Matt's Fish Blog

This is the story of the 12 goldfish I bought for a dollar at the fish store.

Saturday, August 14, 2004

Final Thoughts

I originally bought the the bag o fish because I thought it would be funny, and it would be something fun to do with my cousin. I decided to make a blog about it for three reasons, first was so my cousins could read and see how my fish are doing, second I wanted to document it to show people in the future, third was to help anyone who just got, or was thinking about getting fish, but never owned them before.

I hope this blog can help anyone thinking about getting fish. You cant just buy 12 fish for a dollar, a dollar fifty of food, and expect the fish to live. Contrary to what people might think I did try to keep the fish alive, I always fed them, changed the water, and did whatever I thought I could to make sure they don't die, unlike V.

If anyone would like to make comments on this post, or any other post saying what I did wrong, or what I thought that was stupid I would appreciate that. Anything to make this blog a better resource for people getting, or thinking about getting goldfish.

Throughout this experience I have learned one important thing. It is impossible to keep goldfish alive if you do not know much about fish, and don't know what your doing. That is why goldfish is the perfect animal to get if you want to get out of buying your kid a dog or cat. Here is my advice to any parents looking into goldfish to teach your kid a lesson about getting pets. You tell them if they take good care of the fish, you'll buy a dog, within a week all the fish will die, then when they ask for a dog you say "Sorry Honey, but your just not good at taking care of animals, I don't want dead puppies all around my house, do you?"

This was originally posted 9:57pm Aug 14 2004, It was intended to be the last post , though I may decide to update this blog again for some reason or another, and if I do, I'll change the date this was posted to keep it at the top of the blog.

15 Comments:

At 6:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

killer, animal killer, 12 fish dead in aweek, so sad u thought samuel jackson would live forever. oh well, u tried ur hardest. anyways, goldfish only have a lifespan of a week and a memory span of 3 seconds, what could u do.

 
At 12:33 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow. Reading this made me feel ill. I don't think you could have done more things wrong if you'd tried.

First of all, goldfish that cheap are feeder fish, kept in poor conditions, and most of the time don't live long to begin with. They're meant as food for other fish, not pets. If you want a pet fish, buy one that's meant to be a pet, not food.

Second, goldfish need a bare minimum of ten gallons apiece. You can get away with less when they're small, but it won't last long. That thing about goldfish only growing to the size of their container is a complete myth. Even a basic fantail goldfish can easily grow to 8". I know--I have several, and they all started out in small containers. They grew.

Third, goldfish need filtration because they produce more waste than just about any other aquarium fish.

Fourth, they need aeration--a bubble stone or curtain to keep the water well oxygenated. They need oxygen in the water to breathe.

Fifth, the food you were giving them was for *tropical fish,* not goldfish. There are numerous differences in the dietary needs. It would be like feeding dog food to a cat, or ferret chow to a bird. Doesn't work.

Sixth, it sounds like you were overfeeding them. I hope to God you were kidding about wanting to feed them cheese puffs. NEVER feed a pet something that's not specifically made for them.

Seventh, you can't just take any old rock or plant from the yard and put them in a fish tank. The rocks can leach toxins or pesticides into the water, and can alter the pH of the water. PH changes can and will kill fish. And only aquatic plants belong in a fish habitat. Not just any plant will survive underwater. Most will just die and pollute the water.

Eighth, virtually all tap water in the US, Canada or similarly developed nations will have chlorine and/or chloramines in it. These are POISONOUS to fish. You must use a water conditioner to neutralize these chemicals before dumping the water in the tank. Distilled water isn't really good for them, either, as it contains none of the beneficial trace elements in more natural water.

In conclusion, everything went wrong. You can't be blamed for ignorance, but on the other hand you shouldn't have a pet if you're not willing to do the research needed to keep your pet healthy. When I started with goldfish I had very little knowledge about them, but I learned. I went online for info, checked every book about fish out of the library, and talked to people at the pet stores. (Locally-owned stores are almost always better than large chain stores.) Fish are living, breathing, eating, sleeping, fearing, feeling creatures. They deserve respect. Having a pet is a responsibility. If you can't give them the necessary care to keep them healthy and content, you shouldn't have them. Period, full stop, end of discussion.

 
At 9:07 PM, Blogger Di Gallagher said...

I don't know if you will read this comment, being your fish blog is a few months on now, but I really sincerely hope you learnt something from this fish thing. Keeping fish is sometimes difficult but often rewarding. If you ever want to try it again, please drop an email to me. I have just two gold fish (comets), Gastro and Penis. You can see pictures of them on my blog. Sometimes I'm not the best owner for them, but they are over two years old now, so we are learning from each other. I'm pretty attached to them, which I never thought I could be to fish. They recognise me over everyone else, and they let me touch them. visit me at http://digallagher.blogspot.com

 
At 10:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, the comments from the second (from the top) annonymouse) are almost exactly what I was thinking as I read your blog. I don't think I would have been quite so harsh, but all of the information is correct. I've had goldfish, betas, oscars, and several types of saltwater fish. It is easy to assume that you just dump them in a a bowl and hope. I honestly think a lot of people do that without realizing that it isn't the correct way to keep them. Pet stores ought to make a better effort to educate their clients as to proper pet care and health, but many of them are hiring high school and college students for minimum wage - so THEY don't always know the correct way to care for them.

Should you ever decide to venture back into golfish keeping, my suggestion would be to start with ! (rather than 12) and read before you buy.

Best of luck to you.

Mara

 
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At 5:31 PM, Anonymous thenat said...

well, fish are hard to keep but, most pet stores do tell you the basic how to keep them. if you didn't know, you should have asked. i'm still sorry to hear about it

 
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