Hi to all.
Just wanted to post some stuff as an introduction.
I'm not totally new to fish keeping but my experience is very limited and after some fairly extensive reading it would appear that it was a miracle any of my fish survived at all - well...... read on.
My only previous tank was a 3ft long X 18" tall X 12" deep tropical community tank that I ended up getting from my sister for £50.
One of my daughters won two Goldfish + bowl / food ect from our local church and proudly brought them home. I got the job of setting it up as the wifey does'nt do fish and all was swimming for a good while. I got the job of cleaning them out, water changes etc as said daughter was only 6 or so and the tank had to kept high up to stop the inquisitive cats getting too friendly. We bought a little in tank filter on advice of our local pet store anf a couple of plastic plants my daughter liked to try and make it a bit more 'homely'.
After a while it became apparent one of the fish was growing much quicker than the other, and after talking with various 'experts', we were told that the urine from the bigger fish was keeping the smaller one's growth subdued. The only answer we were told was a bigger tank, this would dilute the urine and the little fish should start catching up.
Enter the 3ft tank from my sister. It was complete with fish (a bristle-nosed catfish? called Angelina, some other type of pale grey catfish called Mr Grumpy Gills, two Clown loach, six or so Neon Tetras and a couple of oval shaped silver and black fish) and we were advised to keep the big Goldfish in the bowl and put the smaller one in the community tank.
Well, things didn't get any better, to the point we were told the bigger Goldfish could be another breed of fish altogether and by keeping the smaller one in the community tank we were effectively killing it slowly.
One day after doing a water change in the 3ft tank I somehow managed to break the heater. Instant panick! I removed the broken one and went to see my neighbour who happened to have a spare 200w until I could get to the pet store. We checked it was working (yep - all good) and breathed a sigh of relief.
Got up in the morning for work and to check the fishies, and O.M.G. Apart from 3 Tetras, the rest were dead and the smell was terrible. It would appear that the heater's thermostat didn't work and basically cooked my fish. One sad day.
Stripped the tank down to clean it and remove the dead ones. Over the next few weeks we statred to restock, starting with some more tetras, another couple of Clown Loach and a couple of Leopard spot Plecos, but things never really picked up and so the tank was passed on.
The larger one died at about six years old and about 8" long and earned the name Goliath.
Recently (NOV 2013) some friends of my wife offered up their Trigon 190 for the cost of a couple of bottles of red wine. They knew I had always admired their tank and after some similar misfortunes had decided to stop keeping fish and wanted the tank to go to good home.
So here I am, looking for advice from people who know better than to keep a Goldfish with a Pleco, with a mind to establishing something pleasing.
Some general bits about me that may help in replies.
I am married, work in a Psychiatric Hospital in south London on 12hr shifts, have five children, a dog, four cats and two rabbits (these actually belong to one of my daughters but after buying the food, bedding and sawdust I sort of feel kind of responcible for them)
Hobbies, when I have any time, include wargames, model cars and general sci-fi model making.
I know this was a bit long for an intro but there you go.
Looking forward to making friends and learning.
Blessings
Just wanted to post some stuff as an introduction.
I'm not totally new to fish keeping but my experience is very limited and after some fairly extensive reading it would appear that it was a miracle any of my fish survived at all - well...... read on.
My only previous tank was a 3ft long X 18" tall X 12" deep tropical community tank that I ended up getting from my sister for £50.
One of my daughters won two Goldfish + bowl / food ect from our local church and proudly brought them home. I got the job of setting it up as the wifey does'nt do fish and all was swimming for a good while. I got the job of cleaning them out, water changes etc as said daughter was only 6 or so and the tank had to kept high up to stop the inquisitive cats getting too friendly. We bought a little in tank filter on advice of our local pet store anf a couple of plastic plants my daughter liked to try and make it a bit more 'homely'.
After a while it became apparent one of the fish was growing much quicker than the other, and after talking with various 'experts', we were told that the urine from the bigger fish was keeping the smaller one's growth subdued. The only answer we were told was a bigger tank, this would dilute the urine and the little fish should start catching up.
Enter the 3ft tank from my sister. It was complete with fish (a bristle-nosed catfish? called Angelina, some other type of pale grey catfish called Mr Grumpy Gills, two Clown loach, six or so Neon Tetras and a couple of oval shaped silver and black fish) and we were advised to keep the big Goldfish in the bowl and put the smaller one in the community tank.
Well, things didn't get any better, to the point we were told the bigger Goldfish could be another breed of fish altogether and by keeping the smaller one in the community tank we were effectively killing it slowly.
One day after doing a water change in the 3ft tank I somehow managed to break the heater. Instant panick! I removed the broken one and went to see my neighbour who happened to have a spare 200w until I could get to the pet store. We checked it was working (yep - all good) and breathed a sigh of relief.
Got up in the morning for work and to check the fishies, and O.M.G. Apart from 3 Tetras, the rest were dead and the smell was terrible. It would appear that the heater's thermostat didn't work and basically cooked my fish. One sad day.
Stripped the tank down to clean it and remove the dead ones. Over the next few weeks we statred to restock, starting with some more tetras, another couple of Clown Loach and a couple of Leopard spot Plecos, but things never really picked up and so the tank was passed on.
The larger one died at about six years old and about 8" long and earned the name Goliath.
Recently (NOV 2013) some friends of my wife offered up their Trigon 190 for the cost of a couple of bottles of red wine. They knew I had always admired their tank and after some similar misfortunes had decided to stop keeping fish and wanted the tank to go to good home.
So here I am, looking for advice from people who know better than to keep a Goldfish with a Pleco, with a mind to establishing something pleasing.
Some general bits about me that may help in replies.
I am married, work in a Psychiatric Hospital in south London on 12hr shifts, have five children, a dog, four cats and two rabbits (these actually belong to one of my daughters but after buying the food, bedding and sawdust I sort of feel kind of responcible for them)
Hobbies, when I have any time, include wargames, model cars and general sci-fi model making.
I know this was a bit long for an intro but there you go.
Looking forward to making friends and learning.
Blessings
Sorry to hear that, and really glad you've decided to try again! The tank size you got is great too.
