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CLSig

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  1. Awesome advice! Thanks! So the plan is to move TLR up as he grows. If he lives long enough to outgrow the 20 gallon I will probably set up a larger tank at my home and bring him home with me. He belongs to a resident with dementia but he wants what's best for TLR. Honestly, by the time he outgrows the 20 gallon, Mr. B may not even remember he owns the fish. I just wanted to add something to the 20 gallon for some added visual stimulation for the residents with dementia. We use the sensory room to calm them down and facilitate communication and socialization skills. I like the idea of male platys. Colorful and no babies. They have some pretty ones at PetSmart. Or I could drive to San Antonio to an actual aquatic store and see what they have.
  2. UPDATE: Well, The Lone Ranger is doing so well he's outgrown his 3.5 gallon tank! I'm setting up a 20 gallon tank in our dementia sensory room! Once I get him settled, I want to add some tank mates. Maybe some platys, a rubber nosed pleco, maybe a mystery snail? The little betta fish is doing well too. He's currently at my house because his owner, a nursing home resident, is in the hospital. I added a heater to his bowl and he's much more active. I plan to put the betta in the 3.5 gallon tank once I move The Lone Ranger to the 20 gallon. Any ideas about tank mates??? Thanks guys and gals!!
  3. Well, The Lone Ranger is doing great and growing! The resident is happy to have him back but I think the novelty is beginning to wear off. He doesn't seem as interested in the fish as he was last week. I will probably have to move him to a bigger tank in a couple of months anyway and I told the resident that. I think he will be bored with it by then anyway. The betta looks okay. I checked on it yesterday. Water looked clean and the fish was swimming around. So far so good.
  4. The little betta fish is still alive. My coworker will be out of town for a week and a half. I guess I will be checking on the fish or it may die too. Ugh!
  5. The Lone Ranger is doing great! He is very active and eating well. He gets very excited when I come close to the tank. He swims up to my face and kind of dances around. It's very cute. His tank water is stable with all good readings I got some freeze dried blood worms and he goes absolutely crazy for them! I give him a few as a treat in the afternoon. I think I will take him back to the resident the later this week. He asks about him every day. The little betta fish that my co-worker bought for another resident was still alive on Friday afternoon but he didn't look great. Kind of pale and listless. The co-worker who bought it has a fish tank and claims to know how to care for fish. She said she helped the resident do a water change in his bowl (yes, she put it in a 1 gallon bowl) Friday so that was why the fish looked low energy. I haven't seen it this week.
  6. Well, The Lone Ranger seems to be doing great! I did a 20% water change yesterday (Tuesday) after to 50% change on Monday. I got my Fritz Complete so I used it for the 20% change. Today I got my test strips from Aquarium Co-Op. The water is perfect as far as ammonia, PH, chlorine, nitrate and nitrite. Gh and Kh are high but we have very hard water here in South Central Texas. I will probably do another 20% to 25% water change tomorrow. The fish is so active the past 2 days! Exploring everywhere, coming to the front of the tank when I put my face close to it, coming up to my finger when I touch the tank, eating like a champ, swimming in and out of the bubbles and the hiding places. He is really coming out of his shell! I'm only feeding a tiny pinch of flakes 2 times per day. I might get some blood worms this weekend for him (or her, it might be The Lone Rangerette). I'm very happy with how things are going. I am afraid to check on the betta at work. I asked the resident, who is actually a young man who is a paraplegic but cognitively intact, how his fish was doing and he said, "Okay." I fear the poor thing will be dead by Friday. But I can't take on another rescue right now. I have 2 pets of my own, The Lone Ranger and had to shell out 1k yesterday to fix the AC in my house! So, I will pray for the poor betta. Thanks again for all the help here! I will keep you posted. CLSig
  7. Thanks to everyone for the kind words and advice about my little rescue fish! I am very sad to report that Tonto, the companion that I stupidly purchased to be a "friend" for my rescue fish, died over the weekend. I feel terrible. I wish I had done more research prior to my trip to the big box store. But, The Lone Ranger (original rescue fish) was alive and well this morning! He is one tough little fish! I brought the tank home so I can do frequent water changes. I did a 50% water change today with treated, temperature matched water. Lone Ranger began gulping for air at the top of the tank so I ran to Psmart and got an air stone. He has calmed down and is happily swimming around in the middle of the tank now. He seems interested in the bubbles from the air stone and keeps swimming up to them and then kind of darting away. Cute! I hope that's not a sign of distress! He ate a few pieces of fish flakes too so I feel like he'll be okay. Tonight my Fritz Complete arrived so tomorrow I plan to do a 20% water change with a little bit of Fritz. My test strips haven't yet arrived but I have a water test kit for my tap water and Lone Ranger's tank now has 0 chlorine and Ph of 7.5. Today I found out that one of my co-workers bought a betta fish and put it in a fish bowl in another resident's room!!! What is it with my dumb co-workers and fish all of a sudden! We have never had fish in this facility and in the past 2 weeks we have had 21!!! I'm afraid to go look at the betta for fear that I will want to bring it home too! My boss asked me if she should bring her old fish tank from home. I said Hell no!!! Let me figure out how to take care of one fish before we go get more, PLEASE!!! She wants to put a small tank in the therapy gym. Great idea if we do it right. Anyway, THANK YOU to ALL who have replied and I will keep you posted on The Lone Ranger! Hi-oh Silver!!!! CLSig
  8. That looks beautiful! Good luck with your new buddies!
  9. Flumpweesel, yes, there is a hang on back type filter. The tank is with the resident. The activity director is on duty all weekend so she will be feeding and checking in on them. I will change some water tomorrow. I bought some API quick start at the Pet store which is what I used to condition the water. I will put some more in when I change the water tomorrow. Thanks again for your help!!! I will let you know how they are doing.
  10. Hello! I am happy to be here and I hope to learn how to care for fish properly. I will need LOTS of advice! I work in a nursing home and last week we had a party (Fall Festival) for the residents. Unbeknownst to me, one of the managers thought it would be cute to buy 20 baby goldfish, put them in tiny jelly jars and hand them out as prizes! They literally handed these little jars of fish to elderly dementia patients and said, "enjoy your new pet!" No plan for where to house them past the jelly jars. So, on Thursday (10/22) I was working with a resident in his room and noticed a tiny jar full of filthy water with a LIVE GOLDFISH wiggling around in it. That's when the resident told me he had been given the fish as a prize 1 WEEK prior, at the party! This poor little guy had been living in that tiny, filthy jar for A WEEK! I found out that the activity director had been feeding it a few flakes of fish food every day and that all the other fish died, of course. Well, I felt so bad for the little fish that I took the jar to a big box pet store after work and said, "HELP!" So they set me up with a small 3.5 gallon tank and some supplies and put my lone survivor, whom we named The Lone Ranger, into some clean tank water. Then I made the stupid mistake of buying a friend for The Lone Ranger, who I name Tonto. I know realize that a 3.5 gallon tank is insufficient for even 1 goldfish. I learned that little tidbit by watching You Tube videos which is how I found Aquarium Co-Op! I only hope my little guys survive the transfer to the new tank which I only prepared by putting some "instant" prep liquid in the water for a couple of hours prior to the transfer. So, if my little finned friends are still alive on Monday, I will let you know. I ordered some Fritz Complete and Fritz Clarifier and a gravel vacuum kit. I also ordered some test strips from you guys. Sorry my picture isn't great but if you can see the pale fish in the upper left, that's The Lone Ranger and the black and orange spotted one is Tonto. I look forward to MUCH support from all of you on the forum. I have never had an aquarium before and I literally have no idea what I'm doing! Be nice! Thanks! CLSig
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