Seeking advice from the fish gurus

Chesherca

Thank you for mentioning this! I've been kicking myself for giving in to them and starting this whole process - not because I don't want fish (been bugging my husband for ages to start a tank), but because it went so very terribly WRONG! I want to teach them how to be responsible and respect life in all it's forms, and I feel awful that *I* didn't do my research, and so have NOT set that example. To go and buy all these little fish (even Goldfish are pretty!) name them, love them, then KILL THEM. . . well, it makes me feel awful, to say the least! The girls help to take care of our furry babies (2 dogs and a kitten) as a part of their daily routine, and have been very happy to add the fish feeding as a part of that. It's going to be difficult to explain to them them that we aren't SUPPOSED to feed the fishies sometimes . . .

Thanks for putting a positive spin on this. . . you're right. Even parents make mistakes. The important part is to keep trying and always LEARNING from them! I've sure done my fair share of that over the last few days. And death happens. Better to learn with a freshly-bought Goldfish than with a grandparent or even a dog that's been around since before they were born. After I started learning what we were doing wrong, I've been prepping my daughters (mostly the 4-year old) for the worst JUST IN CASE. I'm explaining as much as I can about the situation with the tank water and why the Goldfish (Princess Ghost) and the Pleco (Shadow) had to go to live with Uncle Joe to be healthier and keep our other fish healthier. I'm fairly sure she'll take another loss with grace, at least I hope so. I wasn't expecting her to actually BOND to a fish, just like any other pet, and so quickly! Even our SEMI-aquatic ribbon plant that was sold to us for the fish tank is now residing in PROPER conditions for its species, and being looked after. Plants are pets, too :)

I'm glad you got some amusement from the frog story. I have to say that *I* was not laughing so much about it, and I'm glad the kids were in bed for all that. ALL that I've been doing to try to save this tank. . . and little Speckles is one of the MAIN ATTRACTIONS!!! Why oh, WHY! But I do appreciate the help he was trying so dutifully to offer. And just for the record, my husband is quite certain I've lost my mind at this point - he walks by and mutters 'tropical fish forum' and shakes his head. Poor guy, he's been a trooper - especially considering that he wasn't keen on getting a tank to begin with. (if he HAD been, I suspect that this wouldn't have been so botched and spur-of-the-moment. That's just not my style!)

As for the mollies, oh the mollies. . . we do so love our mollies! They're so much FUN to watch - they chase and play - they're wonderful fish, and SO not boring! Tetras are pretty, but mollies are SILLY! I really hope they manage to pull through, though I am NOT looking forward to having to explain why mommy Molly is EATING HER BABIES! (we've all had our days, eh?!)

Jakiebabie

Well I'll tell you a little story... when my daughter was about 6-7. She had a blue Budgie named PeeWee and she was away for a week with her Grandmother and he died. We were like.... OMG what are we gonna do? This guy sits and kisses, sits on your head, sits on the arm of your glasses and snuggles against your face, sits on your shoulder and plays with your hair. omg, omg, OMG!!
Off we went to the pet store, replaced him with an exact blue... thank goodness they are in abundant supply and started training him every day and night. By the time she got home, we said he had not been feeling well and we were to leave him in his cage for a few days. "OK, Mommy." We continued training the little guy for another week and finally he stepped up onto her finger and sat on her glasses... right on cue. Crissis averted. Only recently did I tell her that it was not the same PeeWee. ( She is now 25) She lost fish over the year, cats, and dogs and if he had died while she was home and saw him in his cage we would have done things different, but I just could not have her come home to an empty cage. She thanked me for sparing her the pain, but I'm sure I scarred her in some way by lying to her. Lots of lessons in this one! Just thought I would share that one. She is still a bird girl, has 2 parrots now and her own menagerie of fish, dogs, cats, turtles.

ladayen

I would leave the temperature at 76 degrees. 72 is on the low end for the frog and probably isn't going to be good long term. Most tropical fish prefer the 75-77 range.

Chesherca

Thanks! I turned the tank down to 72 early this morning, but it's sitting at 76 - the heater hasn't kicked on at all today. I'll keep a close eye on it, but for now I'm guessing that that is the temperature that the universe has decided my tank should be for now. Glad this works for everyone on the inside, as I have no idea how I'd cool it off if I HAD to!

Jakiebabie: That's a great story! I'm thinking I probably would have done the same thing in your situation - and I don't think you scarred her at all! You're right - there are MANY ways to handle these kinds of things, I don't know if any of them are really right or wrong, but if Speckle doesn't make it hrmmmm... they all look the same to me ;) Hopefully we don't have to go that route, though!

Snappyarcher

Thanks! I turned the tank down to 72 early this morning, but it's sitting at 76 - the heater hasn't kicked on at all today. I'll keep a close eye on it, but for now I'm guessing that that is the temperature that the universe has decided my tank should be for now. Glad this works for everyone on the inside, as I have no idea how I'd cool it off if I HAD to!

The body of water will take time to adjust and can take 24 hours or so, but saying that it will generally adjust to your room temperature and if that means the heater is latent that's fine... lower electricity bills!

Remember also that fish can accept quite wide variations in temperature but the general rule is that they will not tolerate sudden change.

TheresaMcMurrough

keep up the good work! we all have made huge mistakes. The people at chain pet shops are there to SELL stuff. THey dont care about the life of the fish and the heartache your children will endure. You water testing will fluctuate until there is enough good bacteria. These fish will produce bad stuff and the good bacteria will have something to eat. They will be everywhere even in the filter sponge, so even though u take out the water there will still be good bacteria. Keep reading and all will work out!