View Full Version : Knowledgeable goldfish keepers; comments please
kveeti
12-12-2003, 11:42 AM
Recently, in our local paper, a gardening columnist wrote an article on Christmas gifts, and one of the suggestions was one of those large vases for a water garden. She wrote that you could add a betta or "a few goldfish" or "any other fresh-water fish". The end. She had a nice picture of one of her bettas in her own water garden with an Amazon Sword. Note, nowhere in the article did she mention the size of her pictured container (which is apparently is 1 gallon, she wrote back).
I believe people, being the way they are, would just rush out and try to duplicate her setup – without any knowledge or research, to the detriment of many fish. I wrote her so. Part of her answer follows.
I have never kept goldfish, nor know very much about them, but I have read on here that they need a lot more space than most people realize. I would like comments on her reasoning about goldfish use in general and on her own goldfish set-up. Thank you.
-quote-I chose to illustrate my story with the water garden I created which, at a gallon each, are not only large enough for betta but also contain true
aquatic plants. I would hope anyone wishing to create such a "garden" would follow my example.
Perhaps fancy goldfish need 10 gallons of water each if they are to grow and
grow to a huge size ( which seems to be the aim of fancy fish hobbyists).
For most people a goldfish means a 25-cent feeder fish, which I believe on
the whole are subjected to a much more serious fate that the fancy goldfish, wouldn't you agree? For anyone rescuing a feeder fish from being some other creature's lunch, life in a large bowl might seem pretty good! I have 20 comets in one 35-gallon tank with filter, aerator, etc. and aside from going outside into the pond for the summer, have doing very well for the last few years. -unquote-
I am not a goldfish keeper but that reasoning is stupid.
- I don't think that it is good for dogs to be kept at the pound so I have 20 in my closet and give them lots of love -
A betta can do fine in a 1 gallon but not with a huge plant like an amazon sword filling up the whole space.
Cearbhaill
12-12-2003, 1:05 PM
She's ignorant of true fish husbandry and compounds that by rationalization to support her own less than ideal standard of care.
The real problem lies in the fact that she is in a position to influence scores of readers.
I don't mind ignorance- we were all ignorant of fishkeeping at some point.
What I mind is when someone insists on remaining ignorant in the face of contrary information that is supported a hundredfold in every reference work available.
A letter to the editor is in order. Quote some reputable authorities, list a few good websites (there's a place called Aquaria Central that I hear is very good) and tell it like it is.
NO fish life is worthy of blatant disregard- fancy purebreds and feeders alike.
I wish that the name "feeder" goldfish would go away and we could use the real name, usually comets. Feeder gives raise to ideas that you should save these fish from their horrible fate as food and stick them into tiny tanks where they die slow deaths.
I think after work I am going to get some feeder cows.
kveeti
12-12-2003, 1:34 PM
Thank you both, so far. This is what I need - people who can say things better than I can. I don't think my original letter to her made any dent, she answered "As I write a gardening column and not a pet column, I really don't have the opportunity or the space to go into a lot of detail about filters and nitrites, nitrates, etc.
Also, attached is the picture of her "1 gallon" betta container. Obviously, surface area is a foreign concept to her, as well.
~*LuvMyKribs*~
12-12-2003, 1:44 PM
If she is a gardener tell her to stick to gardening and leave fishkeeping alone, if she isn't willing to say anything about it. Give advice on gardening. People will read her column and think 'ohhh that looks pretty- and she says its easy to do! I think i'll give that a try!'. And the poor betta will end up in that little container with barely enough space to turn around and live in putrid water the rest of its life.
I used to enjoy those TLC decorating shows until I saw them using bettas as hanging decorations.
Heck on one show they even used love birds as decorations.
If being on this website has taught me one thing it is patience (still working on it though). But stuff like that sets me back a few steps and makes me want to yell.
aquariumfishguy
12-12-2003, 4:34 PM
Normally, I would type up a long letter for you to send to this so called "colomnist". However, she obviously has no intent on explaining to her readers the care and treatment these fish need. She only wants things that sound or "look" pretty to be displayed in her publication. This being the case, I'm not sure there is much you can do to change her mind. Sure, it would be nice to have her explain to her readers what care Goldfish need but like I said, more then likely she wont do this.
...I am truely sorry your paper has such a sad, unprofessional writer as this lady is displaying...:(
Dahlia
12-12-2003, 4:38 PM
I would send the letter as a correction to the editor of the paper, not to her, siting sources. If it is professional sounding the editor will most likely post it and apologize to readers for her error.
aquariumfishguy
12-12-2003, 4:42 PM
Thats more difficult then you'd think. First of all, they cant just post a message correcting a colomn in the paper without talking with the lady who wrote this stuff. Also, she might not "work" for the local paper. I get the 'Detroit Free Press' where I live and they have many colomnists but some are archives, and some are people who simply allow publication of their articles in whatever paper accepts them. This could prove difficult but I wish you all the best and hopefully something will come of this :)
Cearbhaill
12-13-2003, 3:49 AM
I think you have to write a letter to the editor- otherwise you are just letting it slide.
Whether or not it gets published is another matter but that is out of your hands- you will have done your part by trying.
I fire off letters to the editor at an alarming rate and get in with a fair share (and my paper has an "only one every 30 days" rule).
Some things I never thought would see print do show up.
Just compose it carefully, ask that the paper not condone wanton disregard and certain death for any species of life, and give a couple of unimpeachable references.
I agree. Even if they don't care about your letter at least you made the attempt. I just sent a letter off to WalMart head office because the fish tanks in the local WalMart are so bad. I don't really expect them to do anything but at least I feel a little better. (The SPCA around these parts only cares about cats and dogs it seems).
It seems hard to get people to care much about goldfish.
kveeti
12-14-2003, 10:31 AM
Thank you all so much. I have never done so much research on a fish I do not keep! I also consulted the owner of a goldfish-care site, who was kind enough to email me back.
My husband thinks I'm being fanatical...
hihello405
12-14-2003, 10:52 AM
After reading the post, I was frantic of what she wrote. However, my experience to goldfish is that the one labelled feeder goldfish, those goldfishes really contain lot of diseases, I tried those one, I bought 2 of those “feeder goldfish”, then I did the normal procedure to introduce them to my new tank, after several hours, they died of mystery. Then the next day, I bought 2 black moors, and I did the same thing to introduce them to the tank, and they survived till now, I think 4-5 months now. I am a goldfish’s keeper, I have 7 goldfishes in my 10g tank, and I am worrying about the spaces they need for the future.
As you can see, those feeder goldfishes really have so many diseases in them, if they are really that good; why not put them into the expensive tank like the black moors?
I have a 1g tank for my betta, and he’s doing fine in the 1g tank, right now, I am deciding to put him into my new 10g tank with other tropical fishes…
Part of the problem is that they over breed these fish and end up with tons of them. Then they can sell them for a really cheap price and not worry about raising them in the best of conditions. Because they are cheap and plentiful lots of people buy 6 or 7 for their goldfish bowl at home. These die and they buy more.
If people stopped buying them for decoration then perhaps they would stop breeding so many, the price would increase somewhat and they would strat being treated better in their being raised and how they are kept at home.
Just because you bought a couple of them and they died really quick doesn't mean that they are bad fish.
Cearbhaill
12-14-2003, 11:02 AM
ALL goldfish- fancies, commons, and everything in between- need quarantine and possible prophylactic treatment for gill flukes and internal parasites.
They are wonderfully responsive, beautiful fish but certainly have more than their fair share of problems. They have been selectively bred for longer than just about any other species on this planet.
aquariumfishguy
12-14-2003, 11:11 AM
Well if you put your goldfish in an overstocked 10 gallon tank and didnt cycle or anything then yeah, they probably would die... :rolleyes:
Lets not even go over the fact that these fish can live 20+ years if cared for properly. I always get a chuckle out of emails I get from my website when people send in saying "MY goldfish which was in a fishbowl lived happily for 3 years"...BIG deal! :eek: