Guppies as Wedding Centerpieces?

Romad

I've been to a ton of weddings over the years and luckily, haven't been to one with live fish as centerpieces.

I stated before how depressing that would be for me as a lover of fish so here's hoping that the people sitting at your tables are blissfully ignorant of what those fish will probably go through and just look at it as a pretty ornament :(

If I were there, I know I'd spend half of the night going from table to table to check on the fish bowls and to make sure the fish weren't being shaken and abused or having food dumped into the bowls.

In hindsight, maybe a fish forum wasn't really the place to post this as a good idea as you can see from the tone of the majority of the replies here.

Good luck to you and I truly hope that the fish survive the reception and that the people who will be taking them afterwards know how to properly care for them.

Olympia

A Goldfish is a huge commitment. If they are fancies, people should have 10 gallons per fish ready, cycled at home. If they are comets/shubunkins, they will need a 75 gallon for one fish alone, again cycled and ready.
These fish may survive the wedding, but putting Goldfish into the hands of uneducated people is a death sentence to the fish. Of course most people believe the lifespan of a Goldfish is "a few weeks" not 10-15 years for a fancy, more for a single tail, so I suppose they will all think the fish is fine after it dies in a few weeks.

wickedrodent

Once again, I get treated like an idiot rather than being asked questions. If you would have read my previous posts and cared enough to inquire further, you would know that the Goldfish would be going home with my coworker after the wedding to live in her pond. She's had a ton of fish before. I only stated that I may keep a couple for my own pond.

I said numerous times that I have good homes lines up for the fish after the wedding. If they were for some reason about to keep them then I would. Not a big deal.
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thekoimaiden

I have an interesting gift idea. What about marimo balls (sometimes called moss balls) in small aquariums? With some black sand and maybe a pure white rock, it could be a really neat setup. Marimo also make great companions for betta and Goldfish. I found this neat little glass aquarium on Amazon: I'm thinking about setting one up in my room on my desk because it gets a lot of natural light. Or you could put these on the "kids table." Heck, this is even something I might consider doing at my wedding reception (if that ever occurs).

EDIT: This one is smaller and cheaper. It would work if you got tiny moss balls. They also have cylinder and bowls.

kafkabeetle

The marimo balls are actually a really good idea. My brother gave me a tiny marimo ball inside a tiny jar on a necklace and it was super cute. They could look really nice in a nice glass bowl on each table with maybe some sand and shells, and it could still be sort of a "take home pet" thing, without any possible trauma. These things will live and grow in unheated, unfiltered water for years.

My uncle had glass fish bowls on each table at his wedding that were just dry with sand, shells and some kind of fern leaf in them. They looked really classy. Just another possible idea. :)

EDIT: If you google "marimo ball" on etsy, there are tons of really cool ideas. :)

Assault0137

That is the second idea I like. Go for either the blown glass fish or the Marimo balls. Marimo balls can get expensive, and would need their tank cleaned. A blown glass fish is a piece of art, and it does not need a tank.
If you end up going for the balls, a stick of bamboo in each bowl would look nice
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Romad

I'm sorry you feel that you're being treated that way. I don't see that anyone wants to bash you about this - rather just trying to point out the obvious things that could go wrong.

And we as people in this particular discussion are aware of the thought that you're putting into this. But as a guest at your wedding, I wouldn't know that and it would bother me.

Bombalurina

I understand that you are probably a great fishkeeper, WickedRodent, and care about your fish a lot, but I really wouldn't go with the Goldfish. They poo so much - in 4-5 hours their little bowls would be full of poo. That would be terrible for them, and look awful on the table. If you must do fish, I think the Guppy idea is much nicer. :) A glass bowl with some black sand, a marimo moss ball and a little Java Fern and a bright male Guppy would look lovely.

If you aren't having alcohol at the wedding (and I would definitely choose between alcohol and fish!) then I don't see that it would be a problem. :) As you say, you have homes lined up for them, etc.

So, I do think it would be nice with your original plan of guppies (I'd even consider Red Cherry Shrimp instead of fish!) but with poopy fish like goldies and high-end tropical fish like bettas, I wouldn't risk it. :)