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Original poster

Anyone keep cold water fish?

14 replies

Bubbaloo · 28/08/2007 08:14

Dh decided on his way home from work yesterday to buy ds1 a tank and some fish(and 2 frogs).Anyway,he set it all up and after about 15 mins put the fish and frogs in the water and they seemed happy enough,it looked lovely and ds1 was thrilled.However,I've gone downstairs this morning and the water is so murky,I can only see one fish and one frog.
I've rung dh and told him-he'll have to change the water tonight.I don't mind fish,but I'm not touching the frogs.
He did add some water crystals to the water(as told by the petshop owner to do)which I'm thinking may be the problem,but I'm only guessing.
We've got no filter in the tank as was told it wasn't needed,seeing as they're cold water fish.Does anyone kow whay this has happened,please?
Tia.

OP posts:

nell12 · 28/08/2007 08:16

You MUST have some sort of filter and leave the water for 24 hours with the filter running before putting anything in for all the chemicals to disperse

Original poster

Bubbaloo · 28/08/2007 08:25

Thanks.
I wonder why the woman in the pet shop didn't tell dh then.She sold him just about everything else,including 4 different types of food.
What about Goldfish though? We had them when we were little and never had any kind of filter and the water stayed clear.I'm not sure what these fish are-one is an orange fantail(looks like a goldfish),one is black with bulging eyes and there are 2 small neon type fish and 2 albino frogs!

OP posts:

Nbg · 28/08/2007 08:29

I'm wondering if its something to do with the frogs.
If you just had the fish, even without a filter, you wouldnt get water like that.

They might have had something on their skin which has come off in the water.

Were the frogs in the tanks with the fish at the shop?

nell12 · 28/08/2007 08:31

I remember my brother keeping a fish for what seemed like years without a filter and the water never seemed to get cloudy (was that due to my childlike assumptions of what was dirty or my ma changing the water regularly when I was not looking??!) DS has had 2 goldfish for 6 years now and it seems that a filter is vital to keep the water clear!

You can get small ones for under a tenner or even little teabag things that apparently soak up all the crud.

Even with a filter, the water will go cloudy initially, just because of all the dust in the gravel that is churned up when water is added, so you may find that the water may clear a little during the day. If you change the water, make sure you add water treatment that gets rid of all the chemicals in tap water that are dangerous to fish.

Original poster

Bubbaloo · 28/08/2007 08:47

Well,the water crystals that dh added are meant to get rid of the chemicals which are found in tap water.Seeing this is the only thing he added to the water(apart from food),I thought this may have caused the water to go murky.According to dh the frogs were in with the fish,in the pet shop but I'm sure their tanks have filters and are probably proper tanks,as opposed to the plastic square "tank" dh bought.
Hmm,I wonder if it is the frogs.Maybe I'll get dh to go back to the pet shop tonight and see what they say,although I'm sure they'll talk him into buying something else.

OP posts:

Nbg · 28/08/2007 08:53

The filter I have for my coldwater fish only cost me £4, so you don't have to spend loads.

sparkler · 28/08/2007 09:07

You may find this link useful. It's really important to leave a fish tank settle for about a week before you introduce fish. And when you do water changes (we do our tank every two to three weeks) make sure it's only a partial water change not the whole tank of water.

how to set up a fish tank

Original poster

Bubbaloo · 28/08/2007 09:25

Thanks very much Sparkler.

We were told to fill the tank and place the fish and frogs(still in their bags)in there for about 20 mins,before letting them in the water,so thats what we did.We've never had cold water fish before-only tropical fish,in a proper glass tank with filters at either end.Thought goldfish would be straight forward.Anyway,I have just been looking at the fish again and the black one is dead.
Have told dh to go back to the shop tonight and speak to them.
Don't know why he didn't just buy a bowl and a goldfish!

OP posts:

sparkler · 28/08/2007 13:14

When you have had the tank set up for a week you buy the fish. Take them home and put them into the water still in their bag for twenty minutes. After this put fish and their water from bag into their new tank.
Sorry to hear about your fish . It's really important that people read up about keeping pets before they buy them.

OrmIrian · 28/08/2007 13:22

"I wonder why the woman in the pet shop didn't tell dh then"

Ha ha!! > That's because she sold you loads of stuff whilst knowing bugger all about it! ATM we are reeling after the death of our third previously healthy fish. DD has had two tanks - both with pumps and filters - since Christmas 2005. In neither tank were there any instructions. The shop told us how to maintain the tank. When there were problems I asked in a different shop and they told me differently. We bought a book and that said something else again. And all packets of food that we have ever bought have told us to overfeed the poor things which is one of the worst things you can do. I am so mad atm - DD is heartbroken (and so am I as I feel terrible that 3 little creatures that we took responsibilty for have died in a horrible way). They had finrot and I cleaned the tank out (wrong apparently according to man at third fish shop) and added treatment to water. And the third fish still died. One that we had had for 18months and was right as a trivet all that time

Sorry - was that a bit of a rant . However third fish shop man was very helpful and knowledgeable and put me straight on quite a few things - basically to lay off and leave the tank along and never ever do a total water change. And has offered to test some tank water for me to see if it's OK for the remaining fish. So we're sticking with him from now on.

becklespeckle · 28/08/2007 13:25

We have a filter but the tank still goes murky at times, too much food can do it! You should only give them what they can eat in 10 mins.
Sorry to hear you lost your black fish, the black moors do tend to be more fragile than the others as they are quite a fancy breed.

OrmIrian · 28/08/2007 13:28

I seem to remember that the cloudiness is part of the tank setting down. It should disappear in time.

speckle - we kept our blackmoor for 18 months and he was getting quite big. Which is why I feel so upset. Apparently they can live for 30 yrs or more and goldfish even longer - people think of fish as fragile easycome easygo pets but they obviously shouldn't be

Original poster

Bubbaloo · 28/08/2007 14:13

Feel really bad about the fish but dh thought having cold water fish would've been straight forward.When we were young we won loads of goldfish at the fair,put them in a bowl,fed them and they lived for years-things have certainly changed.

OP posts:

becklespeckle · 29/08/2007 10:39

We thought they would be straightforward too but we lost 5 of the 6 that we originally bought within the first couple of weeks. It is when they die, you get quite attached to them. I have had one of my fish for 5 years now and he is big and gorgeous and we have a large one from a friend's pond - no idea how old he is but would guess around 10! DH doesn't want to keep our fish tank but I won't let him get rid of the fish so he is going to put a pond in the garden for them! Am hoping we don't lose too many when we transfer them.

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