My niece's goldfish committed suicide!

[tkkmasky]

she had a goldfish that had gross things hanging off of it, and it was swimming sideways, so she decided it was a pretty sure thing that the end was near....she wanted to flush it before it was even completely dead (My niece tends to jump the gun a bit.)

Well, she plopped it into the toilet and it swam down the hole at the bottom all on its own! No need to flush, and it never came back up again!

[Brenda2000]

LOL....that is really funny!
We bought a goldfish rom Petsmart, that died within 6 days. They have a 14 day quarantee, so we had a slimey fish in a ziploc baggie in our fridge for a few days until I could get back into town.

Was kinda gross!!


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[Statchmo]

Believe it or not, there are "acceptable" ways to euthanize pet fish. I was stunned when I realized lots of people don't just flush 'em.

I too have used the 14-day return policy, resulting in baggies o' dead fish in my fridge for a day or 2. Much to the husband's surprise. :-D

[tkkmasky]

She had it for a year so no guarantee anymore! (pretty good for her to have kept it alive for a year, though!)

We bought a guinea pig for my oldest dd and it died within 24 hours.....we brought the body back and exchanged it for a new one! Kind of nasty but when you have a heartbroken dd you'll do anything, I suppose.

[cashhound]

My DD still talks about the "gerbilcycle." Her gerbil died within a couple of days, so, yep, baggie in the freezer until we could get back to the pet shop.

[3tbear]

Ewwwww! I guess you gotta do what ya gotta do. So, are you getting another fish to replace that one?

[DarkWolf]

The best way to put a fish to sleep is either a mix of water with clove oil in it (can't recall the mix ratio, it's a sedative to them), or to place them in a container of water in the fridge, then into the freezer. Seems mean, but the slowly cooling water halts their matabolisum(sp) and they go to sleep before freezing.

BTW, My goldfish were too big to flush.. Aprox 5" for the 3 goldfish, and 6 1/2" for my Koi.. I didn't put them to sleep though.. Gave them away, they grew too big for my 75 gal tank.

[RANT]
One thing also, don't put goldfish into goldfish bowls.. WAY too little water for the size of the fish and growth rate. And I'll smack anyone who says Betta's enjoy being in those pee cup conditions they're sold in, or those evil peace lilly things they were slapped into and sold as decorations in.

Also, while I'm on my rant, what kinda gross things hanging off it? Was it long while lines dangling, or did it look as if it was covered in a white slime fuzz? Most things in fish are easily treated if you do it before they're swimming upside down..
[/RANT]

Anywho.. My aquarium is a 75 gallon tank with dual filtration (one canister, one DIY bio filter).. Houses 5 Clown Loaches, 5 Bala Sharks, 1 Iridecent Shark, 8 Bloodfin Tetras, 6 Neons, 3 Alage eaters, 1 big Plecostamous, 8 Long fin Rosey Barbs, 4 Dwarf Frogs, 1 evil Apple Snail, 1 Betta, 1 Upside down Catfish, and a pile of live plants..

Here's an old pic of my tank when I set it up. Koi and Goldfish are gone now, living in a nice 300 gallon pond.



I have several good refrence sites to aquarium keeping if anyone would want to take a look. Including profiles of fish and their behaviour/size/etc.. Really great info if you're interested in seeing other peoples tanks, and want to know how to best keep your pets happy. Never was one to beleave fish were a disposable pet..

Also, if you're bored and want to look through some really old pics of my fish, check [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] - includes 2 movies. This was when they were really young, and was in my first tank, a 20 gallon setup I snagged off my dad.

One very valuable thing I've learned over time; Start with as big an aquarium as you can afford. Why? 1) It's adictive. Once you set up a good community tank, you'll want more to it.. And 2) WAY easier to maintain. With the propper over filtering (always get a bigger filter then you think is needed) of the tank, you won't need to do 25% water changes but once every other month.

-- SAVE A BETTA, SMACK A SALES PERSON --
Scott--


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[Statchmo]

Scott I didn't know you were a fellow aquarist. Everything you said is right on. I have also heard a mixture of vodka & water is a good way to euthanize. I personally have used the very cold water in the freezer trick a number of times.

I like to hang out at [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] and [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now]

I have a 42hex with an Eheim Ecco canister, currently housing 6 juvie discus, 2 zebra danios that I can't net out because they're too darn fast for me, 1 lonely otocinclus for cleanup, and an ornery rubber plec.

My discus aren't exactly prime examples of their species, but I am enjoying the learning experience. Maybe someday I can afford some really nice discus (locally they tend to run $40-$70 per fish).

Here's a link to some pics of my discus:

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[DarkWolf]

Kewl beans.. I like the profiles on aquariacentral.com, much more then the other site I use, however it's still good to cross referance IMO..

Know what you mean about the danio's.. My GF has 3 gold danio's we'll be netting out of her tank to take to school. We set up my old 20 Gal there for fish, and a 10 Gal tank 1/3rd full of water for a few fiddler crabs... Danio's are gonna be the hardest to catch, but they're kewl fish.. I prefer the long fin leapord vs. zebra or gold.

That's a very nice group you have there. I'm not a big fan of them, but they're pretty.. If I ever get away from a community tank setup, I'd like to get a few Cichlids, maybe an Oscar and set up a rock tank with more rocks in it, perhaps some glued up the back wall to create a cliff..

BTW, have you ever heard of Killi fish? I would LOVE to get ahold of some of those, but they're impossible to find in a LFS.. Only things I've found were eggs for sale (they're a species which the eggs need to dry for a few months).. Dunno about buying a fish that aint even hatched yet.. Maybe some day..

Here's a few pics.. The colors and variety are amazing..






Rather miss my Koi though.. Gave them away for free, but at their size, they would have went for $40/ea easy..


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[hrdlife1]

do any of you know anything about turtles? we have a turtle in a 10-gallon fish tank (his name is charlie) when we got him he was TINY and he's getting bigger...we've had him for about a year and he's tripled in size...hubby's aunt found him walking in her back yard...he seems to enjoy the fish tank but i'm wondering if maybe he should be in something else? i know absolutely nothing about turtles except what kind of food to buy him so any help would be appreciated...also would like to know if there is any fish that could live with him in the tank? tia


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[Statchmo]

hrdlife, I know nothing about turtles, but my suggestion would be to head to your nearest mom n pop fish/small pet place and talk to someone there. Don't go to Petsmart, Petco, etc....those folks don't know diddly. Don't turtles need to be able to get out of the water? This would make it difficult to find fish that could live in the same tank with them, I would think, because you would have to have a fairly shallow depth of water along with some rocks or whatever for the turtle to get up on.

Scott those killifish are awesome. I've heard of them but don't think I've ever seen any in my LFS either. Believe it or not I got my discus on aquabid. Pretty cool to get a Fed-X box full of fish! The shipping is the killer---I got my 6 discus at $10 apiece, then paid $75 for the overnight shipping. However, this still came out at about $22 per fish---locally the cheapest price on discus I could find was $25 per fish, and I had been waiting for 6 weeks for that particular store to get some back in stock before I finally gave up and went for aquabid. Everyplace else was $40 and up per discus.

I too would like another aquarium to set up as a community tank but it probably won't happen anytime soon. Discus are quite the demanding fish---I do 25-30% water changes EVERY day in their tank. We also have a 20 gallon (1 BIG angelfish, 5 zebra danios that didn't escape my net :-), 1 rubber plec, & 2 otos), a 5 gallon (1 betta), and a 2 gallon (betta #2). Saturdays I do WCs in all of the tanks. Needless to say, I dread Saturdays.

BTW Scott your tank looks GREAT. In the interests of simplicity, I have eliminated all the plants from my hex, and it now only has two flat pieces of slate leaning up against each other for a hiding place, and one big piece of driftwood. And the gravel of course, which makes me a pariah in the discus community.


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[DarkWolf]

That my dear all depends on what type of turtle it is. Since it's a wild one, and not one sold in pet stores, I'm going to shoot with it being a type of box turle, which can get pretty large depending on what species it is. Then again it may be a semi aquatic slider. You'll have to do some research on the net to see if you can match up a picture with the one you have. Then it's easy enough to find out care information.

Some turtle species info (no pics)
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Good info (pics)
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Good pics (pics)
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That should do it for being able to find out just what it is...

As for fish with him, depending on what he is, they may end up as lunch.. Else any kind of smaller fish would be fine in a 10 gal.. BTW, does this turtle live in a water filled tank, half water half land, or just land?


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[DarkWolf]

Originally posted by Statchmo
Believe it or not I got my discus on aquabid.

Kewl.. I've been hanging there for quite some time wondering about bidding.. All stocked up now, but may give it a shot at some point and time.. Seems the only place to get Killies

I do 25-30% water changes EVERY day in their tank.

Good grief.. That's mad.. Over filter it, or better yet, get a 120 gallon tank, and over filter it too!!

BTW Scott your tank looks GREAT.

Thanks, eh.. And that pic is an old one.. Much more plants in it now, though some are fake (Koi destroy plants), but since I let them go, been re stocking with live plants again.. Will have to take a pic so you can see..

[DarkWolf]

Here are some up to date pics of the fish I have.. Or those that would sit still for the camera... Pics are big, too.. Didn't resize them down.. IE 6 should fit to screen though when they load...

Oh, and the tank needs cleaning, and the evil snail messed up some of my plants, so I have to place them back in their spot.. Don't wanna get my whole arm wet though ATM..

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Note, this is my home office network HUB comp, so if it's slow, it's cuz it's on a cable modem alone. Unless anyone wants to fund an OC3 to my home..


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[sweetiris]

Originally posted by DarkWolf
-- SAVE A BETTA, SMACK A SALES PERSON --
Scott--

LOL!!!! What a great line!!!! I couldn't stand when I lived in the dorm and so many people had them in these little tiny containers they could hardly even turn around in. Made me want to steal their fish and put them in bigger containers.