trojannemo
Fishaholic
well i went to pick up my fiancee from her friend's sister's house. she lives nearby and instead of bringing my girl over, they insisted i go precisely to look at the tank because one of their goldfish was swimming upside-down.
so i get there, and it's a 30-35G tank (mine is 38, it was smaller than mine by a little)...
and it had:
- 10-11" Sailfin Pleco
- 10" freshwater shark/cat (not quite sure, can't find info online)
- 2x large (~5-6") angels
- 2x 10"+ koi (beautiful might i add)
- 4x 5-7" koi
- 3x 4" goldfish
- 4" opaline gourami
all of that, in less than 38G tank...with almost 2" of missing water from the top! all it had running was a relatively small HOB filter and what looked like a small UV filter or something, that according to the owner hasn't been working "well" lately anyways.
the water looked crystal clear. except for the goldfish in question, all the other fish looked great and active. my biggest surprise came from the pleco, as my only attempt to keep one went downhill in 3 days. theirs is 2+ years old, like i said around 10-11" and in perfect condition
one of their koi looked to be around 14" and weight as much as 15 lbs i'd say
once again, all of this in approx. 35G of water
the goldfish showed advanced signs of swim bladder disease, most likely caused by constipation as it (as well as most others) was severely constipated. gave her my best advice (pea diet for 2+ weeks minimum for all fish + water changes).
also let her know that those fish should not be there in such a small tank, not to mention the incompatibility in terms of water temperature and conditions required by the fish. i just dont understand how they all survive
she says she's had them for over 2 years, having bought each one of them tiny from the LFS. they "just dont die" she said
i told her if she ever thought of getting rid of the pleco, or the two angels to call me up. i want the angels. i can't keep the pleco myself, but i'm sure someone here could give it a better place to live in that she has him in right now...
after all of that, i walk out there and one thought can't escape my mind...this lady is doing everything wrong you could possibly do (did i forget to mention they remove all the gravel and bleach it every 2 weeks or so?) and her fish are huge, healthy and old. water looks super clean (and i'm assuming the quality cant be too bad considering the fish she has in there surviving)...
here i am, stressing every frigging day about every frigging thing, watching water parameters, making sure the fish are compatible, and all of that jazz, and my fish keep dying, my water doesn't look that nice, and my fish grow like snails (actually, my snails grow faster
)...
let me hear your thoughts and comments on both the lady's tank and on my reaction to it, please
EDIT: btw, all she feeds them are goldfish flakes (to all the fish)...and she said she's had bettas in there. she told me one of them was "fine until the gourami started to bite its tail"...i was surprised some of those big koi just didnt swallow the poor guy!
so i get there, and it's a 30-35G tank (mine is 38, it was smaller than mine by a little)...
and it had:
- 10-11" Sailfin Pleco
- 10" freshwater shark/cat (not quite sure, can't find info online)
- 2x large (~5-6") angels
- 2x 10"+ koi (beautiful might i add)
- 4x 5-7" koi
- 3x 4" goldfish
- 4" opaline gourami
all of that, in less than 38G tank...with almost 2" of missing water from the top! all it had running was a relatively small HOB filter and what looked like a small UV filter or something, that according to the owner hasn't been working "well" lately anyways.
the water looked crystal clear. except for the goldfish in question, all the other fish looked great and active. my biggest surprise came from the pleco, as my only attempt to keep one went downhill in 3 days. theirs is 2+ years old, like i said around 10-11" and in perfect condition
one of their koi looked to be around 14" and weight as much as 15 lbs i'd say
once again, all of this in approx. 35G of water
the goldfish showed advanced signs of swim bladder disease, most likely caused by constipation as it (as well as most others) was severely constipated. gave her my best advice (pea diet for 2+ weeks minimum for all fish + water changes).
also let her know that those fish should not be there in such a small tank, not to mention the incompatibility in terms of water temperature and conditions required by the fish. i just dont understand how they all survive
she says she's had them for over 2 years, having bought each one of them tiny from the LFS. they "just dont die" she said
i told her if she ever thought of getting rid of the pleco, or the two angels to call me up. i want the angels. i can't keep the pleco myself, but i'm sure someone here could give it a better place to live in that she has him in right now...
after all of that, i walk out there and one thought can't escape my mind...this lady is doing everything wrong you could possibly do (did i forget to mention they remove all the gravel and bleach it every 2 weeks or so?) and her fish are huge, healthy and old. water looks super clean (and i'm assuming the quality cant be too bad considering the fish she has in there surviving)...
here i am, stressing every frigging day about every frigging thing, watching water parameters, making sure the fish are compatible, and all of that jazz, and my fish keep dying, my water doesn't look that nice, and my fish grow like snails (actually, my snails grow faster
)...let me hear your thoughts and comments on both the lady's tank and on my reaction to it, please
EDIT: btw, all she feeds them are goldfish flakes (to all the fish)...and she said she's had bettas in there. she told me one of them was "fine until the gourami started to bite its tail"...i was surprised some of those big koi just didnt swallow the poor guy!
