Any problems keeping fish in rental apartments?

[flaggy]

Hi

Was wondering if anyone's had any issues keeping fish in rental apartments. Normally the rental agreement says "no pets", but i wouldn't have thought that fish were in the same category as cats and dogs (a lot quieter, cleaner and not likely to bite or scratch someone).

Did you have to inform the landlord that you were keeping fish and had to get their consent first? Or just did it anyway.

(I currently have a few tanks in my rented apartment, but need to move soon. As the rental market is really tight, I am wondering if keeping fish would make it even tougher for me).

cheers

[triumph1921]

Hey Mate

I will tell you what happened in my case but yours might be different. i told my estate agent that i has a couple of fish tanks and if i needed to specify in the lease agreement but he said " nah- thats for the cats and dogs" basically anythign that can harm the property or cause damage".

HTH

[ChrisEddy85]

My lease specifies that I have to inform the property manager if I want to keep birds and fish on the property, but don't need to inform them of changes to birds and fish and I don't need to give them more specfic details. For my dog (and I assume a cat if I had one), they need to know the age and breed, and I can't just buy another dog or replace it if it dies without prior consent. I have heard of people renting apartments who weren't allowed any pets, including fish.

So to cut a long story short, you would be best to ask the manager/landlord before buying fish but generally it's not a problem (provided the floor can support the weight).

[nicholas76]

The rental agreement I just had signed with my tenant is that he cant keep pets whihc includes fish in the wording.

usually the biggest issue you have with keeping fish in rentals is when it comes time to move lol

[aquafrogstuff]

Guess this needs to be put into perspective. What size and how many tanks are we talking about???

Can't imagine smaller tanks in the garage of a rented house would be a huge issue. Three 6ft with special lighting, CO2 etc would be more of a problem, particularly if regular water changes mean wet carpet all the time.

[waitaki]

my rental agreements states no aqariums so when I got one I just told the property manager - I'll pay for any water damage, that was the 150 ltr tank now I also have 440 ltr, 90 ltr, 80 ltr, 130ltr, 40 ltr and I'm still here!! If you're a good tennent and look after the place I don't think they mind too much.

[zar]

I called the RTA office once to ask if fish were considered pets and if no pets in contract means no fish. The lady said pets is not clearly defined by them but she thought it more applies to dogs and cats.
If i would rent out a place to someone i'd rather have them keep a cat than fish really, i can see the problem with dogs, and even with regular water changes or damages done through a cracked tank etc but what do cats do? maybe if you're renting a furnished place they can damage the furniture. people go way overboard with all this, my previous owner said no pets, i had a couple of tanks in the unit, he saw them and didn't complain I'd do the same again.

[marchmaxima]

I'm always upfront about my cats n fish and have been quick to ask about pets and I've not had any issues personally. I've always certainly been told fish aren't an issue when dealing with a "no pets" policy,but I'm sure there are exceptions to that. Sometimes the "no pets" policy is a body corporate rule that may or may not actually be enforced, so I figure there's no harm in asking.

[flaggy]

hey all, thanks for your replies. i took the plunge and found an apartment where luckily the agent confirmed it was not a problem to keep fish - i didn't mention how many tanks i had tho... but i'd be looking at shutting down several of them and concentrating on a couple of largish ones :)