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Mar. 29th, 2006 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icelightningFound something interesting out while I was researching a good aquarium to move my shrimp into after I get them out of their ecosphere. And so, I present to you, a random fish-related facts that make my head boggle.
All I can say is: do research before you buy a fish!
And don't listen to the pet store people when they say you can have any fish in a tiny ass container without filtration. GO ONLINE, find people who are major lovers of fish (preferably not livejournal, too many stupid pet owners to count), and look up stuff. Then buy books (that have decent reviews), read, and don't EVER impulse buy a fish. There's a lot of good pages/forums dedicated to every fish I know, or to groups of fish. Luckily, for me, almost all research for Opae Ula (my shrimp) happens to be publically available online.
Average goldfish grow to be 6-7 inches (15-18cm) long, with some growing up to 12 inches (30cm). This means each adult goldfish needs anywhere from 10-20 gallons of tank. Meaning if you get three itty bitty goldfish, you're going to need to get a 30-60 gallon tank (most stores recommend 55gallons) in order to house them.
And bettas need a minimum of 2.5 gallons because they can grow to be 6 inches.
... So yeah, there's no such thing as a "gold fish bowl" or a "betta bowl". You need to have some sort of filter system installed for any sort of aquarium, anyways, whether it is biological, chemical, or mechanical. But people still sell these containers off when they're really too small for anything but my opae ula shrimp, and only if they have a filter of some sort.
Cycling your tank (having it go through the nitrogen-ammonia cycle) is also a necessary step. This allows your biological filters to establish a bacteria bed so they'll work properly. This should be done before adding fish. Also, tap water (at least ours around here) is going to make your fish very, very unhappy (and probably dead).
....Weeee, what you learn when you actually do research.
Net results of said research: I'm getting a Mini Bow Junior 1 Gallon tank for my shrimp, hopefully of the blue variety. The little guys already have a biological filter between the rocks in their sphere, so I'll transfer everything with them. I'll feed them spirulina (algae, I think) every one to three days so they'll still eat the algae in their tank. The shrimp, unlike most aquarium fish, live in still brackish pools and with my biological filter, they don't need any mechanical/chemical filtration (although the kit comes with some, so I'll have back-up just in case). People have had colonies living in containers with only biological filtration for over a decade now, so I think my three should be fine.
They really only need a quart or so to thrive in (5 shrimp to a quart, and I have 3), but I'm going to give them probably a quart and a half, maybe two. I don't want the thing spilling over on the way home, and they'd just be overwhelmed with having too much space in a gallon. I have room to grow if they decide to make fry, though.
Right now, they're doing okay in the ecosphere (mostly because it was probably made for Christmas especially), but I'd rather get them out before they die from ammonia poisoning/lack of oxygen/lack of air. The only reason these guys live in the ecosphere for so long is that they're damned hard to kill and it takes them 1-3 years to completely starve to death. I bet they're going to be happy to be out of there.
If you want to get these tiny shrimp, buy them from here. And do some research, please.
... And yes, I'll shut up now. Just thought everyone should know so they don't end up killing their fish. D= And all the advertisements about "no feed" fish are lies, btw. Where the hell do they think the nutrients come from?
All I can say is: do research before you buy a fish!
And don't listen to the pet store people when they say you can have any fish in a tiny ass container without filtration. GO ONLINE, find people who are major lovers of fish (preferably not livejournal, too many stupid pet owners to count), and look up stuff. Then buy books (that have decent reviews), read, and don't EVER impulse buy a fish. There's a lot of good pages/forums dedicated to every fish I know, or to groups of fish. Luckily, for me, almost all research for Opae Ula (my shrimp) happens to be publically available online.
Average goldfish grow to be 6-7 inches (15-18cm) long, with some growing up to 12 inches (30cm). This means each adult goldfish needs anywhere from 10-20 gallons of tank. Meaning if you get three itty bitty goldfish, you're going to need to get a 30-60 gallon tank (most stores recommend 55gallons) in order to house them.
And bettas need a minimum of 2.5 gallons because they can grow to be 6 inches.
... So yeah, there's no such thing as a "gold fish bowl" or a "betta bowl". You need to have some sort of filter system installed for any sort of aquarium, anyways, whether it is biological, chemical, or mechanical. But people still sell these containers off when they're really too small for anything but my opae ula shrimp, and only if they have a filter of some sort.
Cycling your tank (having it go through the nitrogen-ammonia cycle) is also a necessary step. This allows your biological filters to establish a bacteria bed so they'll work properly. This should be done before adding fish. Also, tap water (at least ours around here) is going to make your fish very, very unhappy (and probably dead).
....Weeee, what you learn when you actually do research.
Net results of said research: I'm getting a Mini Bow Junior 1 Gallon tank for my shrimp, hopefully of the blue variety. The little guys already have a biological filter between the rocks in their sphere, so I'll transfer everything with them. I'll feed them spirulina (algae, I think) every one to three days so they'll still eat the algae in their tank. The shrimp, unlike most aquarium fish, live in still brackish pools and with my biological filter, they don't need any mechanical/chemical filtration (although the kit comes with some, so I'll have back-up just in case). People have had colonies living in containers with only biological filtration for over a decade now, so I think my three should be fine.
They really only need a quart or so to thrive in (5 shrimp to a quart, and I have 3), but I'm going to give them probably a quart and a half, maybe two. I don't want the thing spilling over on the way home, and they'd just be overwhelmed with having too much space in a gallon. I have room to grow if they decide to make fry, though.
Right now, they're doing okay in the ecosphere (mostly because it was probably made for Christmas especially), but I'd rather get them out before they die from ammonia poisoning/lack of oxygen/lack of air. The only reason these guys live in the ecosphere for so long is that they're damned hard to kill and it takes them 1-3 years to completely starve to death. I bet they're going to be happy to be out of there.
If you want to get these tiny shrimp, buy them from here. And do some research, please.
... And yes, I'll shut up now. Just thought everyone should know so they don't end up killing their fish. D= And all the advertisements about "no feed" fish are lies, btw. Where the hell do they think the nutrients come from?
