What Should I Do?!?

[Aleydis]

Levi is my handsome blue crowntail betta that I've had for almost an year... He's a great friend and companion, and we've shared many laughs together (Don't ask me how). He lives in a 1 gallon tank with lighting and a fake plant. (Hey! It was better than that 1 litre tank/cup I put away...)

Problem is, I'm going to China for a month in a few weeks... Levi would be stuck at home with my sister, whom I do not trust at all with fish, especially my beloved Levi!

My sister would be home every day, but she would NEVER change his water any more than once in 2 weeks. And she might not even feed him right! No offense, but she's 30 years old this year and still acts like a kid. Once I found her in my room, NETTING LEVI OUT OF HIS TANK JUST TO SEE HIS REACTION!

I can't trust many of my friends either... One is a strict religious vegetarian... She wouldn't be able to feed Levi since she can't touch anything with meat in it or touching it. This includes the shaker. She can't touch that because the inside of the shaker touches the pellets, which have meat content. D:

My other friends have never owned fish before, and have busy schedules. One even joked that they were going to feed Levi to their turtles... Not very funny.

My teacher is out of the question- she'll spill paint into the tank! My librarian will probably stick him in a bowl of bamboo and never change his water...

And of course I can't take him with me...

What am I to do?!? T_T If Levi were to die while I'm in China, how am I supposed to give him the proper funeral rites? (Yes, I do that...)

 

[Robot_Rooster]

you can get these wierd tablet looking things for fish for the sole purpose of the fishkeeper going on holiday

 

[Honeythorn]

You could always ask if anyone on here will foster him for you while you're away?

you can get these wierd tablet looking things for fish for the sole purpose of the fishkeeper going on holiday

These are crap. They don't last a month and have a tendency to contain a lot of plaster which fouls the water.

A better option would be to get a large automatic feeder. But if the strict vegetarian friend won't touch the food pot, will she object to the idea of possibly getting a little water on her hands that contains the dissolved residue of said food ?

 

[Aleydis]

You could always ask if anyone on here will foster him for you while you're away?

you can get these wierd tablet looking things for fish for the sole purpose of the fishkeeper going on holiday

These are crap. They don't last a month and have a tendency to contain a lot of plaster which fouls the water.

A better option would be to get a large automatic feeder. But if the strict vegetarian friend won't touch the food pot, will she object to the idea of possibly getting a little water on her hands that contains the dissolved residue of said food ?

Thanks for your suggestions...

When I say she's a strict vegetarian, I MEAN STRICT.

Yes, she would mind if that water got on her hands. In fact, she doesn't even like touching the tank since Levi has eaten meat before.

She's strict to the point that she won't order from a pizza store that sells meat pizza because they bake their pizzas in the same oven. Any clothes that get into contact with meat, she throws away. ...Get the idea? D: It sucks because she's the most responsible friend I know.

I'm not too worried about the feeding, because I know that's easy to do.. But I AM worried about the cleanliness of the water. Everyone I've talked to about this was good until the part when I told them they had to change the water once every 3-4 days. Then they start getting dodgy...

 

[ThePiggy]

Give the fish to a new home.
And, just wondering why two goldfish get the five gallon tank instead of your betta? Surely you love your betta enough to give it a proper home.

 

[liz2]

Can you not get a bigger container of some short? Even if it is only a really large plastic box. You get them with lids on, can just drill holes in the top. A month is still a long time though. Explain to your veggie friend that she loves animals and this little fishy will die if no one feeds it! I am strict veggie but I love my animals as well. I wont eat out at all but, my hubby thinks I am too over the top! good luck

 

[Spishkey]

Give the fish to a new home.
And, just wondering why two goldfish get the five gallon tank instead of your betta? Surely you love your betta enough to give it a proper home.

bit of a harsh comment there.
im sure they love the goldfish as much as the betta too!

just an idea, but could you not get a few packs of envelopes, put in the required amount of food for each day, into each envelope, then stick the day on the front. then leave these by the tank. ask one of your friends to feed the contents of the envelope for that particular day. even every other day would do 'for now', no the betta wont starve, but it would cut down on waste if no one is around to perform weekly water changes.
failing that, see if there is a member from here, near to you, who could look after levi for the month you are gone?

OR (may be a long shot but hey still worth a shot) could you ask your lfs to look after him for the month, if you pay for his keep? LFS's have back rooms where they keep fish prior to being displayed, or ask could he go in a staff room or something?

 

[ThePiggy]

Is your vegetarian friend anti-nature? There are carnivores in nature. Surely, she isn't one of those people who try to convert their cats to vegetarianism... There is nothing wrong with allowing a carnivorous fish to live. If she would just allow him to starve to death, then she is no better than anyone who would kill an animal for sport. Worse, in fact, because when people hunt for sport, the animal is used. And in this case, the fish would not be used. It would be killed slowly and painfully by starvation.

 

[devon_charm]

Is your vegetarian friend anti-nature? There are carnivores in nature. Surely, she isn't one of those people who try to convert their cats to vegetarianism... There is nothing wrong with allowing a carnivorous fish to live. If she would just allow him to starve to death, then she is no better than anyone who would kill an animal for sport. Worse, in fact, because when people hunt for sport, the animal is used. And in this case, the fish would not be used. It would be killed slowly and painfully by starvation.

Thats a little harsh sweetie, I'm sure she would not starve the fish she just doesn't like getting the water on her hands. Its not really fair to strike out at someone that can't defend themselves and is really nothing to do with the question at hand.

As for the envelope idea, i think that would work very well, that means all they need to do is tip the contents in. So clean easy and worry free. The cleaning out would be your problem but then you could just get a friend to scoop out a couple of jugs of water a week and replace it with pre prepared water that you could leave for them in bottles. If the tank is heated then a small amount of room temp water being added wont hurt.

Hope thats of some use and i hope you can get it sorted

 

[sb_onefish]

I would worry more about the lack of water changes than the lack of feeding. Honythorn's suggestion of a larger vessel sounds good. Do you live near a large city that might have "critter sitter" services? You might be able to find a responsible teenager who needs pocket money. Does the local high school have a web site or newsletter you could advertise in? Seems like your vegan friend would understand that fish can't make a religous decision to alter their natural diet, so what if you bought some disposable medical gloves that he/she could wear to dispense the food?

Good luck with it, you must be torn between this great trip and worry.

 

[Aleydis]

I would worry more about the lack of water changes than the lack of feeding. Honythorn's suggestion of a larger vessel sounds good. Do you live near a large city that might have "critter sitter" services? You might be able to find a responsible teenager who needs pocket money. Does the local high school have a web site or newsletter you could advertise in? Seems like your vegan friend would understand that fish can't make a religous decision to alter their natural diet, so what if you bought some disposable medical gloves that he/she could wear to dispense the food?

Good luck with it, you must be torn between this great trip and worry.

Thanks for your concern, guys.

1) THE GOLDFISH really have no where else to go. It's either Levi in the 1 gallon tank or the 2 rather large-ish goldfish in the 1 gallon. Of course you guys would beat me up if I did that. >.<
2) My vegetarian friend can't have anything touching her touching anything that contains meat. She would be unable to take off the gloves if I had her use them. She's like this because of religious causes, so I can't really do much.
3) I'd rather not give Levi to someone I don't know to take care of him...

I've really reached the end of the rope here, so I'm getting one of my friends to MAYBE take care of Levi. But she'll have to pass some vigorous tests first! D< I'll make SURE she knows how to do the water changes, although she's not that happy about it...

SO MY QUESTION IS:

So if my friend is only able to change the water for Levi once maybe every week or so... How much should she feed it to lessen the Ammonia, whilst not starving him?
Or should she be changing the water more frequently anyways? Maybe once every 5 days?

 

[Tolak]

You could try a local club, there may be someone nearby that would watch your fish for you while you are away, a sort of fish foster home. http/fins.actwin.com/dir/clubs.php?c=2

 

[Reesy1989]

SO MY QUESTION IS:

So if my friend is only able to change the water for Levi once maybe every week or so... How much should she feed it to lessen the Ammonia, whilst not starving him?
Or should she be changing the water more frequently anyways? Maybe once every 5 days?

I heard that bettas can go a while without food. Not saying by any means to starve him but just give him rations. Something like every other day or every 2 days?

Or you could just not go to china? haha but that would be less fun /

 

[newfishy]

its very possible to remove latex gloves without touching the outside, how do you think drs, nurses and emts do it and dont get all bloody?

hold both hands out like you are going to shake hands, use your right thumb in the middle of the palm of the left to pull the glove down so it turns inside out, then use the inside out glove from the left hand to peel the right hand glove off turning it inside out as you do it, tucking the left glove into the right now inside out glove, and throw in trash.

if your friend did that for feedings and for water changes she would be fine.

 

[Honeythorn]

1) THE GOLDFISH really have no where else to go. It's either Levi in the 1 gallon tank or the 2 rather large-ish goldfish in the 1 gallon. Of course you guys would beat me up if I did that. >.<

Goldfish require 55 gallons minimum for two to have swimming space alone . A pond would be even more preferable. They also have a natural adult size of around 10 - 14 inches. You really should remove them from the 5 gallon as soon as possible and transfer them to a large plastic storage tub with a filter if you can't afford a tank . You can get storage tubs that hold up to 17 gallons , which is a long way short of 55 gals but infinitely better and healthier than 5 gallons. Also easier to keep the water stable.


As for the betta,
You can get cheap plastic tanks in any petstore that hold at least 5 gallons. I know for a fact that a 10 gallon tank can easily fit on a sturdy desk or sideboard, so a 5 gallon definitely will. a 12 inch cube tank will fit pretty much anywhere near a plug as long as you have something sturdy to stand it on. You can't honestly tell me you ( or anyone for that matter ) don't have 12 square inches of space anywhere in the entire house?

The bigger your tank, the easier it is for the person who takes care of your fish to keep the water parameters stable ( like any tank basically ) In a filtered 5 gallon for example, 50% of the water should be removed once a week ( or 25% twice a week, it adds to the same amount ) all your friend would need is a cheap plastic jug, dechlorinator and specific instructions on what to do when doing a water change ( type out a caresheet and stick it to the tank lid where it can't be missed )