Assaye
Fish Gatherer
A friend of mine recently gave me her red-tail black shark. She had him with a featherfin catfish in a 28 litre tank with no plans to upgrade. They were both about 3 inches long, the featherfin perhaps a little longer. The tank is also nearly bare with bright lights, white substrate and one fake-crocodile skull hiding place. There is no cover from the lights or plants. The fish are totally inactive.
She gave me the rtbs because she added 4 tiger barbs to the set-up and the rtbs attacked and killed them. She says it's a 'trouble maker' and wanted rid of it, so I said I'd put it in my 3 gallon until I could move him to my 23 gallon, which was cycling.
Now she's bought another, larger featherfin (about 4-5 inches) and put it in the 28 litre. Not only that, but she wants the rtbs back (on her understanding that I was just 'looking after' it) and she's giving it to a 12 year old to put in another 28 litre tank!!
I've tried dropping hints that these tanks are too small, and I've even stated outright that they both need much larger tanks (upwards of 40 gallons for a permanent home) but she's having none of it. They are 'fine' and because she's relatively low on cash and living in her boyfriend's grandparents' spare room, she's not even thinking about upgrades. Despite all of this, she keeps getting new fish on impulse, without even researching them. She'll ask the people at P@H whether the fish is OK in her set up, and they'll say something stupid like "yeah, a rainbow shark is fine in 3 gallons" and then she'll buy them.
Everytime I see the fish something has died or been given away to make room for something newer and more exciting. She never keeps the fish in shoals that need to shoal to be happy, and she has 2 congo tetra, one black phantom tetra, one platy, two mollys, one pearl danio, two zebra danio, one black-ghost knife fish in her 80 litre.
I keep dropping hints but as I got into the hobby much later than her, she seems to think she knows more than me. The truth is, she wouldn't know a cory from a common plec.
I'm tearing my hair out but don't want to ruin a 13 year friendship!
EDIT - I even offered to help the kid getting the rtbs find a new tank, so that I could try to steer him towards a decent sized one on the cheap, but she says "he wants to pick his own tank, thanks". I just hope the kid it enthusiatic and computer literate enough to get online and do some research.
She gave me the rtbs because she added 4 tiger barbs to the set-up and the rtbs attacked and killed them. She says it's a 'trouble maker' and wanted rid of it, so I said I'd put it in my 3 gallon until I could move him to my 23 gallon, which was cycling.
Now she's bought another, larger featherfin (about 4-5 inches) and put it in the 28 litre. Not only that, but she wants the rtbs back (on her understanding that I was just 'looking after' it) and she's giving it to a 12 year old to put in another 28 litre tank!!
I've tried dropping hints that these tanks are too small, and I've even stated outright that they both need much larger tanks (upwards of 40 gallons for a permanent home) but she's having none of it. They are 'fine' and because she's relatively low on cash and living in her boyfriend's grandparents' spare room, she's not even thinking about upgrades. Despite all of this, she keeps getting new fish on impulse, without even researching them. She'll ask the people at P@H whether the fish is OK in her set up, and they'll say something stupid like "yeah, a rainbow shark is fine in 3 gallons" and then she'll buy them.
Everytime I see the fish something has died or been given away to make room for something newer and more exciting. She never keeps the fish in shoals that need to shoal to be happy, and she has 2 congo tetra, one black phantom tetra, one platy, two mollys, one pearl danio, two zebra danio, one black-ghost knife fish in her 80 litre.
I keep dropping hints but as I got into the hobby much later than her, she seems to think she knows more than me. The truth is, she wouldn't know a cory from a common plec.
I'm tearing my hair out but don't want to ruin a 13 year friendship!
EDIT - I even offered to help the kid getting the rtbs find a new tank, so that I could try to steer him towards a decent sized one on the cheap, but she says "he wants to pick his own tank, thanks". I just hope the kid it enthusiatic and computer literate enough to get online and do some research.
Why not get her a book or a print-out off a knowledgeable website that lists the requirements of these fish?
/www.aquariumlife.net/profiles/afric...fish/100062.asp"]http
My wife brought them from the airport and has spoken on the phone but she doesn't seem interested. So if she doesn't ask me to take it back then I'll just keep it.
