Hello!

[Calluna]

I stumbled across this little forum and lurked for a while before deciding to join. Hello all!

My (exhaustive, boring and unnecessarily long) goldfish story:

I got my first two goldfish when I was in second grade, 7 years old. They were a lionhead named Annie and a fantail named Goldie. Unfortunately I kept them in a bowl of tap water for a week before reading about proper fish care. At that point I got them a 10 gallon tank that lasted two years on my desk during which time they grew to become some rather large fish! There were several incidents of pouring the whole can of food in and accidentally siphoning up poor Goldie. After a while I decided to upgrade them to a 43 gallon tank, which leaked several times. After five years, Goldie died of some disease which caused him to develop a large black patch on his side. I was in sixth grade and cried for a few days after this A few months later I got a feeder fish that turned out, strangely enough, to be a fantail named Bobby. We moved houses and poor Annie and Bobby endured falling onto hot pavement when their moving buckets broke. They recovered well enough, and lived in a 30 gallon for a three more years. Annie died at 8 years old when I was in my freshman year of high school. She suffered through a week of dropsy before finally passing away. It was really disturbing to watch, although I'm sure it was worse for her. I tried unsuccessfully to treat her with various meds, but it wasn't enough. She was the only animal that I had through my whole childhood, and I don't even have a picture of her. Needless to say, I was very sad. I still have Bobby with me and he seems quite healthy. He's about 7 inches long and I keep him on a diet of pellets and veggies every few days. In the last few weeks I added some anacharis to the tanks, but in the past all the plants have either been devoured by the fish or just melted away so I'm not being optimistic.

A picture of Bobby from a few months ago...note the cheesy plastic plant and awful skull ornament, LOL.

To anybody who actually read the whole thing, I'm sorry for putting you through that.

[Calluna]

Another note:

I've been wanting to get another fish to accompany Bobby for some time because I know that goldfish are social and Bobby hasn't behaved the same since Annie died. His behavior has been more mopey, skittish, and less willing to eat from our hands- for over a year now. He's healthy, no doubt, but I think he'd be happier with a friend in the tank. But here I come to a dilemma- fancy or common? I understand that fancies shouldn't be mixed with commons, but I've read conflicting information about fantails with commons. I certainly wouldn't want to cause him harm, but then again I'm reluctant to get fancy goldfish after learning of the health defects and handicaps they are more likely to have because of their altered body shapes and fins. Tank size is not a problem, as I'm more than willing to get a much larger tank to accommodate any future goldfish.

[Cynders]

Welcome to Kokos

It sounds like they went through a lot, but it sounds like they had some good times with you.

Edit: Yes, do not mix fancies with commons. Plus commons/comets do better in ponds anyway. It's more fair to them to grow to their future size of a foot or more in a pond where they can actually turn around moreso than a tank. Do you know about cycling the tank and all that good stuff? Quarantine especially. How often do you change the water by the way?

Edited October 24, 2010 by Haruka

[ashlee18]

Welcome! I am partial to fancies, so I say go for another fancy From your story, it sounds like you have been a good fish mommy.

[Calluna]

Yes, I've made sure that all the tanks I moved them to (except the first one) were cycled before adding the fish... I change maybe 20% or so of the water every week. I've learned about QT tanks in the last few years but I didn't get any new goldfish since learning about it. If I do get another goldfish, I'll definitely quarantine them first.

[Cynders]

That's good news

As a tip you may want to increase your water changes to 50%-75% a week. Do you have a liquid drop test kit? These are way more accurate than those strips, and last way long. Plus you get to be your own chemist.

[caitie]

it sounds as though you've been very successful with your fish. It is rare for first fish to live so many years as yours have. Your fish were lucky to have you. I would get another fancy to go with Bobby, they will be better suited together.

[tehminion]

Welcome to koko's! I think that plastic skull ornament is pretty cool! And Bobby looks great!

[shellbell4ever]

Welcome to koko's And I think getting your Bobby a friend (another fantail perhaps) would be a wonderful idea

[number20121]

Hello and welcome to Koko's! I'm a bit biased about the common/comet or fancy thing considering I have a comet and a shubunkin with my fancies (didn't know better and now don't want to kick them out so I will get a laaaarge tank eventually).

I guess if you too would end up getting a really big tank eventually and are willing to make sure that the slower fancy gets his share of food, then I think there is no problem. I might be wrong on that one though. I hand feed my fancies to make sure they get enough food. This is the only issue I have between the single tails and fancies right now, and with the eventual 125 or 150 gallon or larger tank the singles will also have quite a lot of room

[koko]

Everyone here as you can see is very helpful and friendly

[Calluna]

Thank you all for the replies! Haruka, I have strip tests for NO2, NO2, and NH3 but no drop tests. I should probably get some of those...

[Captain Findus Goldfish]

What a great story! Your goldie is real cute - I hope you can get him a sweet friend! (I agree, Fancy are better not to mix with commons)

[blackteles]

Great to have you with us and your story was a nice read! (And the skull is very cool)! Nice job!

You've come to the right place! Welcome aboard!