These are my Facebook posts to my family and friends, they were fun to write and fun to read, so I will post them here for the world to enjoy as well. These cover about a week and a half .....
Fish story part 1
The people we bought the house from had put 2 gold fish in the water feature (not made for fish) and turned off the filter. It got all cloudy and full of algae. Then their 2 fishes had babies. But they had moved out a month before we actually moved in and I hadn’t seen the fishes since we moved in, so I assumed that the fish had all died. (hoped really) Yesterday we were draining the water (if we leave water in it over the winter it will freeze and break all the pipes and such and never work again) well after half the water was out, the big daddy fish pokes its head out of the water. My daughter see’s it, so we go on a rescue mission for that fish.
Now remember that we just BOUGHT a (used – love Craigs list!) 10 gal fish tank last WEEK! And yesterday morning it was all cleaned up and we moved the 3 fish we had from the old 2 gal tank (that was leaking) to the new 10 gal tank. We were looking forward to buying a few new fishes for that tank.
So the guy we bought the 10 gal tank from had included a fish bowl (that I had every intention of giving to a thrift store) and a complete 1 gal tank (that we want to get a beta for it) I took the fish bowl outside scooped up some ewwy water and caught daddy fish. THEN I saw a baby fish swimming around.
Now ... I can’t stand to see an animal die because of lack of action on my part. So I said a prayer. I asked if He wanted me to help these fish, let them swim to the top so I can see them and catch them. POOF! A ton of fish swim to the top (ok about 10 fish). So now (in a funny way) I am on an errand of mercy to save fish direct from God! (He has a sense of humor I tell you!) So I go in the house and get a large bowl, scoop up water into it, look at the water and I had caught the first baby fish! I sit by the water for an hour and caught 16 babies!
So as my cereal bowl got full of babies fishes ... I said another pray that He help me find a cheap bigger tank, cause I wasn't sure that these fish would be good tank mates for our other fish who are getting along fine. (plus I think the big daddy fish was too big for our 20 gal tank already)
I checked out Craigs List ... someone had just posted a 55 gal glass tank that included filter, heater, lights, bubble-er, bottom rocks, and 5 fish tank accessories (my favorite being the underwater roman columns) and a tank thermometer ... for $75!!!!! This tank was on CL less the 6 hours before I went and picked it up. Then I brought it home cleaned it up, filled it up, got the water temps close and at 12:15am the fish were in their new home. I worked for HOURS saving these fishes.
The big daddy fish is orange and about 4/5 inches long. I said at one point it sort of looked like a coy fish. So my daughter named the fish "McCoi" like the Dr in Star Trek! LOL .... so Daddy fish has a name. This morning there were 2 half eaten baby fishes ... and I can only see 10 fish after taking their bodies out. So 4 other fish didn’t make it through the night. And I think daddy ate them. : (
Later today I will work on the rest of the "pond" and see how many other fish we save.
Fish Rescue
- Part 2!
So this
morning before church I spent at least 30 mins (maybe an hour) fishing again. I
stuck my hands in that nasty, just above freezing water to remove stones and
leaves so I could see the remaining fish later in the day and catch them in the
hopes of saving their lives. I did manage to catch 3 baby fish this morning!
WOOHOO they sat in a bowl on the counter all day and just went in the tank
about 30 mins ago.
After church
we went next door and invited the 8 year old girl came over to help me and my daughter
with our fish rescue! We all had SO MUCH fun!
We found 2
bigger (about 2 inch long) fishes. And I think 6 smaller baby fishes. At the
end of our fishing time I STILL hadn’t caught the mama fish. We were so sad. My
dad has sworn he had seen it earlier today, but this pond was almost empty.
WHERE could this mama fish be hiding? I
figured we were doing this on prayer, so we said another prayer to find the
mama fish. Then I did a blind scoop across the bottom of the icky pond ague
ewwww-E stuff. I brought it up and it looked like just dirt. Then I noticed a
tail fin twitching!!!! We had caught the mama fish! So I put her in the special
BIG bowl I had waiting for her. (she is orange white and black and a good 4 maybe 5 inches long!)
Then all 3
of us (me, my daughter and her friend) gave high 5’s all-around The girls were VERY excited to be fish
rescuers. LOL Then I figured we did this on a prayer we said a thank you pray
too!
Today’s
fishing totals … 1 big mama and 2 med teenagers and 9 babies!
Say a prayer
more make it through the night!
Will check
the “pond” again tomorrow see if I can find any last fishes!
Part 3
Today I went
outside and sat by the pond for about 30 mins. Caught 2 fish, but I saw one
other fish and then it disappeared. I couldn’t get it! I was so sad I didn’t
want it to die. So my daughter and I said another prayer … and I took the net and
scrapped it along all the ew at the bottom of this “pond” I got 2 fish in that
scoop! So I just kept scooping the freezing water and sifting through he goop
in the net (also freezing) saving baby fish! And at one point my cel phone fell
in the pond! EWWWWWW it seems to still be working …..
Anyways …. we
scooped out 12 baby fish from the pond today. Since I got so many, I will check
again tomorrow.
THEN my
neighbors wanted someone to catch the fish they had in there pond and they were
going to release them into the wild. There was only 3 fish about 3 inches long,
so I figured what the hey! My husband and I went over and caught there fish and they
are sitting on our counter warming up to go into our tank with the other 2 big
fish.
Early today
we took the babies out of the 55 gal tank, too many had been eaten. SO now I
have 20 babies in a 1 gal tank. I really need to find another 20 gal tank
CHEEP! LOL But we had fun rescuing the fishes and our neighbors daughter is
real into the fish rescue as well.
Part 4
Well sad
news on the babies that were in the 1 gal tank overnight. I lost about half. It
was too crowded and there was no filter or bubbler to oxygenate the water. I
was so sad to scoop out so many dead babies. That morning we went to Wal-Mart
and bought a brand new 10 gal set up, and I am very proud to say that I haven’t
lost a fish since. : ) So a big thank you to my parents who bought that last
tank so the babies could live free!
BUT the search
for a bigger tank continues …. I have 13 1 inch baby fish in a 10 gal tank.
Fish should be 1 inch of fish per 1 gal of water. So the baby tank is over full!
LOL … but they are fine for now. When they grow they will need a bigger place
to live.
Both the 55
gal tank and the baby tank have murky water. We are adjusting it to bring it to
a good eco system. It’s a lot of work and a lot of learning, But rewarding. I
love looking at all the baby fish’s.
Today we went on got rocks for the bottom of the tank, I have learned
that rocks in help promote healthy bacteria, so now our tanks now look a bit
more finished!
SO 2 weeks
ago we had 1 fish in a leaky 2 gal tank. (Gnomeo)
Then 2 more
fish the kids won at the Halloween carnival (no names yet)
Then Craig’s
list for a new to us tank that fit our new fish family. (10 gal tank)
Then final
count on the pond fish’s … 2 five inch parents from our pond (McCoi and Miss
Kitty). 1 five inch fish from the neighbors pond (leviathan). 2 three inch fish
from the neighbor’s pond (Trixy and Bixy). 3 two inch fish that we call
teenagers from our pond (tiger, Seal and Cubby). And 13 baby’s have survived!
(babies don’t have names yet)
That’s 21 fish!
AND … when
we went to the pet store the other day we got 3 thirteen cent fishes I picked
out one (Boyington -the gold one with the Black outlining, only fish I ever picked out) Jake picked out one (Andre, white with gold spots) and Tori picked out one (Princess - one of the orange ones ..)
1 fish 1
tank to 27 fish and 3 tanks in 7 days! LOL
2 weeks later .....
As of Today ... I have done A LOT of research on how to keep the fish healthy and what is best to do for them. I am planning ahead now for some bigger tanks to fit all the fish when they are all grown up. Its been a fun journey and rewarding.
I am thankful for my rescued fish, and the kids love them too. Hubby is slowly getting into the groove .....
The link to the good Goldfish Care site ....
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