Fish Lovers 2.0

[Firefly_Dreamer]

@dakotak

Wow, i never knew it was over stocking because of how tiny they are. And believe me the pet store that sells the comets at like 10c a fish or 25c for 5 have close to 150 large in a 50 gallon tank (by large i mean about an inch) and about 250 small in an adjacent 50 gallon tank. and i think i have, now that i counted and added the death thingy, i have 14 (i hope) half inch or less comets (as some were accidental babies from the stores observation tank) and 2 half inch to an inch. i figured because of the fish to inch to gallon rule i'd be safe. and i kinda thought it would be good to keep them in a larger group because its what they are used to. to me its like moving a person and their family or people they know or trust, versus isolating a person. And this pet store isn't very sanitary either. The longest living fish i've had from there are my 4 year old snail and my oldest comets of 1 and a half years . I've had real bad problems with their algae eaters from there. I've had to get for sure, about five from there. two died in the bag, one died within minutes of me leting him go into my tank, one died of shock when i turned the light on one morning (because it flickers at first), and one lasted about a week and died stuck to a plant. They weren't very big, about as wide as your pinkie, and about as long as a pushpin, maybe a little longer. I got a bigger one this time, because they got bigger ones in. I was tempted to buy a 30 dollar one and just keep it by itself. those things are ginormous! bigger than a cordless phone. anyway, they have sold me dead fish before, a lot, or fish that die in the bag, so if i buy fish, not for rescue, i get them from a store 1-2 hours away, like petsmart, because they last longer. That's where i got jaws from.

[Kiara20]

Everyone we now have a guppy expert! RaidYum! So if you have any guppy questions feel free to ask her!

[3000feet]

Cool! I used to have some guppies. I loved those little guys Thinking about getting some more sometime.....would a 5 gallon tank be big enough for three of them?

[sammy.]

Cool! I used to have some guppies. I loved those little guys Thinking about getting some more sometime.....would a 5 gallon tank be big enough for three of them?

I think 2 is fine for a 5 gal, 3 would be pushing it ((In MY opinion)). But be super careful with them. I used to have 1 male and 2 females in a 16 gallon, with 2 platties and a molly. One of the guppies died in a week, just because it didn't eat. I guess the ride home was too much for her. And then, another one I woke up and it just disappeared. Later when I was cleaning the gravel.. Guess who finds a little dead guppy body -.-.

The male lived for like 7 months, though before I just woke up and he was dead (Then again, I had moved him into a 10 gallon with some other fish. And I had no idea how old he was when I purchased him, so maybe he just died of old age.).

And yeah, the water was always fine. So was the temperature.

Even with my neon tetras, I could never keep them alive for more than 2 months because they are just so delicate.

[Dappled Sapphire]

@dakotak

Wow, i never knew it was over stocking because of how tiny they are. And believe me the pet store that sells the comets at like 10c a fish or 25c for 5 have close to 150 large in a 50 gallon tank (by large i mean about an inch) and about 250 small in an adjacent 50 gallon tank. and i think i have, now that i counted and added the death thingy, i have 14 (i hope) half inch or less comets (as some were accidental babies from the stores observation tank) and 2 half inch to an inch. i figured because of the fish to inch to gallon rule i'd be safe. and i kinda thought it would be good to keep them in a larger group because its what they are used to. to me its like moving a person and their family or people they know or trust, versus isolating a person. And this pet store isn't very sanitary either. The longest living fish i've had from there are my 4 year old snail and my oldest comets of 1 and a half years . I've had real bad problems with their algae eaters from there. I've had to get for sure, about five from there. two died in the bag, one died within minutes of me leting him go into my tank, one died of shock when i turned the light on one morning (because it flickers at first), and one lasted about a week and died stuck to a plant. They weren't very big, about as wide as your pinkie, and about as long as a pushpin, maybe a little longer. I got a bigger one this time, because they got bigger ones in. I was tempted to buy a 30 dollar one and just keep it by itself. those things are ginormous! bigger than a cordless phone. anyway, they have sold me dead fish before, a lot, or fish that die in the bag, so if i buy fish, not for rescue, i get them from a store 1-2 hours away, like petsmart, because they last longer. That's where i got jaws from.

When fish poop it contains hormones which slowdown and stunt the growth of the fish so having a fish in a tank size smaller then the recommended size will slow the fishes growth, even with regular water changes those fish won't grow to full size as the tank is just too small to hold them all

Stunted growth is when the fish physically appears to stop growing - either because of poor diet, poor water quality or by being in a tank that's too small for it. What happens is the physical form of the fish stops growing, but the internal organs don't, which means they become increasingly more compacted. The fish's spine could also be deformed by severe stunting and the fish die of massive internal organ failure (BEFORE they bust).

Stunting can be permanent, or temporary. In the case of being in a tank that's too small, mild stunting can be somewhat reversed if addressed quickly enough and the fish is capable of living a relatively normal life. Sadly, because the fish carry on as normal despite the pain (which they must do to avoid predation in the wild) when the fish dies, the beginner aquarist misinterprets the death as "old age".

This is exactly why it's important that the beginner goes out and gets a 20gal+ tank for fancy goldfish and 55+for commons! ANYTHING less than is risking stunted growth.

So really for your 14 comets you would need at least a 315G tank

[Dakotak]

@dakotak

Wow, i never knew it was over stocking because of how tiny they are. And believe me the pet store that sells the comets at like 10c a fish or 25c for 5 have close to 150 large in a 50 gallon tank (by large i mean about an inch) and about 250 small in an adjacent 50 gallon tank. and i think i have, now that i counted and added the death thingy, i have 14 (i hope) half inch or less comets (as some were accidental babies from the stores observation tank) and 2 half inch to an inch. i figured because of the fish to inch to gallon rule i'd be safe. and i kinda thought it would be good to keep them in a larger group because its what they are used to. to me its like moving a person and their family or people they know or trust, versus isolating a person. And this pet store isn't very sanitary either. The longest living fish i've had from there are my 4 year old snail and my oldest comets of 1 and a half years . I've had real bad problems with their algae eaters from there. I've had to get for sure, about five from there. two died in the bag, one died within minutes of me leting him go into my tank, one died of shock when i turned the light on one morning (because it flickers at first), and one lasted about a week and died stuck to a plant. They weren't very big, about as wide as your pinkie, and about as long as a pushpin, maybe a little longer. I got a bigger one this time, because they got bigger ones in. I was tempted to buy a 30 dollar one and just keep it by itself. those things are ginormous! bigger than a cordless phone. anyway, they have sold me dead fish before, a lot, or fish that die in the bag, so if i buy fish, not for rescue, i get them from a store 1-2 hours away, like petsmart, because they last longer. That's where i got jaws from.

Yea a lot of people don't know they over stock with goldfish beacuse they look small beacuse they are still young goldfish but they will get big if given the right conditions. They come from carp and carp are huge. If you had a big enough tank each one could get to up to a foot long.

The once inch per gallon is a horrible rule. I wish it wasn't so circulated. By that logic you could keep a 10 inch Oscar in a 10 long tank.
But stocking is not just about swimming room. You also have to account for the bio load. The more water volume you have the less the fish will feel the effects of waste beacuse it is able to dilute into the water. Since goldfish come from carp they are a messy fish and have a huge bio load. So naturally they need more water and more filtration. And jelly is right about the stunting which may be one of the reasons so many of the fish die. Perhaps finding them new homes would be a good idea? Also I would be doing daily water changes on the tank to help keep ammonia down.

[hounddogcopper]

Horray. Fist time posting here >.<

I just completed a move with my 5 Chichlids and 13 comet goldfish. (Never doing this again ever -.-)
We drove from West Coast back to the midwest. It took me 5 days and I was freaking out the whole time. I have 2 Jack Demspey Chichlids and 3 large Oscars and I had each of them in separate 10 gallon tanks in the back of my car for the whole trip. Nearly had a heart-attack every-time I hit a bump on the road because I thought I would kill them.

By the time we got back to my parents house my two Tiger Oscars had a complete roleshit. My bullyfish was suddenly very calm and my shyfish suddenly became the bully in the tank. I don't know if any of you guys are Oscar experts and could shed some light on the situation.

Their tank was set up back in June. My two Tiger Oscars are housed together and always have been. They aren't hurting one another but I don't understand why their personalities ... switched.

[Dakotak]

Guys. Guys. GUYSSS!! Duck tape is having a vote for the new design of duck tape and they have FISH!! It has a goldfish on it!! <3 Go vote for the fishies!! XD I need duck tape with fish on it. It would make such a cool wallet.
https://www.facebook.com/ducktape/app_408588515862443

[Saracirce]

I just discovered a new kind of horrible:



I mean, come on. There's not even enough room for him to turn around. And, judging by the other 'tanks' they had in this style, they aren't all that deep. RAWR.

@Felicity&Jameson, I love Jack Dempseys! What's their set up like?

[hounddogcopper]

Saracirce I just died a little inside seeing that .

My Jacks are still both fairly young so I have each in separate 20 gallon long tanks. I had gotten both tanks (and a double stack stand for them) off of Craigslist for only #59d9d90. I didn't -want- anymore fish because I knew at that point I'd be moving in 8 months but I couldn't resist the deal and I ended up getting the pair of them for free from PetSmart (Terrible place to buy fish I know) but they were born in the store and size of a fingernail I couldn't resist that either.

I've big on live plants though, and they seem to appreciate the heavy planting in their tanks being the shy little guys they are. I'm constantly replacing heaters though in one of the tanks because one of my guys just hates the heater xD