Anyway, I live with 5 other girls, some of whom I've known for a while and some...not as long. One of the girls that I don't know particularly well has a filtered 5 gallon hex with 4 (!!!) goldfish in it. They're all about 2-3 inches.
She recently did a VERY thorough cleaning - gravel, filters, the works - which resulted in cloudy water. She mentioned it in conversation and I took the opportunity to explain a little about cycling, but I don't know if I'm in a position to say anything about the size of the tank. I've got a spare 29 gallon in the basement of my parents' house, but I don't really think it's my place to make an offer like that!
Normally, if I knew someone fairly well and they were doing something terribly wrong - %26quot;You know, John, you might want to start feeding your rabbit something other than bananas for a change%26quot; - I wouldn't hesitate to offer unsolicited advice, but this is a situation where there isn't any sort of outright abuse or neglect and the girl with the fish seems to be pretty conscientious - regular feeding and water changes, filtered tank rather than a bowl. In the %26quot;fish world%26quot; it is clearly a bad setup, but for non-fish people, it seems pretty standard.
I might try something like, %26quot;Wow, your fish are getting big,%26quot; or maybe I'll just leave my 2.5 gallon betta tank in plain sight and hope she says something like, %26quot;How do you keep your water so clear?%26quot; but I REALLY don't want to be the person who moves into an already-established living arrangement and starts attacking people about goldfish!
Any other ideas?Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?I have lots of experience with this as I always have my eye out for animal welfare wherever I go, and even used to be an Inspector for the SPCA. Often you are those animals' chance of a better life - and you must grab it for them!
My advice to you in this sensitive situation would be to say %26quot;You know, I used be into keeping fish quite seriously, and learned all sorts of interesting things about them. Can I help you a bit with yours?%26quot;. Then give her advice in small, friendly bites - offering to assist, eg. going with to the petstore to choose a new tank. Keep the advice brief and non-judgmental. Have a laugh. Telling of your own mistakes and learning process goes a long way to prevent her thinking you're a superior know-it-all.
Be careful of offering your own tank - some people take that as offensively charitable.
Its important to pick your battles! Don't criticise everything, and feel her out. If she's taking it well, you can move on to other things. If not so well, just do the most important ones and you will still have made a big difference.
Good Luck : )Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?make subtle remarks
or say youve just read a article about sizes of fish tanks
and mention you have a spare one.
you need to tell her somehow.
if your offering another larger tank she should be happy anyway
(:Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?If I were you I'd say something. Five 2 to 3 inch goldfish are too many fish for a five gallon tank. That 29 gallon tank would be about right even if they don't get any bigger. If their adult size is five inches they'd need a 50 gallon tank, and some grow larger than that. I'd look for an opportunity to casually mention the one inch per gallon rule, especially considering that goldfish are notorious for producing a lot of waste.Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?Giving her that tank is a nice qesture but will not work, either. Most goldfish get at least 6 inches and many 8 inches and more. She is wayyyyy overstocked and she has also lost her cycle.
She needs to join a fish forum or do some research buying buying fish.Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?I think I would just mention that the fish are getting quite large, and that you have a larger tank if she is interested. Otherwise, there is really not much you can do.=Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?Why not just ask her if she would enjoy having a bigger tank since you have an extra and would be willing to help her take care of it?Should I intervene? Goldfish care!?Having been in a similar situation, I decided to just go for it and explain why the tank was not large enough even though the fish had %26quot;space%26quot;. I didn't bombard her with facts and figures but I printed off lots and lots of information from forums etc and asked her to have a read through it. Eventually she admitted that I might be right and she might be wrong. She didn't get another tank as she couldn't afford it but she did let me give her advice on how to make the best of what she had.
