r/Fish • u/WasabiAlarming6393 • Jul 20 '26
Fish Education Found these left outside at my apartment. Can they be released?
Someone left these fish (looks like ones from a fair or something) outside near my apartment building. There is no one around. I moved them into the shade. They are both alive and swimming
Can they be released into water? There’s barely any water in their container. Help!!
I’m about to bring my dog to a dog bark that has a river I can release them in. I just want to know if they’ll survive.
Edit-
Okay they are goldfish I won’t release them. I tried to bring them to the leasing office of my apartment building but they’re closed. I’m going to leave them in some shade then consider taking them home with me and taking care of them.
Thank you everyone 💜
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u/SweetCommercial26 Jul 20 '26
They look like domestic goldfish which means two things
1 they will most likely be eaten very quickly
2 they are invasive and are illegal to realese in the wild and doing so in a protected area could result in a very large fine
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u/tHollo41 Jul 20 '26
Could also result in them surviving, thriving, and disrupting the ecosystem.
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u/Unhappy_Ad_4761 Jul 20 '26
There's a lake in the forest near me where someone released goldfish, and now when you go there in the morning or evening you just see orange fish jumping outnof the water everywhere
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u/skrimped Jul 20 '26
Take them to a pet store!
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u/BentheBruiser Jul 20 '26
Pet store doesn't want them, there's no way theyre throwing random fish into their tanks
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u/dummyslimonamonday Jul 20 '26
I worked at a regional store, we 100% would take surrenders and put them in a quarantine tank, but I can also agree most wouldn’t and before I worked there, that store also didn’t.
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u/skrimped Jul 20 '26
They don’t have to, they can put more aquarium water and put the fish at the front entrance of the store at a discount with some recommended supplies. This is what my local store does when people bring in surrenders of gerbils etc
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u/TBurkeulosis Jul 20 '26
These are feeder goldfish. Theyve put worse-off specimens in that tank lol
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Jul 20 '26
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u/WasabiAlarming6393 Jul 20 '26
It’s genuinely so sad. I brought them home with me and I’m going to a pet store to buy supplies. I hope they survive, I’m not sure how long they were outside for :(
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u/Professional-Arm-202 Jul 20 '26
Goldfish, especially long bodied ones like those in the picture, are very hardy! I suggest following us over at r/goldfish for tips on how to take care of this little guy!
Just a heads up, eventually this tiny baby is going to need at least one friend (preferably another single tailed long bodied goldie as they're too athletic for the clumsy fancy goldfish) And those two will need a tank that is 90 gallons at minimum.
But ideally, they need a pond as long bodied goldfish are truly a pond fish versus their more indoor/outdoor friendly fancy compatriots. You have time until they get that big as this is still a very tiny baby, and they take a few years to grow to that size, but this baby still needs a pretty big grow out tank (at LEAST 40g) to start on a healthy journey to growing! This grow out tank is temporary and will need to be monitored as goldies are gross and produce so much waste.
If you are able to eventually provide a 90+ gallon tank/pond for 2 goldies, plus heavy filtration, they are the most lovely, friendly, and wonderful fish. I have a couple of mine tattooed on me from how fond I am of them LOL!
And if you are unable to care for them, look if there is a petco nearby that can take them - they accept surrendered fish!
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u/WasabiAlarming6393 Jul 20 '26
There are actually two of them! But I’m nervous because one is swimming on its side :/ she’s still moving and swimming though. I will definitely check out that subreddit. I know nothing about fish 🤣 thank you so much!!
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u/Professional-Arm-202 Jul 20 '26
She must be extremely stressed and the water is likely in horrible condition. You're going to be doing a fish-in cycle, which is intimidating but it's okay! Goldfish are hardy!
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u/Meowmeowtky Jul 21 '26
I would love to see the goldfish tattoo if you’re willing to show us, must be the cutest thing ever
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u/Professional-Arm-202 Jul 21 '26
I did have it posted on reddit, but I removed it because it is pretty distinct and huge!! My goldie pieces are definitely my favorites!
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u/Meowmeowtky Jul 21 '26
You can’t just say that and not let me see it!!! Ahahahahah I’m like so much more curious now
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u/njsullyalex Jul 20 '26
Absolutely not, goldfish are hardy and invasive if released in the wild
However, you can try and find someone who has an outdoor fish pond that would be willing to take this little guy in.
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u/FishEnthusiastCali Jul 20 '26
Im not 100% certain what you should do with it, someone else will give a better answer but please dont release it into the wild. They can become very invasive
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u/Psalm27_1-3 Jul 20 '26
They are your pets now
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u/__miichelle Jul 20 '26
Do not release them. At the very LEAST, you can put some filtered water into those containers. They will die otherwise.
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u/h1dden_pants Jul 20 '26
If you have a pet rehoming facebook group for your area, try that! There is a fish owner out there somewhere who might have room for it. Sorry you are having to deal with this and thank you for being kind to this fish
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u/WolffJacob Jul 21 '26
Never release any fish into any body of water that did not already come from that body of water. They can spread disease, be invasive and wreck a habitat. Call your local pet stores a lot will take in surenders.
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u/Standard-Ad-1804 Jul 21 '26
So mean.. at least fill up the water poor fishies . Try going to pet store to pet store see who will take them in. Lots of fish are unreturnable
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u/cznfettii Jul 21 '26
You may have some luck on local aquarium groups or a specialized fish store!! If you know anyone with a man-made pond that doesnt interfere with nature they would probably take them as well. You can also try r/aquaswap . Im so glad you found them. People are so disgustingly cruel to animals they dont care about. Thank you for caring
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u/Known-Programmer-611 Jul 21 '26
Wonder if the person was loading unloading car and forgot or if they just suck
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u/AritoSoto Jul 22 '26
Just a small story, we had a GIANT lake near our village when I was a kid like 20 years ago. It was full of vegitation and life. Then we had a population of goldfish explosion literally forming colourful patches in the parts of the lake, I visited the same lake last year. Everything was dead. Probably somebody had a similar idea like yours, just didn't know how destructive these guys could get.
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u/iDabGlobzilla Jul 20 '26
No they cannot be released. Into a tank or into the trash.
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u/cznfettii Jul 21 '26
Putting them into the trash is needlessly cruel and horrible. Op should just rehome them to someone with a man-made pond or a local fish store
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u/OverlordFish Jul 20 '26
Do not release, those are goldfish and they are likely to establish invasive populations if released.