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Should I adopt mum's fish...

PigglePuggle

PigglePuggle

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My mum is in hospital and unfortunately she might be there a while. She has 2 goldfish (Alice and Lloyd) who she insists on keeping in a tiny tank because she can't lift a bigger tank and also she learned pet keeping in the 1970s and 80s style. Should I bring them to my house and triple their tank size and give them pond plants and proper treated water and stuff? Or might the well meaning change of habitat and water quality be too much of a shock for them? Mum's last fish thrived on neglect then unaccountably dropped dead when my daughter adopted them and tried improve their living conditions... there again my daughter is notoriously unsuccessful with pets (Alice the fish is named after the 8 consecutive hamsters called Alice that my daughter kept at her Gran's house from 1996 to 1999). Fish rescue? Or leave them be and just pop in to feed them and do half water changes?
 
The main question is... Will your Mum be offended if you adopt them?
 
Not sure... she likes the fish when she remembers them but in all honesty she can barely look after herself without a lot of nursing care help let alone pets... the carers usually remember to feed the fish though!
I tried to upgrade the fishy habitat once before but the next time I went round my expensive aquarium supplies had mysteriously disappeared and they were back in a tiny tank because it fits under the kitchen tap for cleaning!
 
Sorry to hear about your mum but brilliant post - made me chuckle 😂 I don't fancy Alices chances of being moved if her ancestors are anything to go by! I have fish too & the only time they were moved (to a neighbours) half of them died....more tgan likely through excited kids overfeeding but perhaps shock. Nowadays even if i go away for a week I just use a fish block rather than transport them. Weighing that up against the chance of a new life though....it could be their finding nemo moment in a beautiful new world....i think I'd risk it, do it slowly using plenty of existing water- but thats only my opinion.
 
I guess you can only try... we had two goldfish at my rescue that had been kept in a tall skinny tank meant for those small tropical fish, and so the goldfish ultimately didn't swim properly when put in a larger tank. Maybe you could use their current water as well as new water so it's not a complete environment change, then overtime and little water changes, the old stuff will be cleared out by the filter
 
Transfer them in a bag to get used to the new temperature. Also use a pump to get nice oxygen bubbles. The only thing i know about fish lol. I think you already know all this
 
I'm sorry to hear about your mum but if it were up to me, I’d leave them in the habitat they’re used too. My friends two goldfish were at least 5 years old but rather neglected by his parents after he moved out of home. He felt sorry for them so they moved into my parents large aquarium up here. Sadly, they both died a month later. Obviously it could have been coincidence but we believe it didn’t help moving them
 
I say go for it :)
Goldfish can live 40 years+ so could go really well, they can be pretty hardy and sounds like they are if living in tiny tank!
Just try not to shock them too much, keep the stuff that's in the tank already to add to new things and have a good read about 'cycling' tanks before you start it up. Definitely worth a try to give them more space, fish are great :)
 
Definitely agree with alpacasqueak. I have been keeping fish for over 20 years, moved houses, rooms, new tanks etc and rarely lose them. The key is not changing the water too fast. Make sure if you do bring them to a new aquarium that you bring all their water, it’s a total pain and you need containers etc but this will help a lot.

Then add a filter (probably an internal fluval will be fine) and gradually change water over time. I would take some advice from a good aquatic shop. In terms of temperature, again don’t shock them when you move them. The temp will drop as you transport them so try and keep it the same in transition. The key thing is doing everything in very small steps.

If you can afford the expense get a water test kit (or ask the aquatic shop) To test the current water. Things like ph levels (acidity/alkalinity) can have a massive impact on how they survive. Also if the tank has not been cared for it’s currently probably got a lot of nitrates in i, they will be used to that so again you need to change the water very gradually to allow them to adjust.

Hope I am not making this sound too complex! Feel free to pm me if you want to.

It’s great you are trying to help everyone involved!
 
I have seen and my brother has caught goldfish that have been released into lakes that are huge, like 5lb in weight. Thats if a pike doesnt get there first. 👎
 
I took on a goldie from my brother's ex-gf in Nov 2010, still going strong!

Went round to find two in a tiny tank (25l), no food, dechlorinater, anything really. Next time I went he was eating his dead tankmate off the floor! Horrified me! She was given them by a family member and was quite happy for me to take him (well chucked her £20!).
He's had two tank upgrades, was due another one this Xmas but Pedro's vet fees were more important! So in a 29gallon one at the moment, would prefer much bigger!

He was called Arnie (after Mr Terminator!) as very skinny, didn't think he'd survive but he surprised me! Has Cauliflower Disease, not contagious but has lumps and bumps everywhere.
And after tank was covered in eggs in the summer realised he was actually a she! Still called Arnie, hard to change her name after all these years!
IMG_4676.JPG
My best pal, will take food out of my hand and I can stroke her!
They're great fishies :) tank rather bare as have a habit of trashing and eating plants! I'm always buying new ones to chuck away a few weeks later!
 
so sorry your Mum is in hospital again, hope she’s out soon x
I would leave them were they are for now and just clean them out and feed. It will be nice for your Mum to have them to come home to x
 
Maybe you could keep them until she is out of hospital, then ask her where to go from there?
 
My great auntie had a fairground fish back in the 1960’s. It lived to a ripe old age of 13 called Spotty Moldune. He was very much loved but rather neglected, in a small tank and fed when she remembered. He was kept on the downstairs loo windowledge, no heating at all, sometimes in really bad winters there would be ice inside the window he was next to and in summer was probably even worse as the sun made the tank walls turn green. It’s amazing but sad how animals adapt to poor conditions and manage to still survive. He was really tame, We always used to clean him out whenever we visited, I don’t think she could manage very well.
 
I definanately agree with keeping some of the
Guinea Slave said:
Definitely agree with alpacasqueak. I have been keeping fish for over 20 years, moved houses, rooms, new tanks etc and rarely lose them. The key is not changing the water too fast. Make sure if you do bring them to a new aquarium that you bring all their water, it’s a total pain and you need containers etc but this will help a lot.

Then add a filter (probably an internal fluval will be fine) and gradually change water over time. I would take some advice from a good aquatic shop. In terms of temperature, again don’t shock them when you move them. The temp will drop as you transport them so try and keep it the same in transition. The key thing is doing everything in very small steps.

If you can afford the expense get a water test kit (or ask the aquatic shop) To test the current water. Things like ph levels (acidity/alkalinity) can have a massive impact on how they survive. Also if the tank has not been cared for it’s currently probably got a lot of nitrates in i, they will be used to that so again you need to change the water very gradually to allow them to adjust.

Hope I am not making this sound too complex! Feel free to pm me if you want to.

It’s great you are trying to help everyone involved!
Click to expand...
:agr:
I find you can get the tank set up balanced correctly, you only need to do 5% or 10% water change.


If you find a good aquatics shop , they will help you with this. .. and test your water for you
 
We had a goldfish when I was a child...a long time ago! My mum and dad looked after it very well and it lived in an old conservatory. One winter we had in the early 70’s it was very cold and the fish tank froze solid with the poor fish inside. We were all so upset, after that we bought another tank, had it inside with a heater...still feel bad to this day!
 
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