Fish

Centerfield
Jan 14 2013 01:51 PM

Picked up a small (I think between a 4 and 5 gallon) tank and got some fish for the kids. Lots of fun so far, and the kids love them.

So far, I have a male betta, a plain goldfish, a longfin barb, and a tetra. I think that is probably all I can fit comfortably in the tank.

Any of you guys have fish? Any words of advice?

Frayed Knot
Jan 14 2013 01:53 PM
Re: Fish

The biggest mistake people make with fish, kids in particular, is over-feeding them.

metirish
Jan 14 2013 01:58 PM
Re: Fish

Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jan 14 2013 02:04 PM

The biggest mistake people make with fish, kids in particular, is over-feeding them.

Guilty.....last year I went to a pet store, got a goldfish and tank with advice from an employee, after a few days I couldn't believe how much work the little fucker was.....anyway, went back a week later and got one more for company....both were dead 24 hours later. My Ma in Ireland who had George(goldfish) for 12 years was adamant I over fed the first one........I was glad to see the back of them to be honest.

Wife got a beta fish about 4 months ago, still alive......I have never fed Shark Bait.....Lorcan named him......

advice : don't overfeed them......

Swan Swan H
Jan 14 2013 02:00 PM
Re: Fish

My dad had a bunch of freshwater tanks. He got into it to the point where he would make and freeze food for the fish using liver and oatmeal. Boy, did the house stink!

My one bit of advice would be to get a catfish or some other scavenger that will help keep the tank clean, plus they are usually fun and funky looking. The shop can recommend one will not get too big. Enjoy!

themetfairy
Jan 14 2013 03:15 PM
Re: Fish

Frayed Knot wrote:
The biggest mistake people make with fish, kids in particular, is over-feeding them.

HahnSolo
Jan 14 2013 03:17 PM
Re: Fish

Not much experience here, although I am pretty sure that when my kids had a betta fish that they told us that you shouldn't put them in the same tank as goldfish.

Kong76
Jan 14 2013 03:22 PM
Re: Fish

I've had tank(s) over the years. Loved it. The bottom feeder
fish is good advice.

Frayed Knot
Jan 14 2013 03:35 PM
Re: Fish

HahnSolo wrote:
Not much experience here, although I am pretty sure that when my kids had a betta fish that they told us that you shouldn't put them in the same tank as goldfish.

Well most (maybe all?) goldfish tend to be "cold water" critters (water temp no higher than 65 F or so) while so called tropical fish (like bettas) require it more up in the low to mid-70s. That 10 degrees can be fatal to the one is the wrong environment.
And, yeah, there are also certain types of fish that'll fight and try to eat each other and therefore can't be mixed for that reason. Decent fish store employees should be able to warn you about which are the Yanqui & Sawx fans of the tropical fish world.

metirish
Jan 14 2013 03:45 PM
Re: Fish

I thought it was that you can't have two male Beta fish together because they will fight?

The Second Spitter
Jan 14 2013 05:13 PM
Re: Fish

Back in the days when Fman was in college he dated a chick who something, something fish.

Fman99
Jan 14 2013 08:28 PM
Re: Fish

The Second Spitter wrote:
Back in the days when Fman was in college he dated a chick who something, something fish.

What's the difference between meat and fish?

If you beat your fish, it will die. HIYOOOOOOOO!

Farmer Ted
Jan 15 2013 06:45 AM
Re: Fish

Abe Vigoda.

Vic Sage
Jan 15 2013 08:34 AM
Re: Fish

We went through a period of tanks, goldfish, and bettas in our house. Then hermit crabs and chameleons. While the whole "circle of life" bit was fun for a while, my son was often heartbroken by the constant series of fatalities. He still has a picture that he drew of his first dead goldfish, "Goldie"... a fish he had for all of 2 weeks about 4 years ago. We conducted a funeral at sea (toilet) and spoke words over Goldie, to give the boy some closure, but he never quite got over it. Oh sure, he put on a brave front about each new dead creature that followed, and he loves our dogs, but every once in a while, i'll see him staring at the picture of Goldie (framed, on his desk) with a faraway look, and i know he's back at that moment he found her floating in the fishbowl. And i have to live with the fact that i did this to him.

So yeah, CF, have fun with that!

p.s. -- My kids absolutely refuse to watch any movies with or about animals, on the off chance they'll die or get hurt. So LIFE OF PI was a no go.

Little Tim was in the garden filling in a hole when his neighbor peered over the fence. Interested in what the cheeky-faced youngster was up to, he politely asked, "Whatcha doing, Tim?"

"My goldfish died," replied the boy tearfully, without looking up. "And I've just buried him."

The neighbor was concerned. "That's an awfully big hole for a goldfish, isn't it?"

Tim patted down the last heap of earth then replied, "That's because he's inside your cat."

The Second Spitter
Jan 15 2013 03:23 PM
Re: Fish

Vic Sage wrote:
We went through a period of tanks, goldfish, and bettas in our house. Then hermit crabs and chameleons. While the whole "circle of life" bit was fun for a while, my son was often heartbroken by the constant series of fatalities. He still has a picture that he drew of his first dead goldfish, "Goldie"... a fish he had for all of 2 weeks about 4 years ago. We conducted a funeral at sea (toilet) and spoke words over Goldie, to give the boy some closure, but he never quite got over it. Oh sure, he put on a brave front about each new dead creature that followed, and he loves our dogs, but every once in a while, i'll see him staring at the picture of Goldie (framed, on his desk) with a faraway look, and i know he's back at that moment he found her floating in the fishbowl. And i have to live with the fact that i did this to him.

Fman99
Jan 15 2013 06:50 PM
Re: Fish

We went through a period of tanks, goldfish, and bettas in our house. Then hermit crabs and chameleons. While the whole "circle of life" bit was fun for a while, my son was often heartbroken by the constant series of fatalities. He still has a picture that he drew of his first dead goldfish, "Goldie"... a fish he had for all of 2 weeks about 4 years ago. We conducted a funeral at sea (toilet) and spoke words over Goldie, to give the boy some closure, but he never quite got over it. Oh sure, he put on a brave front about each new dead creature that followed, and he loves our dogs, but every once in a while, i'll see him staring at the picture of Goldie (framed, on his desk) with a faraway look, and i know he's back at that moment he found her floating in the fishbowl. And i have to live with the fact that i did this to him.

So yeah, CF, have fun with that!

p.s. -- My kids absolutely refuse to watch any movies with or about animals, on the off chance they'll die or get hurt. So LIFE OF PI was a no go.

Little Tim was in the garden filling in a hole when his neighbor peered over the fence. Interested in what the cheeky-faced youngster was up to, he politely asked, "Whatcha doing, Tim?"

"My goldfish died," replied the boy tearfully, without looking up. "And I've just buried him."

The neighbor was concerned. "That's an awfully big hole for a goldfish, isn't it?"

Tim patted down the last heap of earth then replied, "That's because he's inside your cat."

We have a divided fish tank that holds two bettas. This allowed each of my children to pick out their own fish and us to only manage a single tank for cleaning purposes (which Fwife handles as I wanted no part of this to begin with).

The first fish that Fgirl picked out was a dud. We could tell within a day or two that it was going to be a floater. And so it goes. My daughter was upset and we promised to get her a new betta in a few days time.

The next night, as I scraped the remains of spaghetti and meatballs and tomato sauce into the kitchen pail, Fgirl and I had this conversation.

Fgirl: "Daddy, my fish died."
Fman: "I know, honey, I'm sorry that happened."
Fgirl: "Did you throw her in the garbage?"
Fman: "Um, yeah, honey, something like that."
Fgirl (who comes running over to the pail and sees tomato sauce all over the top of the trash): "Oh, Daddy, oh no, her blood is everywhere!"

Mets – Willets Point
Jan 15 2013 07:28 PM
Re: Fish

We had a 10-gallon aquarium when I was growing up. My advice is to keep a close eye on your cat when cleaning the aquarium.

Frayed Knot
Jan 15 2013 08:34 PM
Re: Fish

Vic Sage wrote:
We went through a period of tanks, goldfish, and bettas in our house. Then hermit crabs and chameleons. While the whole "circle of life" bit was fun for a while, my son was often heartbroken by the constant series of fatalities. He still has a picture that he drew of his first dead goldfish, "Goldie"... a fish he had for all of 2 weeks about 4 years ago. We conducted a funeral at sea (toilet) and spoke words over Goldie, to give the boy some closure, but he never quite got over it. Oh sure, he put on a brave front about each new dead creature that followed, and he loves our dogs, but every once in a while, i'll see him staring at the picture of Goldie (framed, on his desk) with a faraway look, and i know he's back at that moment he found her floating in the fishbowl. And i have to live with the fact that i did this to him.

The really sad part about this is that Vic's son is 36 years old.

Centerfield
Jan 23 2013 08:27 AM
Re: Fish

So we suffered our first fatality. We brought home a black molly fish. I read that they are pretty peaceful and can get along with the fish we already have. Unfortunately, he didn't last the day. The minute he came in our Rosy Barb started nipping at him, but we figured we'd let it play out and see what happened.

We came back from Whole Foods to find one of his fins had been ripped off. He was floating on his side unable to straighten himself around. My wife saw the barb drag him around by his tail. Really vicious stuff.

Ryan took it ok. We put it out of its misery and flushed it. The poor fish. I'm thinking we should have removed it right away. The little guy looked terrified the minute we put him into the tank.

Ryan said he's ok to wait until we get a bigger tank before adding any more fish.

We are really having fun with this so far, other than the fact that the tank could smell a little better.