Oh man.. A fishkeeper's nightmare. I've many times explained the challenges in properly keeping comets or fancys to the family, yet my 8,10 and 12yr/old children come home from their school carnival with two comets today. Ugh.. My in-laws have a pond, but my wife and children won't hear of it. I again expressed my concerns. All no-go. Meanwhile they're in a ~0.5g spherical vase. Wonderful.
Comets are so darn hardy, bless their fishy souls. I had two, one with long fins and one with short fins. They moved with me in my car 3 times! The biggest move was clear to another state over 1000 miles in a large half filled fishbowl covered with a towel which sat at the foot of the passenger side seat. I even took them into the hotel room to stay with me overnight. I know they were tossed around mercilessly while I was driving, but I didn't want to give them away. Once we reached our destination they lived about 3 more years in a 10 gall aquarium.
The goldfish won from carnivals are normally Petco/smart feeder goldfish and they don't seem to live long. For me.. I tell people that had their kid win these fish and have them in small tanks, I tell them they will outgrow that tank and will require a very large tank as they can reach 12+". Then a few days later they are back for more fish cause their 'Carnival Comet' had died. I managed to get some to replace fish with a better suited betta fish or something esle, or they get mad at me for saying goldfish get to be. Fish do not grow to the size of the tank, they only get stunted and die..
Thanks all. Yeah, they're definitely $0.25 "feeders" from a horrible orange cloud tank.
The problem is, I just can't throw the resources into another tank right now. Already have 4 going. The comets have been 'upgraded' some, to a 2gal fish bowl I picked up. I put a few cups of established gravel in the bottom and a small algae'd-up plastic plant in with it. I hate it, because having been pretty serious into freshwater tropicals for a few years now, I know how absolutely wrong this is. Kids and wife won't hear of getting rid of them at the moment. Luckily the bowl is on the counter in our laundry room right next to the sink. Water change bliss.
Given I've got spare gear for a 10g (HOBs and LED hood) the only upgrade they'll possibly get is a $10, 10g if/when Petco runs "the sale".
I can only dream Doug. I'd be happy with any form of conscientious child at this point. The 3yr old early this AM added a big bowl full of cat food (dry) to the goldfish bowl. Somehow they made it through that murky mess. The goldfish that is..
Definitely need to move those guys into the in-laws pond after a month or 2 of qt. Unless you have room for the 75 gallon tank those little fish will need soon.
That's my intent V. I can't get the kids to part with them at the moment, and of course their Gramma has told them every old school fish line in the book because she had a tank or two 25+ yrs ago. "They're fine in a bowl." "They'll only grow to the size of their environment." "Oh.. we had one in a bowl for YEEEARS". Ugh.. Really hating the situation and setting up another 75g for two comets isn't possible for me now.
Personally, if you have some space outside i would go to home depot and buy a 3 foot preformed pond.. The one with 3 little shelves. They run maybe $30 and are 35 gallons in size.
Add a couple of water hyacinth or some water lettuce or some fast growing floating plant that isn't duckweed and let the comets live outside. You should be OK without water changes . the plants will grow and filter the water. The fish will live on plants and insect larvae
And you will have them housed through September.
If you were closer I could likely spare a tank to help out.
