Aquarium owners worry about fish health and tank conditions

“Hello all! I want to start by saying this was my first tank since I was 12, and I know I made mistakes :( I want to know how to improve the situation or what I can do more to keep my fishies safe because I love them a lot. This is tank, it’s 10 gallon, 80 degrees. I used to have a ton of soil in there and sand but eventually the soil was so murky and brown yesterday i did a 90% water change (kept old filter and added a gallon of their previous water, added cycle starter from API) because there w”

“hi all! i have a 75 gal tank thats been set up for about a year, running a canister filter and 2 large sponges. i adopted a lot of the fish in it off facebook marketplace from the guy selling the tank. its current stock is 20 rummy nose tetras, 1 bristle nose pleco, 1 three-spotted gourami, 5 bronze cories, and a few mystery snails. recently my other large orange gourami passed, and it’s been looking a little empty. i’m wanting to add another centerpiece type fish, and possibly some other random”

“Can you pls rate my Aquarium it,s a new one because the old one was leaking. Now its 72L in it Are 4 Platys 4 Grey armored Catfish and 6 swarm Fishes were are looking to buy Four more so they Are 10 again submitted by /u/potatomake2837 [link] [comments]”

“So a chick told me that these catfishes were harmless and chill, and to get it for a goldfish tank. I just got home from work to see 1 gold fish dead. And 1 with missing scales and ripped tail and dorsal fin. Ive isolated the gold fish. Hes in a small box thats made for fish who live birth. Idk what to do with the catfish? Dad has a bigger community tank but im worried itll go for his fish too. What can i do to help my goldfish and heal his scales? Advice is needed thank you. submitted by”

“Ive only ever owned a betta fish. I have a water heater, air pump, and a water filter left over. As well as a 10-15 gallon tank. I understand that goldfish can live long long lives and grow very big. I dont have much money at all, I just turned 17 today. I dont drive, im not im school, and I dont have a job. I genuinely am just panicking and I need advice. I have some support from my mother but not much. My family isnt very well off. If you all know anything I need for a goldfish in particular p”

“i’m going out of the country for a while and i can’t bring my fish with me unfortunately so i’m leaving them in the care of my roommates my tank definitely requires moderate maintenance so what should i leave them with? an instruction booklet? i can’t give them away because i just love them too much and ive had my tank for over a year, my roommates are also versed in snail parentage but little aquatic experience submitted by /u/ImpossibleAardvark51 [link] [comments]”

“Context: when I came to check on our fish this morning I noticed that my boy, Tank, was looking extremely bloated and had what looked like pineconing on the left side of his body and it was red and swollen in that area. He has been swimming and eating normally but of course I am very concerned with whatever is happening to him right now. I was doing research and found out that it sounds like dropsy, which is fatal. My husband and I are setting up a hospital tank for him tonight and plan to do so”

“My dad bought a fish to my toddler sister and saved the poor little one from them, they said "it's just a fish and will die soon anyway" I got an emergency tank (9L) with little money we had, I then bought a little pleco and it sadly passed 4 months in even tho I was feeding it with the sinking pellets... I assume my goldfish somehow ate them before she did. (I was giving the food every night so my goldfish would be asleep to not eat it) Now, I am asking what can I do to help me ke”

“So I’m getting out of the hobby, and I have a 20 gallon tank that’s fully aquascaped, has two established filters in it, and fish. I’m considering just giving the whole setup away, still put together. It’s a peaceful community tank, with very little maintenance required. I already have thought about the hassle of moving a tank and fish. How likely is it in your guys’ opinions that someone would be interested? submitted by /u/Creative-File9168 [link] [comments]”

“I have a beautiful betta fish, i thought i took good care of him ... His tank is 10 gallon with natural plants, heater , a very good filter . I do water changes weekly and test water weekly and everything looked perfect. Until i noticed that his colors is going and he has a fin rot!!! Today i decided to give him a salt bath and i saw his body more clearly. I think he is pine coning please help submitted by /u/Admirable-Agent2831 [link] [comments]”

“I'm looking for a new apartment in Kazakhstan and found one with this giant deep narrow aquarium. My hand won't be able to reach the bottom. It needs a thorough cleaning. The filter and lights don't seem to work. I'm thinking no plants. Will the depth be a problem for a filter? Scaping ideas? Any advice is needed desperately. submitted by /u/Stecki_fangaz [link] [comments]”

“I was just browsing for a small scale tank just to put plants in and I found this abhorrent advert. Thank god they're selling it but the absolute STATE of this tank. I don't really have £50 right now but I also don't want to just leave these poor fish like that or let them go to another home where the owners don't give a shit. What should I do??? I could take what little I have in my savings and buy it, but I'd need to do a lot of work to it and I don't know how to care f”

“Had my homie Crocodile for almost a year. He’s been there since day one ( gone through a few fish early one but he’s always been truckin) He’s been in a 10 gallon (tall) tank with a dwarf gourami for months. Looked at him the other day and notice some white and his eyeball looks whiteish too. He’s in a 5gallon bucket hospital tank with some cycled water, a heater and a bubbler. He’s got a hiding spot and a couple pieces of water lettuce. He’s spent yesterday and today in the hospital. He behaves”

“Growing up my father was very fond of aquariums. He genuinely cared for each fish and recognised who was who. Whereas I've seen many people who keep fish as some decorations. It's not that they don't take care of them, they just don't seem to see them as pets and just like the fact that they have a biotome at their place. I understand both of their sentiments, but the idea that a fish is your pet and you see their every move and observe how they eat, when they sleep, what they li”

“I have a betta and he's definitely a pet. I love to see how his personality changes, how he slowly got used to seeing me clean his tank vs in the initial days he used to go into hiding whenever I got the big pipette into his tank and i can sit for long staring at him when he's swimming all around. When my last betta passed away suddenly, my daughter cried so much for him because he was also very interactive. He'd come to see us when we stood near his tank and it honestly seems like b”

“I think I'm somewhere in between. My pleco is the only one with a name, but that's because I really can't differentiate any of the shrimp or corys or kuhlis, etc. I'm even growing attached the celestial pearl danios now that they had babies. It's fun watching them grow and thrive! I would still feel heartbroken if they started dying, but they don't really recognize me the way a pet does. My pleco on the other hand comes out as soon as she hears my voice. If I stand near t”

“They kinda run the gamut. My gar, my knifefish and my congo bichir are like my children, they eat out of my hand, come out to spend time with me when I sit next to their tank. Sgt. Riggs (my bichir) weaves around my hand when I do water changes. If god forbid any of these die, I would be devastated. My puffers say hi everytime I walk past the tank. I play with them moving my hand back and forth on the glass. My leaffish are shy, they don’t really interact with me. They only get active when they’”

“both, it depends on the tank. my bigger nano community tanks are more about the whole ecosystem instead of the individual fish, though some individuals will often stand out. like a favorite male guppy, the most dominant kribensis, the giant bamboo shrimp. but if one of the school dies it doesn't affect me too much. my bettas, on the other hand, are very much pets. names, personalities, play time, mourning when they pass. if i had the space I'd love more wet pet type fish like an oscar.”

“I definitely look at the aquarium as living art. I try to make it as pleasing to the eye as possible. I've moved away from bugger showcase fish to groups of dither fish.”

“Both. Theyre decorative pets, I get them and set up their tanks to look pretty but I also prioritize their health and happiness like regular pets. But I get what you say about feeling less connected the more you have. I have one betta, I love him. I have 13 shrimp, I like watching them but dont have the connection with them like the betta, who gets excited to see me while feeding. When I had one large ramshorn I named him and really enjoyed him. When he passed i got a few more and they laid eggs”

“We have 13 tanks, from 90g to 10g. I can tell you exactly what’s in every tank, what they like/don’t like, and who’s who(pecking order). They are pets to us, me especially I think. Our rope fish, named Bean, for example, has his cave and gets his favorite food “DoorDashed” each day to make sure he eats. Puggles, the female polar parrot is a delight, except when we had her with a festivum, she was a bitch. We moved the festivum and all is well for both. The RTBS’s(2 in separate tanks) love life i”

“It’s not so cut and dry in my opinion, but my overall view of fish is livestock. Which to me means they have a purpose beyond just companionship. It’s a bit of a hold over opinion from when I used to do small scale breeding for several freshwater species. As an example, I bred and raised angels for my local pet store to fund my aquariums. Because they can be such prolific breeders with potential for physical defects if inbred too much, I literally kept an Amazon leaf fish in specimen tank as a b”

“I consider my mystery snails projects (I have 100s of babies Im breeding) but I also like keeping them well fed and their shells in good condition etc because I’m not trying to run a puppy mill with them 😅 I had some goldfish for a whole that I kind of viewed the same way - I like keeping them happy and healthy etc but I mainly had them to fuel an aquaponic plant wall.”

“I was trying to look at her wigglers this morning. Pixel always swims over to me - probably for food but I love it. I give her pets and kisses through the glass. I tell my fish good morning and good night. They're absolutely pets. https://preview.redd.it/bs5fn93lgouh1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1b1ffcd81c9c7b65bc36409d27cfbae74cc96ed9”

“Depends on the fish. My featherfin cat responds to us talking to her, and comes out of her hide and, in my head at least, acts excited when I enter the room. Pet. She definitely prefers my wife's voice, though. My planted tank is mostly tetra, and I feel like I'm simply a food delivery guy for them, so it's just display, and honestly gets most of the work and time.”

“I guess pets, but no where near the same as my cats or dogs would be. But they definitely aren't show pieces.”

“i mean, i keep goldfish which have been bred to be pets for hundreds of years. of course they are pets to me because their behaviour is very pet like and their looks make them individuals. idk if it would be fully the same for wild caught fish or schooling fish that look like the same guy x 50, but i do generally view them (and all the snails, worms, mini crustaceans, protists, that one slime mold that showed up) as beings living their own life inside my house.”

“I’m in the decorations camp. I have no emotional attachment to my fish at all, they’re part of a display. I want them to thrive because it makes the display better. Better colouring, more natural behaviour. https://preview.redd.it/d0r55q7ycouh1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=63d1a5580e6e11f6df9605fad86188940e38f255 The tank is meticulously maintained. 125g display with a 50g sump. I hatch my own brine shrimp for food and do 75% water changes every week. But if one of my fish”

“I do see them as pets, but I'm not emotionally bonded with them like I am with my cats. I'm not devastated if one dies. I care about their wellbeing because they are animals in my care, and I think they're really interesting to observe”

“Theyre all my children and i love them.☺ they have feelings and get names and treats etc.”

“I am more fascinated with building an ecosystem, than with individual fishies or with pure aesthetics. It's why I prefer schooling nanofish and community tanks. I would never get fish that need to be solitary (e.g. betta, most bigger gouramis), fish that are too big for community tanks (e.g. arrowanas, oscars, etc.), fish that need to be a specific sex to be kept together (e.g. male-only guppies, betta sororities), fish that don't work in mixed-species tanks (tiger barbs, pea puffers, mo”