Many people choose to have a pet fish because they are an animal that requires very little attention and effort. Still, behind the colorful aquariums, a great ecological footprint is hidden.
It is estimated that an aquarium with some tropical fish, water and plants emits about the same amount of carbon dioxide as an average 5,605km ride on a motorbike, according to data from Cardiff University.
These expenses refer to transporting tropical fish, water pump and heater in a 400 liter aquarium, which would produce the equivalent of 635 kilograms of CO2 per year. This amount also corresponds to a trip of 3645 kilometers for a regular petrol car.
According to The Guardian, around 4 million households in the UK have pet fish and about 70% of them are tropical, so many aquariums have significant environmental impacts.
And other pets?
A carnivorous cat produces about 250 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, and this amount can be reduced if it eats fish. However, the pet with the largest carbon footprint is the dog.
An average sized dog will produce 6541kg of carbon dioxide in a year when fed wet food, the equivalent of 14 round trips between Europe and the UK. If your diet is based on dry food, this figure drops to 828 kg of carbon dioxide.
Carefully choosing a pet’s diet can be a way to reduce these carbon emissions. For fish, it is best to choose a smaller aquarium that does not consume a lot of water and energy. For example, a goldfish in a circular aquarium only consumes 25 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year.
However, there is a simpler solution to this problem: Leave the tropical fish where they belong and away from the aquariums.
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