What to do now?

21 years ago

Hi everyone,

I'm new here. I've visited lots of other forums here, but I didn't realize there was an aquarium forum. About 9 years ago, I brought a little comet in from my outside whiskey-barrel pond. It's friend had been eaten by a cat or a coon, and I didn't want to take any chances, so I brought it inside. He was in a 30 gallon tank, and did wonderfully for 9 years. It was about 9" long. His name was Blackie. He was beautiful. He really tolerated alot of less-than-perfect conditions. The tank was way over-do for a cleaning, then we had an ice storm and lost power for 3 1/2 days. I changed some of the water, but unfortunately, he didn't make it. I'm told he probably didn't die from the colder water, but maybe from the biowheel being off. Maybe from old age. I sure will miss him. Anyhow......I need to decide what to do now. I'm not sure I have the energy to keep a nice tank up again. My old one got pretty dirty about every 2 months. If I got more fish, they would definitely have to be very hardy. Would that be more goldfish?

I was also thinking of doing something different with the tank, that didn't include fish. Would that probably be a terrarium? If I did get more goldfish, would it be good to get those kind of fish that eat algae too? Since Blackie had been alone all those years, by the time I found out about algae eaters, I was afraid they wouldn't get along. Anyhow.....I'm just thinking of new alternatives now. So what kind of hardy fish would you suggest (I'm not going to use heaters), and what kind could tolerate power failures? And are there many other alternatives besides frogs, turtles, and terrariums? Thanks so much for your help.

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Comments (6)

PleasantRidge_Oh
21 years ago
Goldfish are pretty hardy, however the amount of waste a goldfish produces is way out of proportion to their size. Tropical fish on the other hand produce much less waste on average. Regardless of what you keep you have to stay on top of your water changes. You want to do a 25% to 50% change at least every two weeks or so. Another issue is the size that goldfish get. Your 30g was way too small for a fish that large. If you do decide to go with another goldfish keep in mind there are no algae eaters that can tolerate the cool conditions that goldfish need.
catherinet
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks PleasantRidge. :)
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Erik_z7b_AL
21 years ago
Depending on your area,alot of the native fishes can be good aquarium fish if you want something other than goldfish.Some of the shiners and darters stay small and look really nice.Alot of others such as most sunfish and catfish would be temporary as they would eventually outgrow a 30 gallon tank.You would have to go and catch them yourself,which is fun,but check your state laws,small game fish(bass,crappie,walleye,etc)are usually illegal.
Puddlemaker
21 years ago
You could just go with plants and or snails, there are some types of snails that like colder water and they breed a lot. Sometimes you even get them with the plants anyway. For my goldfish I have lots of filter and no gravel. It's a lot easier to clean. I use a canister filter and bio wheel. I also keep a bubble box around incase of a power failure. It's a small battery powered air pump that will keep the fish and or filter alive while the power is off. I just put the bio wheel in the tank with the bubbler running under it and it works OK for a day or two. if you do get fish there are good fish safe algicides that keep it under control.
pequafrog
21 years ago
The idea of a natural...or regional tank is cool. I did that with Sunnies once. Actually, Pumpkinseeds are very colorful, and you won't have to heat the tank or anything.

-PF
catherinet
Original Author
21 years ago
Thanks for your suggestions everyone,
I'll probably have lots more questions once I decide what to do and get it up and running. I didn't even think of a battery operated bubbler, for those times when our power is out. Also, we're going to get a generator, which will also help for occasional use on the tank.
I just hate losing anything I care about, and so I think it over long and hard before I get living things that might end up being in peril. I suppose I could use the minnows from the creek! I use them in my little in-ground water garden, and they survive the winter, with just a little birdbath heater. I also like the terrarium idea with snails. Thanks again!