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| TheSilverFox |
on Tue 27 Dec 11, 5:09 PM to TheSilverFox's blog.
Keeping tropical fish?
Quite taken with the idea of setting up a tank.
Some key questions:
1. How long can they be left (Due to life style and work travel)
2. How do you engineer looking after them when moving house??
These are important considerations at this time...
Ta,,,
ETA: This is a genuine question and not some veiled piss take by the way... 
Edited Tue 27 Dec 11, 7:32 PM by TheSilverFox
| 27 Dec 11, 5:29 PM fellatrix UK, 2 yrs |
I know nothing about tropical fish. But I have in the past been delegated the task of popping in to feed a friends fish, and I didn't kill them. So regarding 1 above, feeding fish while you are away isn't a particularly onerous task and can safely be delegated o a ditzi but reliable neighbour. smartarse | |
| 27 Dec 11, 5:29 PM chartreuse UK(BA), 6 yrs  |
I would advocate you wait and get some when your lifestyle suits. @The_Coven / @The_Problem_Page, you might give the advice that someone needs. / I want the "Moon on a stick and the Stars suspended from bunting". / So many haystacks, so few needles! / Conserve conversation and converse about conservation! | |
| 27 Dec 11, 5:32 PM NimueBanditQueen UK(MK), 2 yrs  |
Easier to kill by overfeeding then you would think...
Oh and put the guppies in a box to protect the babies from being 'eaten' everytime they poo 'cos you can't tell the difference ... (yes you can, the guppies get quite hacked off after a while | |
| 27 Dec 11, 5:59 PM subbiebrummie UK(B), 12 mths |
1] Most tropicals don't need feeding every day, so 2/3 days isn't a problem; but all good aquaria sell systems to feed your fish while on holiday [not all expensive] 2] Be as quick as possible!, and keep the fish in as much of their old water as possible-do not allow to go cold. The new tank has to be set up for a while before any fish are added, the water tested by your local aquaria [usually free] and release into the new tank very slowly. It would be my recommendation to buy a book [there are hundreds about] and talk to your local aquaria staff, who, in my experience are always VERY keen to help. It is very easy to kill your fish very quickly, if you are not careful. But with a few common sense rules, they will live for years and give you immense pleasure. There really is nothing more relaxing than watching a good tank of tropicals swimming round. | |
| 27 Dec 11, 6:09 PM fellatrix UK, 2 yrs |
Alternatively you could try this smartarse | |
| 27 Dec 11, 6:18 PM TheSilverFox UK(GU), 2 yrs    |
Thank you for your help!! lol Let's all play nicely people.. Just remember.. This is meant to be fun! | |
| 27 Dec 11, 7:00 PM eloesa UK(SO), 7 yrs      |
I've had tropical fish for as long as i can remember... I go away for some weekends and I forget sometimes to do the water changes ..but my eldest fish is seven years old and still going, the others, they have babies or seem to keep on living.. I have had to give some away on the odd occasion. It's not time consuming when it's up and running correctly. In fact i try NOT to interfere with them unless necessary. You can buy ready made feed blocks for weekends and weeks away When i moved, I put them in half filled bucket with blanket around them. I kept the water from the tank in Water drum thingies and refilled the aquarioum with the same water and switched on the heater as a priority on arrival . I did not have to reset up the tank for appearance at that time in the new house till later. Aquariums are really heavy to carry and need support even when empty. There are loads of books on the subject.. and information on line tho' Take my blood Sir.. do not let it drip to nothing.. but instead, spread it over your body and give me your soul... Edited 27 Dec 11, 7:06 PM by eloesa | |
| 27 Dec 11, 7:31 PM fen_fatale UK(CB), 8 yrs |
Lots of pet stores with tropical fish sections will assist in house moves, either by temporarily homing the fish or helping to move them. I have only had a small set up in the past, but have used one of these automatic feeders which rotate and feed a small pinch of food every twelve hours, I have left them in that way with lights on auto timers for a week at a time, and they have always been fine on my return. I have recently stopped keeping them though after a heater malfunction which "boiled" the tank, I would however recommend rummy nose tetras which survived extreme heat, and since all the others died I have not replaced the heater for the 3 remaining fish, so they are now kept in cold water and are thriving and have done for 6 months anyhow! | |
| 27 Dec 11, 8:14 PM Siglorel UK(RG), 11 mths |
As a good friend of mine said... it's importanmt to have fish that can live in your tapwater.... or you can buy expensive treatments and molly coddle them.... I had a selection of fish for the last 6 years - last one died a few weeks ago. I'm taking a break from the routine, but i would echo what others have said, most fish will survive for a day or two without feeding, longer and you either get someone to pop in, or buy an autofeeder... Cheers Ian See worlds on worlds compose one universe, observe how system into system runs | |
| 27 Dec 11, 11:12 PM Grownup_Frankie UK, 4 yrs |
How about coral? A lot easier to look after, still alive, and moving, and utterly beautiful to watch, mesmerising, an underwater garden that dances. One you can build, stone by stone and coral by coral and very colourul. Ana a lot easier than fish to leave to their own devices for long periods of time. |
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