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Aquariums: I’m supposed to take care of these fish for a friend, but they didn’t give me anything for them? What do I do?

My friend's in prison for 60 days (heres to hoping) and they left me to take care of his fish… except when I was given his things to take care of, The fish were in a bag and had literally nothing else with them. I've been feeding them Peas and kept them in this water keg for the past few days but I really am unsure how to care for them. Is there anything I can get them? They're goldfish, with one being a fantail(?). They're quite lethargic, so I kept doing daily water changes with purified water.

Posted by cannibalistickiller

14 Comments

  1. Suspicious-Manner450 on

    Get to your local fish shop and buy a big sponge filter and gold fish flakes.. maybe a big tank and maybe keep them 😂 learn a new hobby and keep these guys alive! Failing that, give them to the local fish store

  2. Particular_Radio5215 on

    stop doing daily water changes they only need it once a week max 25%-50% changed. you can get frozen food for like 8$ from most pet stores and it’s better than flakes but you can get flakes too. try to get the OMEGA or FLUVAL brand. tetra min is okay too. they should have a heater and a filter going but those are pricey and understandable why you wouldn’t want to drop like 50+ dollars on it when they’re not your fish. see if marketplace has anyone giving fish stuff away for free or cheap most of the time people always are. good luck brother

  3. deechy_marko on

    Not sure about goldfish care as I only keep tropical fish but I’m commenting so this post gets some traction. If no one else replies just google or AI it

  4. Velveteen_Rabbit1986 on

    What size is that tank? It looks waaaaay too small for the number of fish, but I can’t tell the size. Keep up the daily water changes but if the tank is as small as it looks you’ll have to rehome them for their own benefit.

  5. nothingbread on

    Seems kinda sketchy for someone to have a bag of goldfish with nothing else. Definitely heard stories about people stealing fish. Also, these fish need a pond, I dont know your friend but i doubt they will ever be able to give them a good life.

  6. JesusGums on

    So first thing to know about if you want to go into this whole process informed is “aquarium cycling” which has to do with the nitrogen cycle in the tank. That will help you understand when to change water.

    I don’t know where you are from but if it is North America you can either check Facebook marketplace/kijiji for a cheap used set up (resale value on aquariums is crazy low you can get amazing deals ) or you can go to Walmart and get a big tote for a bigger container. ( right now there is too many animals in too small of a space, I think that is why the tips of some of their fins have gone black, it is an ammonia build up).

    Marketplace tanks though, often come with filters (you need one of these) and heaters (you should not use a heater with goldfish). If you can’t find a cheap used filter the cheapest option will be a sponge filter, which will need the actual sponge filter, a small air pump from the pet store , and the tubing to connect the pimp to the sponge. Fish flakes, a bigger container, and a filter will help a lot. You’ll also want to grab a bottle of dechlorinator so you don’t have to keep messing with bottled water, the smallest bottle should be more than enough for two months.

  7. bwwatr on

    If you can commit to keeping the daily water changes going I don’t see a reason for concern, just check the temperature of the new water isn’t going to shock them, cold ~65-72F is fine for goldfish. They look like Comets (type of goldfish) to me. Buy the smallest container of fish flake food you can find, and do tiny pinches of food, the amount that will get cleaned up in a couple of minutes. Feed a couple times a day (though you can skip days without issue). What do you mean purified water – you need to ensure it doesn’t have chlorine in it, if it does, you should buy an aquarium dechlorinator product. Regular human-safe tap water plus dechlorinator is fine and what most aquarists use.

  9. DroidsInOuterspace on

    Seconding flakes + a sponge filter! Some pet stores can also give you “cycled media” to put in the filter as that will have bacteria that keep ammonia down. Also you can check placed like FB market place/CL/etc to see if anyone has low cost/free tanks

  10. Ok-Literature9162 on

    On the cheap, these guys need moved into a plastic storage bin like in this video: https://share.google/IiDR3AAiuMRExufmC

    Basic shopping list: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/how-to-set-up-a-fish-tank?srsltid=AfmBOoqLaLEI8_HSwjIuGrvIEGQt-J0bw22CoEjjm3sJK-oZ7ILx58xW

    I think the aquarium co-op YouTube channel has a playlist of the basics.  Water changes and the nitrogen cycle would be the ones to pay the most attention to immediately.

  11. theperpetualhobbiest on

    Tell your friend to fuck off and give these to a fish store. If he provided nothing to take care of them with he obv doesnt give a shit. Goldfish require huge amounts of water cause they piss straight ammonia.

  12. BoringJuiceBox on

    You can sometimes find free or cheap tanks on OfferUp/Craigslist/Marketplace. These guys would do much better if you can even find a 30 gallon but bigger is better. Shit even a 20 would be an improvement. Give them some plants for enrichment. After winter though a pond for sure is the move.

  14. Alternative-Pin-3832 on

    I was having issues with shrimp dying in big numbers so separated them from my fish and they simply live in a clear plastic storage tub with a sponge filter (and the other necessary bits but my point is it doesn’t need to be fancy). You can get storage tubs pretty cheap.

    Failing that, give them to a shop and just tell your friend you didn’t know how to care for fish and sadly they all died. I’d personally prefer that to the “HOW DARE YOU GIVE AWAY MY FISH?” arguments that may follow.

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