Fish Dilemma - What Do I Do?

coldcazzie · Oct 22, 2009

Right, basic background: I'm due to have a baby anytime in the next couple of weeks, and have a homebirth planned. Part of my ideal birth is to be able to sit in the birth pool in the living room with everything dark except the tank lights on and be able to watch the fish.

I wanted to have a fully stocked tank by now, but things have gone completely to pot because of my angelfish, who (as you may have seen on previous posts) have agression issues and, having never been with anything smaller than themselves before, kill any smaller fish within not very long. I had 6 loaches...now I have 1, which I've had to remove to my QT so as to save it's life, and the QT also has 2 bolivian rams in it which I can't put in the big tank either.

QSS (lfs) has nothing really that I could put in with them, and aren't planning on getting anything in that would work either, and quite frankly I don't really want to put any huge fish in there - what I want is a proper community aquarium with shoals etc, and have the angels, and maybe something else like gouramis as centrepiece fish.

QSS are willing to take the angels off my hands and keep them until they can find someone who already has larger fish who could rehome them, or I could try to find somewhere for them, but I've had them for nearly 18 months and I'm dead attached to them, even if they are a pair of bullies!

So now I'm faced with the following options:

1. Take my angels to QSS and swap them for some of the community members I want.

2. Set up a 2 foot tank, which will probably be too small, but would at least allow me to stock the big tank for the birth, and then I can worry about it after the baby is born (this would then mean I could either give them away at a later date, or hunt for a 2 foot tall tank for them to live in permenantly by themselves, where they can be as self-important as they choose.)

3. Leave them where they are and have a 240L tank running with only 4 fish in it (there's also 2 hoplos in there), which means I'm still stuck looking at an essentially empty tank for the birth. Also I don't see the point in running a 4 foot tank for the sake of 2 fish who can't get along with anyone else.

HELP!!! :-(

I know it sounds stupid but I'm really stressing about this, and at this point what I need to be doing is relaxing and looking forward to the new family member, not worrying about my fish

Harlequins · Oct 22, 2009

I would personally take the angels back and swap for fish that would suit your tank,

What about dividing your tank in half having the angels and hooplas one side and some smaller fish the other? just a thought

JustKia · Oct 22, 2009

1. I'm really jealous of your idea to a) home birth b) home birth with a birthing pool c) home birth with a birthing pool with just the lights of an aquarium! (Are you sure you aren't me, or at least sharing my brain space?)
2. I think you might not notice the aquarium as much as you plan once labour gets under way.

As for the fish are you really attached to the angels or to the idea of angels (that would get on with other fish)?
What do you want in the long term, if you want angels, then keep them and maybe set up a small tank for the birth. If you want a community then, maybe it's time to move on from the angels and go with a community instead?

Oh heck , well I wasn't much help but good luck whichever you choose.

drobbyb · Oct 22, 2009

That sure is a delimma Cazz. Being this close to you having your baby, I would probably take them back. My daughter just turned 2 the other day so I know how much time you are going to have to put towards your new child, and you may not have for a new fish tank.

coldcazzie · Oct 22, 2009

Harlequins said:
What about dividing your tank in half having the angels and hooplas one side and some smaller fish the other? just a thought

See, that was what my hubby suggested this evening, and that thought totally hadn't occurred to me! I quite like it as an option because it's much less phaff than anything else, and means I can at least start with a community stocking...

JustKia said:
1. I'm really jealous of your idea to a) home birth b) home birth with a birthing pool c) home birth with a birthing pool with just the lights of an aquarium! (Are you sure you aren't me, or at least sharing my brain space?)
2. I think you might not notice the aquarium as much as you plan once labour gets under way.

1. Thanks, that really made me smile when I needed it.
2. This is true - it may totally not matter when it comes to it, but I'm stressing about it now...which is not good.

As for the fish are you really attached to the angels or to the idea of angels (that would get on with other fish)?
What do you want in the long term, if you want angels, then keep them and maybe set up a small tank for the birth. If you want a community then, maybe it's time to move on from the angels and go with a community instead?

I am really quite attached to these two...so are the kids/hubby, they really are part of the family. I do have plans for a 2 foot tank at some point anyway, so moving the pair of them (and possibly the hoplos too) into it could just be incorporated into the plan...

drobbyb said:
That sure is a delimma Cazz. Being this close to you having your baby, I would probably take them back. My daughter just turned 2 the other day so I know how much time you are going to have to put towards your new child, and you may not have for a new fish tank.

Yeh, aside from anything else it'd be a fish-in cycle, which would mean daily water changes and I really really DO NOT want to commit to that with a newborn :crazy: