anyone here have fish?

Grabmygoblin · Post by **Grabmygoblin** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:15 pm

so I adopted three goldfish. named them Kurt, Peter and Hank. (if you can figure out why, you deserve a... nerdy pat on the back.) I have a great set up for them: 10 gal tank, nice little castle and fake plants for them to hind in and behind, filter, lid, light the works.

did some researching online, found out they are
A) sensitive to light and
b) absolute pigs. if you keep feeding them, they will eat until they die.
they tell you when they are hungry by coming up to the side of the tank when you are around, near the top, and swimming rapidly to get your attention. you'd know it if you saw it. thing is, they ALWAYS are doing this. I don't want to overfeed my fish, but if the poor things are starving, I want to know as well. HELP.

Protectmyballs · Post by **Protectmyballs** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:18 pm

Do a pinch or two every day.
Ive got a 2 1/2 inch kissing fish and a 4 inch plecko, and they're fine on that much. Although the plecko eats the poop off the rocks, so that might skew the results.

Post by **Mercury Hat** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:20 pm

Can't help you there, my betta only eats two or three little pellets a day. Add any more than that and he won't touch it.

Ian Moulding · Post by **Ian Moulding** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:26 pm

Goldfish will grow to fit the size of tank they live in, so be prepared for these guys to get a bit bigger than the ones you see in those little fishtanks.

I have betas, not goldfish. Advice from anyone with goldfish should overrule what I say here.

If there's food left in the water an hour after you've fed them, you're overfeeding them. Same thing if the food is settling to the bottom of the tank. Start with tiny pinches of food, about the size of their eyes (In this case, three eye-sized pinches), and drop it in at breakfast time. Give them about that much an hour later, and see how fast they rise. If they swim around for a while and eye it before eating then odds are they're not really hungry, so don't feed them twice the next day. Give them another small meal in the evening. If you find any of that on the bottom the next morning, stop giving them an evening meal.

Toxic · Post by **Toxic** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:29 pm

My old middle school has an annual festial thing, and every year I win about ten fish. And every year they all die after a month.

Ian Moulding · Post by **Ian Moulding** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:41 pm

TOXIC AVENGER! wrote:My old middle school has an annual festial thing, and every year I win about ten fish. And every year they all die after a month.

Sushi!

Ruxen · Post by **Ruxen** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:45 pm

I have a Betta, well I had a Betta, he past away last month. I miss that little guy.

Anyway he'd usually only eat two pellets a day, then I switched him to flakes and he refused to eat any of it.

Smight · Post by **Smight** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:05 pm

I had a betta, but someone stepped on it and put it back in the bowl like I wouldn't notice.

Corgan_dane · Post by **Corgan_dane** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:10 pm

I have 2 10 gallon tanks and a five gallon tank. One has a purple african cichlid (he changes from purple to blue to white. It's pretty cool), one has a single fantail bug-eyed goldfish named Cuthbert, and the other has 9 tiny neon fish of different varieties in it.

I really need to clean them though. Sigh. It's turning into a zoo around here. We have two cats, a new blind pekingese puppy, and all the fish in this two bedroom duplex.

Bek · Post by **Bek** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:48 am

I have a 10-gallon with 5 dwarf puffers and an otto. I love these guys. They only eat live or frozen food, though. Gotta love the combo of cute+viscious! They kind of look like this when they watch me

For goldfish, go with the pinch or two. Maybe one pinch per fish, max. If food is falling to the bottom uneaten, feed less. You may also want to get some sort of algae-eater so the tank doesn't go fuzzy on you. Ottos are good and won't grow to be giant monsters like placos (placos will grow to be 10" to a foot long!).

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 4:50 am

My fantasy fish tank is 50 gallons, with twenty or so river pirahna. They're small, lithe, and flash beautiful colors. My wife won't let me get 'em because I would have to feed them goldfish.

Warren · Post by **Warren** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:43 am

I think you and Toxic need to talk....

Post by **Mercury Hat** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:30 am

rkolter wrote:My fantasy fish tank is 50 gallons, with twenty or so river pirahna. They're small, lithe, and flash beautiful colors. My wife won't let me get 'em because I would have to feed them goldfish.

Bah, what's the big deal about that? You feed small snakes goldfish, too.

Ask whether she wants a snake or pirahna

.

Grabmygoblin · Post by **Grabmygoblin** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:35 am

they've managed to survive a week, and doubled in size

Mooman · Post by **Mooman** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:42 am

I used to have a couple of fish. I don't think they were goldfish but it was a looooong time ago so I can't remember (I think I was 11, maybe less). It wasn't like a family tank or anything, they were in my room and stuff, so at the time it was rather awesome.

So they copped it and I was rather sad, since they were like the first things I had true responsibility over. Having said that, I called them 'Bubble' and 'Trouble' so I fucking deserved everything I got!

My sister had a snake for a good few years. She got it on a 'whim' though, so she didn't really treat it very well. My dad ended up having to change its water all the time, that sort of thing. I don't mean she used it as a whip to fight crime. Although, that's something to remember for next time... Anyway, it died about a year ago. And that's my story about dead pets.

I can't find a way to ge this back on topic, so I'll just say I have a cat.

Kris X · Post by **Kris X** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 7:43 am

I had an albino beta fish name Jake. He lived for almost half a year. Now he's frozen my my freezer... Er. I hope to revive him in the future.

Not really, I just haven't had time ti bury him and we have stray cat problems. He was a good fish.

Rkolter · Post by **Rkolter** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:08 am

Mercury_Hat wrote:
rkolter wrote:My fantasy fish tank is 50 gallons, with twenty or so river pirahna. They're small, lithe, and flash beautiful colors. My wife won't let me get 'em because I would have to feed them goldfish.
Bah, what's the big deal about that? You feed small snakes goldfish, too.

Ask whether she wants a snake or pirahna .

That's a brilliant idea.

I'll DO that!

McDuffies · Post by **McDuffies** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:28 am

Fishes are too sensitive. I killed several of them in attempt to keep them.

The Neko · Post by **The Neko** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:30 am

mcDuffies wrote:Fishes are too sensitive. I killed several of them in attempt to keep them.

You sure you didn't EAT THEM?

Wp · Post by Wp » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:33 am

Smight wrote:I had a betta, but someone stepped on it and put it back in the bowl like I wouldn't notice.

What was it doing outside the bowl in the first place?