Kathy F

My 17-year-old is severely physically disabled so as his Mom, and caregiver I handle maintenance and feeding. My son gets to pick out what he wants in the tank and watch them. We have the 29 gallon set up next to his hospital bed and a 3 gallon set up in his recreation room (which I will probably switch out to a 20 gallon tall soon). If I had to change something it would be to find a lower stand for the 29 gallon so he could feed his own fish. I tried when he had a 10 gallon. I put the 10 gallon on a low solid wood end table but he couldn't get his wheelchair close enough to do it comfortably I would need something low that he can slide the wheelchair under a bit so his torso is close. He needs to be close due to physical disability; His arm movement range is severely limited and he is not strong enough to raise his arms past his shoulders. I would also need to adapt a feeding device so he could grip it properly. I used to sprinkle some pellets in a toddler cup and do and hand over hand so he could drop the pellets in the water but I think he would get more out of it if I came up with a way that he could physically do it on his own.

I like it also, but I have to get through Repashy Soilent Green (1/2 gone) and 2 unopened bottles of Repashy Super Gold before I can justify buying more Repashy. I usually wind up doing one big Repashy buy a year. My goldfish are the biggest eaters of Repashy but I do remember my community tank loving Community Plus including the older fry.

Some people will cover their non-aquarium decor in Plasti Dip. I haven't tried it so I'm not sure how durable the Plasti Dip coating is.

I have been feeding Royal Guppy Mignon pellet. I like the food, but I despise the bottle. It is weird tall narrow bottle so I can't get my fingers inside, I had to steal the scoop from my betta food just to get them out. Now that the food is getting low, I'm having issues reaching the pellets with the long scoop, so I am switching to something else. I have smorgasbord of fish I would feed this to mollies, platies, american flagfish, endlers, glotetras, some older fry, glodanios and possibly gold barbs (not sure yet if I'm buying them so maybe not....). They also get feed krill flakes, tropical flakes, Spirulina flakes as well as frozen foods. I just like to keep a nano pellet in my rotation of foods.

Sunny and low 70s so a very pleasant day. I would love to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, but I had to be slave to errands today thanks to being tied up all week with my son's stuff.

I prefer horizontal but, in some tanks, I have no choice but to go vertical due to lack of room. I like horizontal because you don't have to worry about evaporation exposing the glass nor do you have to freak if you forget to turn off during a water change.

Ranchu's are rather prone to SBD. You can try to reverse it with a 2-3 day fast and then feed nothing but deshelled peas for the next 2 days. The fasting only works if it is a gastrointestinal issue. Unfortunately, a lot of times SBD is due to deformity and their curved compact body shape, but diet can make the issue worse. I would try some Repashy Super Gold see how that goes. If you feed pellets soak for 10 minutes first. I wouldn't feed flakes to goldfish at all especially if there is already SBD present. Definitely give more veggies, I tend to feed green beans and peas but there are other veggies you can try. I have often seen SBD happen before dropsy and total organ failure but hard to say which causes which. There are also plenty of ranchus that live their life out with SBD but are perfectly health otherwise. I have one in my 75 that cannot get off the tank bottom. He lives a decent life. I keep an eye out for infections but so far, he has been healthy other than his SBD and he is able to float up just tad but enough to move towards the food I drop on bottom. ETA: You may want to also try a round of Kanaplex if you suspect the issue is caused by a bacterial infection.

What do you mean by sensitive? I favor New Life Spectrum, Northfin, Repashy and Omega One. I have had issues with Fluval Bug Bites and will never feed it to my fancy goldfish again. I avoid really junky type foods with them because of the prevalence of GI and SBD in fancies. When I say junky, I'm thinking about those that have fish meal as the main protein source and the rest of the ingredient list reads like ingredients you would find in a bakery. Some fillers and binders are okay, but you don't want an excessive amount. Also, good to feed some veggies especially deshelled peas that have been softened a bit through some cooking. The peas don't have to be cooked all the way but my goldies won't eat them if they are too hard.

I looked at a weather table for my regions and it said April 15 to the first week in October. I live in Central Alabama. I honestly don't remember where I looked the info up or I would give you the link. ETA: I remember where I found the data. Just plug your zip code into the box and it will tell when the average first and last frost dates took place. Frost Dates: First and last frost dates by zipcode - Garden.org

My son's glofish tank has a super red longfin pleco. His tank also has pirate ship decor that is hollow for fish to hide. While I was changing the water I took the ship out of the tank to scrub some algae off. I gave it a few shakes under water and the corydoras swam out. Then I rested the ship on the edge of the tank for a few minutes while I did some other things. Then brought it to the sink to scrub the algae off imagine my surprise when the pleco fell out. Wosrt part he didn't fall into the sink he fell out just as I was about to place it on the counter, so he fell 3 feet on to a hard laminate floor. He survived without water for a few minutes and the fall but I felt terrible for the poor thing. I'm pretty sure the pleco is traumatized because he won't go near the pirate ship anymore. He either hides in the cholla wood or behind the UGF uplift tubes.

Goldfish can get things stuck in their mouth. I have seen the video of a goldfish breeder having to dislodge a snail from a goldfish's mouth with tweezers How often it happens I don't know but I find it is easier just to avoid this issue entirely then deal with the after math. I would feed at least once a day during the warmer months while it is a baby to help it grow properly. I prefer to feed mine twice daily and every 1-2 weeks I will fast them for 2 days. A mature female's abdomen is much bigger than a comparable male abdomen, boys will get breeding stars on their gills and girls anal opening sticks out rather than in. If you observe breeding behavior than the female will be the one being chased, and the chasers are the males. Goldfish aren't as easy to sex so I tend to look for multiple indicators rather than just one. 33 gallon is technically the bear minimum for 2 fancies, but I would not use it for fancy goldfish. The tank size will cause a lot of work due to the amount of water changes you would need to do in order to maintain water quality. You will be doing it at least twice weekly if not thrice weekly due to how poo and pee these goldfish put out. Yeah, sure you may not run into water quality issues right away due to it being a baby but they grow fast and will be close to full size in a few month's time unless you manage to stunt its growth. I have always preferred to keep mine in species only 18-inch-wide tanks. I have a used a 40 breeder and 75 gallon the 75 so far is my favorite. I may eventually upgrade the 75 but for right now my goldies are totally rocking that tank and have yet to outgrow it like they did the 40 breeder. The 40 breeder drove me crazy because I was doing twice weekly water changes to keep on top of water parameters. The key to staying on top of goldfish waste is large water volume so there is lots of dilution. Now if you had an auto water change system you might be able to fudge things a bit more BUT a 12-inch-wide tank is still too uncomfortably narrow for a full-grown goldfish.

I just heavily plant my tank to give lots of hiding places Not every fry survives but then again, I wouldn't have space if every fry survived. I largely prefer the community tank breeding method. I find it both simple and helps keep the population in check. I feed 4 smaller meals a day and it keep the adults sated so they are not constantly looking for yummy fry snacks. I have seen well fed adults largely ignore the fry or at most chase it for 2 seconds and then go back to the easier to find food.

My disabled 17-year-old has a finished playroom in the basement. I can say from experience even though the room is hooked into the central unit, the heat never reaches his downstairs room. This is really bad since my son had autonomic dysfunction due to a brain malformation (meaning he has a harder time controlling his internal body temperature). I run a little Holmes heater fan down there with a built-in thermostat. It has all the built-in safety features, cool to touch, auto shut off and a built-in thermostat. It has been his only heating source for years in his 10x10 room (fully insulated) and it works really well. We have to run it at 78 all winter long, again my teenage can't maintain his body heat. They unfortunately don't make it anymore. We tried a Fujitsu mini-split in the larger basement room (no duct work in that area of the basement so had to drill the outer wall) and it did a crappy job heating but a decent job cooling in summer. I have a natural gas heater that works well for that room but it is not automatically controlled some one has to constantly turn it up or down to their comfort level. I find the Holmes heater to be our most reliable heater that can run autonomously. This have just been my experience heating basement areas. I have heard the Mitsubishi mini-splits are wonderful and come with a 10 year warranty from a builder that installs them on tiny homes but I have no personal experience so maybe another option to consider.

My local store had it set up and running so I got to see it in action. I thought the see-through filter was a bit on the ugly side. I really do not want to be able to see my filter media, other than that it looked like a nice tank. I almost bought it but decided to go with a different tank.

Is the substrate fine sand? If it is, then that might be your culprit. Goldfish like to dig and stir up the bottom and when I had mine on fine white sand the aquarium was forever cloudy. One of them always dug an entire corner of the tank bare, no matter how much sand I added, drove me crazy. I had to get medium grit black diamond sand (much heavier but still sand like) and that stopped the cloudiness and them digging down to the glass. If that isn't the case then you should try more mechanical filtration not more biological filtration, either filter floss or polishing pad. I use polishing pads. You can buy a roll of polishing filter material off of Amazon or by the sheet from Aquarium Coop. I make templates for the filter out of those thin plastic cutting mats and just custom cut the polishing pads to fit. I also use those cutting mats as barriers b/w solid wood furniture and nano aquariums to protect the wood from accidental drips. Amazon.com: Flexible Plastic Cutting Board Mats set, Colorful Kitchen Cutting Board Set of 3 Colored Mats: Home & Kitchen