Fish Fans?

ThxForNothing · 06-13-2006, 12:23 PM

Just wondering who here owns fish, and what kind..

I have two 10 gallons and one 60 gallon, but I don't have any set up at this point in time. I use to have a betta named Jesus and I would like to get another betta, or maybe even set up a 20g tank for some female bettas.. not sure though.

So... any other fish owners/lovers?

Dave|Xoxide · 06-13-2006, 12:44 PM

It's funny you mention that.
If you read that post here yesterday that said I have gotten a little better at designing themes for vbullliten. My project right after this dogforums was

www.fishtankforums.com

It is in it's EARLY stages. But It would be great if you signed up there and see just how quickly it will take off. There's some small chatter right now. Maybe you can spark up some conversation or have some of your questions answered.

drfong · 06-13-2006, 01:21 PM

I have fish also. We are moving so some of our fish will go to the new owners of the house. I have a pond with 2 koi about 14" long each and 4 large common gold fish. We are going to leave them with the pond as our new house doesn't have one and we are going to build a house so I'm not going to put one in were we will be living for the next 8-10 months. I also have a 90 gal that I want to eventually do a salt reef style but it currently has two fan tail gold fish and three alge eaters. (2 that have gotten to be about 6-7 inches long in about 6 months.) I had the pond fish in the aquarium durring the winter as the pond got damaged in Katrina and I waited until spring to fix it. I also have 2 bettas, one male and one female. I tried keeping 2 females together in a small aquarium but one beat up the other so I had to seperate them. I have seen them together before so I don't know why she attacked the other one. I also have 2 African Dwarf frogs. They are great, very funny to watch. You can also put them in with a beta and they get along fine. They can escape loosely covered bowls though.

Cheetah · 06-13-2006, 02:54 PM

I usually keep bettas, but I lost a few, leaving only one, so I'm going to take a small break from them because I feel pretty bad about it (I'm usually really good at betta care but this time I failed). I'll keep the remaining betta for her life, and in maybe a year or so, I might feel confident enough to get back into them and keep more than one again... >O.o<

Curbside Prophet · 06-13-2006, 03:13 PM

I use to keep fish too...until I got so tired of cleaning filters and doing water changeouts. I had an angel fish who lived for 9 YEARS! I named him "Diablo" because he would kill any other fish I put in the tank with him, no matter how big or small they were. Can you imagine having a fish for years living all by his lonesome...not the most attractive tank on the block, that's for sure. He even survived the day my mother knocked the tank over, and the tank split in two. He was a true survivor until...until the day I decided to get two red-eared sliders (turtles). When the turtles were large enough, they hunted and tried to corner Diablo. For a few weeks I thought he would have no problem out running the turtles. But as the turtles grew, they got faster and faster, and eventually they had old Diablo for lunch. Can you image that! Having an angel fish for 9 YEARS! And then having him murdered by turtles. O' the horror of that day! The turtles eventually out grew their tank, and were released into a pond with other turtles. But the stain of Diablo's death will forever be on my mind. R.I.P. Diablo!

ThxForNothing · 06-13-2006, 03:13 PM

Awwh. Poor Diablo... what color was he?

Quote:

Originally Posted by drfong

I tried keeping 2 females together in a small aquarium but one beat up the other so I had to seperate them. I have seen them together before so I don't know why she attacked the other one.

What size tank were you keeping them in? How many hiding spaces were there?

In general, when you want to keep female bettas together it is best to get about 4 or 5 (or more) of them. I havn't heard of many people being able to keep 2 females together. I think they focus to much on each other probably.. not sure. 3 bettas wouldn't work in my opinion because two of them might decide it's a good idea to pick on the other one...

drfong · 06-13-2006, 03:57 PM

It was a small tank, about 2.5 gal. There were plants, filter and a heater that gave lots of places to hide but I was also thinking that 2 might be a bad idea. More might make it so they weren't always eyeing each other. I also want to try breeding them one day, but need to find a way to give lots of them away.

opokki · 06-13-2006, 06:07 PM

I have a 30 gal containing 4 large goldfish:a black moor, a ryukin, a shubunkin, and a butterfly koi.

ThxForNothing · 06-13-2006, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drfong

It was a small tank, about 2.5 gal. There were plants, filter and a heater that gave lots of places to hide but I was also thinking that 2 might be a bad idea. More might make it so they weren't always eyeing each other. I also want to try breeding them one day, but need to find a way to give lots of them away.

Yeah, that is much to small of a space for tmore than one Betta. Any more than that and you are just asking for trouble. I prefer to keep bettas in 5g - 10g tanks.. I really think a 20g would be perfect for some females though.

If you are thinking of breeding, keep in mind that Bettas produce alooot of babies. For starter containers, most people will use those big jars that you see Jelly in and such. Make sure that it isn't less than 1 gallon. That's what most people go with.... (but eh personally, anything under 2gallons is cruel in my mind.)

drfong · 06-13-2006, 06:57 PM

I guess I was just using the fact that two tropical fish that size are fine in 2.5 gallons. I didn't take into account that they are aggressive, but I have seen 8 or more in a 10 gallon so I thought 2 in a small tank would work. It might just be that more is better from a social aspect.

ThxForNothing · 06-13-2006, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drfong

I guess I was just using the fact that two tropical fish that size are fine in 2.5 gallons. I didn't take into account that they are aggressive, but I have seen 8 or more in a 10 gallon so I thought 2 in a small tank would work. It might just be that more is better from a social aspect.

Eh, that is a matter of opinion. I personally would never put more than one fish in a tank under 5 gallons. Regardless of their size. I am real big on giving animals plenty of space to do their thing.

The 8 you seen in a 10 gallon, that's not right to me. Was this at a pet store? If so, well, most pet stores tend to over stock their tanks i've noticed so that doesn't surprise me.

Poor fish.

..As a rule, I don't believe what people at the pet stores tell their customers. I have various reasons for this. Main one being, they usually don't know what the hell they are talking about.. LoL

drfong · 06-13-2006, 08:53 PM

I agree about most pet store people not knowing what they are talking about, but small tropical fish with good filtration to keep the water clean should not be a problem. I'm not sure what a fishes "thing" is, but betas live in puddles so water volume should not have been the problem but I guess that it must have been that there was not enough room for them to hide and get away from each other as they are aggressive fish. I actually have only seen more than one female in a tank in my house (didn't work) and on the web. The store where I got my females kept them seperated. The guy who ownes the store is pretty knowledgeable. It's a fish store, privately owned not a pet store. I didn't ask him about puting them together. Obviously there are limits to size and fish count but I think water quality is the bigest concern. That said, you can't put fish that get big in small tanks on the wrong assumption that they will only get as big as the tank. And you don't want to overcrowed with little ones either, but 2.5 gallons of water for 2 1.5 inch tropical fish would not be overcrowded with socially compatible fish. There is certianly nothing wrong with using bigger tanks though. I have 2 fan tail golds in a 10 gal and thats all I would put in there. The golds reak havock with the water quality and they are about 2.5-3 inches each. I did give away my two Koi today. I'm going to leave the goldfish in the pond, but really the koi were getting too big for the pond anyway. The guy I gave them to has a 3000 gal pond. Mine was only about 250. I'll miss them, I really enjoyed watching them in the pond.

drfong · 06-13-2006, 09:41 PM

Some pics of fined friends:

My blue beta, you can see his bubble nest going on.

One of my African Dwarf frogs

Butterfly koi in 90 gal aquarium while pond service was going on

Both koi in pond

Best pic I have of pond

ThxForNothing · 06-14-2006, 10:07 AM

I love your pond! It's beautiful... I would like to have a pond some day. And I bet those Koi are lovin their new home.

Bettas actually live in rice paddies, not puddles. As you can see in the picture below, they have alot more water that most people believe. The only time that the rice paddies are shallow, is in the dry season.

Quote:

That said, you can't put fish that get big in small tanks on the wrong assumption that they will only get as big as the tank.

I agree. Which is why I don't feel that a 10 gallon tank is suitable for two goldfish.. or even one. Maybe as a starter tank for a short period of time. But not too long, because Goldfish grow large and quick. Most of the smaller tank-suitable types can grow to their full size within the first two years. If their growth is stunted, their organs will basically out grow their body causing them to die alot sooner than they should. Generally, i've found that the people who are real serious about their fish hobby agree that it should be about 15-20g per Goldfish. I know that there are different types, however, even the smaller types produce massive waste as you already know.. and even with quality water, there is still the space issue.

drfong · 06-14-2006, 10:18 PM

My golds are small type, I have some commons in the pond that are already 6-8 inches long so yea, they would not be ok in the 10 gal tank. (actually rightnow the two fantails are in a 90 gal tank. They look lost in there.) Thanks about the pond, I'll sure miss it. I will have another and will make it much larger so I can safely have several koi.

OwnedBySix · 06-15-2006, 03:12 PM

I've got one 10 gallon tank and a goldfish named Tim that we won at the fair last September. I've tried adding others to the tank and none have made it more than a week. Either Tim's killing 'em, or they don't like my water

drfong · 06-15-2006, 06:36 PM

What type of fish did you try. Also a common gold fish (most likely what you won because they are very cheep) will grow to the point that 10 gal is too small, especially with other fish. As to why they are dying, it really could be lots of things. I doubt the gold is killing them, but possible. You need to remember that different types of fish like different water conditions and not many go with gold fish. Also gold fish are pretty hard to kill vs others so if your water quality is poor Tim may be able to live while others won't make it. You should be testing the water. A basic test kit will only set you back about 25 bucks and you can really know whats going on that way. Also gold fish like some aquarium salt for good health. Not much, just alittle with water changes. You do do water changes, right? Gold fish are nasty animals that make lots of waste, so water changes, a good filter, etc are important. If your not going to move Tim up to larger digs I would not add any more fish.

OwnedBySix · 06-15-2006, 07:22 PM

Yes I change the water

...it NEEDS to be emptied 3/4 of the way and scrubbed monthly, filter changed etc. I've only ever added one fish at a time, and they were all regular goldfish. I didn't really think Tim was killing them...was just my sense of humor

Oh and if he was ever getting too big, I would certainly get a larger tank. He's a bit bigger than he was last September, which is still pretty small. Maybe 3 inches from head to tail. Thanks for the info!

drfong · 06-15-2006, 08:27 PM

not having to do with the dying fishes but you really don't want to change that much water at a time. 20% is really the most. It really upsets the water and biofiltration to change lots of water at once. A gravel vac helps get rid of waste and does it slow enough to leave much of the water. If you need to scrub it alot because of alge then cut back on the amount of time your tank light is on. It really helps cut back on growth.

ThxForNothing · 06-16-2006, 12:30 PM

I am going to F'n scream if one more person says they have a damned goldfish in a TEN GALLON TANK.

PLEASE be responsible and RESEARCH your animals and how to properly care for them BEFORE you decide to buy them. If you can't do it before, do it as soon as possible. There is absolutely no excuse for not researching anything when you have access to a computer.

I am now linking you all to a website that has extreamly good information and knowledgable people. If you have any questions or concerns about anything relating to fish, I bet you'll find it here: www.petfish.net

I forget if we are allowed to advertise sites or not, so sorry if we arn't. I'm just sick of animals not properly being cared for. It's really getting on my nervs.