Not My Tank - Goldfish in 1.5 gallons........

[TheFishGuy]

First off This is NOT MY TANK, I would never keep goldfish in 1.5 freaking gallons, might as well just convert it to a lizard at that point.

However, one of my family friends was "having some problems with there fish. I tried to help by explaining that the to things they tested for ( ph and alkalinity ) were not super important, and that as long as everything is stable it should be good. I then went on to explain it could be nutrient buildup, and lack of oxygen. I was assuming them to tell me it is like a 10 gallon or something, stinks but whatever, nothin I can do about it. they then responded saying it was 1.5 gallons!!! my quarantine tank for tetras and small tropical fish is 10 gallons, like 6 or 7 times the size of that!

So how do I help........ I have given a 10 gallon setup to someone before, just because we were pretty close friends, and they couldn't afford to get a larger tank ( they jsut had like 5 tetras in a 2.5 or something ) but I dont know what to do here, I know the fish will die sooner or later, so should I jsut say to a water change and let it be or what????

Also they only do water changes ONCE A MONTH!!

So far I think I will say,

water changes weekly
and add some bio media to the filter.

I will also mention petco has there dollar per gallon sale going on, but other than that I am at a total loss.

 

[Lisak1]

Ahhh... that is a tough one. I will confess, however, that my kids once won a goldfish at a carnival they went to with their grandparents and happily brought it home. They carried it around in the hot sun in a plastic bag, jostling it here there and everywhere, setting it down, forgetting about it, racing back to get it where it sat in the hot sun for who knows how long, probably dropping it a dozen times before they finally made it home. We had a "goldfish bowl" available, and me - thinking this fish can't possibly last through the night - filled it up with tap water and said "welcome home".

That fish lived for almost a year in that bowl. We changed the water when it was "dirty" and never did much else for that fish other than feed it. We finally accepted that the fish was going to live, so we got a 55 gallon tank and good old PeeWee was the first inhabitant. We added lots of other fish friends to his home, but he was always the favorite. He lived 7 more years in that tank. One day, he inexplicably went belly up.

The moral of the story is - you just never know. Do I recommend that kind of treatment? Absolutely not. Would I do it again? Never. But goldfish can surprise you!

 

[TheFishGuy]

Ahhh... that is a tough one. I will confess, however, that my kids once won a goldfish at a carnival they went to with their grandparents and happily brought it home. They carried it around in the hot sun in a plastic bag, jostling it here there and everywhere, setting it down, forgetting about it, racing back to get it where it sat in the hot sun for who knows how long, probably dropping it a dozen times before they finally made it home. We had a "goldfish bowl" available, and me - thinking this fish can't possibly last through the night - filled it up with tap water and said "welcome home".

That fish lived for almost a year in that bowl. We changed the water when it was "dirty" and never did much else for that fish other than feed it. We finally accepted that the fish was going to live, so we got a 55 gallon tank and good old PeeWee was the first inhabitant. We added lots of other fish friends to his home, but he was always the favorite. He lived 7 more years in that tank. One day, he inexplicably went belly up.

The moral of the story is - you just never know. Do I recommend that kind of treatment? Absolutely not. Would I do it again? Never. But goldfish can surprise you!

I am already surprised, they asked me what size tank I recommended, so looks like they aren't complete fish abusers....... maybe there are just too many uneducated people. I said you can never go to big, basically hinting at the fact that yes, you could get a 180 gallon tank and it would be great, however not wanting to push it I said around 20 gallons should be good. maybe if that fish has a better home it will survive!

 

[Lisak1]

I agree - most people want to do the right thing. Many people are like we were - the fish showed up and we had to deal with it. Hopefully your friends are on the path to a new hobby!

 

[Stephen Noble]

You did good not berating them but, offering solid advice for their current situation. Way to go!

 

[TheFishGuy]

I agree - most people want to do the right thing. Many people are like we were - the fish showed up and we had to deal with it. Hopefully your friends are on the path to a new hobby!

I think they are, surprisingly they have already bought a 20 gallon, and are now asking for my advice on lids, filters all that, I really do think people want to do the right thing, but the big box pet stores just want to sell them more stuff.

 

[TheFishGuy]

You did good not berating them but, offering solid advice for their current situation. Way to go!

thanks

 

[brokensword]

if you do it right, we can call you Jonny Pondseed one day...hint, hint...

 

[Stephen Noble]

the big box pet stores just want to sell them more stuff.

Unfortunately this happens sometimes. I saw a father and young son heading to the checkout with a ten gallon tank, filter etc. Two bags of fish were Inside the tank. One bag had 4 plecostomus and the other bag had a bunch of neon tetras. I gave the sales person an earful. Thankfully, a manager got involved and intercepted the purchase. She did the right thing and I thanked her. Turned out the sales person worked in another department and was filling in. So, my hat is off to you @TheFishGuy for helping these guys out. You might give them some 'seed' gravel from one of your aquariums to help jump start their tank.

 

[TheFishGuy]

Unfortunately this happens sometimes. I saw a father and young son heading to the checkout with a ten gallon tank, filter etc. Two bags of fish were Inside the tank. One bag had 4 plecostomus and the other bag had a bunch of neon tetras. I gave the sales person an earful. Thankfully, a manager got involved and intercepted the purchase. She did the right thing and I thanked her. Turned out the sales person worked in another department and was filling in. So, my hat is off to you @TheFishGuy for helping these guys out. You might give them some 'seed' gravel from one of your aquariums to help jump start their tank.

They really do need to put there workers through the 2 week training, you just never just never know what goes through peoples mind when making a purchase like that..... I will definitely offer them some seed bio media ( like the ceramic rings )

 

[JamieB]

I couldn’t work in a pet store. I’d loose customers from giving them realistic information about things like goldfish, koi, and parrots.

 

[Mmathis]

I couldn’t work in a pet store. I’d loose customers from giving them realistic information about things like goldfish, koi, and parrots.

I would be fired by the end of my first day!

 

[TheFishGuy]

I couldn’t work in a pet store. I’d loose customers from giving them realistic information about things like goldfish, koi, and parrots.

I would only ever work in the aquatics section, no offense to fish, but I just feel like repltiles and birds and stuff are more related to humans, and so it hurts even more when they are abused....