Newest Obsession #1: Goldfish April 8, 2008
Posted by Peter in : Obessions , trackbackKeith found a SUPER deal on a used fish tank at a garage sale: 20 gallon tank, filter with new pads, gravel, decorations, heater, etc. etc. All for 10 bucks! He even delivered it out our door! Can’t beat the service.
At first I thought it would just be neat to have a fish tank, but it has turned into an obsession. There are so many things to know about keeping fish, such as the cycling process, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels, feeding, temperature regulation, etc.
We originally had 3 common goldfish in there (cheap, about 25 cents each from the “feeder tank”), but the ammonia levels got too high for one of them (Lenny) so he died. =( Lenny was the was the biggest and slowest.
I was planning on using them as “starter” fish to complete the cycling process, but I’ve fallen for them now and so here they will stay.
The other two are thriving. The redhead is Conan (pasty white body with red head, just like Conan O’brien!) and the orange one is Skipper (I let the kids name that one). Yes, I talk to them… a lot… Jody thinks I’m crazy, and I agree. I pre-soak their food so that they don’t get bloated, and hand-pick every flake of food I feed them. They seem to recognize me too: whenever I go near the tank, they “beg” for food by swimming up against the glass toward me and “wagging” their tails.
I try to clean their tank about twice a week and experiment with different types of foods. I also check the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and hardness of the water regularly. Did you know that goldfish can grow up to a foot long and bigger? They are related to carp. These guys are still only about a couple of inches long. Also, they can live for 20+ years! At least it’s easier than dogs…
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