r/fishtank • • Mar 30 '26

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

15 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 However, a lot of the improper husbandry is the direct result of false advertising on packaging and at a store level, outdated/false information being given by employees or store pamphlets, and businesses prioritizing sales over animal welfare.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 • • 2h ago

Show & Tell Orange striped fish I caught from an acidic creek

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4 Upvotes

D. pentazona


r/fishtank • • 12h ago

Help/Advice Is it normal for my Cory’s to swim around like this?

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23 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 14h ago

Freshwater I can stare into this tank for awhile

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24 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 31m ago

Show & Tell 10 gallon betta tank

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• Upvotes

Second ever fish tank I’ve scaped ^^ I didn’t really have a vision but it still turned out nice thankfully lol


r/fishtank • • 1h ago

Help/Advice Baby shrimp help!

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• Upvotes

I have some baby shrimp in my tank, but I also have an African dwarf frog. Would it make sense to use a sort of breeding tank that you attach to the side of a tank to keep the shrimp in until they get bigger? Baby shrimp picture for tax


r/fishtank • • 3h ago

Help/Advice Is this stressful behavior?

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0 Upvotes

6.8 Gal Tank setup 2 weeks ago with old substrates.


r/fishtank • • 21h ago

Help/Advice Opinions wanted!

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28 Upvotes

Hey all! Just want to check in and see if anyone has any recommendations for center-piece fish for my 40 g breeder tank. Currently the stock is-

Sterbai Cory- 15

Neon rainbow fish 15

Looking for either a pair or single show piece fish. As well if you notice anything I could do to make my dish more comfortable I’d appreciate any advise!


r/fishtank • • 4h ago

Help/Advice Hair algae?

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 16h ago

Invert My 4 months old, 4 gallon cube.

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3 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 9h ago

Help/Advice is this poop??

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1 Upvotes

put some mystery snails in my tank to clean some algae and this started appearing. i already hate them and if its them, theyre gone. only other tank mates are bumblebee gobies and a betta


r/fishtank • • 11h ago

Help/Advice what is thiis plant?

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1 Upvotes

it was growing in freshwater tank


r/fishtank • • 13h ago

Help/Advice Unsure of what kind of eggs I have. Possible white cloud minnows?

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 17h ago

Help/Advice Are these eggs?

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2 Upvotes

I found these on some Anubias I added 2 days ago, not entirely sure if they were always her or not though. my tank doesn’t have any fish/snail and such (that i know of at least) bc i just started cycling. if they are eggs, is it possible to tell what kind of animal they are and if i should get rid of them (also this is freshwater if it matters)


r/fishtank • • 14h ago

Help/Advice First tank( Pls help!!! )

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1 Upvotes

Hi guys new to fish keeping and this is my first tank(20gallon) I was wondering if I need more hiding space for my fish. I am still not complete with the tank as I intend to add lots more plants. Additionally if someone could help tell me if I could add more fish into the tank. I think I need a centerpiece fish however I am open to any suggestions as the tank currently has 6 guppies and 5 pypgm corydoras.


r/fishtank • • 18h ago

Help/Advice what to do with agressive molly

2 Upvotes

my big black molly keeps bullying my other fish. i put him in a 2.5 gal because he chases them all away from the food.

he is honestly such a pest and I don't know what to do with him right now. i don't have the money to set up another tank.

any advice?


r/fishtank • • 1d ago

Freshwater Sucker fishes, caught from a river bathing spot

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9 Upvotes

G. monticola G. cornusaccus


r/fishtank • • 16h ago

Freshwater Found my Centerpiece fish!

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 23h ago

Help/Advice Can anyone identify these ??

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3 Upvotes

Hello! I just grabbed these plants from my friends pond out front of there house. I let them sit for about 5 days and just stuck it in my tank. I didn’t see these guys till after I put it in the water. Does anyone know what these are ??


r/fishtank • • 18h ago

Help/Advice Male or Female or Too early to tell?

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 18h ago

Help/Advice Should I be concerned about small gap between tank and fish stand?

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 23h ago

Help/Advice White specs

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2 Upvotes

I woke up this morning and noticed all this white stuff under my black sand substrate. I have absolutely no clue what that is, and didn't notice it yesterday. Please help. I'm worried it's gonna kill my fish


r/fishtank • • 20h ago

Discussion Anyone have experience with the Herture stand?

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1 Upvotes

r/fishtank • • 21h ago

Help/Advice Used Filter Cleaning Question

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1 Upvotes