Way Off Topic - Goldfish and Low PH

[etrain16]

ya keepong a gold fish should be fairly ez, what i used to do was ALOT of work and came with many bad and good experiences, its how we learn i guess lol

Growing up all we did for goldfish was throw them in a bowl and feed them regularly. This guy now has a big tank, filter, several types of tank additives and a sparkling new pH test kit. Seems a bit over the top for just a goldfish to me, but the ladies of the house want him to be happy.

 

[Diamondback]

Two words: Hexbug Aquabot. No feeding, no cleaning, just an occasional change of batteries.

 

[etrain16]

Two words: Hexbug Aquabot. No feeding, no cleaning, just an occasional change of batteries.

I've seen those - look like more fun than the fish

 

[Diamondback]

Bonus, the jellyfish aren't poisonous like live ones either, and they even did a Zombie Shark.

Hmmm... wonder what your finned friend would do in reaction to a new cyber-tankmate?

 

[etrain16]

Bonus, the jellyfish aren't poisonous like live ones either, and they even did a Zombie Shark.

Hmmm... wonder what your finned friend would do in reaction to a new cyber-tankmate?

I'd be more worried about what the womens would do to me if I tried that...

 

[Diamondback]

Trick is, introduce them to the Aquabot in its own tank first... go with the goldfish, clownfish or angelfish models, maybe a seahorse, definitely not either shark or the wahoo.

 

[etrain16]

Trick is, introduce them to the Aquabot in its own tank first... go with the goldfish, clownfish or angelfish models, maybe a seahorse, definitely not either shark or the wahoo.

Maybe when this fish dies, I'll drop in the goldfish model and see if they notice

 

[74bronco]

really ? they have aquabots now ? lol, its been twenty years since i played with keeping and rearing fish. had 150 gallon show tank, 70 gallon pairing tank , 2 55 gallon rearing tanks, and 3 or 4 twenty gallon tanks for the breeding pairs. kept 2 55 gallon food grade trash cans for water changes with there own hot 250 filters, uv sterlizing light tubes, reverse osmosis system for pure water, discus need 5.5 ph , super soft water, around 50ppm hardness and water temp around 86 f . sounds like alot of work now lol. but they are gorgous fish and we would get 15 to 25 dollars each for quarter sized offspring , thats about 2 or 3 months old, pairs would have 50 to 200 a batch. made some decent money for a hobby setup. then had a 100$ tank heater stick on and the pairing tank hit 110 f. killing my best two pair, we slowly got out of it after that.

 

[gryghin]

Goldfish can be trained to be hand fed. The trick is to always feed at the same time of day and they do recognize people. At least, that is what it seems like. We have a 6 year old pond in the back that the gold fish really love, every spring they're breeding.

Last summer the kids decided to put a couple in bowls with bamboo. The one on the dining table will eat the flake out of my finger. The one in the kitchen came back from the college kids house and is supposed to be just a temporary guest. So I haven't tried hand feeding.

 

[Alexx1401]

As far as the cleaning goes, I have dedicated buckets for the new water, a dedicated brush for scrubbing the tank and the filter assembly, a dedicated suction hose for cleaning and draining the water and the same additives we have used for years.

The only things that might be of note are that the water got a bit cloudier/dirtier than they normally do between cleanings. Also there is a white substance that builds up on the filter assembly over time that has built up again. I don't know what that is - normally I just wash the whole filter assembly in hot tap water and use the brush to clean it. What I did do this time is spray a little diluted bleach water on the filter assembly to try and help clean off that white residue since I can never seem to get rid of it completely. I don't normally use bleach to clean anything for his tank but did try it this time. That said, I rinsed the whole thing very thoroughly with plain water afterward. And, it would be odd if that could be a cause since bleach runs alkaline, not acidic.

I can't think of anything else that changed. Other than the water/filter change, it's all been status quo.

Very odd to be sure, but at least I know what to watch out for in the future.

Bleach may be it. Chlorine bleach stopped being Chlorine bleach many years ago. The reason was it was dangerous to keep the ingredients around to make it. If you look at the label it will say something like sodium hypoclorite IIRC. What it is is Lye. The stuff is far more stable but it also it VERY hard to rinse off anything it gets on. May have reacted with something when it could not be rinsed off. I long ago stopped using it for anything cleaning wise when I found out they had changed how it was made.

 

[etrain16]

Bleach may be it. Chlorine bleach stopped being Chlorine bleach many years ago. The reason was it was dangerous to keep the ingredients around to make it. If you look at the label it will say something like sodium hypoclorite IIRC. What it is is Lye. The stuff is far more stable but it also it VERY hard to rinse off anything it gets on. May have reacted with something when it could not be rinsed off. I long ago stopped using it for anything cleaning wise when I found out they had changed how it was made.

Good to know, I'll have to do a little research on that.

 

[etrain16]

Goldfish can be trained to be hand fed. The trick is to always feed at the same time of day and they do recognize people. At least, that is what it seems like. We have a 6 year old pond in the back that the guild fish really love, every spring they're breeding.

Last summer the kids decided to put a couple in bowls with bamboo. The one on the dining table will eat the flake out of my finger. The one in the kitchen came back from the college kids house and is supposed to be just a temporary guest. So I haven't tried hand feeding.

This guy definitely knows when it's feeding time - he's almost like a puppy when it comes to food!

 

[jbett98]

The smallest one of the two will swim up to the surface of the tank and make loud slurping, lip smacking sounds when it's time to feed them right at 7:00am & 7:00pm when he see's my wife in the kitchen making breakfast or dinner.
That one is smart enough to remind her about not forgetting to feed them like she used to when she was busy getting our kid off to school.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Given enough time and effort, you can train anything to eat goldfish..

View attachment 351666

 

[Mikej]

SOO much good in this thread! Everyone, take TWO likes out of petty cash.

 

[Norwestr55]

This guy definitely knows when it's feeding time - he's almost like a puppy when it comes to food!

Years ago I had 300 + gallons worth of fresh water tanks. One had an big apple snail in it that would come around to the front of the tank when it saw you, to be fed pellets. A couple of big oscars that would eat cocktail shrimp from my fingers. The female was always pretty polite and dainty about it but the male would take my finger up to the knuckle every time.

When I scrubbed anything (plastic plants, filter housings etc) I just used regular table salt as an abrasive. Its easy to rinse off and doesn't leave a residue.

 

[Alexx1401]

Years ago I had 300 + gallons worth of fresh water tanks. One had an big apple snail in it that would come around to the front of the tank when it saw you, to be fed pellets. A couple of big oscars that would eat cocktail shrimp from my fingers. The female was always pretty polite and dainty about it but the male would take my finger up to the knuckle every time.

When I scrubbed anything (plastic plants, filter housings etc) I just used regular table salt as an abrasive. Its easy to rinse off and doesn't leave a residue.

I kind of miss the indoor. When I met Wife first birthday she wanted a 75G tank. Bought it and we had an Oscar along with some other stuff. That Oscar was the only time I had ever seen a tropical fish that would actually bite. He could not hurt me but he had a lot of heart. Reach in there to move something or clean and little guy would swim over and bite.

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Growing up all we did for goldfish was throw them in a bowl and feed them regularly. This guy now has a big tank, filter, several types of tank additives and a sparkling new pH test kit. Seems a bit over the top for just a goldfish to me, but the ladies of the house want him to be happy.

Same here. A bowl, water, a plant or two and a couple of snails. Fed them once or every other day and they seemed to be perfectly happy. As an aside my daughter when she was young(now 31) got a pair of gerbils. I wasn't thrilled but was told they only live for 2-3 years so I figured that was ok. One died around 4 and the other lasted for over 8 years. For some reason all the animals we have had as pets over the last 35 years seemed to have lived longer than average and we do nothing special to them. Just food and a place to sleep, makes me wonder about all these expensive special diets and whatever for pets actually shorten their lifespans. They seemed to have survived on their own for tens of thousands of years without human internention.

 

[Norwestr55]

I kind of miss the indoor. When I met Wife first birthday she wanted a 75G tank. Bought it and we had an Oscar along with some other stuff. That Oscar was the only time I had ever seen a tropical fish that would actually bite. He could not hurt me but he had a lot of heart. Reach in there to move something or clean and little guy would swim over and bite.

Seems like all the African cichlids are territorial like that. Like you said they can't hurt you but it does startle ya. " OK, easy, take it nice, easy, easy.. Gah, you little SOB!"

 

[etrain16]

When I scrubbed anything (plastic plants, filter housings etc) I just used regular table salt as an abrasive. Its easy to rinse off and doesn't leave a residue.

Table salt, great suggestion, thanks!