FISH

[Blastgirl]

I'm thinking of getting a fish tank aquarium for my house.

My Son just loves goldfish. They're pretty, they're not real expensive, they get along as they are more of a friendly creature.

And they would make a nice display. I would get a fairly good sized tank with about ten fish.

Does anybody have fish tanks? What kinds of fish do you have?

[Jersey]

I used to own fish, way back when I was pretty young. Goldfish don't live very long on average, so you may want to pick up some others. One that's always good is a small dark fish that actually helps clean the tank.

Teach Jacob how to feed them and keep after them. Fish are pretty easy and this will help him learn responsibility. Good luck.

[Peon]

I have two 100gal tanks. One has 15 clown loaches, five tiger barbs, and one African cichlid. The other has six Frontosa Mpimbwes. The fish will all get to be about a foot long, but I got them when they were babies only just about a year ago. Most are in the 5-6 inch range. Keeping fish is fun, although it requires a fair amount of work -- keeping the water conditions at the proper level requires constant monitoring; temperature, etc.

[Blastgirl]

There's some other fish to consider.

I think that the tank is a soothing thing and fish are just fascinating to watch.

Thanks for your input Jersey and TC23

[Hatson]

Fish are good pets because they don't demand too much to constant attention.

What's important though is for goldfish the water has to be quite cold. Some people say that they shouldn't be mixed with tropical fish because goldfish tend to eat them that's not really true. Goldfish hardly ever eat other fish. And sometimes people keep goldfish and tropical fish together and that particular goldfish adapts to the warmer tank and everybody does just fine.

But otherwise a warmer tank should be seperate for the tropical fish and a cold tank for goldfish if you're planning on doing both kinds. Its the temp factor more than the getting along factor.

I have had lots of tanks that's a hobby of mine. And sometimes I rent a cabin in the woods for the summer and I go to it about half the week. I can just toss some food in the tank and the fish will be fine if I am not home for a few days in a row.

Plants are good to keep in the tanks for the fish to nibble on and get some variety in their diet. The plants also help keep the oxygen in the water proper for the fish to breathe.

It's also more sanatary to have gravel at the bottom of the tank. Some people don't use gravel because it makes the tank darker but its better with it. That way debris and waste doesn't float around the tank it tends to settle better. The gravel should be changed about every 3 months that's often enough.

If I think of anything else I will post.

[Blastgirl]

Wow, you seem to know a lot about fish. I've never had fish before. In fact I have already said that our Beagle is the first time I've had a pet of any kind. I don't know why that is, I have no doubt my Parents would have let us have some kinds of pets. I'm sure we could have had fish, a small dog or something like that.

[Phil]

Fish make good house pets. And they make decorative display too.

My son Jason is a bird person I got him 2 birds a few Christmases ago.

He likes them a lot and takes great care of them.

Fish are quiet too. That's another good thing. But I don't have much to offer this thread because I don't know much about what kinds of fish you can put together or even how much fish cost.

But the idea is cool.

[Blastgirl]

I took my Son to look at Fish. I didn't tell him we might be getting fish but he seemed to enjoy them. He kept saying "Fishies"

So we will probably be getting some fish soon. I might do it in the Fall though because that way Classic can help set up the tanks.

[Jason O'Lewa]

i like fish theyre cool to watch
i like just about any kind of fish

[Kimm]

I can watch fish or birds for hours theyre just fascinating.

[Phil]

This thread got me reading about goldfish.

Reports tell of several fish living over 40 years

Goldie 45
Tish 43
Fred 41
Frida 40
Most of them were won at games at a fair so they may have been even older than their known date of 'birth.'

[Blastgirl]

I wasn't aware that so many goldfish have lived so long.

I looked up a Google Search after reading Phil's post this is interesting.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/414114.stm

[Jason O'Lewa]

that was a long time for a fish to live
i have heard that fish have to be kept with their own kind because of water conditions even more than how well they get along.
i guess gupys are tropical and have needs for warm water but goldfish can handle cold water. and other kinds of fish can get sick because of the film goldfish give off but it doesnt bother other goldfish.

i dont really know but some people have said that. A friend of mine has 3 seprate fish tanks and thats why. I thought it was because some kinds of fish would attack but they say no because they can put them together for a day while they clean up the tanks and nobody hurts eachother but the water temp and water conditions have to be different.

[Kimm]

Some parks have big carp ponds. Im not sure what the difference between a "KOI" and a goldfish are other than KOI get very big. They are related though.

Theyre all members of the carp family.

[dannyboy]

Goldfish are inexpensive and that's among the reason they make for tank set up is you don't spend a ton of money to fill a fish tank.

I have seen some fish that are into the hundreds of dollars at pet stores.

To me that seems a lot to spend on a fairly fragile animal. Granted you could buy a dog take it home and have it die but that's not likely.

I don't know much about fish other than what I had to offer this thread now which is pretty much nothing.

[Marc Ate You]

blastgirl said:

I wasn't aware that so many goldfish have lived so long.

I looked up a Google Search after reading Phil's post this is interesting.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/414114.stm

wow I've never been able to keep a goldfish alive for more than a day

[Kimm]

Theyre pretty and I hope your luck changes with goldfish. I've heard that they can live a long time but most people dont have good luck with their longevity. But thats what makes that story so unusual.

I did not realize how many colors goldfish came in until recent fish tank discussions.

[Phil]

kimm said:

Theyre pretty and I hope your luck changes with goldfish. I've heard that they can live a long time but most people dont have good luck with their longevity. But thats what makes that story so unusual.

I did not realize how many colors goldfish came in until recent fish tank discussions.

They're most commonly orange/gold but some are bright red, silvery-white, or black. What I never realized but there's a nature farm fairly close to here that has a goldfish pond. We have taken the kids there and the fish can be a lot of different colors some are kind of a blue, green gray and tan.

I did not realize KOIs were the same family as goldfish but they have similar coloring so I guess I'm not surprised. KOIs get to be 2 feet long sometimes where I think 17 inches is like a world record for goldfish. If that's true.
That would be a world record though. A 10 inch goldfish would normally be the giant of the species.