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denise78 denise78
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  • Posted on: 21/11/2010 3:29
Re: Only 1 post #11
9 years ago i bought a tiny tiny little tank (well if you could call it that) some gravel a wee bridge and plastic plant and a fish all on the same day for my son who was a baby. i kept "whish" who was renamed nemo in there for few months.....he grew, i bought bigger tank, same make. again he grew and again i bought another. until he was in a 20 ltr tank, no filter no bubbles.

i feel awful now knowing what i know.

anyway my dad had 2 goldfish and he decided to buy 30l biorb. he was drawn in by the designer look. so his poor wee fishies died. my nemo was still living at this time aged 5. my dad could not be bothered getting any more fish, as i said it was the orb not the fish he wanted, so he gave me the tank. i wasnt in a very good financial place at that time and i was over the moon. nemo was moving to a bigger home. nemo died when he was nearly 9 and looking back on his life i am riddled with guilt. i knew nothing of the nitrogen cycle (which has been preached to fish owning friends) i did full water changes, fortnightly. i never treatd water. he could still be here if i knew all this.

so aftter he died i cleaned and refilled the tank and bought couple goldfish who died...more tears. until now i have arnold and woody who seem happy.

then i am wanting a big tank with tropicals. so husband gives the go ahead. i am not wanting to do anything till i research and know everything. so my research began.....i landed here. only to find out that my fish are in a totally unappropriate tank. i feel terrible. however my dad will be not at all happy if i get rid of my orb. even if i showed him this forum. he would see it as "it ok cos you can buy them in any reputable pet store". i have been looking on ebay but living in the scottish highlands limits me due to postage etc.....you'd think we were on the moon!!!

i am still going ahead with my tropical tank.....which i now wish was bigger. and will be looking out for a suitable one for arnold and woody. violet suggested moving them over to 120 tank but i am definately asking santa for 200l one for them.

someone on here, sorry terrible with names, suggested a planted tank for the orb. sounds like a nice idea. dad would be none the wiser as to whether or not there were any fish in there.

i feel very guilty now but have felt that everyone here has been more than friendly and helpful with the advice i've been given. it is a shame that these containers can be sold as tanks. and people like me go out and buy them. i'm suprised nemo lived for so long. at least i know now!!!

thanks

i went on a bit there eh!!!!!
Anonymous  
Re: Only 1 post #12
yeah planted tank could work for it but not sure if the lighting is good enough for a wide choice of plants. also keeping inverts is a choice aswell shrimp etc.
Onyxia Onyxia
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  • Joined: 31/10/2010 13:47
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  • Posted on: 21/11/2010 15:24
Re: Only 1 post #13
TBH if someone is only looking for a quick answer then I dont think anything will keep them here. People are very good at filtering information.

I found this website when I googled a picture frame style designer tank, only to have my eye caught by a post on this forum saying how inappropriate it was for keeping fish. I now have a second hand hand ordinary 90 litre waiting to cycle. Im very glad I found this before I bought any of the stupidly tiny 'nano tanks' from my lfs. I almost always research things before spending a lot of money, but I now cant beleive that anyone spends £100+ on a 10 litre tank!
Anonymous  
Re: Only 1 post #14
yeah especially if they plan to add a goldfish to it. to be honest tho i'd pay the £100 TMC are asking for their new MicroHabitat 15 to keep as a saltwater invert/coral tank, comes with decent led lighting with 9k look and an air driven protein skimmer and a micro heater.
angelah angelah
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  • Posted on: 27/12/2010 22:43
Re: Only 1 post #15
I had tanks, one was a 4 footer, several smaller ones, about 12 years ago and after a few years left the hobby. TBO I did a lot of things wrong and like our friend in Scotland, feel guilty about it.
Now I have decided to come back and even though I learned a lot before, I felt it necessry to research on the Internet. And wow, how things have changed!
Yes, I saw all the so-called designer tanks but was not attracted to them simply because my research had shown the sizes and shape I and the fish I intended to stock it with, needed, and it certainly wasn't one of those. It wasn't a brain strain, just look it up, there's a mass of info out there and after a few looks you soon begin to wise up.
So there is not an excuse for failing to do one's homework at all if you have an Internet connection. It doesn't take long and passes some time in a pleasant and educational way
I am wondering if it is the shop assistants that do not guide people to a decent tank for their purposes, after all the buyer must have gone in and had a chat, one may think. But some folk are stubborn and if they have set their hearts on a particular item often cannot be budged off it.
There is a place for the designer tank, but probably not for tropical fish and maybe even no other kind of fish, but more to a planted 'picture' which would fit in well with the tank's looks and perhaps even the aim of the designer and the perceptions of those that look at it.
But after all that I agree it is wise to tread lightly with somebody who asks advice or comes on here pleased as Punch with their purchase. Perhaps in time they will see the mistake and look at increasing the tank size?

Angela
Fishy-Fishy Fishy-Fishy
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  • Posted on: 28/12/2010 9:51
Re: Only 1 post #16
You are dead right Angela, there is so much info available these days. I think the biggest problem is that people (reasonably enough) expect the staff in LFS to know what they are doing but on the whole they know jeff all about fish, only what their manager has told them. They have no idea why 'lifestyle' tanks (no brand names mentioned ) are rubbish, the blurb on the box is convincing enough. They also only see the fish for a very short period of time so they never see the long term problems created by too-small tanks or wrong water parameters- quite often they will never even see a fully grown specimen of many species.

And that's why we always tell people to do their own research and not just listen to the person in the shop, no matter how knowledgeable they might seem. Sometimes you hit the jackpot and get a really good LFS where they know what they are talking about but it never hurts to back it up with a good bit of reading.

And don't forget that some websites are just as rubbish as a bad LFS- not this site though
angelah angelah
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  • Posted on: 28/12/2010 10:02
Re: Only 1 post #17
You're right, definitely NOT this site! There is a wealth of information here, and some folk post their mistakes which is a brave thing to do, but doing that helps others from falling into the same traps, very easily done with aquariums.

Angela
alysonpeaches alysonpeaches
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  • Posted on: 30/12/2010 21:08
Re: Only 1 post #18
I think the problem with small tanks is they keep making and selling them and marketing them in such a way that people feel they are suitable for fish.

People tend not to read up on keeping fish as they often kept them as a child and think they know how to do it.

Im glad I found this site, and a couple of others I use. I began my search on the internet after a member of staff at Pets at home advised me that the tank I was about to buy (which had a picture of it set up with 3 goldfish in on the packaging) wasnt even suitable for one goldfish. I stupidly bought it anyway as I was under pressure from 3 small children, and I ended up with 3 WCMMs in it for a week or two then fortunately found a free Juwel 96 litre on gumtree. After that I didnt look back, but bought loads of books, asked loads of questions etc.

I do get mildly irritated by forums that tell me what Im doing is stupid, but this has just made me cautious about what I post. So the one post wonders who we started discussing at the beginning might be doing this too.
Fishy-Fishy Fishy-Fishy
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  • Posted on: 31/12/2010 8:30
Re: Only 1 post #19
I hope there's no one being told they're stupid on here If falling for all the advertising lies blurb was so stupid then it wouldn't happen so often! Nothing stupid about it.

Another problem is all the urban myths and old wives tales surrounding fish keeping. It's often though to be easy, low-maintenance and cheap but it's none of those things. Most people are willing to learn about their new pets but a few people just don't want to know that to keep their fish healthy they need to buy a bigger tank with a proper filter, it's too much of a shock!

Some people don't want an involved, sciency hobby, they want something that looks pretty in the corner- the fish keeping hobby probably isn't up their street at all in that case. So those people tend to just post once. It's very sad but we can only give people the facts, it's up to them whether they want to listen or not.
suey2 suey2
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  • Posted on: 31/12/2010 10:35
Re: Only 1 post #20
Quote:

2010 wrote:
I notice quite often new members will make one post and then disappear never to be heard from again. How about by default, have the “notify me of a reply be email” box ticked. That way if they forget where they posted they will get an email telling them where they posted, when they get a reply. For example in the 13 pages of “introduce yourself” there are 10 posts by members who only made 1 post.


Admin did change the default settings so that you automatically get an email notification of any reply to a thread you've started I don't think you automatically get one for a thread you've posted in but didn't start but I think you can set your own notifications so that you do

But as FF says, not everyone is prepared for what they've gone into, quite often thanks to the old wives tales (goldfish bowls to name but one ...), 'over-optimistic' advertising and sales talk they encounter
It's Not Just A Fish