I Am Taking Care Of My Friend's Fish...

[davejonesbkk]

Friend gave me his gf's fish to take care of on Sunday when they went to Nong Kai, said that the water had just been changed and I should just put in a spoonful of the food once a day. No problem right? WRONG!

First thing I noticed when I fed them on Monday was that one spoonful (small plastic spoon) seemed to be waaay too much, it blanketed the surface and a lot sank down. I also noticed that the fish were always swimming at the surface, which didn't seem right.

By Tuesday (yesterday) the water was getting pretty murky. Decided to change some of the water today so took about 6 large glasses out and replaced them with clean water whilst I was pouring new water in a dead fish suddenly popped up, I think it came up from the bottom. I then noticed 3 more dead fish under the rock. dam_n! Even though I cleaned it the water is looking murky again and now another fish looks like its dead under the rock....

I think by the time he gets back there's gonna be none left

Ideas?

[junki3korean]

what type of fish are they......did you age the water before changing it, this is vital...

if they all die....better go buy some new ones....

[davejonesbkk]

um.... age water?

Note: 4 were already dead when I started changing the water...

Edited October 15, 2008 by davejonesbkk

[lioness]

If the fish are or were swimming close to the surface sounds like they have no oxygen, isn't there a small pump with the setup, if not change the water ( and not straight from the tap ).

[bina]

dont feed for the next day or so, and it sounds like they over feed also... age water: 24 hrs or so left in a pail, open or use rain water...

sounds like there was death in the waves before they went away, and decaying corpses poisons the water even further... a vicious cycle... what kind of fish?

bina

[davejonesbkk]

No filter was given to me and when I was round there place I never saw one. I thought this was weird as I used to have fish as a kid and always thought it was need to oxygenate the water. She's had these fish for a while tho....

[undercover]

Seems to me if he changed the water before you started to take care of them the water was probably ok as he would have changed it like he normally does.

I would say what happend is this, your first feeding was way too much food (it blanketed the surface) much of the food fell to the bottom inbetween the gravel or stones, quickly rotted due to the heat in Thailand, rapid growth of bacteria and this in turn took the oxygen out the water.

What I would do, hoping theres still some fish left is take a lenth of plastic hose, get yourself a bucket and syphon the water from the tank into the bucket keeping the end of the hose very close to the gravel, just like a vacume cleaner, you will quickly see the rotten food lift from the gravel and go down the hose, replace 3/4 of the water and hope for the best, don't feed again till the water is compleatly clear.

Good Luck

[davejonesbkk]

I have no hose or any other tools for that matter

.

Just filled an old plastic bucket with tap water, do I really have to let it age 24 hours? Will 12 do?

I will move the fish there tomorrow, anything else I should know.

Note: No idea what type of fish btw

[realfunster]

As others have mentioned sounds like overfeeding and a resulting lack of oxygen- normally signalled by fish at 45 degrees gasping at the surface. Same thing happened to me when I foolishly asked my security guard to take care of my fish for a week. Don't feel too bad though, overfeeding is a common mistake borne from good intentions.

Water change is your best option, for an 'emergency' water change (I think this qualifies ) rather than waiting the 12/24 hours (for the chlorine to dissipate), you could go down to the nearest 7-11 and purchase a 6*2 ltr pack of Singha water . I have done this in the past and had no problems. The water sounds in bad condition so you should probably go for at least a 50% water change if not more. Most fish are generally reasonably hardy when it comes to water conditions (lack of oxygen excepted) so they should be OK with a large change, but there are no guarantees- if I knew what fish I could probably be more specific.

If it goes belly up, there are normally quite a few fish stores open at Chatuchak on weekdays...

[davejonesbkk]

Ok filled the bucket with bottled water (room temp) from the shop.

Moved them all to the bucket, seem much better now, swimming lower.

But they all seem agitated and are chasing one another, should I put something in for them to hide under?

[Groongthep]

Ideas?

1.) If they're not too expensive, you could go to a shop and buy new fish to replace those that have died. Might be simpler than trying to explain what happened.

2.) Sashimi!

[Tywais]

But they all seem agitated and are chasing one another, should I put something in for them to hide under?

We have two aquariums at home. As has been mentioned, sounds like way too much food, normal rule is only enough that they can finish it in 5 minutes. Also, the lack of oxygen is why they are at the surface and can be due to too much food causing the murkiness plus a dead fish will add to that though usually takes a couple of days before the decomposition will do that.

The 24 hour rule before adding fish is to allow any sediment to settle out of the water and to stabilize the water temperature. When moving fish from one environment to another it is important that the water temperature of the two are equal. Temperature shock is a common mistake and can kill the fish very quickly.

As for their for their agitation, also normal. They suddenly got man handled then put into a strange new environment and takes them a couple of days before the "trust" comes back. Whenever we change the water and put them back in they all go cuddle together in a corner of the tank(s).

Surprised about the lack of an air pump. I know if our pump goes off for a day or so the fish are at the surface trying to breath.

[Thaddeus]

She's had these fish for a while tho....

I had a hamster for 10 years..... it kept changing colour though.

As Ty just said, you can't keep fish in an enclosed environment without oxygenating the water..... maybe one fish in a bowl, but any more than that and they will be gasping for air.

Edited October 16, 2008 by Thaddeus

[Nienke]

As for their for their agitation, also normal. They suddenly got man handled then put into a strange new environment and takes them a couple of days before the "trust" comes back. Whenever we change the water and put them back in they all go cuddle together in a corner of the tank(s).

How fish do 'talk' and how much can the feel stress. I really hate it when I see those overfull tanks with pla tab tim on markets and in supermarkets. Filthy water, fish gasping for air and more too often still with half or complete dead fish in between those that are still kind of alive. Once sold their misery is often not over as they will be put alive in plastic bags without any water, just dying a very slow death.

If only they could make sounds ....

Nienke

[PoorSucker]

A friend of mine asked one of his staff to take care of his fish when going away a couple of days.

When coming back, he asked where the fish was.

She answered the are hiding...

[cmfarmer]

A friend of mine asked one of his staff to take care of his fish when going away a couple of days.

When coming back, he asked where the fish was.

She answered the are hiding...

davejonesbkk,

1. Could you take a picture of the remaining fish in the aquarium to show us here ?

2. Call your friend by phone to ask how to look after his fish. I am sure they know better than us here, giving you advice without knowing all the details.

I have a two foot tank with two goldfish.

[Tywais]

A friend of mine asked one of his staff to take care of his fish when going away a couple of days.

When coming back, he asked where the fish was.

She answered the are hiding...

Better then saying "they were delicious".

[PoorSucker]

A friend of mine asked one of his staff to take care of his fish when going away a couple of days.

When coming back, he asked where the fish was.

She answered the are hiding...

Better then saying "they were delicious".

They have solved the problem at Koh Tao

[davejonesbkk]

Update - Fish are fine now in the bucket. Don't seem to have any air problems at all. I put in an old plastic container for them to hide under too but they seemed to have settled down now. I'll try and take a pic later but not sure how it will turn out.

[tango]

As for their for their agitation, also normal. They suddenly got man handled then put into a strange new environment and takes them a couple of days before the "trust" comes back. Whenever we change the water and put them back in they all go cuddle together in a corner of the tank(s).

How fish do 'talk' and how much can the feel stress. I really hate it when I see those overfull tanks with pla tab tim on markets and in supermarkets. Filthy water, fish gasping for air and more too often still with half or complete dead fish in between those that are still kind of alive. Once sold their misery is often not over as they will be put alive in plastic bags without any water, just dying a very slow death.

If only they could make sounds ....

Nienke

The same thoughts went thru my mind the other day at the supermarket. Absolutely ...gusting. Sheesh- enough to turn one veretarian; but apparently plants cry silently too.

I lost one of my dogs over 5 months ago, and revisit the area often in hopes he'd return. Since Thai neigbours mentioned dogs being rounded up for potential menu items at a Sankapang restaurant, I have not slept well since and have taken a more critical eye on animal welfare. Hope the OP's fish environment is resolved quickly.

[ignis]

Update - Fish are fine now in the bucket. Don't seem to have any air problems at all. I put in an old plastic container for them to hide under too but they seemed to have settled down now. I'll try and take a pic later but not sure how it will turn out.

For air you could use some plant in the water [air plant floats on top or put a stone in the bottom with the plants under, some places sell in a small pot with an elastic band and 1/2 a tooth pick to hold them in the pot cost under 10 baht a pot] a small air pump cost 46 baht.... depends how long you are looking after them + what fish they are as some need no air...

[Swanky]

How angry is your friends' girlfriend likely to get when she finds out about the dead fish?

I had to take care of a friend's state of the art saltwater tank for a couple of months while he went away back home. At first all was well, then the water started getting a greenish tinge to it and small snail things started emerging and crawling on the glass. Needless to say all the fish carked it eventually and it cost me a lot to replace them and have the whole tank cleaned out. I mean what do I know about tropical fish? I took photos of them that's how I managed to buy thema again.

Didn't tell my friend about it either, he did notice though that a couple of the fish had lost weight and one changed colour. A couple of weeks later he sold the tank as he decided it was too much maintenance. Oh well.

[Mosha]

It's worth pointing out it is easier to over feed than starve a fish. When I was going on holiday I used to ask the family to feed a pinch every other day, and keep an eye on the water temperature. Never had any major problems even when it was a 3 week holiday.