Yes, I am geeking out on my new fish. This is what I do.
One of the goldfish showed signs of ammonia burn 2 days after they got home. My pond ammonia is fine, so I assume it came from Petsmart. I wish I had thought of this before I bought the fish: it's a new store and who knows when they actually turned on their filtration system; their water might not be cycled yet. Live and learn, right?
I moved the fish into a storage tub in the living room, on Friday night. Set up the old tank filter (thank god it still works, because I can't afford to buy a new filter right now) and filled it with half pond water, half fresh water. Added salt to fight infection. The aeration hole in the filter seems to be blocked somehow, so I have the filter set up to splash instead. R says "It sounds like it's raining in here!"
The fish are named Bella and Donna. Bella is the orange-and-white, named for my neighbor's dog, who is also orange-and-white and is the most awesome dog ever. Donna is white with one small pink spot and is named after dalbino83, because I am a big dork. I am pretty sure that Bella is male and Donna is female, but gendered names really don't matter to a goldfish.
Today Bella's fins are already looking better.. all the black on the tail is gone, with just a little black left on the fins. There's a lot of chasing going on, and I think I need to add more plants to the tank to give the fish a safer feeling. I'll do that tonight. The fish both ate like crazy last night, but today they've been slow to eat. There is uneaten food sitting on the bottom of the tub; if they don't eat it tonight I might bring in a gambusia to clean up after them.
R bought me some pond test strips Friday since mine were ruined in the flood. The pond is NOT in good shape ph-wise. Also nitrates & nitrites are higher than they've ever been... I've never had a visible reading before. I am sure it is because I have so few plants right now. I am supposed to go pick up some plants soon, I hope I can get them tomorrow so I can fill the thing up. Tonight I hope to have enough energy to change most of the water in the pond, but it might have to be tomorrow morning, I am in pain and very tired today.
I moved the fish into a storage tub in the living room, on Friday night. Set up the old tank filter (thank god it still works, because I can't afford to buy a new filter right now) and filled it with half pond water, half fresh water. Added salt to fight infection. The aeration hole in the filter seems to be blocked somehow, so I have the filter set up to splash instead. R says "It sounds like it's raining in here!"
The fish are named Bella and Donna. Bella is the orange-and-white, named for my neighbor's dog, who is also orange-and-white and is the most awesome dog ever. Donna is white with one small pink spot and is named after dalbino83, because I am a big dork. I am pretty sure that Bella is male and Donna is female, but gendered names really don't matter to a goldfish.
Today Bella's fins are already looking better.. all the black on the tail is gone, with just a little black left on the fins. There's a lot of chasing going on, and I think I need to add more plants to the tank to give the fish a safer feeling. I'll do that tonight. The fish both ate like crazy last night, but today they've been slow to eat. There is uneaten food sitting on the bottom of the tub; if they don't eat it tonight I might bring in a gambusia to clean up after them.
R bought me some pond test strips Friday since mine were ruined in the flood. The pond is NOT in good shape ph-wise. Also nitrates & nitrites are higher than they've ever been... I've never had a visible reading before. I am sure it is because I have so few plants right now. I am supposed to go pick up some plants soon, I hope I can get them tomorrow so I can fill the thing up. Tonight I hope to have enough energy to change most of the water in the pond, but it might have to be tomorrow morning, I am in pain and very tired today.