puppy, yes i did indeed dismiss your "30 years experience" because it has apparently led you to give faulty information, and you even labeled the accurate information as "asinine fish stories."
There was no faulty or misinformation in any of my posts, you & your ilk are the ones making outrageous claims that are contrary to accepted biological processes.
I find it VERY offensive that you would imply that just because some people keep 3 goldfish in a 10 gallon tank means it's just fine. and no, you didn't make that clear in the original statement. in fact, you called the reasons it's not fine "assinine" and made no argument to the contrary. you say you dont know how you could have made it more clear, i can think of plenty. "its not a good idea" or "its bad for the fish" are good places to start.
I made no judgements about the "rightness or the wrongness" of it at all, I mearly said it was a fact of life and that folks do it, just because you are having emotional problems dealing with that reality doesnt give you the authority to dictate to other people (ie: me) that I/they have to judge it one way or the other (and/or the folks who do it along with it).
"Holier than Thou" is a term generally applied to people like that.
my goldfish are my pride and joy, and their health and safety comes first and foremost, unfortunately that means your feelings come second at best, and since you're giving faulty information to newbies that don't know any better, then justifying it with 30 years of experience, your feelings come last.
I hate repeating myself but once again ... I am not the one who is going around making outragious/assinine claims that are contrary to accepted biological processes.
some of us spend too much time teaching and informing people of the proper way to take care of aquaria to just sit sweetly by while someone not only gives faulty information but does so disrespectfully and critically, and with so little foundation.
Maybe you should stick to teaching/informing people about stuff you actually do know a little something about, because apparently goldfish biology really isnt your forte'.
MOST lfs will accept "donations".. they wont always give store credit or credit towards another fish, but they will at least take them in. even petsmart (who are not supposed to do it according to petsmart policy) will do it. it helps if you have an established relationship with your lfs.
Again you show just how little you know about the stuff you choose to talk about, MOST lfs DO NOT accept fish off the street, as it only takes one sick fish to contaminate their whole stock, which is not a risk that most "for profit" business are likely to take.
as far as the growth hormone situation, yes, once the fish stops secreting growth hormone, the whole body stops growing. HOWEVER if the water is changed often (like most goldfish bowls and other small tanks) then the growth hormone will continue to be produced and there's no definite cut off point. and, as if goldfish organs weren't inefficient already, the oversized (albeit not growing) organs will be even less efficient.. and the organs are still oversized compared to the tightened exterior. one could still assume that even this situation would still be bad.
Goldfishs pituitary glands do not secrete growth hormone into the water, they secrete the growth hormone into the goldfishs brain by way of a small "capillary like" arterial system.
I dont know who, what or where you got your information from but its wrong.