# Fish safe to eat?



## gonefishing (Jan 12, 2009)

Are the fish (fresh, salt, tropical, etc.) kept in aquariums safe to eat? How do the fish sold in seafood stores (e.g. bass) similar/differ? Are the water condition and methods the same as hobby aquariums? In other words, if I kept a bass in a typical aquarium, would it be edible or do they not use water conditioners or other chemical treatments?

Note: This isn't meant as a spam/troll. Please don't take offense, I don't plan on eating any of my fish. I'm just curious and can't find any information on home vs. store aquariums.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i have seen in several places where they have fish like tilapia, trout and others swimming in a tank.. you get to pick the fish you want to eat.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Certainly I've seen food fish kept in aquaria. Back in the 80s, tilapia buttikoferi were a hot fish at ACA, now they are lunch. Africans eat small cichlids dried in the sun like we eat potato chips. There was one episode of a TV show where the aquarium service drained the water change water into the hot tub and the person who used the hot tub got a 'dread tropical disease'. But cooking fish usually kills most nasties. If you planned to eat your pet, you'd want to avoid using heavy metal meds like coppersafe and known carcinogens such as methylene blue. But in general, I'd bet our pets are safer to eat than wild caught because we control what they eat and keep them in drinking quality water. I won't accuse you of barbarism. Generations of farm kids have raised baby chicks and bottle fed piglets and ended up eating them. Certainly Peacock Bass and Pacu are better eaten than released where they don't belong when they outgrow our tanks. 

Those cute silver iridescent sharks that PetSmart sells with 10 gallon tanks are raised in ponds in Asia to 3 ft long and then are eaten.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Swallowing goldfish is an old fraternity tradition...


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

heh,heh.

The only real risk associated with eating aquarium fish comes from any chemicals which may have been used on those fish at some point. Many common fishy chems can stay trapped within the fish for a very long time. This is why you often see, on the labels of fish medicine bottles, "not for use with fish intended for human consumption."


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Ummm NOT VERY SAFE FOR THE FISH! LOL


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## gonefishing (Jan 12, 2009)

As I noted, I don't intend to eat any of my fish, but was curious as to how the stores kept theirs alive for human consumption (without the chemicals?). I figure any fish that has been treated for any illness shouldn't be eaten, but what about water treatments, such as conditioners? I'm sure the stores doesn't just use tap water or do they? I mean, they have a tank with fish, so their setup shouldn't be much different than a household's tank.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

They use constant water changes and occasionally a bit of salt. Those systems are actually not like home systems at all. Tapwater constantly , slowly, flows into them and goes through a filter to remove chlorine before entering the tank, and then the old water spills out the overflow to the floor drain.


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## Pareeeee (Jan 22, 2005)

I think you'd need a lot of neon tetras to make a good meal.

lol


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

LOL!

They'd sure look cool sitting in a little pile on your spoon, though.


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## Pareeeee (Jan 22, 2005)

hehe ya i know


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