Monday, January 04, 2010

Fish Frustrations

My poor daughter. She has wanted her own fish tank for a while. We're on our third attempt. We set up one small tank and got her a beta. The beta lasted for about a month, so we tried again. The next fish didn't last much longer. After a while, we decided it might be the tank and got her a different tank, different set up. Again, her fish didn't last. We decided her tanks were cursed and passed it off to a family member for a non-fish purpose. I was later informed that the tank was cursed, they couldn't keep anything alive in it either.

So, I got her a GLASS 5 gallon tank, new lid and a penguin filter. We set it up, ran it for at least a week before getting her any fish. Made sure it was nicely balanced first. Got her two mollies (they're hardy fish, she should do fine with those). Within a week BOTH mollies were dead. From the appearance, the filter was just too strong for them. So.. my fault.

Went back to a smaller filter, a good one rated for smaller tanks. Again, we set it up and had it run for a week before getting her any fish. We went Saturday out to PetSmart and got her an Angelfish. The fish was basically dead by evening.

ARGH! I say... ARGH!

I'm not an inexperience fish tank owner. I had an 80 gallon freshwater tank for around 10 years. Very little problems with my tank, in face ended up with all of my fish out growing my tank, including the pleco I had. My son has a small 2 gallon tank that has been running for several years as well. He currently has a guppy that's been in it for a year. No problems there.

So why is it that my poor daughter can't keep a fish alive? What's the difference between her tank and the others we've had? I don't know. I honestly can't say what's different. I just know that it's driving me batty.

3 comments:

Chickadee said...

just a question... are you checking the temperature settings needed for the fish, and, (i'm sure you're doing this) treating the water first, and (i'm sure you did this too) made sure the fish in the bags were set into the water for a couple hours first so that they reached the same water temp? just food for thought. I had bettas for 5 years (three of them) and two goldfish I had lasted 4 years. love, robin johnson

SkinnyOrangeCat said...

Could they be getting in-between meal snacks from your daughter?

Anonymous said...

What if you put the same tank and some new fish into your son's room and see how they do? If they stay alive in his room, maybe it's something about Carolyn's room. Too close to a heat vent or window? I know jack about fish, just about experimenting. :)

Bobbi