It sucks to have to admit this, but I am a bad fish mom.
My 40 gallon tank (which was left to me when my friends moved to New York) was in great condition for more than a year until recently when some sort of bacterial or fungal infection started running rampant through the tank. Despite (literally) hundreds of dollars on medication, they're still dying. Today, I had to flush one of my feeder fishies down the toilet because he was getting all poofy. That's not supposed to happen.
Some people seem to think that fish are disposable pets. But when you've spent more than a grand on fish, fish food, fish supplies, fish medicine, fish plants/furniture, not to mention the several froggies that have died... they don't really feel that disposable.
Maybe it's just me, but I get emotionally attached to some of my fish & have even named some of them. One of them (still alive and flipping) is a white molly that I brought home from Petco a while ago. What I did not notice (until after I brought him home) was that he only had one eye. I was initially grossed out by the fact that there was no little fish eye in the socket, and I almost took him back to the store. But I was convinced that if I took him back, they'd just let him die because no one would want to buy a one-eyed fish on purpose. So we "rescued him and we named him Jack, for one-eyed Jack.
I got especially attached to my frogs (all of whom had names, all of whom are now dead). My favorite frog was Gil (no relation to Wil's evil twin brother), an African Dwarf Frog. He lasted almost a year and then one day stopped swimming. I cried that day, no joke.
The people at Petco, though nice, don't know much about fish. I used to think I was a good fish mom, but until I figure out why my fish are all dying, I can only say that I am a bad fish mom.
Send good wishes for my fishes!
Posted by jozjozjoz at February 5, 2003 01:49 PMThanks for the great advice.
We had 4 algae eaters, but now there is only 1. When our Chinese Algae Eaters (Larry, Curly, & Moe) died, I figured there was something nasty going on.
I will have to do some fish accessory boiling. Ew. What do you use? Like a big ol' stock pot?
Posted by: jozjozjoz at February 5, 2003 06:25 PMDepends what stuff you have. I'd suggest removing the fish and putting them in a bowl (or smaller tank), somewhere they'll be happy for a couple hours. remove live plants and hose them down gently, hose down anything that you can't boil, and boil the rest. Replace your filters, make sure they're working well, and put everything back together. This will usually help.
Posted by: Michael Doss at February 5, 2003 06:31 PMI have 3 gold fish and 2 algee eater. I can't not find my algee eaters in my 55 gal. tank. If they are dead wouldn't they float to the top or do you think the gold fish ate them.
Please advise.
thanks again,
Stephanie Devance
Do you have an algee eater or similar fish? We had "ick" problems until we got one. They can really really help.
You might also want to go somewhere beyond Petco. While they're decent enough, a small local fish retailer might have healthier fish that are better taken care of. Also, have you ever removed EVERYTHING from the take, boiled all the non-fish parts, and replaced them? That's worked for us.
Posted by: Michael Doss at February 5, 2003 06:18 PM