new 10 gallon

Tyyrlym

Marine Biologists
I stand by my assertion, if everyone who works in the fish store I'd be amazed. Amazed in the same way if someone told me every bagger at my local grocery store was an industrial engineer. If they are, wow, incredible find, but I'm not expecting to find a four year degreed researcher netting fish at a local fish shop. Now if we're talking every adult in the shop, maybe just the shop owner I can believe that.

Qualifications
If someone gives you incredibly bad advice you have to question their knowledge on the subject. If the guys at the LFS really did tell your sister that it is perfectly fine to keep two fancy Goldfish, a Rainbow Shark, and a pair of guppies in the same 10 gallon tank they're either incompetent or just trying to sell her as many fish as possible. Those are your options. No one who is giving out good advice or concerned about her keeping fish successfully would tell her that set up will work.
1) Cold water fish and tropicals in the same tank.
2) Not one but two gold fish in a ten gallon tank that would barely be big enough for a single Goldfish on its own.
3) A Rainbow Shark in too small a tank guaranteeing problems when the shark grows as it gets territorial and starts to fight with the other fish.
4) Male Guppy with a single female Guppy. The male will harass the female and stress her and if his attentions aren't lethal to her they'll start to make lots of little guppies.
Four very bad, very wrong things with the set up that the guy at the LFS said was fine. I'm not saying he's not a great guy that he's not a wonderful person but if that's the kind of advice he's giving then you need to take anything he says with a serious grain of salt.

dallops_of_polyps

ok first off we sell our fish back to the fish store when they get to big. secondly he told her it would be ok if she keep ammonia down and had her tank at 70 degrees. also why do Goldfish need to be in freezing water? what were doing no is cooling some of her tank water and then putting it back in. and yes there two adults that work there and the rest are high school students. both adults are marine biologists and what wrong with selling fish theres plenty of money in it.

Tyyrlym

I sincerely hope you do since three of those fish will get far too big for that small tank.

Why do polar bears live in the arctic, why do alligators live in tropical climates, because that's the environment they are adapted to. Goldfish come from cooler waters, putting them in tropical waters is like putting you in a room that is kept at 85 or 90 degrees constantly. It's not going to be comfortable or good for you. You're not going to die immediately but you're not going to act normally and in the long term it can lead to health problems. And 68ish degrees is far from freezing.

Cooling the water for the Goldfish is going to mess with the others in just the same way. They are adapted for warm tropical waters. Cooling their water down will only cause those fish the same problems as warming up the Goldfish.

Inconsistent heating, like once a day cooling off a gallon or two of water and adding it to the tank will lead to temperature swings that will make everyone in the tank miserable.

Which is a far cry from everyone being a marine biologist. There's nothing wrong with selling fish, but most degreed people won't work for minimum wage as a fish netter and most shops won't pay a degreed individual what they want to be paid just to net fish. They hire people like highschool students to do the grunt work.

I'm not trying to tell you to go somewhere else, I'm not trying to say this guy is a horrible person. All I'm saying is that your sister got some bad advice and in the future you need to take whatever this guy says with a grain of salt.

I buy fish and equipment all the time from people I wouldn't trust to tell the difference between a Guppy and a betta.

Freddiesbuns

*sigh* we are obviously not giving you the answers you want to read, but still what everyone said so far is true. Just check any good website on goldfishes and tropical fish care and they will say exactly what we said so far. What you are doing right now with the tank temperature is damaging to the fishes. Ammonia levels are hard to maintain when there's an overpopulation of fishes, especially in such a small volume of water, and chemical products can only offer minimal help.

It's a good thing you will get the fishes back to the store once they outgrow their tank, I just hope it's not an habit.

dallops_of_polyps

What do you suggest and I think that we have made the mistakes here so stop ripping on or lfs I realize that she needs to get rid of the Goldfish but you try convincing her.

dallops_of_polyps

I just rad on liveaquaria.com that fantails need 65-75

aunt kymmie

You could buy her a 60G for Christmas, after all, she is your sister...
Well, maybe I'll try another PM her way....