# Arghhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!



## andyscott (Aug 10, 2008)

Ive been keeping reptiles for over 25 years now. Started with Blue tounges at 10 years old and have moved up quite a way since then.
Ive had more than 50 reptiles in my care over the years and have 12 in my care ATM
In this time, I have NEVER had a reptile die (touch wood), or even needed to take one to the vet.
Well last week I brought a gold fish bowl with 2 Gold Fish (impulse buy, dont ask), both fish are now DEAD :evil::evil::evil:.


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## Simple (Aug 10, 2008)

We feel your pain, we just can't seem to keep anything that lives in water alive. Reptiles, dogs, birds not a problem. Fish, turtles etc - not a chance!


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## Wench (Aug 10, 2008)

gold fish are bad...
i bought 4 and put them in my best friends fish tank (she had a gorgeous tank setup but no fish in it)
i did the whole putting drops in the water and making sure everything was right
within a week all 4 fish died. had to explain to a 5 year old why we were flushing animals down the toilet.


i think it might have had somethin to do with the huge 21st party we had at the house that weekend and something MAY have been tipped in the tank **dont know for sure***


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## Jonno from ERD (Aug 10, 2008)

Mate, one thing I have learnt over the last few months is that maintaining an aquarium isn't as easy as putting those drops in the water and rinsing the filter out every now and then. A lot of people don't realise how an aquarium actually operates...it all makes sense when someone explains but most people get it wrong.


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## ambah (Aug 10, 2008)

andyscott said:


> Ive been keeping reptiles for over 25 years now. Started with Blue tounges at 10 years old and have moved up quite a way since then.
> Ive had more than 50 reptiles in my care over the years and have 12 in my care ATM
> In this time, I have NEVER had a reptile die (touch wood), or even needed to take one to the vet.
> Well last week I brought a gold fish bowl with 2 Gold Fish (impulse buy, dont ask), both fish are now DEAD :evil::evil::evil:.


 
Totally with you there, goldfish are pure evil..


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## PeeGee (Aug 10, 2008)

I had the same problem, bought my fish from Petstock last year, big mistake, fish were dead within a week, so I went to the local tiny petshop in town. One year later, and my fish are still alive and kicking!!


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## Hetty (Aug 10, 2008)

Goldfish are pretty mucky, they need a lot of water. They need big tanks to be healthy, keeping them in a bowl isn't a good idea.


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## imalizard (Aug 10, 2008)

Fish are a challenge but I have 12 goldfish that are very old! They were my dads before I was born. I have other fish which I don't pay too much attention to but they still live (just):lol:


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## missllama (Aug 10, 2008)

andyscott said:


> Ive been keeping reptiles for over 25 years now. Started with Blue tounges at 10 years old and have moved up quite a way since then.
> Ive had more than 50 reptiles in my care over the years and have 12 in my care ATM
> In this time, I have NEVER had a reptile die (touch wood), or even needed to take one to the vet.
> Well last week I brought a gold fish bowl with 2 Gold Fish (impulse buy, dont ask), both fish are now DEAD :evil::evil::evil:.




you pig! how could u let that happen to the poor little fisheys! what a irrisponsible owner! andy i dont think i can ever talk to u again u are no longer my friend

nahh i am hopeless with fish too i spent a heap on oscars they didnt last a wk  i think i just have bad luck with them i had heaters and all!


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## mrillusion (Aug 10, 2008)

we got 4 of them 6 months ago and threw them in the back pond filled with rain water no filters or anything and only 2 water plants 4 oxygen and not we have like 20
so there pretty easy to look after IMO if u want ill sell u some of mine LOL


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## Drazzy (Aug 10, 2008)

Remember to recycle, feed them to your blueys


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## callith (Aug 10, 2008)

how did you manage to kill a gold fish, i cant kill gold fish even if i try, except when my old barra got hungry


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## croc_hunter_penny (Aug 10, 2008)

its funny, i had sharks for 3 years with no problems besides occasionally eating one or two of the fish :lol: but i can't keep goldfish! That's ok, the file snakes snap them up before they get a chance to die


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## kakariki (Aug 11, 2008)

Andy, you can't have everything! Stick to your hideous [] bhps and womas.Leave the delicate goldfish to the rest of us!!:lol::lol: RIP lil fishies.....


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## OU812 (Aug 11, 2008)

They say that goldfish are a good pet to start with "if you can look after them you can look after something bigger".
I bought a fish pond with all the gear and $180 worth of fish.......all dead two days later !
Ungreatfull Bastards!


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## imalizard (Aug 11, 2008)

Goldfish arn't the best starter fish but everyone says they are. I would say White Clouds Mountain Minnows are the hardest fish to kill lol


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## Moreliaman (Aug 11, 2008)

Most people put fish in too early, I always tell people to leave tanks for at least a week before putting any fish in & then you add slowly or you’ll overload the system, nitrite & ammonia levels go through the roof & all the fish die......it takes about 1 month for a filter to fully mature. Same goes for ponds too....people just rush in & stock them & then wonder why they get problems....if only people would read up on it before they decided to hand fish the death sentence !

Looks like your main problems were.... 1. A bowl ....2. With no filter & 3. Too many fish too quick for a small crappy bowl (fish bowls should be banned & no fish should be kept in unfiltered water unless it’s a large pond with a few fish!) Better luck next time eh !!


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## froglet (Aug 11, 2008)

Has anyone ever heard of new tank syndrome? You ahouldnt just chuck fish into a tank(bowl) & expect it to be fine. (no offence to Andyscott)
Bowls are not suited to goldfish-unless the bowl is at least 15litres (for 2 fish)


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## pythonmum (Aug 11, 2008)

Best way to keep goldfish is dump them in a nice outdoor pond. You have to give them somewhere to hide from the birds, however. We have a nice little ecosystem with a waterfall for aeration/filtration and algae for them to eat. We haven't fed the fish for years. If I try to keep them in a bowl, my daughter will end up in tears when they die!


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## Drazzy (Aug 11, 2008)

I reccommend Insaniquarium for first time fish owners


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## Moreliaman (Aug 11, 2008)

Owww i dunno Drazzy....by the sound of it theres a few on here that could kill them too !!:lol:


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## FNQ_Snake (Aug 11, 2008)

Ha ha, probably saw your reps and dies of fright. lol


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## euphorion (Aug 11, 2008)

can't be good at everything now can you? 

and just to rub it in a little, i have 3 gorgeous fantails in a 20L tank with a few plants, small power filter going too. and even with feeding them everyday i've only had to clean it twice since i moved back into my house in December last year, and thats just a filter rinse and a 50%water change. don't ask me why, i guess the plants are soaking up all the nasties from the fish as they grow like crazy XD woot, go my plants. having said that they do get a stupidly expensive concoction of chemicals for their water to start with to make it all nice and fish-friendly. don't get me started on the siamese fighters, least to say i resort to importing their stuff, i'm insane i know.

now stop moping and go smirk to yourself over how wonderful your reptile collection is.


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## BlindSnake (Aug 11, 2008)

I lost one of my 1ft ghosties not long ago.. Id had him for years, and he was pretty spesh.. He was always out, even during the day cos he was missing his lil eyes. (born without them)


We generally use goldfish for a cpl weeks in a new tank, to get the good bacteria flowing, before we put the real fish in! Then we swap the goldfish for a part payment on something to go in the new tank, or feed them to something. 

JMO, but nothing cheapens a nice tank faster than putting in goldfish! LOL


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## Rocky (Aug 11, 2008)

i have heaps of fish, but most keep dying.. probably shouldn't put em in with the turtle


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## MrHappy (Aug 11, 2008)

Looking after fish takes a fair bit of knowledge. I don't like hearing about fish that have died, just like most of us would hate to hear about someone's lizard or snake dying. Water quality is a big thing. You should let your water sit for two weeks before adding fish. You need to change 25% of your water every fortnight. Testing your water every week is very helpful to know what's going on. It should take 10 minutes to add your fish to your tank (water temps.) Research the fish you intend to get before you get it.
You don't have to do these things but it's in your fishes best interests to do so. They are animals just like our reptiles are.
I'm not trying to get anyone off-side, I just want to offer my advice. I'm a bit of a greeny when it comes to animals.


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## CassM (Aug 11, 2008)

How come my fish are such little work then? They were the first fish I ever kept by myself (mind you they're just regular orange goldfish, I can't remember the actual name) I got them about 7 years ago, just whacked them in a bowl and they're fine. They have their gravel in the bottom of the bowl which they enjoy throwing about to look for food and to make a lot of noise. I left them for a month with a neighbour when I went to the UK and I know she would have forgotten to feed them, but they're fine! 

Maybe they're super goldfish...


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## 888lowndes888 (Aug 11, 2008)

If someone can kill a feeder fish (rosie barb) then they are doing well. Hardiest fish out.


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## BlindSnake (Aug 11, 2008)

We manage to kill rosey barbs...... we just put them in with baby treesnakes!! LOL


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## FNQ_Snake (Aug 11, 2008)

Don't know about letting the water sit for weeks? If you are just putting goldie in it, the fish can be put in after 30 minutes, Just add a water softener. A lot of movies portray them in a round bowl, but the goldies still need a filter and aerator.

My daughter as had two now for about a year. She is six and has never had a drama. We give it a complete clean every two weeks, take all the water out and wash the gravel and filter. Refill the container with tap water, add softener and 30 minutes later pop the fish in. 

Never had any algae, white spot or any other dramas. 

Good luck in the future.


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## Nekhbet (Aug 12, 2008)

some places make fish the expendable pet. They are not hideously fiddly its a matter of setting it up right. I also had my goldfish for quite a few years, they even splashed at the top of the tank when they were hungry! The stinking hot summer a couple of years back bumped them off. I had them in home made 'hospital' for a few days but still passed 

I dont like bowls unless you have tiny goldfish or something like danios (they tend to jump out though through panic) always put a plant in there first for a week or two and even if you can set up a Smallworld filter to keep the nitrate/amonia levels in check and keep the water circulating.




you just clip them to an air filter and theyre great for small tanks (like up to a foot long, low stocking levels)

you need to set up beneficial bacteria in a tank, they create a little ecosystem in the tank and process toxins that build up. A new tank becomes basically a toilet bowl very quickly becuase there are no bacteria to convert toxins. These will also live in filter sponges (so dont go bleaching or boiling your filter sponges) and you can actually BUY impregnated sponges for larger tanks. 
Another problem is that some fish wholesalers breed poor quality animals. I worked in a store and we received some horrendous little goldfish, eyes missing, bent spines, odd fins etc. Bad genetics creating weak runty animals. I know they're just fish but they still deserve decent breeding.

Set up the tank, rain water is good too! Use a chlorine neutraliser before you put any living things in. Rinse the gravel in running water until all the fine sediment is gone, and make sure anything you use as substrate is aquarium safe. Do not use sand with goldfish they eat it and get impacted guts. Do not use bleach, chemicals even sprays in the same room as they can either create a film on top of the water and suffocate the fish or poison the fish.
Put a couple of plants in there (which will carry bacteria on their surface) and leave it for a couple of weeks with the filtration/aeration going to encourage the tank to seed. This will also show if the plants are carrying snail eggs  Banana Lillys are good first coldwater plants and hardy, Elodia tends to shed leaves and get picked apart by goldfish as well.

Just make sure your goldies are not in too warm a spot (they are a carp type fish and prefer the cold (up to 24 degrees is perfect) and feed them pellets instead of flakes - creates less mess and wated food. You're better to feed one-two small meals a day then heaps of flakes, hungry fish will clean up everything. Buy active, healthy fish with no red spots or not in tanks with quiet, dead or iffy fish. Do not buy poo trailing fish as this means they are being fed a cheap diet and are constipated.


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## Tatelina (Aug 12, 2008)

Probably because goldfish are so ridiculously over bred.

But I get what you're saying about maintaining a fish tank...takes much more effort than people realise!


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## Carpetcleaner (Aug 12, 2008)

There's only one thing worse than a dead goldfish, and that's a dead AXOLOTL!!!!! We bought one for our daughter once and it never moved. It just sat there in one spot all the time. One weekend we went away and came home to find a putrid smell in the house. I checked on Aristotle the Axolotl and thought that he was just fine....sitting in his usual spot....but on closer inspection.....he was dead!!!! And boy did he stink!!! He stank so bad that I swore that I would never again own an Axolotl!!! The fish tank got sold and now I just don't do water pets.


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## mebebrian (Aug 12, 2008)

I have a fresh water eel, now there's a hardy aquatic species! The bloke at the shop said he didn't know how old they can get or how big cause they always find a way to escape, hence the house bricks on the lid of our fish tank! Elton is about 2ft long and a little over a year old.


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## No-two (Aug 12, 2008)

Tatelina said:


> Probably because goldfish are so ridiculously over bred.
> 
> But I get what you're saying about maintaining a fish tank...takes much more effort than people realise!


 
They're also not as hard to maintain as some people think. Once you have established the beneficial bacteria in your tank, fish keeping can be as easy as replacing 25% of the tank's volume in dechlorinated tap water every couple of weeks and rinsing the filter media in water (also dechlorinated) every month or so. Obviously those are the very basics of fish keeping. It can be as easy or as hard as you choose for it to be. It all depends on the environment inside the tank you choose to set up and the hardiness of the fish you choose.

Bowls are no good for any fish. Even Bettas (siamese fighting fish), the little fish that live in puddles in rice fields somewhere in Asia, would much prefer a nice big tank over a small bowl. Bowls are especially no good for goldfish as they can get up to 20cm in length. Placing them in bowls stunts their external growth, while their internal organs keep on growing...Not nice.

As for goldfish being recommended for first time fish keepers, they're actually very hardy fish. The problem lies in that the first time keeper may choose a much too small tank for the fish, not maintain the filter properly, or simply just not do enough water changes (goldfish produce a lot of waste). The problem also lies in the breeding of poor quality fish, as has already been said. I would recommend at least 100L per goldfish as they are extremely messy and, if given enough room to, can and will grow very large.


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## Noongato (Aug 12, 2008)

We had goldfish alot as kids, they got boring after a week and then they lived in outside troughs or the dogs water bowl, in winter the surface used to freeze over and everything.And we stopped feeding them. I believe most of them are still alive and thriving at mums. Mind you the dog water bowls were actually big drums.. Those ones a indestructable.....


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## snakelvr (Aug 12, 2008)

I nolonger keep goldfish. I bought 2 for my son which he fondly named Nemo & Dory.
Well I went through 4 Nemos before my son realised that each one looked that little bit different!!:lol: It's hard to explain that the fish went to heaven as you flush it down the loo!! I stick to my snakes now. Safer that way................for the fish!!


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## BlindSnake (Aug 12, 2008)

mebebrian said:


> I have a fresh water eel, now there's a hardy aquatic species! The bloke at the shop said he didn't know how old they can get or how big cause they always find a way to escape, hence the house bricks on the lid of our fish tank! Elton is
> about 2ft long and a little over a year old.


 
I LOVE EELS.. I only have 2 atm tho.
All our eels are called neil, or ms neil! LOL
They have so much character, we had one that would stand on his tail and dance (or beg) for food when he saw you, and fed from the hand.


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## Moreliaman (Aug 13, 2008)

shooshoo said:


> can't be good at everything now can you?
> 
> and just to rub it in a little, i have 3 gorgeous fantails in a 20L tank with a few plants, small power filter going too. and even with feeding them everyday i've only had to clean it twice since i moved back into my house in December last year, and thats just a filter rinse and a 50%water change. don't ask me why, i guess the plants are soaking up all the nasties from the fish as they grow like crazy XD woot, go my plants. having said that they do get a stupidly expensive concoction of chemicals for their water to start with to make it all nice and fish-friendly. don't get me started on the siamese fighters, least to say i resort to importing their stuff, i'm insane i know.
> 
> now stop moping and go smirk to yourself over how wonderful your reptile collection is.


 
Why dont you get a nitrate test kit !! then i bet it wont be so perfect If the change is gradual the fish can cope with it (to a degree) its when sudden changes in temp,ph,amonia,nitrite,nitrate etc are made it affects them more.

Fish secrete a chemical when they urinate, if this level gradually builds up (i.e lack of regular water changes) it stunts the fishes growth.....think of it as mother natures way of preventing overcrowding in ponds!


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## chrisso81 (Aug 13, 2008)

Its funny, no-one would leave their reps to live in their own waste for 2,3 weeks or more yet it seems perfectly acceptable to people keeping fish with no idea of waht they're doing. You hear these stories time and time again and its frustrating. Just because they cost a fraction of a snake or lizard people think its ok to plunge in with no idea how of to maintain good hygiene or properly care for the fish. Fish keeping is and should be very easy for everyone. We owe it to these creatures, no matter how great or small, to look after them properly, after all, they are totally dependent on us for their survival!


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## alex_c (Aug 13, 2008)

Been there done that quite a few times, my first goldfish i got when i was little all topped themselve's by jumping out of the bowl. but yeah as other's have said aquarium's can be quite complex to keep.


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## warren63 (Aug 13, 2008)

My son won a goldfish at a school fete and bought a simple small bowl for him and he lived 2 years, think thats the longest surviving gold fish we ever had including ones when i was a kid in a big outdoor pond we had.


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## Moreliaman (Aug 13, 2008)

warren63 said:


> My son won a goldfish at a school fete and bought a simple small bowl for him and he lived 2 years, think thats the longest surviving gold fish we ever had including ones when i was a kid in a big outdoor pond we had.


 
Thats an interesting point ........ goldfish are part of the carp family & can live over 30+ years
I must admit i disagree with living things been given as prizes....thankfully its now banned here in the UK.


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## MrHappy (Aug 17, 2008)

This is a topic that can go on forever depending on how you feel about fish. They are animals just like the reptiles you keep. I agree with Moreliaman and Chrisso81.
I wonder if fish cost as much as reptiles, would they be researched more, by more people?
I have more than 80 fish in my tank and some are worth as much as $200+ in pet shops. Is this why I'm so passionate about their quality of life? No!
I'm positive if someone posted a topic about not being able to keep one of their herps alive, we (including myself) would jump all over it, defending the creature/explaining proprer animal care.
ALL animals deserve the best. We, as humans, should not have the right to decide which animals are more important than others.


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## Tatelina (Sep 5, 2008)

Moreliaman said:


> Fish secrete a chemical when they urinate, if this level gradually builds up (i.e lack of regular water changes) it stunts the fishes growth.....think of it as mother natures way of preventing overcrowding in ponds!


Interesting...very interesting...


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## itbites (Sep 5, 2008)

hmm in the last 2+ months i've gone through at least 70 goldfish....I wonder why they keep dying? Perhaps it's the gts's fault  

Fish are not hard to keep at all, it's not rocket science


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## miley_take (Sep 11, 2008)

When people question my resposibility, i show them my Oscar. I've kept her alive for 4-5ish years now, and believe me, fish are not as easy as people think...she gets sick at the slightest change in pH etc...so I'm forever testing...her temp needs to be just right....she's a lot of stress, but I think she's worth it...literally she's be worth a lot for her size and colour.


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