Need Advice - what would you do?

[catwoman]

OK, I need some advice from you fish lovers out there. There are people in my office that keep fish tanks at their desks. Before I had my own tanks at home, I never thought twice about how they cared for their fish. Well, this one guy has a 20gallon tank with some neons, danios, and cories. He has been traveling a lot for long periods of time and I asked him who was taking of his tank while he was gone. One of the other fish people who keeps a goldfish in a 1 gallon bowl at her desk "takes care" of his tank while he's gone. He also mentions that about half of his neons are gone - probably died and removed by goldfish lady. ANyway, I learn that goldfish lady probably just tops the tank off and no water has been changed for like 3months! Well, I brought a quick-dip test strip in to test the water and the nitrates in the tank are over 200ppm! I tell him that his fish are being poisoned and that the nitrate levels are at least 20times what they should be and he just says "oh, well, I don't have time to do anything about it now and I leave town again in two days". How come these kinds of people don't give a darn about the little creatures they take into their care. If these were cats or dogs being tortured, I could call the humane society. I am not sure what to do now. I could do daily water changes for him until the nitrates go down but what about the long term? When he is in town, he only changes the water once a month or less anyway. Should I just steal his fish and take them home? They aren't the only tortured fish in the office. I can't save them all and I can't get a reputation for being the crazy fish-saving lady! It just makes me mad and I feel helpless. I suppose I should just look the other way.

 

[clutterydrawer]

If it was me I would start off by doing a big water change, jsut for the sake of the fish.

Then, mention it again, and if he says "oh well i dont have time" ask him why he thinks its ok to keep fish if he doesnt have time to look after them. ask him if he would keep a kitten in a pen which was never cleaned. ask him if he would neglect/starve the kitten cos he was "busy".

and if he says "yes"...slap him. then steal his fish.

 

[OzzieGirl]

I feel for you catwoman, I'm not sure what you should do though.

I was in a similar situation myself, but it was my sister that didnt nother with her goldfish. She had two, one had actually been dead a week before my mom noticed and told her to do something about it, but she refused.
I rescused the small tank she had, with no filtration, and bought a little fluval, and hoped that the last little blighter would make it, which he did and so I got him a friend, and now happy ever after. My sister couldnt care less.
So perhaps you should rescue as many as you could, and ask any friends you may have with fish, to take some of the others?

Hope it goes alright, good luck.

 

[sylvia]

You know... I hate it when this sort of thing happens. I see it all the time. I know several people with goldfish in bowls or tropicals in unheated tanks or who don't give a damn about what their fish have to live through just because they don't have the time or are too busy or whatever they use as an excuse.
Unfortunately, there is usualy nothing you can do. The thing about fish is that people can put them aside and say 'they're just fish' and forget about them. They don't see them as living creatures but as ornaments and they don't love them like someone would love a dog or cat. Those animals can be part of the family... who actualy considers their fish as part of the family?
It's unfotunate that so many people have begun to keep fish tanks at work. It's fine for those who research and are commited but there are those who know nothing and are not prepaired to learn or take the time to utilise what they have learned.
Personaly, I try to persuade people that what they are doing is wrong but nothing usualy comes of it.
If you realy care about these fish though, explain what's wrong in more detail - maybe write it down and get it to sink in. Make them feel guilty... Also try to get the goldfish lady to move her goldfish from the bowl... how would she like it if she were stuffed into a garbage can as a baby so that she grew until she was left with no room but her stomach and lungs and liver and all her internal organs continued to grow until...
You may want to get some realy easy-to-care-for plants for the high nitrates tank and offer to take care of the tank instead of the goldfish killer lady. At least until the owner understands what he's doing wrong.
Maybe tell him to visit this forum and ask about his situation himself...

 

[catwoman]

I read somewhere that you need to lower the nitrates slowly (small water changes daily until correct level reached) or the fish will go into shock and could die. Is this true?

 

[sylvia]

Yes but only in certain circumstances. If the fish have been in water with increasingly high nitrates over a *long* period of time, they will not be able to adapt to a lack of nitrates suddenly. That's why I would get some plants for the tank. Duck-weed is the best choice for something that grows realy easily if you don't mind weeds Then change some of the water every week. Provided the tank is not over-stocked, you should see a gradual reduction in nitrates to which the fish will be able to adapt.
On the other hand, no matter how long they have to adapt, if the nitrates get too high, it'll kill the fish.
This sort of thing is often mentioned when talking about 'old tank syndrome' which basicaly involves an established tank being neglected to the extent where the water in the tank deffers significantly to that of the tap. If any new fish are introduced, they die very quickly (as they would in a very new tank) while the other fish which have adapted to those conditions are fine.

 

[moneywastedonfish]

i think sylvias advice was spot on there is not a lot you can do (as much as you would like to) as they're his fish. Other than offer to take care of the fish whilst his away (could upset goldfish lady) get a few plants whilst his away and slip them in whilst no one is there, he probably wont notice (after the way he takes "care" of his fish)
Work politics on top of animal cruelty, i feel sorry for you.

 

[SirMinion]

Nah, just take the fish, empty and clean the tank and place all the bits in a box on his desk.
Then leave a note on his desk saying the fish had died and was removed and the tank cleaned out because it stank.
Then sign it 'The Janitor'

He will certainly be too busy to set it all up again and replace the fish and simply won't bother.

I have actually done this in the past with a gerbil that someone kept at college -worked like a charm. No-one loses.

 

[catwoman]

Thanks for all the advice and support! I know what I want to do and what I should do are two different things. I do have to work with this person. Taking all the fish would be way too suspicious especially with goldfish lady coming by. I forgot to mention that she has Wednesdays off so the fish have only been getting fed 4x a week. I am sure they are in the dark all weekend as well. I can't imagine how much fun they will have over Thanksgiving and worse at Christmas break when they will be in the dark for over a week and probably have no food either. I will try putting some plants in the tank but since algae doesn't even grow in there, I am not sure the plants will survive. I have read that nitrate over 140ppm will kill plants but it's worth a try. There is also no light over the tank except for the ceiling flourescent lights and it has an undergravel filter. I do have some H. polysperma and asian ambulia I could put in there. Does anything kill that stuff? I also have some duckweed-like floating plants I could try. Anyway, on Wednesday, I'll change some of the water and add the plants. I can do partial water changes every wednesday for awhile. If the neons survive, I may steal them. there are only two left. he will think they died. the guy isn't a complete monster and he may be open to my ideas. I will start slowly with the changes.

on the other hand.... goldfish lady is an older woman originally from Japan whom I never speak to and I am sure she would just ignore anything I had to say about her fish. she is a real odd character to boot. the tiny goldfish tank is crammed with plastic plants so the fish can not even swim around or even turn around. so sad. I think she keeps it in such a small container so she can carry the tank to the sink while it is full of water to clean it out. I don't really want to put myself out there and become the floor fish nazi. I have educated a few open-minded people about their fish at home so maybe there are few fish out there having better lives because of me.

 

[Gill]

I agree with Sir Minion, Take the Fish and Leave a Note.

Worst Comes to Worst he won't be Bothered Anyway.

 

[Angry_Platy]

Steal the fish....and the tank....

I work in a hospital...at various times throughout the day I have to walk around various parts of the hospital as part of my work...along the way there is a fish tank....about 20gal...with neons, gouramies and platies , the other week I stopped asnd had a good look....next to the fish tank was a "Aquarium Maintenance" sheet.....since someone was there I didn't look. A few days later there was noone there and I looked at the sheet.....they had stuff for feeding, cleaning (once a week) and testing. They tested for pH, gH, nitrites, ammo and nitrates....all readings had been written down. It is part of a hospital ward so people are there on the weekends too....

The fish looked healthy and I was happy....

 

[Talisman]

I agree. Its not fair to let the little guys suffer, big or small they are still living creatures.

Take the fish one by one so no one notices. then steal the tank tooo. Leave a note on the desk addressed to mr nice guy dont give a crap.

Dear John, you treat me like sh*te and take me for granted. Therefore im leaving you and am going to find someone who will love me for who i am.

Have a nice life git!!!!


signed the fish.

 

[fishdudein]

Kind of what I was going to suggest...

use a post-it-note and write a letter from the fish to Mr. Fishabuser.

Or, is the tank in an area where it could accidentally be bumped into, accidentally, and all of his fish would be gone, accidentally (wink wink) when he got back to the office. Maybe a kind co-worker could substitute a cactus (how symbolic!) in place of the fish tank that was lost in the terrible accident that was totally accidental.

 

[catwoman]

I have decided to take the fish but I will fess up and suffer the consequences. I will just tell him I decided to babysit his fish at home while he was away. I'll act like I was doing him a favor.

I snuck back to goldfish lady's desk since she is gone today to check on her goldfish and check the water parameters. The fish is gone. It probably passed away or she took it home. I doubt she took it home....