Fish Stories
 

My whole family loves pets, dogs and cats and more. We have both, by the way, one dog and three cats. I'm a dog person primarily. But I also keep fish. Are there any other fishkeepers out there?

I have only three tanks active right now. I have one 10 and one 20 gallon tank at home, and a 10 gallon at work. At home I have a couple of sailfin plecostomus in the 10 along with a pair of botia modesta and one bullhead minnow, or pinky.

In the 20, I have a zillion guppies. The are actually called "millions fish" in some parts of the world and the way they breed when the conditions are right, I can see where the name comes from. Guppies are livebearers. The females are impregnated and hold the fry until they're born, freeswimming and able to fend for themselves. In my tank I provide a lot of cover for them, as they represent a tasty treat for any other fish that imagines it could swallow one. When born, they're about 3/16" long, and all eyeball at the front. They grow quickly and reach sexual maturity in about three to six months, and the cycle of life gets another big boost.

It's interesting to watch theses critters. They're just pigs for food. Ok, ok, there are a lot of mouths to feed and small frequent feedings are better by far than large infrequent feedings. But they can see me coming and positively SWARM the corner of the tank where I drop in the food. They'll even follow my hand from one side to the other, begging for food.

I used to have another tank, which is closed down for the time being, that had another population of fish I'd trained to hand feeding. These were my favorites while they lasted. I had a juvenile pair of silver arowanas, about 12" long each. These fish are from the Amazon river and can reach 5 feet long! They're called "monkeyfish" in some areas, since they've been known to LEAP FROM THE WATER and snatch their dinner from a branch overhanging the water, birds, monkeys, whatever. They have mouths like drawbridges, hinged at the bottom and open up huge. Gulp! I trained them to eat from my fingers. I would hold the bite of food, like a chunk of frozen smelt about 1"x1/2" between my thumb and forefinger a couple of inches above the surface of the water. I could see them watching and tracking their dinner and then Splash Flash Gone! Thankfully their teeth didn't represent a real danger to me since they often bit as high up as the first knuckle. Just to be sure. I'll get the arowana tank back online one of these days, and then I'll have a place for all those guppies.

Are there any other fishkeepers out there? Carnival goldfish killers? What are your tank setups? Your fish? I'll only inflict more of my fish stories on you if I learn of other stories in return, so don't be shy. We know you're lying. That's why they're called fish stories.

Three tanks, here. Two 30's, one a tall, one a long, and a five gallon bowfront plexi minitank.

The bedroom 30 tall is a community tank, home to two very large silver dollars and an assortment of skirted tetras, tiger barbs, green barbs and a single something else that we can't remember right now.

The upstairs 20 long has two rather enormous, voracious Oscars and three small pink convict cichlids.

I've been into aquaria for about a decade, I guess, virtually all with South American cichlids of some description or other. I tried Africans without much luck. My longest-lived fish have been a pink convict male who lived nearly seven years, and a Jack Dempsey that lived about five. My wife's tank is the one in the bedroom, and her Silver Dollars are about four years old. We have a pleco that was hitting about eight inches in length in that tank, and was about four years old when he croaked.

The three remaining pink convicts in the upstairs tank are the offspring of the previous residents, BTW. We had a thriving, reproducing community of pink convicts in that tank for about five years, breeding to the point where we could take bags full of them to the pet shop and swap them for food for the rest of 'em. Eventually, they stopped breeding and attrition brought the tank down to those lone three. It was then that I got the two Oscars for a change of pace. When I got them, they were about the same size as the convicts, and so there was a standoff. The Oscars are now approaching eight inches in length, and the little guys hide a lot.

The smallest tank is in our office, and right now holds some neons, some other neon-sized, but non-neon tetras, and one Betta.

We're a menagerie as well, here. In addition to the fish tanks, we have four cats, a dog, two finches (who reproduce - we have just given away four babies this past week), two parakeets and a cockateil.

I had a 3 foot tank in the 70s and early 80s that I kept in pristine condition. It was always kept at "show" quality. I loved it. My favourite fish were a Plecostomus (lived for nearly 20 years), a Chocolate Catfish, and an Albino Severum. I used to feed the Severum partly boiled peas. He absolutely loved them, and would take them straight out of my fingers. I ended up having to sell him when he got to 6"+. He started eating all the plants, and it was becoming an expensive exercise replacing them all the time.

I had a similar problem with the Plecostomus and Chocolate Catfish. When they grew to about 10" they started eating my Cardinal Tetras, which as you know are probably aware, are rather expensive. In this case I loved the big fish so much I simply stopped buying the Cardinals. The problem was that they (the Cardinals), would sleep on the bottom at night, and the two big fish, being nocturnal would come along like vacuum cleaners, and suck them up!

I gave my tank away when I moved overseas, but I still miss it 20 years on! Unfortunately I don't have anywhere to put a new tank now, and the range of fish that you can keep (legally), in Australia has been greatly reduced since I had my tank.

I do have a Siamese Fighter (Betta), in a small perspex tank, but he is 12 months old, and I fear I won't have him for much longer. I would love a 6 or 8 foot tank. That would really be something.

I had 4... 3... 2... 1... no fish. Then I gave the aquarium to my sister, who had 2, 8, 30, many fish.

I think she was a bit better at it.

Throughout my childhood I had a variety of carnival goldfish, kept in the traditional bowl, no filter, just some nice frighteningly brightly colored pebbles at the bottom.

I excelled at conducting fish funerals.

While I have occasionally considered having an actual tank as a grownup, it's never gotten beyond the vague thought stage. I don't have a decent space in my apartment to put a tank, but the level of indifference that goes into basic fish care would probably work with my lifestyle. And I could have one of those treasure chests with the bubbles. And the diver. One of my friends has a 20 gallon tank with an assortment of larger fish that are apparently fancy, large goldfish, so I get to enjoy hers on about a weekly basis.

I was really good at Sea Monkeys, and I may still have my Microview Ocean Zoo in a box somewhere.

We have one 55-gallon set up, and just sold another 75-gallon one because there just wasn't anywhere to put it in our house.

At one point it held a dozen or so different rainbow fish plus a single German blue ram named Heimlich, but the last rainbow died a few weeks ago, and now it's just four neon tetras and two plecos. Lots of space for the neons! :) We'll get more rainbows soon, I think. The ones who died recently lived almost four years, despite the fact that we never do water changes, ever.

I've had my 20 gallon high tank for about 7 years now. Right now, I have psychotic african cichlids in it. I love them! They're very active and aware of their surroundings. I'm afraid to add cichlid salts to the water because I don't want to hurt my big pleco and he's still my favorite. Years ago, I was breeding african cichlids- it's the coolest thing on earth- The female has a huge mouth and she hatches the eggs in her mouth, then holds all the babies in her mouth until they won't fit anymore. Sometimes she would spit all the babies out, but if she sensed danger, she'd suck 'em all back in. VERY cool.

Seriously? You do *add* water lost due to evaporation, don't you?

Ammonia level control in your tanks must be rather intriguing.

Cichlids in general are very interesting. They *are* very aware of their surroundings, and even of which family member feeds them. They are also hellishly hard on tank decor, which they rearrange to suit themselves on a constant basis.

Yeah, we add water whenever it gets to about an inch below full. But we just use tap water with a squirt of prime. Ammonia level being something you "control" is a foreign concept to us, really. :) When we originally set up the tank, about 4 years ago, we took in water samples to the fish store until they said it was right. But since then we have never tested it in any way.

We've even moved twice with this tank--both times we hired this guy who does nothing but move fishtanks. He bags all the fish in your own tankwater, and saves all the rest in these huge barrels installed in his truck, and then just puts it all back in the new location. That water is downright aged.

This stuff is fascinating to me. We had a couple of tanks when I was a kid. They had some neon tetras and some angelfish and some eel looking things that were orange and black, and what looked like a baby catfish, and some other stuff. I loved the sound of the bubbler thing and the smell of the water and watching the critters swim around. My brother killed them with a bottle of clorox, trying to "clean" them (he was 4 or so at the time). We never got any more.

I've spent the last several years teetering on the verge of buying a tank of my own, but I know absolutely nothing about it. What's the 411, yo? Fresh? Salt? What's this about testing the water? Me taking care of fish at this point would look like Napoleon Dynamite feeding ham to his llama. Who's got a primer?

Fresh, fresh, fresh. Saltwater genuinely requires a lot of work to maintain the exact balance, and as a rule the animals that live in saltwater are much more expensive.

Visit a fish store, they'll tell you all the chemicals to buy and help you pick out hardy practice fish. Oh yeah, and don't pick a random rock you find outside and put it in the tank because it's pretty--you could completely slaughter several rounds of fish before you realize that it's limestone. :)

noodle, there are a bunch of websites that have really good fishkeeping info, too. Clod's right- freshwater is the way to go for a beginner!
There's a really freaky thing that happens to new fish tanks, which is appropriately called "new tank syndrome". Anyway, the water will get cloudy and ammonia levels will rise and fish will die, all because you don't yet have the right amounts of natural bacterias in there yet.
I used to work in a pet store/ aquarium, and I had to sell fish tanks and explain to people how to set them up, so you're in good hands:)
Your best bet is to buy your tank, stand, decorations (made for fishtanks), water dechlorinator, a ph test kit (optional, in my book), a heater. a filter, gravel, and a thermometer, 2 buckets that you'll use only for cleaning your fish tank, fish food and cheap "feeder" fish (like guppies or goldfish). You'll need about 1 fish for every 2 gallons of water, something like that. Ex: 20 gallon tank=buy 10 feeder fish.
Next, bring it all home, set it up. Use your thermometer to get your tap water to about 78 degrees fahrehheit and fill up the tank. Add a dechlorinator, such as "stress coat" according to the package directions. As far as the ph? For some reason, when I use ph chemicals in my tank, it kills the fish. For years now, I haven't adjusted the ph at all and my fish thrive, so forget about that for now, unless you plan on keeping fish that need special conditions, like discus.
Anyway, you now have 78 degree water which has been dechlorinated. Throw in your feeder fish. Wait a week or two. The water will get all cloudy. Some of them might die. Wait until the water is clear again and the fish stop dying. Now you are ready for real fish. Bring those feeder fish back to the pet store and bring a separate water sample for them to test your water.
Water changes? I don't bother. If you have a lot of fish or you overfeed you might need to, though. I wait until the water evaporates about an inch and fill it back up with 78 degree dechlorinated water. Never ever ever overfeed your fish, because this will make your water dirty and your fish will die. They only need to be fed once or twice a day- and once is plenty unless they are aggressive. They should finish their food in 2 minutes or less- it shouldn't all be falling to the bottom.
Let the pet store help you pick out your fish so that they are compatible- you can't just throw anything together in there!
Yeah, I guess I'm done. With this info, you should be able to set up and maintain a tank with little to no casualties.

I had a goldfish named Flushdatoilet - he was free from a carnival. My sister overfed him, he got flushed.

In first grade, our class raised guppies. One of the guppies died, so the teacher took the dead guppie and put it in a cup of water so that we could watch it decay. Some dumb kid spilled the cup of water containing the dead guppy all over my desk.

I had a fish tank in college. I made my boyfriend, now husband, clean the tank. It was so gross. All of the fish died except for two over christmas break. Those extended time food bricks didn't work.

I had a goldfish when I was 5 years old- my mother's drunk friend stabbed it to daeth with a toothpick.

Ah good, I'm going to print this out. I've never heard of this "practice fish" concept. Without it, I would definitely have immediately bought as many of the most expensive, gaudy looking fish I could find. That woulda sucked. So I assume my local fish seller will be able to tell me particulars about my tap water (it's very minerally here, coming out of mountain streams), and about the practice fish. When I'm stocking with permanent denizens, are there different requirements for different fish? If I set up a tank that's suitable for breed A, will breeds B, C, and D all find the environment livable? Obviously it's not universal, but my point is, how much planning has to go into stocking the aquarium? Just buy what looks cool and plop it in?

:greenface: :eek: :eek2: :vomit:

That is soooooooo awful!

Noodle, your best bet is to have the pet store test your water- if you have basic(alkaline) water, then african cichlids would really thrive in there. They are colorful and active and easy for beginners. You definitely cannot just mix any fish together in there, because they will most likely kill each other if you mix aggressive species with peaceful species. Let them help you pick out your fish-trust me!

Most freshwater fish do fine in any tap water, because you can adjust the ph, but like I said, every time I have ever used chemicals to lower the ph in my tank, I have had fish die. I don't pay any attention to the ph in my tank and my fish are very healthy.

Melidasaur, I could start my own website about the abuse my childhood pets endured. That's nothing. Maybe that's why I'm sort of an animal rights activist now- nothing drastic, but I worked in animal shelter and as a veterinary technician. I guess I'm trying to make up for the way my mother treated my pets.

Let's see, there was the guinea pig that stood in 3 inches of piss and poo pudding, because she never cleaned the cage. When we moved, she just left it there.
There was the cat that was so infested with fleas, I used to lay in bed and watch them hop around. This same cat was given to her declawed. She let it outside everyday. It got attacked by a chow. This same cat died of feline leukemia, which is preventable by vaccine and recommended for all outdoor cats.

There was the german shepherd/lab mix that lived outside chained to a dog house. The dog got a scab on it's ear which got bigger and bigger and there were flies eating the flesh and laying maggots on it. She gave the dog to some kid who worked maintenance at the mall. This kid was living in his car and the dog eventually ended up at the animal shelter and was put to sleep.

We also had a cockateil that irritated my mother, because it liked to chirp (oh my god, why would a bird do such a thing??) SO, she never- I mean NEVER took the cover off of the cage. That bird lived in darkness.

Yeah, it is pretty sick, but I am the exact opposite with my pets. I read and learn all I can and try to do everything exactly right. I spend $240 every 6 months to get my chihuahua an ultrasound because he has a heart murmur...

He thought it was an appetizer. Interesting.

Was it at least one of those cool toothpicks that looks like a little sword?

Wow, Stacy, talk about trauma. I'm glad that you care for your pets well - that's important. Seems like you could write a book even.

I had the opposite problem - my dad is a veteranarian, so he would always want to have some sort of animal in the house. One time, we had a crow in a cage in the basement. Another time, he told my mom that my sister wanted mice for her birthday - yeah, he wanted the mice. Another time, he told my mom that we wanted fish. So we got a bubble gum machine fish tank and had several goldfish in it. The fish got pretty big, but they all kind of jumped out of the tank.

We've always had a cat or two, and we even tried our hands at a dog once. The dog lasted about a week. Apparently he had some sort of parasite in his brain that caused him to go mental, so my dad put him to sleep.

that's a new one! Are you sure it wasn't rabies??

no--it was the fish sized copy of these "banderillas", used in bullfights:
http://bullfightschool.com/v-web/gal...llas.sized.jpg

like one of these...
http://www.nathantaylorbaskets.com/i...s/4891_big.jpg

I had a small fish tank when I was a teen. When we moved, I emptied the tank and put the fish in a bucket (with water, of course). I set the bucket on the kitchen floor and about 10 mins later, both my cats had their bellies full of fishes. No fishies left to move. Stupid cats. I left the tank in the garage.

Equipment question:

I have a couple of ten gallon tanks I love with undergravel filters. These tanks are a little under a year old, and I am quite happy with their performance so far. One question I have is that the powerhead that sits on the riser from the filter grid has a little bracket that attaches to the wall of the tank, well, actually, the bracket is what I have a problem with. The suction cups aren't doing their job any more. I've cleaned both the cup and glass, but the rubber cups don't flex as well and the bracket just falls off the wall. The powerhead still rests on the riser, but I wonder if anybody here has the same problem and / or better / different solution. Anybody?

We have to buy new suction cups every year or two.

Or, rather, we would have to, if we hadn't given up that tactic and now just let stuff float around in the tank. :)

Suction cups in fish tanks, as a rule, don't suck...so they suck.

Ok, I give up on the suction cups. Maybe, if I see the suction section on my next trip to the pet store, I'll get some replacement cups. The thermometer is already configured for roaming, so to speak.

Changing the subject, Els, I was worried about your power issues with the heat you alluded to elsewhere. I hope all lis well in Oscarland. I did have an idea about keeping them cool. Assuming you had access to a supply of ice, you could dose the tank with icecubes to keep the temp down. Just a thought.

The fearsome Midwestern heat has abated for the most part, and we were able to get our AC sorted out within 24 hours, so Oscar Mayer and Oscar Madison were in no danger.

I have read the ice trick before, but have fortunately never been called upon to try it. Of greater concern is how to keep a tank warm in case of power loss during the Winter. That happens with disturbing regularity here in KC.

The same solution for both scenarios is insulation. I would look into a sheet of the rigid building insuation. It comes in blue and pink, you know, like very fine grained styrofoam. Cut panels the size of the sides of the tank, including the bottom and, more importantly, the top. You can leave holes for throughways for air, lines, cords, etc, but fewer and smaller is better. The bottom one could live under the tank permanently. Depending on the viewing angle, the one on the back and maybe the sides could be permanent or semi-permanent too. Then when the cold rolls in and there's danger that the room the tank is in will become too cold for the heater to keep up, you could put more panels on. Imagine a styrofoam cooler you take on a picnic. It keeps ice cold for a long time with a *big* temp difference 30 deg versus 100 outside. You need to keep the tank at what, about 70 deg F? Then this setup could give you protection when the room is as low as freezing. That would be a lot of protection.

Your heater can't heat the room very efficiently, but the tank is a much smaller thermal mass, and conserving that heat in the tank, instead of radiating it into the room means the heater can keep up. Probably. I'm just blue-skying here.

And, as luck would have it, I happen to work for an insulation company...