Friend's Goldfish Disaster

Sorry in advance for the long post. Alright, this started about a month ago when my friend's mom won six goldfish at a fair. Not knowing any better, she stuck all six in a 1-gallon bowl. Four were dead by the next day. The two who survived have been remarkably hardy and she moved them to an unfiltered 3-gallon tank. When I heard about this, of course I started giving her advice. She didn't listen at first. Not wanting to be rude, I didn't really pursue it aside from an occasional hint here and there that they were going to need a much bigger tank. But, a couple weeks ago, I finally broke down and told her that if she didn't move them to a bigger tank they would die. This week she has gotten very interested in my fish care advice and is actually now following it. She bought an ammonia test kit, water treater, a gravel siphon, and I got her goldfish pellets to use instead of the topical fish flakes.

When I saw them on Sunday they both had cottonmouth disease, the water was horribly cloudy, and it was obvious that she was seriously over feeding them and they weren't feeling well enough to eat it. She medicated the water and the cottonmouth seems to be gone. Yesterday she bought a 20-gallon tank (with a filter) and the ammonia test strips. The ammonia results in the 3-gallon were what I expected: extremely high (3.0 ppm). Yesterday we decided it would be best to just get them out of the small tank and move them right into the 20 gallon, even though it wasn't cycled yet. She will be doing daily water changes and will monitor the ammonia closely.

So here's the deal. She now knows that they cannot live their whole lives in the 20-gallon she bought. But her youngest son is in love with the fish and doesn't want to give them away. She doesn't want to buy a giant tank just for two little fish, so her and I made a plan. She's going to keep them till spring when I can add them to my pond, tell her son that they died, and send them to live in my quarter-acre pond with other goldfish and koi. Then she'll convert the 20 gallon into an appropriatly stocked tropical fish tank. I need your help to make sure they survive until spring. What would you advise, if giving them away immediately is not an option?

 

Its close quarters for sure but IMO if the water is kept clean and safe they should do just fine for a few months. Unless you can get them in your pond sooner, not sure if where your at the pond freezes?

 

Oh yes, the pond freezes every winter. I've even been able to ice skate on it before . Since it's dipping below freezing every night now and the goldfish are still babies, I really don't want to move them to the pond now. I think it would be too stressful and wouldn't give them enough time to adjust before the water starts freezing over.

 

I agree, keep them inside until spring. Does your pond "turnover" after winter? If so wait until all that has cleared away also.

 

I don't know but I plan to wait until all the other goldfish and koi have gotten active and are coming over to the side to eat. I figure by then the water will be warm enough and her goldfish will probably be big enough to be released. At the moment they're only about an inch and a half long, so I'm hoping they'll at least double in size by spring.

 

I don't think you should tell her son that they died.....Don't you think that would scar him more than Bringing them to a new home?
Use it as a teaching opportunity. If he loves them so much....help him understand how much happier and healthier they will be in the pond. And he can even visit them!
I think just telling him they died would be cruel....if they really didn't die....

 

I agree but he's very young and he doesn't understand that giving them away will make them happier. We'll see where he's at in a few months; if he's sort of lost interest or his mom has decided that he can handle giving them away, I'll bring him out to the pond and he can watch me release them. But I don't want to argue with his mom about how to approach this, so I'm just going to go along with whatever she thinks is best.

 

I personally think telling him they died would be cruel. I don't care how young he is. So...the mom would rather let him think the poor things died rather than telling him the truth? Why? So he won't get mad at her????

I'm not trying to be rude...but I think that's a little selfish.

 

I will discuss it with her. This is still a "rough draft" plan and things will have to change as new issues come up. I think she tried to bring up giving them away and it upset him, but maybe if we tell him now and he knows that he'll get several months with them he can accept it and go along. I'm more worried about the goldfish right now, but once everything is stable and spring is closer we'll start figuring out how to approach moving them.

 

I guess I don't understand how telling a child their pet died is easier than saying it went somewhere else to live. I think it's easier on the parent, not the child. I would start preparing the child a few weeks before the transfer. Go with them to pick out a new fish (so you can help steer them towards something suitable). Tell the child the goldfish are getting bigger now and need to go to a new, bigger home, but that the child can visit them, and that they are going to get new fish for the tank at home.

 

I think it's easier on the parent, not the child.

EXACTLY!!! ^^^^^^^
which is why I think it's a very selfish decision if that is what is decided upon!!

 

I would love to do that and will definitely discuss it with his mom. But it's going to be a long time before we have to deal with transferring the fish, and by then he may have lost interest in them and moved on to something else. I will be accompanying them to the pet stores to find their fish (mainly because I really love fish shopping) and hopefully he will fall in love with some that can live in a 20-gallon their whole lives.

 

I would love to do that and will definitely discuss it with his mom. But it's going to be a long time before we have to deal with transferring the fish, and by then he may have lost interest in them and moved on to something else. I will be accompanying them to the pet stores to find their fish (mainly because I really love fish shopping) and hopefully he will fall in love with some that can live in a 20-gallon their whole lives.

Why not start preparing him now? Teach him about common goldfish and their adult size and their needs. Show him pics and videos of goldfish in ponds. Get him excited about keeping them "warm" in the winter and preparing them for their awesome "grown up" pond when the spring arrives. Make it an exciting experience that he can feel proud of.

I am sorry to be one track minded. But I just can't get over the mother's desire to just tell the poor kid that they died to make it easier on herself!! How can you think a kid would have an easier time with a dead pet than a pet that has to be rehomed? Sure, he might be mad at mom, but I think preparing this child and teaching him to love and care and be SELFLESS is crucial here. Whether he "loses interest in them" or not. Heck, that isn't a good lesson to teach him either. To just enjoy a pet until you get tired of them. That shouldn't be what she "hopes" will happen!!

No one likes to be the bad guy with their kids. But that is how you teach them to be good loving human beings.

 

I agree with you 100%. I want to make sure these goldfish will live, and not die of a relapse of cottonmouth or of ammonia poisoning, and then I'll see if his mom is willing to help prep him for it. I would love it if he could be with my when I release them and come back and try to spot them now and then. I am definitely going to discuss it with her and see if I can convince her to take our side here. I'd like to make sure that the goldfish are going to survive the disease and the transfer to the bigger tank first, though.

 

I understand that you have no power to orchestrate things as you would wish them to go, but can only influence since this is the mother of your friend. I think so far you've been able to help the fish a lot! I hope they make it until spring so that they can have a much better life in your pond.

Just keep trying a little at a time!

 

I really hope they make it, too. I think she's going to keep the water parameters in check now that she knows what she's doing. If the cottonmouth comes back I'm going to teach her how to make a salt bath for them. So far they seem quite happy in their new tank and are a lot more active than they were in the little tank, and one started playing in the filter stream last night! The other even began eating before I left. It made us all very happy to see them doing so much better just from the clean water and bigger space.

 

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I personally think telling him they died would be cruel. I don't care how young he is. So...the mom would rather let him think the poor things died rather than telling him the truth? Why? So he won't get mad at her????

I'm not trying to be rude...but I think that's a little selfish.

I fully agree with your points but let’s focus on the topic : how to keep the fish alive till spring !! ops:

 

I'm sorry but what is happening here? LOL the fish are babies. They have at least several months before they outgrow the 20 gallon.

Give her some cycled media, or tell her to get Stability (which can be used with water changes). Tell her to feed only a few pellets per fish, once a day, and skip two days a week. Goldfish are hardy; they should have no problem living until spring.

Also, just as an FYI if her son is young he might like platies, which come in yellow and kinda look like goldfish to a lot of kids.

 

I

I fully agree with your points but let’s focus on the topic : how to keep the fish alive till spring !! ops:

The OP seems pretty knowledgeable...I didn't really have any advice that she didn't already seem to have covered. So, 10 hours ago I shared my concerns for the little boy in this story and offered some advice on that. But I haven't brought it up since, after acknowledging that I had gotten side tracked. I agree it was time to move on and I had. You quoting my post from 10 hours ago just rehashed it unnecessarily....

I think the OP is on the right track in the steps she's taken for these fish. And I hope they get through this ordeal! junebug just gave some good suggestions.

 

I have told her that she was seriously over feeding and to cut down to just a few pellets a day, so that should help the water stay clean. I was actually thinking about giving her some water from my already cycled tanks to help speed up her cycle.

I went over and measured the ammonia today and it was very close to 0 ppm, exactly the same measurements I got when I tested it prior to adding the fish. They seem to be doing very well, even better than they were last night, probably because they have gotten used to their new home and aren't stressed out now.

My main concern right now is the possible reappearance of cottonmouth. She only treated the tank once and the fuzzy patches are gone, but I believe it was supposed to be a repeated dose medication. If it comes back I plan to teach her how to make a salt dip, but because she moved them out of the medicated tank we might have to start the medicine cycle again.

 

Oh my goodness... Alright, I was just informed by my friend that his mother seriously misunderstood what I was saying and bought four PREGNANT guppies to put in the tank. I had told her that she could put in guppies... AFTER the goldfish moved out. Apparently I didn't make that last thing clear. I don't have the space to take them and I really don't think she'll want to return them. I feel like this is spiraling out of control now. I told her that she would have to probably double the water changes and double the ammonia testing, and have to relocate the baby guppies as soon as they give birth so they're not eaten by the goldfish.