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Last night I was having dinner in a monastery (don't ask ) and discovered that someone had given them a pet goldfish in a 2 litre (half US gallon) bowl with a substrate of sea shells!

Being a good FishProfilian I tried to convince the friars to give the fish to the LFS, but it was a gift so they were reluctant. As a last resort I went back this morning on a rescue mission, armed with my 16 litre (4 gallon) quarantine tank, a HOB filter, bucket, towel, net and test kits.

To prove to the friars how badly the fish must have been suffering, I ran tests on the tiny bowl. Here are the results:
ammonia 0.0
nitrite 0.0
nitrate 0.0
pH 7.0

Can anyone explain these results? Maybe it was a miracle

Daily water changes, and very naturaly acidic water maybe? It's certainly strange.

What kind of test kits do you have mom.

Well...how long has this "gift" been around for?

I have friends who lots of people from this site have heard me ramble about, that have a 29 gallon long, with 1-2 common plecs at a time, silver dollars/red hooks, some sort of red finned tetra, a single giant danio, a whole bunch of things that just weren't recieving proper care, and that were so stressed I couldn't even ID them at the time. The heater was dislodged from the suction cups and just randomly there, the gravel had NEVER EVER been vacuumed, the double bio wheels on the filter were absolutely stationary, with just random media sticking up everywhere...the tank is a disaster. But no, "The fish are happy!" they tell me. When having a talk with Tim about this tank, I said how I was going to test the water to prove how bad things were to them. To my surprise, he said the levels would probably be fine, because nature has a weird way of balancing itself out like that. The tanks been set up for so long, that the fish have all become immune to bad water it seems (Well, the ones left anyway) and the tank kinda reached an equilibrium. *shrug* The gravel still looks disgusting, and they're finally calling on me to help them out...

Now, I think it's pretty crazy to have that happen in a little goldfish bowl, but I'm just trying to make the point that weeeeeird stuff goes on with aquarium water sometimes.

*pictures mom running with emergency qtine set up* !!!

EDIT: Was there visible fishy waste? But I guess even if there wasn't, there would have to be ammonia in the water from the fish food...scratch that idea

Last edited by Ferretfish at 19-Jan-2005 06:46

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

Any container that contains water and fish will go through a cycle. I'm thinking that's what happened, or rather didn't happen. The proof of this is the fact that the nitrates read at 0. In a cycled tank there will be a small amount. If the friars have been changing the water daily, that takes care of the ammonia.

><>Dani<><

I think that dani is right that they are doing daily water changes. There is NO WAY a bowl THAT SMALL can have NO ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate with a GOLDFISH (messy little turd muffins).

Also, look at the pH; 7! How can a bowl with sea shells not be anywhere near 8 or higher, other than water changes? Fish is still suffering.

What I would do is convince them into getting a larger tank for it, OR to build a pond outside. If money is an issue, have them raise money.

Poor Whetu. "Look at this poor fish! Its SUFFERING, ammonia is at......... zero? Well, nitrite is......... zero? Nitrate...... zero!!!??? Well, its probably suffering in a high pH of...... seven.... :%) ] "

~Jorge

Last edited by Racso at 19-Jan-2005 10:23

Wow. Well you can suggest that most people don't have that kind of blessing with fish in bowls. I also agree with the idea of asking if they would build a pond for this fish. They could even take in other unwanted goldfish there too. A pond would be very relaxing and probably help them concentrate more on their religious studies. Excellent idea.

How old was your test kit?

><>

offer your advice and help and let them decide. friars and monks dont take being told what to do very lightly. they have to decide for themselves what they want to do.

just simple tell them you are willing to help decorate or shovel and dig them a pond yourself if you have to. lol they will see your way to obsessed with fish and prolly be better to just get you a backho to keep you from killing yourself.

Thanks for your helpful (and sometimes imaginative) suggestions everyone!

"Look at this poor fish! Its SUFFERING, ammonia is at...zero? Well, nitrite is...zero? Nitrate...zero!!!??? Well, its probably suffering in a high pH of...seven..."

Racso, that's exactly what happened - my credibility as a fish-keeper was suddenly nil when all the tests showed up fine!

In answer to some of your questions, the water around here is very soft; the test kits are 'Doc Wellfish' brand (Aquarium pharmaceuticals); and there was definitely visible fish waste in the tiny bowl.

I can't remember specifically how old the test kits are, but I know for a fact that when I had a mini-cycle about 6 months ago the nitrite test worked, and the pH test definitely shows subtle variations between my tank &amp; tap water at home.

Any ideas how I can test all the kits to make sure they're working? pH is easy - mix a little baking soda or vinegar with the water to be tested. How about the others?

Unfortunately the monastery is in the middle of the city and it has barely enough land for the tiny vegetable patch. None left over for a pond. I'm hoping after the friars have kept the fish for a token amount of time, they will let me take it and put it in a friend's pond.

*pictures mom running with emergency qtine set up* !!!

Actually it was rather funny Ferret... at first the housekeeper refused to let me in! She saw this strange person on the doorstep carrying a bucket full of gear and asking to come in to visit the goldfish. She must have thought I was a complete nutcase!


Last edited by whetu at 19-Jan-2005 15:31

One question that I didn't notice being answered (though it was asked a tad strangely) was...are your local holy men changing his water daily?

If so, depending on what hour of the day it was and how long it had been since they changed it, you may as well have been testing a bowl of water straight from the tap (or the bottle)...thus...explaining why your test results would come up perfect...ly...confusing...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

Hi Billy long time no see

The only logical explanation is that someone was changing the water, although nobody I spoke to said they'd been doing it. I was there until around 10:30pm Wednesday night, then came back around 11:00am the following morning and the water definitely hadn't been changed in that time.

I shall make further enquiries!

Rather odd one indeed!

Better ask if they were using holy water .

What about feeding...had that been addressed I say gift them with a betta and ask only that you be blessed with the gift of the goldfish in return.... which would look stunning in your LFS....or if you wanna bring him along with you I'm running low on tim tams and my baby could always use some company .


oh and the really important question....did they have good bread

^_^
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