Office Tank!!!

[d_rickard]

I managed to persuade my office to buy my old 10 gallon tropical setup from me and I would maintain it. I transfered my old tank to the office and treated it as a new tank letting it cycle as normal to make sure everything was ok prior to introducing livestock. Fish were introduced slowly and the water chemistry was fine and no deaths were experienced.

The company has just bought a Fluval Duo 1000 Deep and its all brand new. Colleagues kept saying why do we have to wait so long and when can we buy the fish. Within 1 week of the new tank being filled, the fish from the old 10 gallon ahd been transferred along with a load of real plants too. I advised that this was a bad mistake and the water chemistry is going to be all over the place as we havent let the tank cycle properly. It's now been 2 weeks since the first fish were introduced (3 clown loach, 3 blue dwarf gourami's, a plec and 4 guppies) and last week 3 corydoras and 6 neon tetras were bought and placed into the tank without any acclimatisation even though I explained why it was a bad idea.

I'm getting a bit annoyed that they think I'm just being too carefull and my advice is being ignored. The 10 gallon tank was fine because it was setup correctly.

The new tank has now peaked with Nitrite levels off the scale and yet my colleagues are just joking around and laughing when I'm doing a water change every day at the moment.

I'm now at the point of just saying I dont want anything to do with the tank anymore and that its down to them to maintain it but I just know its going to end up with dead fish all over the place

And to top things off nicely one of them wants to add a Discus of all things

So, any advice would be greatly received.

 

[Vip]

Dont let them get to you, i myself do not ever talk about my fish to work mates or family members because they will always look at you like a geek, when they come over and see them i just say yeah i seen them so i brought it, i think its called a red devil blah blah and so on, if they fish are doing fine then just let it be, i wouldnt go on about how this has to be done and how that has to be done because they will just look down on you.

 

[d_rickard]

The problem is the tank is a communal one for the whole office and as I'm the only one who keeps fish outside of the office I took on the maintenance of the new tank.

I think it's just best if I say it's down to them now as I just dont want the responsibility and the comments anymore.

Dont get me wrong, it's all very light hearted and nothing serious has been said but now that the water parameters have gone high and the fish are clearly distressed I'm now having to bite my tongue and not say I told you so. Maybe if I leave it up to them to sort things out they will understand that my advice was right from the start as was proved by the 10 gallon tank having no problems whatsoever.

 

[Cavafish]

I have been thinking of suggesting that our company gets a tank as part of the re-fit of our reception area.

As I have been giving it thought for a while I have decided that I might mention it if it ever comes up but I would tell them that they need to do it on outside contract paying someone to come in and sort everything out. this way I would not be 'a geek' and nothing untoward would happe when I was out on holiday etc.

I talk about my fish to my colleagues (none of whom keep fish), but as I am a girl I can mess around and keep it lighthearted. I tell them silly stories about what the fish have done - if they do something silly - and this way they laugh and I get involved in all fish related conversations. Cool.

If your company have the cash to spend on a nice tank like that then suggest that they get an outsider to do the water and filter changes and to supply all the meds etc. Insist that any changes of livestock, fry, and general monitoring of the tank be done by yourself so as they can keep control over the situation for the company.

This way you are not a geek but a valued expert. If they wont get the outside help in, tell them to pack it in - and buy the tank off of them CHEAP!!!

 

[d_rickard]

Cavafish, unfortunatley getting outside maintenance contractors is not an option as it was difficult enough persuading them to fork out the £300 to set up the new tank. I think I'm just going to take a step back, not actually say anything and see what happens. But then I'm sure things will be bad for the fish and thats not good.

The problem I have is that its just assumed that I do the maintenance. If I dont do it, it doesnt get done and I'd rather just do it than see the fish suffer. My colleagues who seem to know better than me have shown no interest in the general maintenance of the tank yet what theyre doing is causing me to have to maintain the tank even more with water testing and changing every day at the moment.

 

[modernhamlet]

The problem is the tank is a communal one for the whole office and as I'm the only one who keeps fish outside of the office I took on the maintenance of the new tank.

It seems to me that you're either responsible for the tank or you aren't.

If you aren't responsible for the tank, announce this clearly and politely. Let them make the same newbie mistakes many of us did. They obviously aren't listening to your advice anyway.

If you ARE responsible for the tank, be so. Do it your way, do it right, and if someone gives you grief, tell them you are responsible for the health of the tank, not them.

Tough situation though. I'd avoid fish at work in the future, personally...

That's my $0.02.

Good luck!

 

[Kittycat]

I agree. I think if you alone are the one responsible for cleaning and maintaining, then you alone should decide when and what to put in it. Otherwise, they should share the burden--including testing and water changes.