What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[WendiDell]

My friend had a goldfish tank and as soon as I saw it I wanted a fish tank.

My friends tank is still going but now I know it is horrifically overstocked (7 common goldfish in a 65 litre tank: bad idea), plus they never clean it.

That's both cruel and gross. But at least you know better and are taking better care of yours. Is there any way you could convince him to start doing things the right way?

 

[ollief9]

That's both cruel and gross. But at least you know better and are taking better care of yours. Is there any way you could convince him to start doing things the right way?

I know. I have tried telling them about stunted growth, excess nitrates etc but they won't budge. They won't even let me clean the tank for them. They seem to think that because in the wild fish live in lakes and rivers with a lot of algae, the fish are fine in a filthy, algae infested tank. They don't seem to realise that the actual water in the rivers and lakes is biologically balanced, however a never-cleaned aquarium is very unstable with potentially lethal nitrate levels and pH shifts. I just want to go and buy a Nitrate test kit for them.

 

[WendiDell]

I know. I have tried telling them about stunted growth, excess nitrates etc but they won't budge. They won't even let me clean the tank for them. They seem to think that because in the wild fish live in lakes and rivers with a lot of algae, the fish are fine in a filthy, algae infested tank. They don't seem to realise that the actual water in the rivers and lakes is biologically balanced, however a never-cleaned aquarium is very unstable with potentially lethal nitrate levels and pH shifts. I just want to go and buy a Nitrate test kit for them.

If their tank is that dirty, can they even see their fish? If not, grab a few plastic bags and when they aren't paying attention snag a fish or two until they are all some place where they will be loved and cared for. You'll have to be VEEERRRYYY sneaky about it, but if they never clean it they won't notice.
And then one day it's, OMG all they fish died and must have been eaten or sucked up by the filter "
I did something similar with 3 Pit Bull puppies that were being seriously neglected. They went to great home and lived long happy lives.
I'm very devious when an innocent life is involved.

 

[ollief9]

If their tank is that dirty, can they even see their fish? If not, grab a few plastic bags and when they aren't paying attention snag a fish or two until they are all some place where they will be loved and cared for. You'll have to be VEEERRRYYY sneaky about it, but if they never clean it they won't notice.
And then one day it's, OMG all they fish died and must have been eaten or sucked up by the filter "
I did something similar with 3 Pit Bull puppies that were being seriously neglected. They went to great home and lived long happy lives.
I'm very devious when an innocent life is involved.

Hehe...

unfortunately you can clearly see the fish. They all cluster in the corner of the tank. They are old friends and it would be quite rude to do something like this. However something which mystifies me is that they have a large, filtered goldfish pond in their back garden. However they refuse to put them in the pond until the fish have 'grown up'. Well, it's been 5 years now and they're still the same size. Stunted.

 

[Bettababe1011]

It's so sad when you try to tell people what stunting does to a fish and they don't care. I'm in the same situation with my brother. They have a poor betta in a gallon bowl with no filter or heater... Poor BUXYZ... (My nephew named the betta)

 

[ollief9]

It's so sad when you try to tell people what stunting does to a fish and they don't care. I'm in the same situation with my brother. They have a poor betta in a gallon bowl with no filter or heater... Poor BUXYZ... (My nephew named the betta)

I have tried to tell the whole stunting thing to numerous friends but they just shrug and say 'we might get a bigger tank in the future'.

3 years later. No sign of said tank.

 

[Bettababe1011]

Yeah, or they figure that they're just fish that you can replace at walmart for a few bucks...

 

[ollief9]

Yeah, or they figure that they're just fish that you can replace at walmart for a few bucks...

Sigh.

People these days..

 

[New]

my sister had a betta in one of those 1/2 gallon bowls and i got a 5 gallon tank for her fish...which she didn't accept. so i said watever, got a filter and heater and got a betta for myself. needless to say mine is doing better and ever since i've been into fish

 

[ollief9]

Yeah, I find larger tanks really brings out the best in bettas. There are a lot of questions I'd like to ask people who keep fish in small bowls.

 

[Pleco11771]

Yeah, I find larger tanks really brings out the best in bettas. There are a lot of questions I'd like to ask people who keep fish in small bowls.

Hehe my betta is spoiled with his 20 gallon tall and only a few cories and a abn pleco to share it with

 

[Alex55-20]

My beta lives in a 55 gallon in between his two moss balls.

 

[mr.waffles1842]

ever heard of the chinese betta?

 

[maxwellag]

ever heard of the chinese betta?

What in the world is a chinese betta? lol. I have heard of a giant beta, but never a chinese one.

 

[mr.waffles1842]

a chinese betta is a betta with incredibly long fins with black secks on them that people claim is chinese writing.

 

[chevy_guy2002]

Starting with Freshwater

For me Fish Tanks have always been a hobby of mine. I have always wanted to get into reef tanks. I figured i had better master freshwater tanks before i get into the reef tank. When i first started my hobby i started with a gold fish bowl.lol. later in life i moved up to a 1 gal tank. As i got older i moved up to a 10 gal then a 20gal tank. I kept a 20gal tank for several years enjoying this tank very much. I then moved up to a 55gal tank which housed two oscar fish. Now that i got the hang of it have i moved to a biocube 14gal tank which i plan to use to start a reef tank. I hope since i have taken the time to get use to freshwater tanks that my skills and knowledge with help me keep a successful reef tank. So thats pretty much it for me...tanks have always been apart of my life and they will continue to be...

 

[senemedar]

A year ago a friend of my wife's was talking about his fishes; so my wife was talking about the fishes to me and so we bought our first 60 liter fishtank. Now we have our second, 90l tank and love it completely! My wife's keep saying: 'It's my tank, but you're taking care of it'

 

[Unicorrs]

When I was just a kid, I started with a fighting fish in a bottle of mayonnaise.
I love that fighting fish so much and I feel that I'm really attached to fishes.
My mom bought a 15 gallon tank and we had gold fish and angel fish.
I broke the aquarium and I felt something inside me was broken too

That's when I felt that I love aquariums and now I have two tanks
with arowana, flowerhorns and green terrors.

 

[IcedAngelKiss]

I won a goldfish at the fair...lmao, it then turned into my son wanting to buy "Goldie" some friends...which led to a bigger tank, to more fish...however Goldie is still in his original tank

 

[Sarah E]

I saved a baby Garter snake from our cat and learned they can eat Feeder Guppies.... We purchased them, and are now learning how to take care of them before buying a few fancy guppies to add to the group (for pet purposes.).