CLSig Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) 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 Edited October 24, 2021 by CLSig add pic 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Well he's tiny for now so work with what you have. I had a goldfish survive in worse and you can look out for better alternatives if we get though this and you have had some time think. The general internet will never be happy with the size of tank you have for a gold fish this is better than it was so don't let that get to you. Feed less while the tank cycles give yourself a chance of keeping up with the water. They will cope with twice a week or every other day just fine. Is the fish at your home or back with the resident? You are going to be changing water a lot while that tank cycles up I'd suggest keeping it in the kitchen to make life easier. Until the test strips turn up I'd change some water every day 3rd ish of the tank. Once you have the test strips hopefully you will need less. I think Fritz complete will bind the ammonia (not used it) so hopefully someone can advise on how to use that to get you through a cycle it can buy you time between water changes but I'd be more confident with that once you are able to test. Algae is a good thing at this stage it helps by living if the water nasties that is how it coped in the jar so if you see some it's good. The water looks very still do you have a filter? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atitagain Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Welcome to the forum, you have certainly found the right place to help you get through this and set them up for a long and healthy life. good luck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmedByFish Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 On 10/24/2021 at 7:35 AM, CLSig said: The tank is with the resident. MASSIVE kudos to you for doing this work. The story that led to your intervention is heartbreaking, but it sounds like you're the kind of person that makes the world a better place. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 You're trying and looking for help. Anyone that tries to smash you down for that....well you just send them to me, I'll flatten them. 🙂 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Thank you for trying to help the fish, and also to help the resident not have a sad outcome. I wish I could say I'm shocked that the manager thought that would be a good idea, but I'm not. Some years ago in a similar stage of life, one of our family members kept bringing home "feeder" goldfish (she was excited that they're only 19 cents!) and keeping them in a small tank, where they miraculously would often survive and grow to about 4-6" long and we would rehome them via a local pond shop. While this family member would not have been happy if we had tried to take her fish and give them to someone with a larger tank, she loved the idea of them going to a pond, so that worked out well. Your little fish would need to be thoroughly quarantined before going into anyone else's tank or pond, but it's a possible solution that would be happy for the fish as well as for the resident if they survive and outgrow available tank space. If you did want to get them a larger tank, I'm betting a Facebook post explaining the need will have people offering you larger tanks they're no longer using. Good luck and thank you for trying! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 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 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmedByFish Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 On 10/25/2021 at 6:53 PM, CLSig said: I wish I had done more research prior to my trip to the big box store. 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! 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! 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!!! I'd say to not feel bad about not doing more research. You had to be in a wild rush to get Lone Ranger into safe water, so you didn't have time. All things considered, you did well. The thing about swimming to the bubbles and darting away just sounds like fun or curiosity. Probably fine. I'll use caution in talking about your co-workers, and just stick with this: Oh my. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Lone Ranger is a survivor given what he lived through until you found him you have just been making things better for him the new one hadn't run the jam jar gauntlet so was probably a bit more sensitive. Relax you are doing great sounds like he is loving the bubbles. Let the co-worker sort out the Betta you could end up with a fish room at this rate. Just remember this will be a heavy month or so of getting this tank kitted and cycled and but soon you will be able to relax a bit. I'd go deaf about the tank in the main room could be lovely but I doubt you have the extra hours to cover its maintenance but I suspect you'd end up doing it unpaid rather than see it in mess. But if they do go ahead with it lock the food away or everyone will feed every day. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share Posted October 28, 2021 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 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jawjagrrl Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 On 10/27/2021 at 8:23 PM, CLSig said: Thanks again for all the help here! I will keep you posted. CLSig My mother is in a memory care unit, and I can perfectly imagine the original scenario unfortunately. You've done well with TLR! Nothing wrong with high GH and KH at all - in fact that will help you keep other parameters more stable. Never kept goldfish, but i suspect they are kept in a large range of hardnesses with success. As far as the betta goes, I suspect his life is better right now than the ones in little cups in various big box stores right now. Good to recognize limits and what you can do well. You may find that the Lone Ranger is very relaxing for you and a way to unwind from less fun parts of the day, like AC woes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalmedByFish Posted October 28, 2021 Share Posted October 28, 2021 On 10/27/2021 at 7:43 PM, Jawjagrrl said: Good to recognize limits and what you can do well. @CLSig This is so true. I'm glad to hear TLR is doing well! To what extent does the resident who received TLR know what's going on? I'm just wondering if they miss their fish. (100% understand why he's currently at your house though.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 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. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Well done with Lone Ranger they are very fun fish loved keeping mine they had the funniest tricks and traits. Trust that the other guys have the Betta sorted it could turn into a drama if you try to help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taco Playz Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted November 3, 2021 Author Share Posted November 3, 2021 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! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted November 9, 2021 Author Share Posted November 9, 2021 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted November 10, 2021 Share Posted November 10, 2021 I wonder if the fish was just something he could talk to you about. Still well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 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!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Thanks for the update! That's great! So, before we start with tankmates lets talk goldfish. You know, they have a large bio load and often times 1 or 2 adult goldfish are kept in a minimum of a 50-55 gallon tank. They are part of the carp family and can live a very long time. (Had a friend that had a rather fussy little goldfish that was 20yo or more, but I've heard of some that lived a lot longer). The reason I bring that up may be obvious now. Is Loner going to be a permanent resident at the care facility? I know he's probably small now but as you saw with the 3.5 he may also grow into that 20 pretty easily. These are things to consider as you may want to think about backup plans. If the answer is: I'll have a back up plan and I still want to get some tankmates: Personally I'd skip the pleco and the mystery snail as both have larger bio loads so the tank would be a cleaning issue for you (and we think of the future!). While he's (Mr Loner) small the platies could work but I wouldn't put a lot of them. Maybe the back up plan is to get them and if Loner gets too big or aggressive for them they could be future tankmates for the Betta if they get a tank upgrade. Platies have smaller bio loads and will give the residents plenty of visual action- I wouldn't get more than 6 and I'd only GET MALES so you have the color but not the reproduction. If you want snails to help with clean up but are low on the bio load get a couple of Nerite snails, they come in lots of different patterns/colors. I would be concerned with goldfish and Mystery snails (maybe not now but certainly eventually) as they could become nippy with their lovely long antennae (they look like worms!) and could hurt them- Nerites have much smaller antennae and could also potentially be moved in with the Betta fish in the future (and will be fine with them for the same concerns- potential nipping) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLSig Posted January 17, 2022 Author Share Posted January 17, 2022 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 I was thinking that's what you were going for when you said the sensory room- and I think it's a great idea to have that kind of thing for our elderly care population so that's pretty awesome. The platies could stay there if Loner moves home with you and the 20 gallon would never have to be upgraded. I might grab a couple dalmation platies and orange platies maybe some long fin, so you have a variety for sure! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xXInkedPhoenixX Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Post a pic of TLR when you get a chance, even the Betta, would be neat to see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted January 17, 2022 Share Posted January 17, 2022 Nice to get an update thanks, I agree with everything @xXInkedPhoenixXhas said don't put to much with goldfish they are plenty of work on their own. Plants will help a little bit but goldfish are vandals so nothing will stay tidy for long. Tricky in the work place but if the tank is suitable maybe grow a pathos out of it . Not sure if it has been mentioned but goldfish water is great for any houseplants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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