i can't believe my dad's ignorance....

[steppy104]

before you read this and think badly about ME, do know that i am the daughter and cannot argue succesfully with my dad....this is not my fault!

WELL, my dad decided to do an all-tank cleaning....EVERYTHING! the gravel, the toys, everything....well, to start off, he wanted the fish out of the tank...so we had to put them all in different things that i have....3 tin foils and a goldfish in a 1gal ish fish bowl....2 little sunfish in a half gal, the gourami in a tiny betta bowl, and the large catfish and pleco in a bucket.

one of the tin foils is as good as dead right now....we seperated him, cuz he started swimming upside-down. he might get better....but i doubt it.

i can't believe how ignorant my dad is about this. whats worse is that he don't give a shnit about wether or not the fish die.....he thinks it's better if they do. he figures its not as much hassle.

the goldfish is gasping for air....i don't know how long he'll be around. everyone else seems content, but scared. i'm hating every second of it. i think that only the hardy will live through this. it's so pathetic and disgusting. but no, they're "just fish" and no one really gives a crap.

i don't have any medicine....i'd love to give them some stress coat right now, but i haven't got any. and my dad thinks that he knows what he's doing. HA! wut an ass.

hopefully this goes by fast and there aren't many deaths. but who knows.


tin foil is looking slightly better....he's not upside down any more....i put the air tube in the thing he's in, so i think he might have just been out of breath.

great...now another one of the foils is upside down...WTF....it's sad that my dad isn't gonna learn a thing from this.

will someone please donate a smart dad? i'm dearly in need.

 

[steppy104]

one of the tin foils is dead, and the one that was by himself is looking OK at the moment, and the other one looks barely alive, upside down and hardly moving.....bad bad bad......

 

[canarsie11]

Who's tank is it? How old are you?

Maybe you can get your dad involved with the forum.
I remember when I was young my mother used to clean tank out like that, years later I now keep fish, and I wonder what the hell she was doing.


I have an idea that I read on another forum for you and your dad.

I read when this young guywas having same trouble, keeping a parent from controlling the tank. Then the boy suggested to his father, youget 1 tank and he would get one.

Both would maintain thier tank for 2 months with no help from other, and see was more successful. i would not call dad an ass, but he might be from the ol school of fish keeping, and thats some of the crazy stuff they did!

 

[steppy104]

the 39gal is ours...no one in specific. i'm 16...he's 53...i don't let him talk on these, he'd get my computers address permenantly blocked. he'd cuss you all out, call you idiots, and more....no way he's allowed on here!

he's never kept fish at all as far as i know. we have got our own tanks. this 39gal is there for looks.

i have my own 5 tanks in my bedroom which are all doing just fine...only 1 mysterious death lately, and the rest of the members of that tank are doing just fine. these fish in the 39gal were doing just fine till he decided to start this crap. he decided that the tank was getting too dirty...and if it keeps gettin dirty that we're gttin rid of it.

what else can we do to help keep the tank clean? i think that the main thing gettin it dirty is that he's puttin too many wafers in there! it's crazy the waste them things leave! and the algae eaters poop....wow...he craps more than i do! and cloudy water is what my dad cant stand....how do you stop the cloudy water?!!! it happens 2 days after we clean it....it's so frusterating!

 

[steppy104]

oh yip skipity freakin do....what a suprise! we lost another foil!

oh god help the otheres hang in there....

 

[canarsie11]

Seems to me that your tank is being fed too much. How many people feed the tank? Also, to avoid this"dirty looking" tank, when he is not home, do your water changes.

2 or 3 times a week, that way he would have noreason to touch the tank!

 

[steppy104]

i don't hardly feed the fish at all....he usually does the feeding....

he's retired and fat and unhealthy...he don't get out much. i'll see if i can't get him to lay off the wafers....he always expects the catfish to eat them all or somethin.

i'll try to get to the tank myself more often....

oh how i wish the water clearifier actually worked

 

[canarsie11]

Water clarifiers do work IMO, but they are not magic powder.

Those wafers can clog your water up, I usually feed my 75 gallon 2 a day Once in morn, 2nd right after lights out.

How many are you putting in your 39 gallon

 

[steppy104]

i don't know how many he puts in there....maybe 4 or so....i'm never here when he feeds them, so i just come home seeing nasty rubble all over the bottom.

we don't use clarifier that often, but when we do use it, it doesn't make any difference.

 

[cat.fish]

what i think you should do is print off some basic information on how to take care of a tank and let him read it. then offer him your advise on what works best for you with the whole feeding thing. 1 more thing offer him your syphon and bucket and show him how to clean it. (these are all if he doesn't know already)



HTH
joe

 

[canarsie11]

Look at my signature, with all those fish, I would feed 2 a day. Also, you should try skipping some feedings. I only feed my tank 5 times a week. I have 2 fast days.

IMO if those wafers are in the tank longer than 1 hr you should take them out. Tell your dad to relax. Take control of the tank for one week, he will see the difference

 

[steppy104]

i'll try to make these differences and read off to him your advice.

thanks

 

[digital_run]

Tell him...."look! 2 dead fish and you still think its a good idea!?!?"

 

[steppy104]

he'll say "good riddance"


he's one of "them" kind of people.

i'm glad that catfish are nice and hardy....he's so cool lookin....jus love his red eyes

 

[steppy104]

wow....i just got a near perfect measurement of the cat....never thought he was 10 inches long!!!