[d3snoopy]

I went to my dentist's office the other day in a while, and took a closer look at their fish tank.

It's a 20gal, and they have a really big goldfish and really big pleco in it. I don't know too much about goldfish, but considering the fact that the pleco was about 1/2 the length of the tank, I'd say he has out grown the tank by a while. I'm wondering if I should say something to them.

BTW the goldfish wasn't a whole lot smaller. It looked like the goldfish alone in the tank would probably be a tight fit.

 

[Optix]

mention it
...i doubt anything will change tho

 

[duff]

I would as it's worth a shot. Respectfully saying "you noticed" and your own love of tanks then offering a few words of advice and an offer of re-homing and helping with a proper set up? So many folks just don't know any better.

I helped our receptionist a few years back with a Betta tank. It killed me to see the poor thing in a vase. I gave her a 3g tank and a few items - I felt better, she felt better and the little fishie (Mr. Happy)was way happier.

Good Luck!

 

[vespers_]

public tanks are usually awful. people just don't give a s*** because they are just "fish". they go into the store, and buy whatever looks cool with no clue what they even are. i usually say something, but i doubt it would change anything. people don't want to hear that that cute little fish they have in their 10g can end up being 3 feet long (yeah, it was an iridescent shark and it really happened), or in this case that he needs upwards of a 55 gallon tank.

i would just recommend that he return those two fish to the pet store and restock the tank with neons or something.


sad that pet stores are still selling fish that almost nobody has the facilities to maintain properly, but it is still up to the buyer to be smart when they buy things.

 

[GeToChKn]

sad that pet stores are still selling fish that almost nobody has the facilities to maintain properly, but it is still up to the buyer to be smart when they buy things.

Yup. Some of the people at my LFS know lots and ask what you have in the tank, the size, etc and will say, don't get this, it will pick on your shrimp or don't get that, it will not get along with that. Some of the staff doesn't that and just bags up whatever you write on the order form.

Case in point, are african dwarf frogs. They sell them there and are always sold out meaning them are selling lots of them, and I feel bad because probably only a small percentage sold probably live long. They need a shallow tank because they are air breathers and have to swim to the top all the time for air, they like gentle water flow because they like to float on the surface, they do better in a covered top as they can jump out, and most importantly, they are almost blind so all the food eating is by smell, so you put them in a 50gal tank, they are never going to find food. They also do best being hand fed, at least until they learn where to get fed everyday and eat frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, etc and in a community tank, other fish will eat all the food before they can find any. I have 2 in a 2.5gal, the have a little feeding dish and have now learned to go there for food everday. Its shallow for them, has a screen lid and they are happy. Even when I got them at first, I lost a few because no one told me this stuff and I had them in my 20gal long and could never get them all together at once to eat. Chasing them with a turkey baster full of food was leaving food all over the place and too hard to get all of them fed. A little education at the LFS and I might not have gotten them knowing the work involved. Of course now I love the little things. lol.

 

[chicken]

It's very discouraging, but in my experience, people don't want to listen if you try to tell them their fishkeeping methods are less than ideal. And why should they, when as far as they can see, what they're doing is working?

I remember someone proudly telling me what good care she gave the 4 goldfish she'd kept in a 5 1/2 gallon tank for several years. Nothing was going to convince her that those goldfish should be in a tank many times larger --they were still alive, so she was convinced she was taking good care of them. And then there's the neighbors who kept an oscar and a pleco in a 16 gallon bowfront for over 5 years. I have no idea how those poor creatures survived.

I hasten to add that I don't tell people they're idiots (after all, I was an idiot once, too). I try to be very diplomatic, perhaps saying something like "I don't keep goldfish, but I always thought they needed a larger tank than that," or "Do you have trouble maintaining water quality in such a small tank?" or "I always found my fish did better when I _____"

Doesn't really matter, though, since no one wants to listen.

 

[vespers_]

Yup. Some of the people at my LFS know lots and ask what you have in the tank, the size, etc and will say, don't get this, it will pick on your shrimp or don't get that, it will not get along with that. Some of the staff doesn't that and just bags up whatever you write on the order form.

Case in point, are african dwarf frogs. They sell them there and are always sold out meaning them are selling lots of them, and I feel bad because probably only a small percentage sold probably live long. They need a shallow tank because they are air breathers and have to swim to the top all the time for air, they like gentle water flow because they like to float on the surface, they do better in a covered top as they can jump out, and most importantly, they are almost blind so all the food eating is by smell, so you put them in a 50gal tank, they are never going to find food. They also do best being hand fed, at least until they learn where to get fed everyday and eat frozen blood worms, brine shrimp, etc and in a community tank, other fish will eat all the food before they can find any. I have 2 in a 2.5gal, the have a little feeding dish and have now learned to go there for food everday. Its shallow for them, has a screen lid and they are happy. Even when I got them at first, I lost a few because no one told me this stuff and I had them in my 20gal long and could never get them all together at once to eat. Chasing them with a turkey baster full of food was leaving food all over the place and too hard to get all of them fed. A little education at the LFS and I might not have gotten them knowing the work involved. Of course now I love the little things. lol.

hehe i love african dwarf frogs! i raised one from an egg all the way to adulthood got a bunch of eggs from a friend and they all hatched into little tads. their numbers dwindled down though until finally i only had one left. not sure if he was killing the others or what was going on. i had him in a little 5g with some java moss. i fed him white worms/bloodworms/earthworms that i just put in front of his face.

the coolest part was when i woke up one night to this weird sound and ran all around trying to figure out what it was, and then realized it was the frog . he had his head out of the water and was calling pretty loudly. :icon_lol:

i definitely wouldn't put them in a larger tank though, because he was pretty darn terrible at finding food. he'd just miss it by millimeters or go right over... you could see he knew something was there, but he couldn't quite find it. :icon_bigg

 

[GDP]

It sucks buts its really none of your business.

 

[Rainer]

Makes me wonder how the ADFs survive in the wild.

 

[DishyFishy]

It's very discouraging, but in my experience, people don't want to listen if you try to tell them their fishkeeping methods are less than ideal

Yep, most people don't want to be told they're doing anything wrong, no matter what it is. But you never know, you could say something and they may just care!

 

[chicken]

Yep, most people don't want to be told they're doing anything wrong, no matter what it is. But you never know, you could say something and they may just care!

Sometimes I do hope that what I have said has at least planted a seed.