AAAAHHHH!!

So, today I tested Amy's water. 

And the results are in.

Drumroll, please.

(badabadaba)

The nitrites are deep purple. I changed 1.5 gallons ASAP, and I  forsee large water changes in the not-so-distant future....

A New Fish

YAY!!! New fishy! Her name is gonna be Amy, I think.

Here is a picture:

Here is a head-on picture:

.

She is in her quarantine tank right now, so if she's sick, she won't get Rory sick.

However, I'm pretty sure that all she has is a light case of ammonia poisoning. Or she's confused because she can see herself in the sides of her tank. 

Summer!

So, one day not too long ago, I was watching Rory, and he looked sad and sluggish. So I tested the temperature and it was at 71 degrees.
And I read in various places (websites, books, etc.) that goldfish aren't supposed to have water over about 70 ish.
AHA! I thought. I'll put in some cooler water!
So I did, and now he is happier.

The Oldest Goldfish in the World

So, I was looking on one of my favorite goldfish websites, and I found this:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/devon/4341254.stm

The website I found it on was this: 

http://thegoldfishtank.com/

The second one is quite a good website for many things. However, I have not stolen stuff from them.

Update on Rory

Rory is now close to three inches long.
He's loving life in his big tank, and has gotten some new rocks in his tank.
He's not very lonely, and has learned that he gets fed between 8 and 9am every morning.
Which means he starts to look for his food at about 6 am.
The myth that goldfish only have a three second memory is a LIE!

Goldfish Types

So, there are many different types of goldfish.

Some are cute, and some are not as cute, and some are just plain ugly. (no offence to those who like the fish that I consider not as cute or ugly.)
Most of them can be black, white, red, orange, yellow, or any combination of those colors.

Common

The common goldfish is usually a feeder fish. Sold in a tiny tank, mixed with comets sometimes. (Note: I couldn't find a nice picture of a healthy common goldfish...)

 Comet

                                               

Sometimes a feeder fish, looks a lot like common goldfish but with a longer tail. Rory is a comet.

                                                            

Oranda

A medium fish with a wen (big raspberry thing) on its head. Can be any combination of colors, but red and white is the most famous.

Celestial

The goldfish was bred to be looked at from the top, and so the celestial goldfish looks up at you. Its tank shouldn't have much in it besides it, because it can't see as well as other goldfish.

Bubble-Eye

Bubble-Eye goldfish have big, fluid-filled sacs underneath their eyes. They have no dorsal fin, and are a little slow, so don't keep them in a tank with speedy goldfish.

Pearlscale

Pearlscale Goldfish are fat-ish fish with little pearly bumps on their scales. 

Fantail

Fantail goldfish have extra-long, super-flowy double tails. 

Moor

Is one of the most debated goldfish out there. Some say that it is only a moor if it is all black, others disagree...

Wild coloring

The wild coloring of a goldfish is this sorta bronzy-green.

All pictures were taken from Google Image. If one of your images is on this site, I'm sorry for not giving you credit.

Melody's Parasites

So Melody's parasites....
I think that she probably had a combination of Anchor Worm and some sort of fungus. And ammonia poisoning.
Never get a feeder fish with black on it. That probably means it's got ammonia poisoning, and it's very sad to watch a pet die, even if it's only a fish.

On a more cheerful note, Rory is a very happy fish, and his tank is done cycling.

Maybe a New Fish? In June....

So, after Melody died, we had to clean out her tank, because of the fact that she had parasites.
Now it is May, and our schedule is very full.
So in June, we're gonna try and get a friend for Rory.
Possible name : Amy, Bubbles.
If you have suggestions, you can comment below...

Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate Readings

I  thought that my 10gal tank was done cycling. But when I tested the water, this is what I got:

Nope, not done yet. :(

Death of a Goldfish

Well, Melody died last night.

We think it might have been a combination of anchor worms and ammonia poisoning.

Next time, no fish with black on them!

Melody the New Fish

This is Melody, the new goldfish.

She was acting very lethargic for a few days, and drifting around her tank, but we changed water and added Melafix. She immediately perked back up and is acting more fishlike. We will probably quarantine her for three weeks(ish).

Backstory

If you haven't guessed, this is a blog about goldfish.

I have one right now. I got him at biology class and named him Rory, thinking that he was going to die pretty soon. We brought him home and bought a little (2.5 gal.)  thing to keep him in, and he was pretty comfy, and didn't die in a week like we thought. So we went to the Goodwill and bought him a bigger tank (5 gal.) with a filter and such. 

Well, pretty soon we discovered that goldfish actually need way more space than that, and the joyfullness of ammonia. We got some test kits, fixed the ammonia, and took a tank (10 gal) from our friends whose fish died. I promise you, that fish tank was the dirtiest fish tank in the world! 

I cleaned out the tank, and started to cycle it. Then we decided that Rory needed a friend, so we filled up the little tankish thing, and went to Petco. We chose a beautiful little active goldfish with a black stripe on the top, and brought her home, naming her Christina. It turned out that the black stripe was a case of very bad ammonia poisoning, and the reason she was so active was because she was poisoned. Un-fixably.

The quarantine tank and Rory's were right next to each other, and Rory could see her dying. She had a cup in her tank, to keep the airstone down, and when she was freaked out she would hide there. She sort of floated into the cup and sank to the bottom.

And then she died.

They used to swim in their separate tanks next to each other, Rory and Christina, and for the next few days, he swam back and forth, like he was looking for her.

Then the biggest tank (10 gal), which was cycling just fine, did something weird, and all the ammonia and nitrites disappeared, with no trace of nitrates. 

So we went to the Fish Store (yes, that is the name.) and they said it was ok to put Rory in it. And we did. He likes it a lot, but he is very lonely. Right now we are waiting for the nitrites in the medium tank (5 gal) to go down so we can buy a friend and quarantine her. And yes, this time her name will probably be Amy.