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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU - Pets at Home Goldfish Fiasco

98 replies

MoronsandNeurons · 27/04/2016 13:27

Went to buy a replacement goldfish (DD's lasted 6 months) and I was refused by the most miserable assistant because I didn't have a filter in the tank. Bought an overpriced filter.
Went back today and they refused because it hadn't been switched on for a minimum of 3 days. Then they asked what size tank I had, I said a starter kit. They said for ONE goldfish I need to have a tank around the 60L mark as they can grow upto 30cm and that the (goldfish!!) starter kits weren't big enough. Confused
AIBU to want to buy my daughter a goldfish without needing a degree in marine biology and a huge aquarium?! Fair enough for tropical fish but a humble goldfish? And does anyone know where I can buy one without a background check? Grin

OP posts:
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7
cleaty · 27/04/2016 14:54

They are totally right and you are wrong. Most pet goldfish are tiny because they kept in very small tanks. They should not be that small.

queenoftheknight · 27/04/2016 14:54

Erm, they didn't test wee....they tested the water. I just used the bottles to transport it! Ha ha ha.

AnotherPrickInTheWall · 27/04/2016 14:56

YABU. Pets at Home are very professional and will only sell pets when they are certain they will be very well cared for.

Mari50 · 27/04/2016 14:56

We had a goldfish from P@H, lasted 3 years. Never again. The sheer hassle of looking after it is more than I would ever contemplate a second time. I'm ashamed to admit that I more than likely poisoned mine as a result of it living in too small a tank and drinking its own shit and wee all day long.

MadamDeathstare · 27/04/2016 14:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

coffeeisnectar · 27/04/2016 14:59

We have goldfish in our pond, some of them are massive. And they are breeding. When we moved and drained the pond down we found 18 babies which are now gradually turning from black to gold and getting to be about 2 inches long. We also have ghost koi which are over a foot long now. Flake and koi pellets go in there.

We have two tanks. One is 3ft and is a community tank. We have guppies (also breeding - few babies at the moment and they are tiny), shrimps, various neons and some clown loaches, corys. We have to put in bottom feeding pellets, flake, bloodworm and baby food. In the other tank (slightly smaller) it's much more heavily planted and that has just neons and three tiny congo frogs. Bloodyworm and flake go in that tank.

We still get quizzed if we are going to buy fish from PAH but we have had the tanks set up for ages (we set up one before we moved and let it settle and then transferred the fish and then set up the other). Both times the tanks were left for at least 3 weeks to ensure the water was the right acidity level. We have filters, air bubbles, heater and lights.

IvyWall · 27/04/2016 15:00

Poor little goldfish kept in tiny tanks. It makes me sad to think of them suffering Sad

Here is some useful information about keeping goldfish thegoldfishtank.com/goldfish-care/tank/do-goldfish-need-a-big-tank/

ginnybag · 27/04/2016 15:09

P@H and starter sets is a real bug bear of mine.

The ones they sell for rodents are criminal, frankly, particularly for syrian hamsters - they aren't anywhere near large enough, but they don't just stock them, they actively advise that they are. I've tested it, a couple of times, just to see what they'd say.

That said, their sourcing of the animals isn't great, either. Stick to an independent, preferably that breeds their own.

Micah · 27/04/2016 15:12

YABU. Pets at Home are very professional and will only sell pets when they are certain they will be very well cared for

Bollocks. They sold me a tiny tank, said all I had to do was let it stand for two weeks. Nothing about water testing or cycling. They said, and I quote "you can get loads of fish in there" before selling me clown loaches which need massive, massive tanks.

SistersOfPercy · 27/04/2016 15:14

tappy I was going to suggest a siamese.

I have one called Suess in a 15 litre tank with a small pepper cory for company (and cleaning!) he's stunning to look at and much better suited to a small tank than a goldfish. Siamese are also very interactive and can be trained to some extent. They will react to your voice, hand feed, jump out of the water for food, play with a ping pong ball on the surface etc.
Great fish.

AIBU - Pets at Home Goldfish Fiasco
totalrecall1 · 27/04/2016 15:22

Just tell them you have a bigger tank. They aren't going to come round and check are they?

ScrotesOnFire · 27/04/2016 15:30

I'd like to see goldfish out of the shops altogether Angry
I can't think of a more unsuitable fish for kids or first time owners.
This is a fish with a natural lifespan of 30 years plus that grows at least 30cm long.
60L?!?!
More like 150 litres.
And they shit for Britain and therefore need a filter rated for a tank double the size.
You wouldn't keep a cat in its carrier for all its life, living in its own filth so why for a fish.
Makes me so mad.

Pigeonpost · 27/04/2016 15:35

YABU. I did a lot of research out there when we decided to get fish, the info is all out there online. I had no idea how much tank space goldfish need which is why they often die quickly. PAH have given the right advice. The small tanks are ok for fish that aren't goldfish. We ended up with a 17l tank with 3 minnows in it. Could have had up to 6 minnows in that size tank but didn't feel the need (one fish per child). Got 3 different types. They are quite sweet. As sweet as fish can be.

We ended up going to a local aquatics shop which was much better than PAH anyway. Great with advice and if we had decided to have just the one goldfish it would have cost us about £1.50 as opposed to the £5 of whatever that PAH wanted to charge.

Notthecarwashagain · 27/04/2016 15:56

Our goldfish is 3 years old.
It's in a 60l tank at the moment, but I'm wondering if it could go in a pond outside or if it would be lonely. It's getting quite big now, so will need to move house either way.
I think I'd miss it if it went outside though!

Suess is beautiful Sisters Smile

AIBU - Pets at Home Goldfish Fiasco
ghostyslovesheep · 27/04/2016 16:23

Guppies Grin I have a 20ltr Tank with 5 in - 3 girls 2 boys

Way less messy than Goldfish - much less faffy as well - you just need a filter and a heater and to check the water now and then and keep the tank clean

Best/worst bit is they have LIVE babies so you can find 40+ tiny fish in there - which then get eaten/sucked up the filter Hmm

2 of our current fish are babies we saved!

NeedsAsockamnesty · 27/04/2016 16:26

I once saw one of these

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tambaqui

In a pet shop very very small tank apparently it was not for sale it was for display, it couldn't even turn round.

It made me very very sad, he is now living in a proper aquarium because I offered the shop £500 for him

ICanSeeForMiles · 27/04/2016 16:27

Totally random question...can you still win goldfish at the shows?

ICanSeeForMiles · 27/04/2016 16:34

Sorry...translation from Scottish, the shows are the fairground Grin

ThisisMrsNicolaHicklin · 27/04/2016 16:57

Our poor deceased goldfish were easily the most complicated pet I've ever had.
It probably didn't help that the pet shop I bought them from sold us a tiny tank, told us to run the filter until tea time then come back for the fish and all the chemical whatnot they sold us to make the tank safe was out of dateAngry
It felt like weeks of fish ICU and the top drawer of the freezer doubled as a fish morgue, it was horrible and we all cried every time one of the wee guys pegged it.

greathat · 27/04/2016 16:57

YABU. Why do people think they can just take on a goldfish have it live in misery for 6 months and think its lived a good life. They can, and should, live for decades. You can with a filter, keep in much better conditions some smaller fish like danios or some tetras. Goldfish are one of the harder fish to keep happy and healthy

987flowers · 27/04/2016 17:04

For all of you saying YABU surely P@H should not be selling the small starter tank but then not selling the fish! Yes good on them for saying they need a big tank but then don't sell starter tanks! Ridiculous! That is what would make me cross,I'd have no issue if they hadn't sold the starter kit initially!

TeamSteady · 27/04/2016 17:04

As briefly mentioned you need to cycle a tank before adding fish- letting it stand for three days won't cut it, and it's pointless testing the water then as it will show you clear because...

Fish poop out ammonia, nitrifying bacteria turn that into nitrites, more nitrifying bacteria turn this into nitrates. Ammonia is very poisonous to fish in tiny quantities, nitrates are less poisonous (and makes fantastic fertiliser for aquatic and land plants). Periodic water changes keep the nitrate level low.

The water testing they do, (should) test for each of the three chemicals. If they are all showing up as zero I'm sure the shop will say, "yup, good to go" but it's bollocks, its uncycled water. A cycled tank will almost always have some nitrates, (the exception being incredibly densely planted tanks where the plants use up the nitrates as fertiliser as quickly as the fish can poop!) usually around 10-25ppm. As the tank cycles, the ammonia will rise then fall as the bacteria breed and multiply to deal with the ammonia. Then the nitrites will rise and fall, and then you will just be left with nitrates, which will continue to rise until you change some water.

To ethically cycle a tank you should use pure ammonia in an empty tank. If you can't get hold of that you can use fish food, but it is less exact and will take longer. Oh and by the way, once cycled and up and running, don't add large numbers of fish in one go- your tank will keep ticking over with the right amount of bacteria for the number of fish in it- double the ammonia and it takes a while for the bacteria to multiply- poisoned fish in the mean time...

I am not sure of the exact size they would need but have a look at cherry barbs. Very cute little fish, goldfish shaped, but tiny, bright red. Bog standard tropical community fish are easier to keep than goldfish.

So yes YABU in trying to keep a goldfish in an unicycle tiny tank... PAH are BU int hat they think a tank magically cycles itself in 3 days, and for selling starter kits at all.

987flowers · 27/04/2016 17:06

Should add I'm not saying that they should sell the fish to be in the small tank but they shouldn't be selling the small tank in the first place! Like others have said there is a lot of ignorance when it comes to fish and yes you can still win them at certain places!!!

Osmiornica · 27/04/2016 17:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Ameliablue · 27/04/2016 17:30

YABU. You shouldn't buy a pet if you don't have the right equipment to look after it properly.

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