We purchased a beautiful 10 gallon tank and three goldfish. One for Mom, one for Chloe and one for Pearl (who wasn't there to pick hers out). I had never owned a fish before, so I had a lot of learning to do. Of course the guy selling the fish said we didn't have to do anything. That's what the filter was for! After three weeks, Pearl's fish passed away. Soon after that, we moved. I had to empty the tank and start all over and that's when I learned about "cycling". I didn't know that you aren't supposed to add fish for the first few weeks when you start over with the water. So that's when we decided to take the whole family to the pet store. Pearl picked out her second fish and Dad picked out his fish and then we added two plecostomus (catfish/algae eaters).
A little more research and I realized that I had just overloaded the tank with too many fish. One of the plecostomus' died a week later. Then Pearl's second fish died. Pearl eagerly claimed the remaining algae-eater as her fish. Soon afterward, he died too.
Now we are down to three fish and the tank has finished "cycling". The good bacteria have become re-established and the water is clear. I don't really want to add any more fish, but we will let Pearl pick out her fourth. At least she doesn't get emotional about the loss of her pets.
Somehow, Chloe's original fish, "Coral", and my original fish, "Sea Biscuit", have managed to survive all of the chaos and change that has occured in the tank. Dad's fish "Black Thunder", a black moor, is still hanging in there too, but I don't see him eat very much. He is really cute and not afraid of bossy Sea Biscuit, who thinks she owns the tank. He is smaller, but he gets under her and head-butts her belly. He is a bit shyer too, so I didn't get a good picture of him. Sea Biscuit is so exciteable. She comes to the front whenever she spies a visitor. She gets so wild that she jumps around the tank, splashing and making noise. Coral is just a sweet little friendly fish. Who knew goldfish had so much personality?
Coral, an Orinda goldfish
Sea Biscuit being very curious
Sea Biscuit shows off
3 comments:
EK is turning 5 in April and has asked for a 'real' puppy in a box and then she said she would rather have a horse and then today as we were leaving the house, she said... I think I want a fish for my bd. DONE! I'm getting that girl a fish for her BD- beta that is and her sisters can help her take care of it. whew... Your fish are beautiful!!!
:)
Your fish are lovely. Good luck with them. I bought Joy a tank and 3 fish (betas) for her birthday last year. They didn't make it more than a few months. I don't think Joy cared much but I loved them and am thinking I should buy myself a bigger tank and try again.
Awww...they are so pretty! We had fish when Nick was little. We also had our fair share of issues with dying fish......there are so many things you need to be aware of. Eventually we gave up. Now we have the dog, so no one brings up the fish anymore:)
Hope you are doing well and settling in!
xo,
Lisa
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