fish for display
 

i heard that one sorority is planning on using live fish as centerpieces on different tables. Then, whoever wanted them could take them home. I thought it was cruelty to animals but they think it's cute.
Am I the only one who sees anything wrong with that?

I don't think it's cruel. They're at weddings all the time. Here is a link to an article on how to make them. I want them at my bday party next year!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Jul24.html

It's entitled "How to Make a Beta Fish Vase"

I don't think it's cruel either. I think it becomes cruel if the girls just dispose of the fish after the party. As long as some of the girls choose to take care of the fish after the party, then I think it's a nice idea.
We had centerpieces with fish for our formal one year and they are really pretty. A few of the girls took the fish home afterwards.

One of the girls I work with has a Betta in a vase w/ a plant on top. I thought it was horrible at first, but according to her the fish really dig it.

ok.. i'm a nerd...
 

Bettas in fish vases are terrible and inhumane. Bettas are carnivorous (sp?) fish and cannot live by eating the roots of the plants. Also, the roots of the plants cause bacteria & ammonia to overtake the condition of the water and that is all harmful to them & causes fishy diseases.

(Yea, I sould like a nerd, but I have 3 bettas and know a lot about them from experience.)

I personally don't see this as a great idea.

If no one wants to take them home, the fish will probably end up flushed down the toilet...and that's not very nice :( :(

I think people should only be allowed to take them home with them if they have a proper care instructions. Bettas are high-maintenance fish despite what lots of people think. They need warm water, a bowl with a lid (bettas jump, and might land outside the bowl)

www.healthybetta.com

^^proper betta-keeping instructions

Also, off the topic of fish, I thought no pnm's were allowed to take *anything* (including tissues!) from the houses during recruitment? :confused:

I think it can be very cute, (the fish do need homes though, not the toilet) we thought about doing goldfish for our formal this year...but i think we are doing silk roses in the water with floating candles instead...that way I don't get the fish :)

well, i think someone is taking them home
but fish aren't supposed to be used as ornaments

I kind of feel the same way.. but maybe that's because I love my fish :)

You wouldn't put a puppy on a table as a centerpiece would you? :p Then why would you use a fish?

But that's just me..

We didn't use Bettas, we used Goldfish. And they were just swimming around in a decoratice bowl. I don't see how that is any different from putting your fish bowl on the kitchen table.

I think as long as someone is going to take them home and take care of them at the end of the day, it's not a bad idea. If no one wants that kind of responsibilty then they shouldn't use the fish.

We used tiny goldfish (I mean REALLY tiny) in our centerpieces during rush.....

And this might make some of you mad, but... well one of my sisters gave them to her boyfriend. He has a pirana. But hey... he'd wind up buying those kind of fish and feeding it to his pirana anyways.

I like fish. I just tried not think about where they were going.

Re: ok.. i'm a nerd...
 

I thought this was okay as long as you clean the water and feed the Beta too. I had a friend who had one of these and that's what she did. She said that the plant was more for show than anything else and that you still had to take care of the fish.

We did this for our formal last year, and girls really wanted to take them home. I think most of them are still living, and the girls are taking care of them.

i don't think it is a big deal as long as all of the fish will be cared for afterwards.

hijack...texas princess, thanks for that website. i have 5 bettas and one has been sick for some time now. he is over a year old, and at first i thought he was just dying. well...after a week, i decided the poor thing needed medicine, so i got some antibiotics at petco! he seriously hasn't eaten in a month!!! and he didn't poop for about 3 weeks...but i am proud to say that he pooped today!! his color is coming back and he isn't swollen! hurray for antibiotics!

When I moved home from my old university, I had a betta. I was so excited about being home, and so tired from the drive and finals that I left everything in the car and was planning to unpack it the next day. I forgot about my betta. :eek: Oh, did I mention it was December? I froze my fish, and then tried to be brilliant in saving it and tried to thaw it out. Needless to say, it didn't work.

I'm very attatched to my fish (I have two Bettas). I hate the idea of doing this, and the Betta-lilies are just cruel.

I was at a wedding reception last month with live fish centerpieces on every table, and I was horrified. They'd crammed three fish into a tiny bowl. At our table, two of three were floating by the time the dance started. What's worse, some of the guys there started getting really drunk and swallowing the fish. It was awful.

About ten years ago, I went through rush/recruitment at Stony Brook. One of the sororities had a tropical themed party (one of the sisters brought her pet parakeet for the party). They had on display numerous plastic containers filled with water and one goldfish per container. At the end, they gave us each one container as a living souvenir. To make a long story short, mine went belly up a week later.

I don't see anything wrong with displaying fish at a recruitment party, but please take good care of it or them before, during and afterwards.

http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmili...tiere/fish.gif http://216.40.249.192/s/otn/wink/smily012.gif http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/fish2.gif

Whoever wants to take them home as in sisters? I think it would be a major rush violation to let PNMs take them home.

And I think it's cruel too.

The Alpha Chi house used bowls with one goldfish per bowl when I went through formal recruitment. It ended up being the best recruitment tool ever because everyone remember their house and they had awesome return rates for the next day. Which is really important when you have lots of sororities and your most likely to keep the memorable ones. In my chapter we work on doing something memorable or different than all the other houses. For example all of the other houses wear khacki's the first day with t-shirts, we always wears jean skirts and t-shirts because it sets us apart from the rest.

My sister used fish at her wedding. (I had no idea until the day before). And it was a disaster. Most of the fish went belly up during the reception. :eek:

yes, it will be the sisters taking them home

we had fisha t our formal one year.
They were just feeder fish, so not like they were expected to have long lives. A couple did die before the end of the night (we think they were a little too close to the candles on the table) most of the rest that were taken by sisters only lived a couple of weeks.

I personally wouldn't want to do it again - it's such a hassle and a waste. Fish can add so much to a home, but really don't add all that much to a reception or dinner.

One sorority at my school used goldfish during formal rush. Each table had a large brandy snifter with a tiny goldfish in it... it looked great :) A sister I talked to loved it - she said it was a good way to get a lagging conversation going again. I think individual sisters took them home afterwards and took care of them.

Unfortunately, one year they got the fish too early, or didn't properly aerate the tank they kept them in before rush, or something... so the fish started going belly up during the party :eek:

During rush though, aren't the rushees not allowed to take anything out of the rush rooms/houses/prefs? That's how they do it at my school...

Sorry, I think this is wrong
 

First off, fish are living creatures, not decorations. Secondly, goldfish require 10 gallons per 1 inch fish (yes, TEN GALLONS) in a filtered water in an aquarium to survive. The secrete tons of ammonia through their gills and bodies and the ammonia and nitrate levels in a plain old goldfish tank (the old fashion round kind) can kill them in as little as one day. And in general, they are dirty fish meaning you will have to change their water almost daily etc etc and plain tap water will kill them.

Sorry, I'm not a goldfish nazi or anything but I have learned alot about fish care through trial and error and while goldfish are cute and inexpensive, I don't consider them disposable (which, lets be honest, most of them are going to be).

Stick to flowers. Or better, float some lit candles in large bowl alongside some orchids. This would be pretty.

Marie

http://www.goldphish.net/images/goldfish.jpg Aren't I cute?? (except this tank is too small for me)

Re: Sorry, I think this is wrong
 

Damn, I must've had some super goldfish when I was a kid. :) I had a set of 2 goldfish in a regular sized goldfish bowl. Changed the water weekly, and it wasn't filtered. Just a normal fishbowl.

Both fish lived for well over 2 years.

Of course, once one died, the replacement I bought must not of liked it's new home, because it stuck its head in a shell and committed suicide the night I brought it home. Talk about traumatizing!

Maybe I'm just a horrible person but---
IT"S A FISH!

They are bred for that purpose anyways, and if any of the fish get a home out of it, then I figure it is a nice thing. It's sure a lot better for them than sitting in pet store next to hundreds of other bettas having to stay puffed up all the time because they think they are about to attack other fish. I had a Betta for over 2 years, but I just really don't care. I mean--they breed by the hundreds! I doubt that the group using these plans to use that many, and really I think debating a fishes "rights" is so silly.

But then, I was born and bred in Texas among only republicans, love to eat meat, and have lots of leather shoes.

Wow, what a little ray of sunshine you are! I'm not sure what the point of the last sentence was. Are you making fun of yourself?

I have to say that I agree with texas*princess and DGMarie here. It's not enough to "hope" or "plan" that someone will take the fish home and properly care for them. There is absolutely no good reason to use a living creature as a decoration. If I were going through rush, I would find it incredibly tasteless and inhumane and would drop any house that included fish "decorations" the first chance I had.

I hate to say it, but that was my thought exactly.

I remember when I was little we had our school fair and there were hundreds of fish in goldfish bowls that you would throw a ping pong in. If you got it in, you won the fish. Half of them would be belly up anyway. If I were a fish I would rather be a decoration than have ping pong balls thrown at me!:p

You know, I just thought of something...regardless of whether this is cruelty to fish or not, wouldn't all those fishbowls in a crowded room get sort of, well, smelly? Ewww.

Re: Re: Sorry, I think this is wrong
 

Goldfish can take a lot, at least for awhile. It doesn't mean that it's healthy or good for either one. Goldfish, given proper nutrition and a good habitat, can live MUCH longer than that -- sometimes as long as a cat! 2 years is a very short life for a goldfish.

I've always hated using live fish in tiny bowls as decorations. Yes, it can look nice, but it's horrible for the fish. For the fish, it's about the same as leaving your dog in a car on a hot day and not letting them out to use the bathroom. The water is to warm for them, they can't breath properly, and they're swimming in far to much of thier own waste.

I have no problems with eating and wearing animals, but there's no reason to be cruel about it. If you're going to do it, make sure that...

1) You have the right water. Fish need non-clorinated water at the right temperature. Buy some declorination solution and make sure that the water has been sitting around long enough to become room temperature-ish. You'd also do well to pick up something called "stress coat", and possibly something to keep the amonia levels down.

2) Use big bowls. The less water, the bigger a problem it is for the fish and the bigger hassle it will be for you. A small bowl will get dirty faster and will be a lot more sensitive to temperature changes than a larger one. Also, surface area is important. A wide bowl is better than a tall one, because more air can get in.

3) Don't put more than one fish in a bowl, please. More fish = bigger bowl. You probibly don't want the expense of getting bowls big enough for more than one fish, unless you picked up itsy bitsy ones.

4) Make sure that they have a good home to go to afterwards before you get them. If you know of anyone with a backyard pond, ask if they were looking to add fish, or see if any of your sisters have a tank.

Yes, in the last sentence I was making fun of myself. But really I think the whole issue is silly. I respect everyone else's opinions, and see the validity in many of the statement's being made. But to me, it really just wouldn't ever have been a cause for concern.

And as for *your* last sentence. I really hope you never end up visiting chapter houses in the northwest. When I went to go visit one of my friends who lived in Montana, I cannot tell you how funny I thought it was that they had a big moose head in their chapter house! Not exactly what I was expecting, but to them, it was just the norm.

I think some are just making a bigger deal out of this fish thing then it really is. The fish are only in "smaller" containers for what 5 hours? They have plenty of water and fresh air. . .the fish are fine.

One Sorority put each fish in very large martini glasses during a Mardi graw theme day. It was really cute. I did not hear any complaints. Afterwards the girls either took them home and put them in a larger fish bowl or gave them away to girls in other sororities. No one even imagined flushing them down a toilet. Who would even think of that.

My roommate and I still have the one she got from one of the Sororities who has done this. It's been two years. It is alive and well. I say why not. They look cute. Especially if you get Beta's and your Sorority using Beta in the name . . .Gamma Phi "Beta." I mean each girl could even keep the fish for a couple weeks and pass it down to the new members during lil/big revealing. Wah-la. A grand new tradition and a new loving home for the fish.

Whoa...some people are really up in arms about the whole fish issue....I kinda think along the lines of a few other people that have posted though...its a fish! While it's important that we don't just flush it down the toilet and that someone takes care of it, I really think that it's important to keep in mind that it is a FISH..... that said, I personally don't like the idea of using fish as decorations...I just don't like that style at all!! Why not have some pretty, unique flowers (like orchids or something), or a unique centerpiece without using an animal?! But to each her own I guess!

So was I but catfish and rainbow trout are totally different from little swimmers.

Fish are used as decorations ALL THE TIME! What do you think an aquarium is? It's there to liven the environs...I mean, how many restaurants have you gone to and seen aquariums filled with fish? It's almost a "requirement" at Asian restaurants...There's a restaurant here called Reef that has almost a whole WALL filled with fish....I doubt they are there because the owners want a pet :rolleyes: It's for decoration!

I think the whole question/uproar is over the possible lack of aftercare "arrangements" for the fish...I am willing to bet that this has been discussed ad nauseum amongst the ladies of this particular GLO, the same as in here, and they will be well cared for...

I personally take more offense to a "pick your own lobster" joint...THAT'S pure cruelty!

It's also the care durring the events. A large fish tank on a wall is not problematic at all because that's can easily be maintained as a healthy enviroment (some work and a good setup is needed, but it's still fairly easy once everything is up). A little bowl on a table is not going to be -- that's why a lot of fish end up dead at these events.

All this fish talk has inpired me! I bought a betta yesterday. I did a ton of research first (thanks for the link texas*princess), and I got a really pretty red male. I love my little guy. I named him "Apple."

And no Betta Vase for my baby!

Erica

Ok at the risk of sounding like a total moron....can I ask how do I know whether my fish is male or female? I bought a Betta earlier this summer and I have just assumed its a boy fish, but I dunno??? :confused:

FAB*SpiceySpice, chances are with Bettas that if you don't know, it's a male. The males are more colorful and have longer finnage than the females. They're usually what's sold in pet stores. Females can go in the same tank, but males have to be separate.

Erica, congrats on your new friend! I love my Bettas. They've got personality! I have a blue one named Turtle and a red one named Rabbit (in separate bowls, of course).

A couple of years ago I went to Ruth Chris Steakhouse in Atlanta and ordered steak and lobster. Now I know that lobsters are live when they are cooked but I'll never forget the waiter walking by our table with the live lobster waving its claws at me as he (it) was on his way to the death chamber-- the kitchen!! My husband said "It's a good thing you didn't order rabbit!" (He was just teasing, of course.)

:eek: :eek: :eek: