I'm so annoyed

[Tempestuousfury]

I was out last night and came home to discover 3 raspboras in my tank! "Wow!" I though. "Fish procreate using magic. Now you don't see it, but then you do!"

It turns out that my dad had bought the fish and added them w/o consulting me, the caretaker! He floated the bag for an hour, which is good, but then he dumped the water from the pet store into my tank! Who knows what diseases he introduced, and I hadn't come close to fully cycling the tank!

Now I can't change the water w/o messing up the cycling, and I have to do research on raspboras while writing three essays, studying for 2 tests and an in-class essay, and studying for finals!

Life sucks and my dad didn't make things better!

(Thanks god I knew they're raspboras)

 

[Jo]

okeys...!

hold on a second...your tank isn't cycled yet...?

secondly, I always add the water from my lfs to the tank, i float the fish, then add some of my water to the bag to allow the fish to adjust to it, then release it into the tank...! :nods:

If the lfs had diseases in the water then the fish would probably have picked it up too unfortunately..!

what I'd be more worried about is the fact that your dad added fish to an uncycled tank...did I just read this wrong...?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

No, you read it correctly. He doesn't know a think about fish and cycling, and he did this w/o asking me. I had been cycling it (w/ fish) for a week prior to the incident (which was yesterday). (I know I shouldn't cycle it with fish, but I had very few choices at the time...)

The thing about the water is that it'd change pH and ammonia levels, and I could easily remove the fish to quarantine the problem, but I can't treat the water.

 

[Sinuhe]

I would freak out if someone went and messed with my tanks without asking me first .

I don't think the tank not being cycled will be a catastrophy, tho. Yes, you have more bioload now, but if you start getting bad levels of ammonia or nitrites, you can always do partial water changes to fix it. I always cycle with fish, 3 tanks this fall, and haven't lost a single fish so far.

 

[guppymonkey]

Which tank did your dad add them to? If its a large tank it shouldn't upset the cycle that much. A few water changes will help the fish out anyways. I think you should have a talk with your dad about responsibility. Like any pet, fish need a lot of care and a pet owner needs to be responsible enough to keep them alive and thriving. I doubt your dad would buy you a dog without asking if you wanted one, he shouldn't buy you more fish just because you have a little room in your tanks. You have shown that you are trying to be a responsible person taking care of your pets. Your father should support you instead of trying to undermine that responsibility. Tell your dad that pet gifts are great but not live animals, if he wants to give you more tanks than thats fine!

I try not to add pet store water to my tanks as well. Pet stores usually crowd fish into tanks and that can make their water rather gross compared to a well taken care of home tank. It CAN add diseases to the tank. The fish from the pet store can add diseases as well but like all fish they have a protective coating of "slime" that helps make them resistant to disease. While being transfered from tank to tank that coating can be taken off by nets and stress. Keeping them away from contaminated water (like pet store water) is always a good idea.

 

[david27]

Hi
3 rasbora's should be okay but I would explain to your dad that they might not live because of the tank cycling, the thought of wasting any money is so distressing to most parents that it should put him off doing it again.

It depends on where my fish have come from if i put the water into my tank, and all I ever do is float the bag for 5 mins for the temp and then put the fish into the tank, being in a bag is very stressful for a fish IMO a lot more stressful than a minor change in water.

David

 

[MAM]

hey, don't bash your dad. he just didn't know about cycling and was probably just trying to do something nice for you. rasboras are nice fish, but i have no idea if they are hardy enough to survive cycling or not. i hope they make. don't worry, they won't mess up the process too much, may take a little longer but no major worries.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I'm not worried about the raspboras or other fish dying so much as my dad's not asking me about adding the fish. i explained to him the last time he bought fish w/o asking me (2 black skirt tetras, 2 silver dollars, and 2 goldfish?) and the two goldfish-type fish died w/in days. A week or so later I find out that silver dollars shouldn't be in such a small tank and a month later the fish had fin and tail rot!

I explained the situation to my father and told him not to buy any more fish w/o asking me. He never listens to people (not out of obdurance, he just does it) and he told me two weeks ago that he'd get more fish. I told him to take me w/ him if he wanted fish (I said I'd get three guppies b/c they're small and hardy). It turns out, he didn't have time and didn't take me shopping and he bought the rasps w/o even giving me a warning.

It would have been ok if he had just bought them and let me put them in, but he went ahead and did it all, despite my entreaties the last time he killed the fish!

I know he means well and it saves me $, but he should consider the fact that they are living creatures and deserve to be placed in a home that's in the best condition possible.