poor fish at work....what to say???

[butterflylove]

i recently just got a job, well not just...about 6 months ago at a day care center. i used to work with the infants , but now i am in a new room with the 3 y/o. i really like it up there, and i really like the teacher. she has a 10 gal tank in there with 5 goldfish!!!! about 3 are under 2 inches, but the other 2 are huge!!! one is about 5 inches at least. she also just added a common pleco. i know this is wrong to the fish, but i dont want to come off as a know it all snob who is trying to tell her how to do things. i told her that the pleco would soon need to come home with me to my 55 gal, b/c i know he is not goin to do well in there, there is not even a heater. all the fish have been living this way for months before i even started there. what is somethings i should say to her?? i thought about maybe suggesting me giving some of my fancy guppie babies to put in there, but she really like the goldfish. i really like my job, and i am workin hard not to be a lazy a** or a snob, or anything else that is not wanted on the job. if anyone has any suggestions, or been in the similar place, please help me out on something to say.....or not to say.

thanks!!!
amber

[pbecot01]

Start up a conversation about how much you love fish... and work your suggestions into it as you get to know her personality. Some people are just ignorant and will listen to you... some don't care and won't. If she doesn't care that the fish will die much sooner then they should from being stunted, then there's nothing you can do. If she just doesn't know that the whole "will grow to the size of the tank" leaves out "then die from being stunted" maybe she will listen to your advice.

[katfood]

Just be polite to her, tell her more about her goldfish (especially the monster one) and the pleco. Tell her that goldfish, as im sure you already know, are filthy fish and will cause the water in such a small tank to have constant high levels of toxicity to both themselves and especially to the pleco. Also, tell her the pleco will soon become ill because of the water temperature fluctuations, if not from the high levels in the water. Also, the pleco will outgrow that tank rapidly, and so will the rest of the goldfish if they all don't get really sick first.

Also, is there any sign of existing illness already? I would think that such an overcrowded tank would have become ill by now.

Just be polite, inform her of these things, because she odviously doesn't know. Be sure and tell her that her fish will soon die if changes are not made. Try not to come off like a know-it-all, but if your boss cares about her animals she will listen and surely see the truth: that youre just trying to help.

However, I've noticed that a lot of people feel threatened when you try and tell them how to take care of their fish. They tend to think that you are talking down on them. I don't know how to get away from this, I'm always very polite and try to make it clear that I'm not trying to degrade the person, only help the fish, but sometimes some people are simply impossibly dense.

[YoFishboy]

Maybe another way to start is to let her know how much you love fish and offer to take care of the tank for her, if she doesn't seem too proprietary about it. then, over the course of time, you can make subtle suggestions, changes...ease into the issues.

[Harlock]

Maybe another way to start is to let her know how much you love fish and offer to take care of the tank for her, if she doesn't seem too proprietary about it. then, over the course of time, you can make subtle suggestions, changes...ease into the issues.
I think this is the best and least intrusive route. Yes, it takes tie and who knows, a fish may die between now and the time you are able to do something about it. Still, it's you job and things can get unpleasant there and that would be truly terrible. Best of luck. You could always ask if she ever used the internet and point her here.

[Samala]

YoFish's and Harlock's suggestions are what I'm personally doing whenever I find fish tanks that are questionably setup from my experience. You cant just confront people about their tanks, especially on the job! My 'boss' has a very large tank that is an 'ok' setup, it could be phenomenal, and all I've done in the past three years I've worked under her is to offer to take care of her fish when she's away (quite often) and just to share with her all the fun I have with my own tanks. Because of that kind of trust buildup and information exchange I'm usually the first person she comes to when problems come up with the tank or fish. I do the same with the hundreds of people who keep bettas in the offices on my campus.. comment on how cute thier fish is.. ask the fish's names (you'd be surprised how people brighten up if you ask that simple question) and share your love of fish.

Unfortunately, you cant remedy all the fish problems in the world. Having five goldies in a ten gallon seems extreme, but if they're still alive I'd just let it be. Its wrong, its harsh, but thats how she wants to do it. There are no Animal Cruelty conventions for crimes against fish afterall, so what can you do really at the end of the day? ;) It sucks, but sometimes all you can do is grin and bear it and sigh a little inside...

>Sarah

[Ems]

You can always say something like "Do you know that pl*cos can get well over a foot long?" not in a way thats confronting, but just as an "amazing" fact you know. Then she might figure out that the 10G is waaaay to small... Or same with the goldfish... that's what I'd do.

[butterflylove]

thank you alll so much for your suggestions. they all sound great, and i will try most of them. she is away at surgery today, and will be away for a while, so i can start to take care of them myself that way. then when she comes back maybe tell her how much i enjoyed it, and give her some facts i know. the fish have been this way since at least november, probably even earlier than that, and none are even showing signs of distress. also, amazingly the bottom of the tank isnt covered with fish poo and what have you, but today i will bring in a test strip and test the water. maybe i could show her the toxic levels and that may change her mind. i work at a child day care with the preschoolers, so shes a compassionate (sp?) person, so maybe that will help also.

another thing i wanted to bring up was how people let the water evapoate until water changes.....is this ok?? at my school there is a 75-100 gal tank(I think) and about a 3rd of the water is gone. there is oscars and discus in there, so i know they cant be too happy....but thats a whole other topic.

thanks again everyone!!!! this place is great, and i will try to direct my co worker here.

[Nuriel]

the water levels should never be allowed to evaporate that far!!!!!water changes should be done on that oscar tank at least weekly, esp if there are more than one of those poop producers. Funny, discus should be kept seperately but ........:thud:

[pbecot01]

may want to look into who takes care of the big tank... my wife's center the big display tank is taken care of by contractors. if that one is and they're not doing it they need to hire a new one.