binyamingavriel
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2014
- Messages
- 10
Hello all,
Just wanted to introduce myself and my foray into fish. Hopefully I'll be getting great advice in no time that completely destroys everything I've been told so far
2 years ago my son brought home a bag of goldfish that he won at a carnival. I had a small fishbowl, and in they went. By day 2 all were dead.
Fast forward to this past February. Again the kids get a fish at a school carnival, along with a baggie containing some sort of food pellets (they were told they were for guinea pigs). Back into the same bowl, along with some glass stones for decoration. A week later and still alive! As the bowl started getting dirty looking i would scoop out the little guy with a Dixie cup, dump the existing water, refill from the tap and put him back in. At about 3 weeks in I started to get worried that I wouldn't have what to feed him as 1. Passover was coming up and we could not use food that contains wheat products, and 2. I was going away for a few days. So I went to a local store and learned for the first time that goldfish can live for years, and that the first group died because of overcrowding and waste, and that there was some plant I could stick in the bowl to feed the fish over Passover. I also bought a small bag of gravel for the bowl at the advice of the guy in the store.
Around that time my parents moved, and found in their garage an old fishtank that my father used when he was young. By calculation it holds roughly 13 gallons. So a couple of weeks later I fill it with tap water and dump in the fishbowl, then head back to the store to see what else I might need. Apparently this means more gravel, dechlorinator, a siphon, and a power filter, as well as flake food. Going great, although as the days get sunnier the algae growth increases. Anyway, about 5 months from the day we got him the fish starts swimming very slowly, and within a couple of days is dead.
The kids want to try again, my wife wants me to dump the tank, and I side with the kids.
First thing I do is clean out the tank as best as I can (I'm talking Clorox wipes clean), because chemicals from dead fish can't be good for new fish, right? Then I rinse out the tank a bunch more times to clear the chlorine, and put back in the old gravel, add some more dechlorinator, and take the kids back to the store to pick out the new fish. At the store I make sure to give the back story so there will be no surprises. I tell them I just filled the tank today. Guy recommends getting Ryukin. Says the tank can hold 2 or 3 no problem, but wouldn't add more until balanced with these fish. Says I should leave them in the bag for an hour in the tank before putting them in. Each kid picks out one, and off we go. On day 3 I bring in a water sample to the store and the ammonia is very high. I do a water change at their advice. Two days later my four year old calls me at work to tell me that hers died. We scoop him out, I change 50% or maybe more of the water, and bring the dead fish and a water sample back to the store. The levels were better, but still on the high side. I ask for a refund on the fish and am told it's my fault for killing the fish. The thing is the state of the tank was known and I was poorly advised that I could safely put 3 Ryukin into this tank I also fed them less than advised (once daily 1 flake per fish vs. twice daily), knowing that they could last without food for a bit and are heavy waste producers. I try to discuss with the manager in an effort to learn and also prevent future such occurrences, but he just waves me off and gives me the refund (the $6 and change was NOT the main point here). A little further advice has me buying some bacteria starter bottle to add in). After that things looked good, and the 2 remaining fish are seemingly thriving.
Yesterday I happened by a different fish store on my way to get my water tested, so I brought it in there. 0 ammonia and 0 nitrate level. I ask advice about getting rid of algae, and the owner (who's closing in a month due to retirement) tells me an algae sucker is the way to go. He also tells me what and how to feed him when the algae is not enough. As the worker scoops me out one he tells me the best way is just to manually wipe the glass clean, and the sucker will probably die in a couple of weeks, anyway. Of course, after the fact, I start reading that these are not the best things to have around.
So not sure where to go from here, although I would like to get a larger tank and have tropical fish, but I think first I might just need a bigger tank for the goldfish. Anyway all advice is welcome, and thanks in advance.
Just wanted to introduce myself and my foray into fish. Hopefully I'll be getting great advice in no time that completely destroys everything I've been told so far
2 years ago my son brought home a bag of goldfish that he won at a carnival. I had a small fishbowl, and in they went. By day 2 all were dead.
Fast forward to this past February. Again the kids get a fish at a school carnival, along with a baggie containing some sort of food pellets (they were told they were for guinea pigs). Back into the same bowl, along with some glass stones for decoration. A week later and still alive! As the bowl started getting dirty looking i would scoop out the little guy with a Dixie cup, dump the existing water, refill from the tap and put him back in. At about 3 weeks in I started to get worried that I wouldn't have what to feed him as 1. Passover was coming up and we could not use food that contains wheat products, and 2. I was going away for a few days. So I went to a local store and learned for the first time that goldfish can live for years, and that the first group died because of overcrowding and waste, and that there was some plant I could stick in the bowl to feed the fish over Passover. I also bought a small bag of gravel for the bowl at the advice of the guy in the store.
Around that time my parents moved, and found in their garage an old fishtank that my father used when he was young. By calculation it holds roughly 13 gallons. So a couple of weeks later I fill it with tap water and dump in the fishbowl, then head back to the store to see what else I might need. Apparently this means more gravel, dechlorinator, a siphon, and a power filter, as well as flake food. Going great, although as the days get sunnier the algae growth increases. Anyway, about 5 months from the day we got him the fish starts swimming very slowly, and within a couple of days is dead.
The kids want to try again, my wife wants me to dump the tank, and I side with the kids.
First thing I do is clean out the tank as best as I can (I'm talking Clorox wipes clean), because chemicals from dead fish can't be good for new fish, right? Then I rinse out the tank a bunch more times to clear the chlorine, and put back in the old gravel, add some more dechlorinator, and take the kids back to the store to pick out the new fish. At the store I make sure to give the back story so there will be no surprises. I tell them I just filled the tank today. Guy recommends getting Ryukin. Says the tank can hold 2 or 3 no problem, but wouldn't add more until balanced with these fish. Says I should leave them in the bag for an hour in the tank before putting them in. Each kid picks out one, and off we go. On day 3 I bring in a water sample to the store and the ammonia is very high. I do a water change at their advice. Two days later my four year old calls me at work to tell me that hers died. We scoop him out, I change 50% or maybe more of the water, and bring the dead fish and a water sample back to the store. The levels were better, but still on the high side. I ask for a refund on the fish and am told it's my fault for killing the fish. The thing is the state of the tank was known and I was poorly advised that I could safely put 3 Ryukin into this tank I also fed them less than advised (once daily 1 flake per fish vs. twice daily), knowing that they could last without food for a bit and are heavy waste producers. I try to discuss with the manager in an effort to learn and also prevent future such occurrences, but he just waves me off and gives me the refund (the $6 and change was NOT the main point here). A little further advice has me buying some bacteria starter bottle to add in). After that things looked good, and the 2 remaining fish are seemingly thriving.
Yesterday I happened by a different fish store on my way to get my water tested, so I brought it in there. 0 ammonia and 0 nitrate level. I ask advice about getting rid of algae, and the owner (who's closing in a month due to retirement) tells me an algae sucker is the way to go. He also tells me what and how to feed him when the algae is not enough. As the worker scoops me out one he tells me the best way is just to manually wipe the glass clean, and the sucker will probably die in a couple of weeks, anyway. Of course, after the fact, I start reading that these are not the best things to have around.
So not sure where to go from here, although I would like to get a larger tank and have tropical fish, but I think first I might just need a bigger tank for the goldfish. Anyway all advice is welcome, and thanks in advance.