(Click here for the Aquarium Saga, Part 1)
7/7/13: So here we are with happy little fish in a nice new 10-gallon tank. But things are never as simple as one would like – fish food is very messy, it seems. The platys never seem to eat their flake food, but will just go after the catfish food (algae wafers), which makes a big mess! Are we feeding them too much? What is going on? I ask the aquarium store people and they suggest that we feed the platys in the morning and then put the catfish wafers in just before turning off the light at night. That helps a little. But the water seems to always be inordinately dirty; perhaps we are still feeding them too much.
On July 26th we lose the first platy. Dalton was pretty broken up about it. Nobody likes to get fish that just end up dying and it hasn’t been very long since we lost all those Neons. It is sad and he feels responsible, they are his fish. But I try to reassure him that it is not his fault and sometimes fish just die. Having fish is very much a learning experience and despite one’s best efforts, sometimes this happens.
I decide it is time to replace the filters, so I go out to look for them. But I cannot find any appropriate filters in any of the local pet stores. So I order them online. But this all takes longer than it should and the water is not doing very well. I try just rinsing the old filters out and putting them back in and keep doing the weekly water changes. I am anxious for the new filters to arrive!
But, on July 28th, the little Juli Catfish dies. Poor Dalton was beside himself. This was our favorite fish and the survivor of our first fishtank disaster. And then when on July 30th, another fish died (another one of the platys), I decide something serious must be wrong besides just needing new filters. I decide to take a water sample in to be tested at JoFish.
And this is dreadful: Our aquarium water is TOXIC. The water has been killing our fish because I was not aware that my method of letting the treated water sit for days at a time was putting ammonia into it. I WAS KILLING MY SON’S FISH – the whole time. I had no idea. I feel like a complete idiot!
I feel like sort of a MONSTER! I have been systematically killing these fish because I was under the belief that I was supposed to treat the water and let it sit until time to do the next water change! I was putting toxic water into the tank every week so, instead of the water getting cleaner, it was gradually getting worse. It was clean-looking – but no wonder the fish were looking so poorly!
I was instructed what to do. Basically, we needed to start completely over. The last living fish was not expected to live. I would need to do a 50% water change every three days until it completely cycled through. I should only let the treated water sit for up to 10 minutes; I could put the treatment solution into the water, stir it up a bit and immediately put it in the tank. Water left sitting is BAD.
Okay, I think I’ve got it…
At least Dalton now knows it is not in any way his fault that his fish have died. His MOM killed them. (sigh…)
August 3rd – Well, the last little fish is still kicking. Might we save it? We can try. I take it out of the TOXIC TANK and put it in a small container with clean, treated water. Amazingly, it starts looking remarkably better within the hour, I kid you not! So this seems hopeful. The new filters have arrived at last but I know I can’t leave this fish in such a small container for the duration of what it’s going to take to get the water cleaned up in that aquarium. What should I do?
Well for the first step I decide to get a water-testing kit. That will save me from having to run out to get the water tested all the time. (And, with some ammonia treatment and other stuff, here is another $50 spent on this project.) And the following day I decide to set up the original, little 2.5 gallon aquarium temporarily and I put our little trouper of a platy in there. That should keep him alive, if anything can.
August goes on and by the time Dalton and I leave for our vacation, the fish is still doing fine in the small tank. I ask my sister to feed him while we are gone, which she does, and it is still fine upon our return. I am now taking my time with getting the big tank in shape (it’s kind of a pain in the butt, as everyone probably knows or can imagine, so it is easy to procrastinate – especially since there are no fish in there to worry about – and the small tank is easy to maintain with only one fish.)
September 3rd. Oh dear, the last fish has (finally) died. I feel bad – perhaps it died of simple loneliness. …Guess I need to get to work on the big aquarium again.
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