The Ammonia Is 0 So I'm Ok To Add Fish...

[Akasha72]

Mmmmm pukka pies


I got lucky I guess. My Dad has kept fish for years on and off. He kept drooling over my tanks and decided to get back into the hobby. I explained cycling to him and he actually listened!! I got the "never had any of this stuff years ago" comment (that was when I tried to explain de-chlorinating water to him) but he did as I suggested and his new barbs are healthy and happy fish

Unfortunately, some people will always think they know everything and won't listen to the best reasoned explainations - those people we just have to walk away from sadly

 

[FishBlast]

Explaining cycling to my parents didn't work as expected when I began fish-in cycling since I had not much choice...
It was like I was talking about ghosts in the filter. Or thought I went crazy to suddenly get a bigger tank, with sand and plants, just for 3 (now 5 due to fry) fish.

Till this day she asks why I do so frequent water changes when I have a filter and the water is clear / has no smell.
It's been 4 months since I've had the filter and reconstructed my community tank (if having 2 species counts as that) and I haven't had to change 100% water anymore since having the filter. X))

Mom used to struggle with 100% changes and made me go through that in the past too... and then she'd complain that tank was smelly, well DUH it had no filter then.

 

[fluttermoth]

My best online mate also has a sister that turns her filter off at night. I've offered, through him, to help her out with advice, etc, but she just says 'the man in the shop knows best'.

I don't know how big her tank is, but it's pretty small; she says, "they wouldn't be allowed to sell the tanks if they were cruel". She has some sort of goldfish and some sort of algae eater, poor things, but what can you do?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

My best online mate also has a sister that turns her filter off at night. I've offered, through him, to help her out with advice, etc, but she just says 'the man in the shop knows best'.

I don't know how big her tank is, but it's pretty small; she says, "they wouldn't be allowed to sell the tanks if they were cruel". She has some sort of goldfish and some sort of algae eater, poor things, but what can you do?

^^ This made me giggle. If you had heard the things i overheard today at a LFS i haven't visited before, you would have been very pressed to bit your tongue!

Terry.

 

[mcqc4]

I had the same thing happen at my LFS. The sales people are clueless. I heard the lady tell a guy that it was OK to put a bala shark in a 30 gallon tank !! They can grow up to 12 inches!! I had to say something. I found that the best advice I can get is on this forum. Most of the people on here have "been there, done that" on here. Lots of great advice on here. Old man is one of the posters on here and he really seems to know his stuff.

 

[Man of fish]

One of my friends keeps a betta in a 1/4 to 1/2 gallon bowl (I dont know which but it's small) one day he asked me "do you think my Berra is happy and has enough room to swim because he's always stupid and lazy and just sits at the top breathing heavy" (when I looked at him he was gasping) I told him that bettas actually need like 5 gallons and cycled blah blah blah and asked him what his usual routine was? These are his exact words: "I don't care about cycling or any of that crap I just want him to look cool. I change the whole bowls water bi-weekly :scream: and I don't get why he has to breath! When he just sits there he looks stupid and everyone says so!"
I offered to take him and said he needs to be doing water changes every 2 days minimum and he firmly said no and showed me the door. Jeez I was just telling him what he asked.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

he firmly said no and showed me the door. Jeez I was just telling him what he asked.

I would have put him through the door

disclaimer fighting is not big or clever, i am both so they dont apply

 

[FishBlast]

One of my friends keeps a betta in a 1/4 to 1/2 gallon bowl (I dont know which but it's small) one day he asked me "do you think my Berra is happy and has enough room to swim because he's always stupid and lazy and just sits at the top breathing heavy" (when I looked at him he was gasping) I told him that bettas actually need like 5 gallons and cycled blah blah blah and asked him what his usual routine was? These are his exact words: "I don't care about cycling or any of that crap I just want him to look cool. I change the whole bowls water bi-weekly :scream: and I don't get why he has to breath! When he just sits there he looks stupid and everyone says so!"
I offered to take him and said he needs to be doing water changes every 2 days minimum and he firmly said no and showed me the door. Jeez I was just telling him what he asked.

My bettas were in a 25L bowl, wouldn't like to have them in a cup...
Even that guppy fry I had as a kid that I put into a vase had a way bigger than 2 gallons capacity... (that fry grew up to be a cool green-tailed female in the end though cause I moved her to the main tank after a few weeks, but the vase was also host to my lotuses).

Sometimes, when I go to pet shops and see them bettas in tiny plastic cups, I want to get one... but then I'll be mad if he'd start nipping everything in my tank.