Fish Rescue

General Info

Please, do your homework before committing to a pet fish ownership. If you find you can’t care for your pet fish, please, never ever release it in the wild. Please, do not merely sell your outgrown fish on classifieds without learning of the buyer’s knowledge and the tank size your fish will go into. Help stop propagation of cruelty to our beloved pets.

If your fish is healthy, please, return it to a fish store or donate it to a qualified peer or to a local fish rescuer, such as us at Fish Story, where we will house it, use it for education, including that of schoolchildren of Collier County, and find it a new “for life” owner and home that pass our enclosure size and expertise requirements.

We take in large freshwater fish only. Any freshwater fish that is large or still small / young but will grow large (1-2ft+). We could take in certain marine / brackish water fish but only if they can also live in freshwater. Smaller fish may be accepted depending on tank availability.

The following are some of the fish we actually work with: South American red tail catfish (SA RTC), Asian RTC (ARTC), tiger shovelnose catfish (TSN), RTC x TSN catfish hybrid, TSN x marbled catfish hybrid, ripsaw or niger catfish, irwini catfish, wyckii catfish, lima shovelnose catfish, sun catfish, marbled catfish, any large South American (Pimelodidae, Doradidae, etc.) or Asian (Pangasiidae, Bagridae) catfish, iridescent shark catfish, paroon shark catfish, synodontis catfish, mystus catfish, pacu, arowana, arapaima, giant gourami, eel, spiny eel, blue catfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, bullhead catfish, white catfish, gar, peacock bass, datnoid, koi, distichodus species, mahseer, barbel, labeo, black shark, calico shark, bala shark, Chinese high fin shark, tinfoil barb, any large cyprinid and characin, large cichlid, pleco catfish, bichir, knife fish, loach, red hook, silver dollar, dorado, perch, pike, carp, sturgeon, etc.

Anyone is welcome to bring their fish themselves (if needed, transport instructions will be provided).

Otherwise, depending on fish desirability, our availability, drive distance, the number of fish, the fullness of a pickup route, etc., we can pick up your fish, sooner or later. Our usual service area is Ft. Myers, Naples, Port Charlotte, Tampa, Sarasota, Lakeland, Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Homestead. Donors, please, be prepared for a possibly lengthy pickup waiting period for common fish, such as goldfish, unrated (low) quality koi, common pleco, pacu, oscar and other common cichlids, iridescent shark catfish, Florida gar, etc.

Fish Currently Available for Adoption

• We adopt out only into properly sized* tanks/ponds and knowledgeable hands. (* See below)
• Pickup. We don’t ship. We can deliver large orders locally, up to 6 hours away; the delivery rate is $150 per hour.
• Asking fees are negotiable for large orders.

Fish	Size	Fee/each
Red tail catfish	1.5ft	$200
Red tail catfish	2.5ft	$250
Irwini catfish, 5 available	1.5-2ft	$150-$300
Niger/ripsaw catfish	2ft	$200
Pterodoras granulosus catfish, 3 avail.	1ft	$150
Marbled Pim catfish, “plow face”	3ft	$150
Marbled Pim catfish, 2 available	2ft	$250
Iridescent shark catfish	2ft+	$200
Black ear shark catfish, dwarf, 10yo	2ft	$200
Lima shovelnose catfish, 10 available	1ft	$100
Featherfin / eupterus catfish, 2 avail.	1ft	$150
Osphronemus giant gourami	1.5ft	$150
Indo-Pacific tarpon	1ft	$150
Clown knife fish	2ft	$250
African blue peacock cichlid, fem, 7 avail.	4″-5″	$10
Red devil cichlid, 20 available	7″-9″	$5-$10
Midas cichlid adult male	14″	$75
Midas cichlid adult female	12″	$50
Koi	18″-24″	$300-$1K
Goldfish, sarasa, 2 available	6″	$10

Fish for sale

Fish	Size	Price/each
Silver arowana	6″	$60
Cuban gar, 2 available, with certificate	2ft	$2000
Marbled sailfin catfish, male	2.5ft	$1500
Pterodoras granulosus catfish	2.5ft	$1500
Wittei / Congo giraffe catfish, male	2ft+	$1500
Bouche giraffe catfish, male	20″	$1000
Jullieni / 7-stripe / esok barb	20″	$2000
Aral / Caspian barbel	1.5ft	$200
Giant Siamese glass catfish	1ft	$150

Food fish

Fish	Size	Price/lb
Tilapia, mayan, etc., live, per lb	3″-12″	$10
Tilapia, mayan, etc., fresh, whole, per lb	3″-12″	$5
Tilapia, mayan, etc., frozen, whole, per lb	3″-12″	$1-$2

What’s a properly sized tank?

• If you are looking to adopt a fish from our Rescue (or for general guidance) & wondering how big an enclosure to have now & to eventually provide for your pet fish as it grows, you may find our compilation of links useful. We recommend including this in your homework.
• You will learn about:
  • what tank to plan for what fish
  • what is stunting
  • what is brown blood disease aka methemoglobinemia

https://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36395