no longer feel like its my tank..

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Love my family,,,love my family,,, I really do But.. ok i didnt like the background BUT hubby,son and his GF liked it so OK it will stay.. NOW son and his GF come home with $60 of the worst looking fish i have seen 6 Angle fish look like they may have clamped fins, 4 cory`s look ok, 6 long finned tetra`s i think with chopped up fins. They were sooo happy to bring them home FOR ME,, uuggg i did NOT want to put them in my tank. So anyways i no longer have to worry about how im going to cycle my tank guess im going to have to try and save these ones. I hope they make it till morning at least, i would feel bad that they spent all that money. OMG I dont want these fish. Now I feel like this tank is just another chore (with a smile ) is that bad of me? thanks for letting me vent...

[Bill63SG]

Hate to say it,but see ya in the disease section.

[Discus-n00b]

Gives you an excuse to get another tank! ;)

Try to educate them. Pull up some posts and let them read.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

down to 5 Angle fish,,, heard a gurgling sound turned on flash light and 1 was sucked in the intake tube, by the time i got him out it was to late,,, so i rigged something up till i can get to the store for a cover for it.. i ended up cutting a fish net and putting a rubberband around it to hold it in place..

[DLock3d]

Good luck. When my girlfriend wouldnt let me thin out the Angelfish in my 75 community I told her OK, the water changes are yours to do. She's been doing them since. I know the situation is different but it's an idea. :)

[Keith Perkins]

Tough one, but only because you don't want to see them waste there money and your nice. Or maybe too nice, but I don't know you that well. You don't want to hear my suggestion. :)

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

so now i guess i will have to wait about 4 months to get discus, make sure these little things dont have bugs,, thats if they make it through the cycling process.

[MaiaDee]

so now i guess i will have to wait about 4 months to get discus, make sure these little things dont have bugs,, thats if they make it through the cycling process.

In that case, tell your son and GF you want the discus YOU choose for Christmas!!

[DiscusDrew]

Honestly... I still wouldn't add discus without probably sterilizing the tank first. Unfortunately I have to agree with Bill in his statement unless you choose to simply explain the problem, inform them of what YOU want for YOUR tank and sell them or cull them and start over. Its sweet in theory but in actuality its only to your detriment, help them to understand that in the best way you can and maybe it won't be so bad. I just must be a Dick lol... My whole family knows that room is off limits unless i'm there and if you want to contribute that starts with a conversation with me.... I'd have kicked them right back out the door and back to the fish store lol.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Honestly... I still wouldn't add discus without probably sterilizing the tank first. Unfortunately I have to agree with Bill in his statement unless you choose to simply explain the problem, inform them of what YOU want for YOUR tank and sell them or cull them and start over. Its sweet in theory but in actuality its only to your detriment, help them to understand that in the best way you can and maybe it won't be so bad. I just must be a Dick lol... My whole family knows that room is off limits unless i'm there and if you want to contribute that starts with a conversation with me.... I'd have kicked them right back out the door and back to the fish store lol. DAMN..LOL...but i think i will have to put my foot down..

[Teshi]

You can tell them you will House them until they can get their own tank :) It is a hard balance to keep, you want them interested in your new hobby but not to the point of taking it over even before it gets off the ground. Maybe call a LFS and ask if they will take these fish and then continue on your own journey.

[Trier20]

I ended up buying the fiancé a tank of her own. She liked other fish so she has her tank, my son has his guppies and I have my fish room. I have been teaching my fiancé about cycling, water quality, water changes and the rest of basic fish keeping. She understands why the discus have their tanks and the rest have their own. You just have to inform them that discus are a larger investment than some angels and the other common tropical fish. They may be upset at first but once they see those big discus they'll forget about it :)

[Orange Crush]

I would not put discus in a tank that had these fish in it first. Very bad idea. Return them to the store and sterilize the tank, filter etc. or buy another tank for the discus. Discus cost money and this is your tank so, it is not a good time to be a people pleaser. If you hurt their feelings by rejecting the fish, so what? They will get over it. If you don't let them know who is in charge of that tank now then lord knows what other cr*p they will try to do.

[DiscusDrew]

Jeeze, I thought I was mean lol ;) I completely agree though...

[Orange Crush]

Jeeze, I thought I was mean lol ;) I completely agree though...
Not being mean. Tough love.

[Elliots]

How many fish have actually been lost so far because the tank hasn't cycled? Just curious because 25-30 years ago I had never heard of cycling and new fish did not die off right away. I don't think cycling was discovered yet. I would not consider putting Discus in an uncycled tank because of their cost.

[Larry Bugg]

Tell them you love and appreciate them and then explain why the fish need to be returned. You have good sound reasoning. Not just that it is your tank and your decision what goes in it but also that there is a process that must be followed to insure the health of the fish that end up in the tank.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Well we are down to the 5 angles,5 of the tetra,and 2 of the cory`s the rest were sucked down the intake, yes i will have a talk with them, but i did wake up in a better mood.

[k7prz]

The collection and housing of discus usually require more than one tank. And breeding, the real joy of discus, requires
even more tanks! So if you have the room and the extra cash, you might set up at least a 20 gal somewhere (out of sight
of your kids?) and start it cycling. I'm very glad nobody brings me fish!

Dave

[BobDaniel]

In that case, tell your son and GF you want the discus YOU choose for Christmas!!


Tell them you want a gift certificate from one or more of the SD sponsers!

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

X-mas gifts sounds perfect.. :) well its plus 1 more corey ,, found the little guy when i took apart the intake to the wet/dry to retrieve their little corpses and he was still wiggling around..he was in there atleast 6 hours, so i tossed him back in the tank. he is sitting on the bottom alittle stunned but is still breathing.. hope he makes it.. last night i was wishing they would all die,,funny today im happy they are surviving... LOL...as far as intake pipe goes i went and bought a endcap and drilled holes in it so that should keep them out...

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

Just an update,, looking at the Angels their fins are starting to spread out only 1 seems alittle nervous still but the other 4 seem happy as can be, and they are all eating nicely..

[shoveltrash]

so, are you getting another tank, a DISCUS dedicated tank????
(that's what I did!)
keep the Angels etc where they are, and add a big new tank for the Discus that you want :D

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

bigger then a 180 i would need a bigger place to live..LOL...

[Keith Perkins]

I'd get another smaller tank like a 29 or a 55 and bleach the 180 and make it your DISCUS tank. Whether or not you remove the other fish from the 180 before you add the bleach would be completely up to you. :) The 29 or 55 could always be used a QT or breeder tank if you decide to add the bleach to the 180 without removing the other fish. I know, I'm bad sometimes.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

I'd get another smaller tank like a 29 or a 55 and bleach the 180 and make it your DISCUS. Whether or not you remove the other fish from the 180 before you add the bleach would be completely up to you. :) The 29 or 55 could always be used a QT or breeder tank if you decide to add the bleach to the 180 without removing the other fish. I know, I'm bad sometimes.
2 funny....

[Orange Crush]

I'd get another smaller tank like a 29 or a 55 and bleach the 180 and make it your DISCUS tank. Whether or not you remove the other fish from the 180 before you add the bleach would be completely up to you. :) The 29 or 55 could always be used a QT or breeder tank if you decide to add the bleach to the 180 without removing the other fish. I know, I'm bad sometimes.
Ooops! Sorry son, I meant to add Prime to the tank of fish that you sooo nicely bought for me but instead I added bleach. My bad!

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

well that was a chore.. got a 55..LOL.. ohh noo another tank.. drained water out of the 180 put all the fish in the 55, put the sponges from 180 into the 55.. took out sand and wood and all media, filled tank back up added bleach ran that for a bit, drained refilled bleach again, drain refilled with just water, drained, refilled as it was draining this time i just let the water fill while it was draining at same time let that run for almost hour,, good thing i dont have a water bill..LOL Now i need to go buy more filter media, HOW CAN I CLEAN the WOOD??? i would like to use it again.. if the other fish pass quarantine for few months i will think about letting them back in big tank. i do kinda like them now...

[Keith Perkins]

When I occassional sanitize a piece of driftwood I hit it with PP. If you decide to go that route and want some I have plenty and would be happy to send you some.

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

what is PP and how does it work? thanks

[Keith Perkins]

This will explain it much better than I ever could.

http://www.bidka.org/pp1.shtml

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

so after you treat your wood do you then Neutralize it using Hydrogen peroxide? or do you let it dry out? sorry if these sound like stupid questions,,LOl

[Coffee1stLife2nd]

sent you a PM Keith,,,Thanks

[Keith Perkins]

You can either neutralize it using hydrogen peroxide or just rinse it with water and stick it back in the tank. The small amount of PP that could still be left in it after rinsing won't affect anything. When you treat a tank the water becomes very purple, when you stick the driftwood back in you won't see the water color change at all I suspect.

[MuckyFish]

Maybe too late to have asked them to clean the tank if you have educated them. Then they would probably have accidentally killed them all for you if you had let them clean the tank... guess that means I have a mean streak too.

[Orange Crush]

I am so glad to hear you got a new tank to put them in and sterilized the one that the discus will go into. I hope that you have (or will soon) explain to them why you just spent so much of your time and money doing this. Perhaps they should be the ones to take care of the fish they bought. Nothing beats first hand experience to learn things. :)