New Guy, Cool Story & Question

[Karegg]

So, like, hey. I'm Sean, first year student of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy. General Chemistry sucks, but, as I'm finding out as I explore this hobby, it has its uses.

So! My story, which in fact ends with a question:

For Christmas, my aunt and uncle were kind enough to give me a couple goldfish. I knew nothing about them, but decided to begin investigating after they told me, "Goldfish are the easiest to take care of. They clean their own tanks. Just keep them wet and feed them these flakes."

The two goldfish (which may actually be healthy feeders... I'm not sure) came in a ~1 gallon bowl complete with pink gravel and a plastic plant, and, though I found a lot of information saying they need about 10 gallons apiece, a tank, I decided, was too much work to start over Christmas break (as I mentioned, I'm a StLCoP student and had to head back soon). So, I did the best I could as I learned. I boiled tapwater every day for the next day's 20% water change, and both fish seemed content zipping back and forth across their ten-inch-wide home.

The fish eventually came to St. Louis with me, a few weeks ago. After the first water change (with tapwater that had been sitting out for 4 days), both fish (Captain and Tennille) became pretty lethargic. I figured it was mostly stress from the car ride. A couple hours later, Tennille was dead, and El Capitan was lightly flittering about vertically on the bottom of the tank with his head on the rocks. I moved him into the plastic jar I'd been using for water changes and poured in 3 bottles of Nestle bottled water. He survived and perked up after a couple days, but his inclination to stay vertical remained. Some research told me it was likely a bacterial infection, and he would either get better or he wouldn't.

Captain is now back in his bowl, and I'm at home on Spring Break. I purchased a book (David Boruchowitz's The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums) and am about halfway through it. I think I'm going to end up with a 29-gallon freshwater tropical tank, but more on that later.

I finish my story with the question, which is: What do I do with Captain? The new aquarium will be for tropical fish, so he won't live there safely. A second aquarium at this point really isn't an option, and I'd like to have the tropical aquarium and not a cooler one full of goldfish.

Also, I've had Captain for about 3 months now, and he hasn't grown much. He's still about 2.5 - 3 inches. Is he a feeder goldfish that somehow isn't diseased?

Glad to be here.

[mr86mister]

Well first of all welcome to AA!!

Great job on reading everything. Most people just wing it. You are correct your Goldfish will not work well in a warm water tropical aquarium. It will release way too much ammonia compared to the rest of the fish plus goldfish prefer much cooler waters.

The best thing for your goldfish is to find a Local Fish Store and see if anyone will adopt it or if anyone you know and may trust to give it to. Making sure that they have the right housing for the goldfish.

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by Karegg

Glad to be here.

We are glad you are here also. Welcome aboard.

[Zagz]

Glad to have you here as well. I agree give the goldfish to you lfs and do a fishless cycle and then you can pick your stocking of tropical fish. Kudos to you for reading and trying to figure out what is wrong when things were going awry. Sorry for the loss of Tenille.

[Karegg]

Originally Posted by Zagz

Sorry for the loss of Tenille.

Thanks. But, as we've become accustomed to saying in pharmacy school, one outta two ain't bad.

Any insight on whether or not Captain is a feeder fish? Or does the term "feeder goldfish" just designate a young fish able to be eaten by something bigger?