[Abyss]

caladanbrood, on 18 February 2010 - 10:13 AM, said:

...We bought hamsters the other day with less preparation than this - maybe we're bad pet owners.

or excellent cooks.

cerveza_fiesta, on 18 February 2010 - 01:05 PM, said:

...
Gold fish are however the least interesting, messiest, ugliest and most retarded of all common aquarium fishes.

With only slightly more effort (using the above methods and at least a 25Gal tank), you can totally sweet fish like this keep dwarf cichlids here:



or my personal favourite, bichir (polyopterus)



Both of which EAT GOLDFISH WHOLE.

FOR BREAKFAST.

^ Can take them both.


- Abyss, link on the food chain.

[cerveza_fiesta]

have you seen live pirhanas in a tank? They are unbelievably boring if your tank is too small for a school. They literally sit in the same spot, not moving for years on end.

They don't even get riled when you feed them and there is no school.

boooooring.

they are tough though.

[RACHEL]

Setting up a fish tank and getting the proper products can be a pain but once they are in the tank they are pretty easy to maintain. I have a green spotted puffer in a tank with 2 figure eight puffers, bumblebee gobys, mollys, and guppies. On different websites people said that green spotted puffers don't get along with other fish, they need water changes every two weeks, a special diet , ect. I don't follow any of these rules besides adding salt to the water and my fish tank has been going strong for a year and a half. I have, however, had to trim the teeth on the one figure eight puffers three times.

[Abyss]

cerveza_fiesta, on 18 February 2010 - 06:14 PM, said:

have you seen live pirhanas in a tank? They are unbelievably boring...They don't even get riled when you feed them and there is no school.
...

That's because they weren't really hungry.

- Abyss, knows the evil.

[Ribald]

I have a pet fossil. On the downside it doesn't move around a lot. On the upside it is REALLY low maintenance.

In college my housemate had four goldfish. Jay, Silent Bob, Benson and Hedges. Overfeeding killed one (we were all a bit too conscientious and fed them every time we passed the tank and Silent Bob was a greedy little bast**d). The fact that the the tank was on the tv I think contributed to the death of the next one, who, if the autopsy is to be believed, died of advanced radiation poisoning. The third apparently had an intolerance to vodka (it was a house party and we thought that the fish should celebrate with us. Benson, the heavy smoker and drinker of the group was a trooper though. He lasted quite some time.

[Abyss]

Ribald, on 18 February 2010 - 10:19 PM, said:

...Overfeeding killed one ...Silent Bob was a greedy little bast**d)...

Recent events involving Kevin Smith and Southwest airlines make this v. funny.

- Abyss, au courant.

[caladanbrood]

One of our hamsters died... so maybe that proves me spectacularly wrong!

[Abyss]

caladanbrood, on 21 February 2010 - 06:32 PM, said:

One of our hamsters died... so maybe that proves me spectacularly wrong!

We DID warn you about the whole 'duct tape and vaseline' thing.

- Abyss, ...saddened by the senseless loss.

[cerveza_fiesta]

RACHEL, on 18 February 2010 - 07:06 PM, said:

Setting up a fish tank and getting the proper products can be a pain but once they are in the tank they are pretty easy to maintain. I have a green spotted puffer in a tank with 2 figure eight puffers, bumblebee gobys, mollys, and guppies. On different websites people said that green spotted puffers don't get along with other fish, they need water changes every two weeks, a special diet , ect. I don't follow any of these rules besides adding salt to the water and my fish tank has been going strong for a year and a half. I have, however, had to trim the teeth on the one figure eight puffers three times.

yes,

occasional small amounts (its recommended on the package) of pure aquarium salt, NOT table salt, to a freshwater tank is about the best ongoing anti-disease treatment you can give it.

I usually add a teaspoon or so for my 40gal tank every water change. It takes very little and replaces a whole raft of anti algae/fungus/bacteria chemicals the losers at the fish store will try to sell you.

Just check that your fish don't have any special sensitivity to salt or anything. Most common freshwater stuff doesn't care at all.

My single favourite chemical to avoid is the de-chlorinator (or tapwater conditioner) since you can alleviate the need for it by simply leaving water out overnight.

Quote

Overfeeding killed one (we were all a bit too conscientious and fed them every time we passed the tank and Silent Bob was a greedy little bast**d).

Overfeeding is a misunderstood thing. You can feed the shit out of fish - especially goldfish. The overfeeding itself doesn't kill them, just makes them grow way faster.

If you're putting fish on the grow plan, you can definitely feed them all the time, but do so in small installments. This ensures there is little leftover food to sink and rot in the bottom of the tank.

The other issue is large amounts of fish waste. If you're growing fish really fast, then its a good idea to up your filtration capacity. I always use a way bigger power filter than is specifically required for my gallonage. Ie for my 40gal tank, I have enough filtration for about 70-80gal.

Water agitation helps keep things clean too as long as you're not disturbing the gravel surface. A small powerhead to circulate water around in a bigger tank works for me. Its also a good idea to split up your power filters if possible. On mine I run 2 smaller power filters that discharge to different locations in the tank rather than 1 big one.

on that gravel surface note, buy dark gravel / sand and never clean it. Other than sucking loose fish turds off the surface its actually a good idea to leave your substrate completely undisturbed. There's a lot of bacteria in there that will establish over time and power the nitrogen cycle that breaks down fish waste into chemicals directly usable by live plants. I've had a tank for 5 years now and have never cleaned the gravel. its totally happy.