day Eminem, from the 90s, speak it like it is, so people can actually know the truth. Keep it up, Fired Up!!!

A 125 tank with half a dozen or so full size clown loaches with a few other sizeable things sounds amazing.

I liked the video -- about goldfish -- can you do a vid. on fancy goldfish.. they seem to be a separate catagory of waste and pain .. woul dyou ever suggest keeping them ? Ive seen varying opinions

I'd throw livebearers on that list I've seen too many 5g tanks with way too many swordtails or gups

Hate me if you must. My hobby started with one of each color of the 5 Glofish Tetras. I still have them in a 29g 4 years later, they've reproduced, and are happy and healthy. Oh, and I also have 17 other planted aquariums now.

oh no, I love my Cardinal Tetra's, they will pick stuff off the substrate, when they didn't catch it floating down. They also tend to hang in the lower area, so it compliments the others that don't. I'm curious about my Corydora's, two of the 3 seem to be inseparable lately, lots of snuggling.

Literally today, I sadly just lost all of my Neon Teras AND Black Neon Tetras. I did a thorough tank clean this morning (I siphoned up all of the waste on the bottom, changed the water, and cleaned the filters), and expected everything to be fine. However, literally just an hour later, I went to check on the fish, and ALL OF MY TETRAS WERE GASPING FOR AIR AT THE SURFACE! In addition to this, my juvenile Red-Tailed Black Shark and my Synodontis Catfish were also gasping for air at the surface! I laced the tank with Prime Water Conditioner to remove ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite, but the fish were still gasping. I tried everything in my power to save them, but all my Neon and Black Neons died (

I treat my Glow fish the same way i Treat my Marbled Koi Angel.......... a life is a life and I LOVE my pets!

❤ John I adore your blunt and humorous ways of telling it like it is. Anyone offended is stubborn or stupid and unwilling to learn. Excellent video. I catch myself saying out loud something only to have you say it right after. I've definitely learned so much from you and Lisa. ❤

"Daddeh, i want a glofesh" Lmao that made me laugh

I love the videos with the green screen and that background music cause it reminds me of the videos I first watched when I started keeping fish. Great video john.

Awesome Video! Love your content, hope you continue uploading amazing content.

This is a fantastic video!!! I wish you had saved it for a topic for a live stream. I could go on all night about this. And in my opinion there is no such thing as a trash fish. I still feel sad when I think about a Tetra my Betta unalived 3 years ago!!!😢

Stocking question if any one has any advice to share. I have 6 glofish tetras and 2 mystery snails (yes I’m 40 and I love the color of them but could care less that they glow). I have them in a heated 10 gallon tank. Is this overstocked? I’m more than willing to upgrade to a larger tank when they get bigger if needed. I care very much about the well-being of these little souls and want to give them the best life I can. I know these tetras like to have lots of hiding places so I have a lot of (fake) plants in the tank for them. Eventually I would like to incorporate live plants in a tank and upgrade but I’m doing my best to learn and get educated so please be kind. Thank you! Side note, the mystery snails have been a highlight of the tank so far. They are so much fun, very active and always exploring every aspect of the tank. They really get around and have already grown quite a bit in the 3 weeks I’ve had them.

I'd add guppies and Platy/swordtails to the list as well. I remember more than one fishkeeping article that suggested using these fish to cycle new aquariums.

I love feeder live bearers they are my favorite bearer they live in a 15 with a betta and three platy and a bunch of bladder snails and mystery snail

It breaks my heart every time I lose a fish. I have 6 tanks from 100 to 600ltr in my front room and be it a guppy or a neon, an angel or a yellow lab, I hate losing one. I have a small database of every fish type I have in which tank and a mark against each fish that needs to be moved to a larger tank once grown out a bit. I monitor temperatures for each and every fish and this is just me taking my hobby seriously. I CANNOT understand the mentality of "oh its dead I'll buy another" I f I want another fish I check I have a tank suitable for it and I research the size to make sure I can accommodate it later on and that my temp ranges suit them.

I love all the fish on this list and have cared for everything except bala sharks and clown loaches at some points in my life. I wasn't a very good fishkeeper back then when KZfaq didn't exist yet and resources were rare. They would have probably lived way longer if I knew what I was doing and i definitely wouldn't have put a common pleco, goldfish and angels all in the same tank as i did back then. 😢 I'll be shopping around your site later this month for some new plants and if there's cash to spare, i want both the oscar and betta shirts. I just relocated to a new home after my old one flooded out from a vacant unit above me and my fish is fine, but he had to be in a temporary smaller tank when we had to evacuate, which had no room for all his live plants and most of them had sadly died. Love your channel as always!

I count my neon tetras my corycats, and my otos, at least every other day😄 I love clown loaches if I ever get anything bigger than a 55. What you say makes total sense, because the only fish I buy that ever die are my bettas.

No! I want 50 neons as dither fish in my 70 with the discus. They've got to be a buck a piece. (I haven't seen them for less than 1.99 in a couple of years. Currently, there are no dither fish with my discus but I do have 3 super red plecos in that tank (1m 2f).

Be honest in England clown loaches are expensive and I love em😊😊😊😊 But great video 😊

I got 2 common plecos 12yrs ago and one died and I went to get more and the guy said no don't buy another one..feed him these pellets and he'll get huge..over a foot long now!

I have 2 clown loach 6 years today

No such thing as a throwaway fish in this house. All life is precious

Been doing this hobby for 20 plus years and have bought clown loaches throughout. I have yet to see a clown surpass 7 inches and it takes forever for them to reach that if your lucky !!!

I bought 2 medium sized mono angel fish, I had 15 neons, 6 Guppies in the same tank. Next morning when I checked, cudnt find any neons or guppies. Very sad day.

I like clown loaches. Put three of them in a 75 gallon tank 11 months ago. They’re slowly growing. Did I make a mistake putting them in a too small tank? I know they like to school and was thinking of adding one more! From your video, sounds like I shouldn’t do that.

Neon tetra may be cheap but they are genetically weak. I have lost a ton of them in medical quarantine to get the school that i now have that is stable. I did not mourn their passing but accepted it.

Gotta raise my hand with clown loaches. Kept them as cleaners in a 30 gallon for years. Then I moved to the big city and saw them in a massive aquarium at their true size and my mind was blown. Had no idea they got that big.

It's so hard to get a giant clown loach!! I'm pretty sure my last one was around 10years and almost a foot long. Best clown I'd ever seen. Currently growing some out... Slowly 😂...

Clowm loaches are expensive here where I am. Neon tetras, bettas are expensive too.

I agree with the names on the list. These fish deserve better (all fish of course deserve to be treated with care and love). I've seen an ad for a certain Czech pet store chain, with an animation of Angelfish in a bowl. Okay, maybe they thought "people wouldn't put fish in a bowl". I don't remember glass bowls being common and aside of Looney Tunes (and similar cartoons) or Police Academy (where it was done for gags). Out of top of my mind I don't remember other movie, where a fish would swim in a bowl. Even in the 1930s it was glass box (framed or full-blown back then) and even 1970s book would say not to put fish in a bowl, although with nano-fish or shrimp large bowl is fine. Sadly people put goldfish, angelfish, neon tetras, etc. Then there was this guy who put Betta in a whisky TUMBLER and put that on KZfaq... So in the end glass bowls are rare, expensive or even banned by law. In some countries it's illegal to put a fish into a tank below 50 l / 13 US gallons. So international aquascaping competitions are full of shrimp tanks in that category. I can name a bunch of fish where even half that is perfectly fine long-term, but I can understand such a law.

neon are now 5$ a piece at my local shop. i guess i need to jump into fish breeding, cause even platties are 4$.

I was given some glofish at 18 and they lived about 6 years which I believe is a bit longer than average for them. Took care of them well.

Rosy reds, Bought a dozen for motion in my 55g Theres still a dozen, and they're 2 1/2" long now

Fully agree on all of them, but neons and cardinals are those which surprises me the most - I've kept them in panted tanks for years, and the mesmerizing spectacle of a large school of them is the most beautiful thing you can have from an aquarium. I'd go as far as saying, if you find them to be "throw-away" you then should seriously ask yourself if you truly are interested in fishkeeping.

I’ve seen glofish caught in the wild so I’m confused on how they are genetically modified. Can anyone please explain? Or are the ones born in farms somehow modified to be brighter colours? The wild ones seemed bright to me, although I didn’t see pink only yellow, green, purple and blue.

This is why I hate that people call this a hobby. Because fish become disposable.

Haha “you’re an idiot?, totally hilarious! I agree 100%.

I have anecdotal evidence that plecos are poop eaters, i regularly feed a medley of chopped shrimp, shelled peas, pellets, and both algae and carnivore wafers to my fish and my full grown pleco has swam right over top of that stuff to eat a hardy string of poop, the big dumb monster😅

Bettas are so pretty and they deserve more love 😢😢 so sad when I see one in a tiny glass jar

Don't hold back. I like that you say it the way you feel.

12:34 no science reason, shark is strictly for advertising purposes (and they kind of look like a mini one)

A bit of honesty would save a lot of Bala "sharks." They're actually a member of the carp family. So much for the glamor factor!

Every fish that is treated as a throw away fish is one to much! But I have a special love for angelfish, having breed hundreds of them, so that is extra upsetting for me! I look to upgrade my 113ish gallon (429 liter) to something close to double that size (720-960 liters) so my angels can shine even more than they do in my South American tank!

Love my cardinals and my common pleco had the common since a baby last summer hes 7inch already cant wait to see him full grown

Bettas make me so sad because they are so fun and interactive and misunderstood! I paid $50 for mine and he is the king of his tank

Should just call this episode "fish of petsmart an petco " lol

Some of my favorite fish I have are so-called feeder goldfish. They are beautiful.

Could not agree with you more. Always great info. Long time subscriber

Someday I hope to have a bala shark. Of course it will be in a proper sized tank.

so sad for bettas they are so beautiful I didn't know they were mistreated 😢

Thats a important topic. All animal deserve respect

Just lost my last Bala. Dont know how old it was, cant even remember when I got them. Theyre called sharks because they look like sharks. Started in the hobby because of a goldfish I won at the fair. 35 years later I have 3 tanks, upgrading many times.

Great list. Agree about the goldfish.

Massive Respect from India...You are absolutely 💯 % right...I feel upset too...

Over here in Scotland, giving goldfish away as prizes was banned years ago, I can’t understand why anywhere would allow such a thing.

Try buying most of these fish cheap in New Zealand. Even Neons reach five bucks or more!

That is so sad, that is incredibly cruel.

I'm surprised danios aren't on the list as they are treated as a cycling tool... But I'm almost offended at the list itself... Bettas, a throw away fish? They're so lovely and have personalities! Angels? They're the kings of aquariums imho! Glofish? Wow, they are so pricey, are they really treated like trash toys? Maybe it's just me, I'm sad for all these fish.

I'M INFURIATING... errrr, I mean, I'M INFURIATED!!!!!

Glo fish are illegal in the UK but even if they was legal I wouldn't buy them I prefer natural looking fish. And I know you wont agree with me on this but my favorite fish is an Oscar ....but I'd only have Tigers as that's as near to natural as I can find in the UK.