Any fish hobbyists or accidental fish mommies on here? Our goldfish is our oldest pet (he's more than 6 1/2 years old now and we've been married just over 7 years--we've had him longer than our cat even). I recently stumbled on enough information to justify upgrading his tank to at least 20 gallons or more in order to give him enough space but we do not have the room for that size of a tank. He is in a 10 gallon aquarium on our kitchen counter and is doing okay most of the time. Now that I realize he needs more space I am very sad every time I walk by. My husband thinks it is really funny that I want a piece of furniture just for my goldfish, and we'll have to wait until we have a house with enough room, but I was wondering to what extremes anyone else has gone for their fish. I know that many kinds of fish are a lot of work--any long-term aquarium owners? Any extreme aquarium owners? Anyone try and give up? I'm always sad to see tanks on CraigsList that say "you have to take the fish." How sad to be an unwanted fish.
Anyway, just curious. I'm thinking that whenever we upgrade the size for Russell (goldfish) I might look into some smaller freshwater fish that would do well permanently in a 10 gallon aquarium. I've always loved fish and never had one live this long. I might add that he is also very attached to me--he mopes and gets depressed when I'm away from home for more than a day, even changing colors and floating sideways if somebody else is feeding him. The bum. He perks up once he realizes mommy is home.
Novelty tanks? I've seen ridiculous looking tables that are tanks, but always thought it would be fun to design a tank system that had water tubes that went from room to room so your fish could hang out with you. Totally ridiculous! :)
I love animals in general--a turtle sounds awesome, but I've not had luck with reptiles in the past. We lived too far from a vet and pet store and had to special order a replacement light for my iguana in high school. By the time it arrived she was so ill I had been force feeding her and she starved herself. I do not ever want to repeat that again--having a pet without knowing exactly what he or she needs and being able to provide it. I also get sad seeing the bettas at the store. I am inclined to get tetras for the smaller aquarium eventually just because I've always found them to be lovely and find fish very soothing. Who would have thought a goldfish could be moody and annoying though? Russell used to splash to get my attention or bang the glass or dig in the gravel and we used to bring him with us along with our cat for holidays to my husband's parents' house (before kids) in a salad bowl with a lid. So sad. :D
I think the tanks that go on the floor would be really neat, but I'd be nervous about the kids roughhousing and accidently smashing it on the bottom. That would totally happen to me. :)
Michelle--that sounds lovely! I want to see your fish, too! :)
Keep in mind when getting a bigger tank that some species of goldfish will grow if moved to a bigger tank. The tank size limits their growth.
We had a goldfish for 7 years that my daughter trained to come to the glass when her name was called and to jump up out of the water to take food flakes out of her fingers.
We have a huge gold fish, about 8 inches long. The kids won it at a carnival. We upgraded to a 30 gallon a few months ago. Big Bertha does not mope when I am not here, but she splashes when I walk by to get me to feed her. She is always hungry.
It has become a real coversation peice. People cannot beleive how big our fish is, so we keep her. I guess she is 5 or 6.
You could look for one that is free standing, I saw some at petco that sit on the floor, like big lava lamps, and they do not need any furniture.
Good luck!
M.
Just wanted to comment on your "novelty tank-room to room" idea. Millions of dollars have been made on ideas WAY more ridiculous than that!
We had a goldfish for almost 8 years while I was growing up. He stayed in a 10 gal tank the whole time. Fish adapt to their surroundings. Now that I'm married, we've managed to keep goldfish alive for a minimum of 6 years, and have only recently upgraded our tank to a 60 gal because our friend was moving and couldn't take the tank with her.
Fish that should do well in the tank are plecos, catfish, guppies, tetras (although they're a schooling fish), and mollies to name a few. Betas are fighting fish. They do well by themself, but can be put in with other fish as long as they don't have fancy fins and bright colors. Don't put multiple betas together--even males with females. They fight to the death. Angel fish can be nasty. Oscars eat anything smaller than their mouth. For the time being, I do suggest a couple guppies and/or mollies and a pleco. Hope you can upgrade for Russell soon! And fyi--he should get along well with tankies ;-)
We started off with one goldfish in a little bowl, now we inherited a 75 gallon fresh water oasis. Been doing this hobby for over 25 years. We have all kinds of fish (my favorite are my angels-each has their own personality and will follow you around the room). My oldest fish, a 13 years old Tetra, has cataracts-bumps into the sides of the tank, we call him one eyed Willy. Our tank is on a wooden cabinet base with storage. Our favorite water feature is the aquarium diving submarine (it really is kewl) that has a remote control that the kids can use to “play in the water.” Everyone loves to come over and see the babies, and play with the sub. With my work schedule it is a challenge to maintain the aquarium, but worth the peace and solitude that everyone receives when watching these gracefully creatures.
Does a red-eared slider turtle count lol? They are aquatic turtles My aunt gave me hers when she moved to costa rico, she didn't tell me it would grow the way he did. I named him Tiko (tee-co). He's got a 55 gallon (filled with water) and them turtles need a big big filter because they are pretty dirty. I built a basking area on top of the aquarium just so he could climb up out of the water and sunbathe under the heat lamp. When I buy a house, I plan on building an indoor pond out of a 200 gallon rubbermaid stock tank. Is that extreme lol? I think it's awesome you love your fish and think it's sad when people discard them like rubbish. I honestly get really sad when I see the beta fish at the store and the teeny bowls people will put them in... a 10 gallon for one (multiple will fight) would probably feel like a mansion to him/her
We just got a 20 gallon tank a couple weeks ago for our daughter's 5th birthday. I haven't had a fish since my goldfish that I had a few years ago (NEVER underestimate the ability of a 2 year old.... they CAN catch a little goldfish in a 10 gallon tank....)
I understand you wanting to give him more room. My little fish started out as a college dorm floor "fish survivor" contest in a little fish bowl. I ended up being the main one in my room to take care of it so it became mine. I felt bad & upgraded him to a 1 gallon tank. Then when I got an apartment I gave him a 10 gallon tank! lol
That goldfish was the only fish experience I had. Now I have mickey mouse platys, red wag platys, neon tetras, black mollies, a silver molly, an algae eater, and now a couple catfish (which I have NO idea which specific kind they are - so that may have been a mistake!! LOL). Entirely too much fish for our tank, thanks to my husband & whoever he talked to at Petsmart..... lol
Petsmart is nice though. They have a lot of fish, and they have them color-coded to show which fish can live together in a tank.
I still don't know what I'm doing though :) Oh and one of our mickey mouse platys was (is?) pregnant, so now we have at least 3 baby fishies! Not sure if there were more at one point, but we finally saw that there are at least 3. They are so tiny! Good luck to them.... since I don't know what I'm doing! haha! I just hope the catfish don't eat them!!
Ah... another fish mommy. We had Goldie, the Betta Fish, for 3 years and I was so depressed when she (well, really a "he") passed away. We even did a funeral service... don't ask...
We recently got a new betta, Rock Star ("Rocky"). I had him in a plastic betta tank and recently, I went to a friend's house and she has her betta in a beautiful vase. So I just transferred Rocky to a big glass candy jar/vase thing we had in our house. It actually looks very pretty with all the rocks and the plastic plant in it. I think Rocky seems very happy. More surface area for him to swim around in. He always flaps his fins when I come over to his tank and he swims right up to the top when he sees me open the drawer where we keep his food!!
