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Fish are friends, not food

Fishy friends deserve creature comforts, so we don't allow fish tanks that are too small on Trade Me.

By Trust and Safety 12 March 2021

We’ve taken a decision to prevent the sale of a group of certain small sized fish aquariums on the site.

The issue was there have been a very small number of listings of desktop fish tank aquariums where the size of the tank was considered too small to provide a fish with a healthy, sustainable habitat.

The particular example that was brought to our attention by SAFE was a unit that held about 1.5 litres of water and was powered by a USB connection.

In our view, that aquarium or fish tank was too small and its use is possibly breach of the Animal Welfare Act and falls short of this advice from the SPCA regarding tank size.

Trade Me will look unfavourably on listings that offer small decorative desktop or ornamental items of a novelty nature that are designed to hold fish.

Creative Commons image used courtesy Elma on Flickr.

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Trust and Safety
Trust and Safety