What pets do you have

[Daz]

It's been a while since this thread was done so thought I'd start off with my mini zoo list of pets.

3 cats.
3 tanks of tropical fish.
5 ferrets.
4 Chinese water dragon lizards.
5 adult leopard gecko lizards.
10 baby leopard gecko lizards.

[steve_spackman]

1 dog. Lab/Collie mix. Stubbornness of a Lab and energy of a Collie.

[ShiftingGears]

Jack Russell Terrier and two cockatiels.

How do your cats and ferrets get along?

[pino]

Two dogs : Rollo and Lilly :D

[jimakos]

4 cats and a dog named ARIS like the gud of war :p

[harsha]

1 Dog - Snoopy (Spitz)

[Wade91]

3 dogs, a beagle, a bull terrier, and a chow

[Easy Drifter]

4 Cockatiels.
Hucky: Male 19 1/2 years old. Does not fly too well anymore.
KC (Killer Cockatiel): Male, Huck's buddy. Used to stalk Chipmuncks.
Josh: Male, KC's brother and our lover boy. When we bred Tiels he was our main sex determiner.
Weenie Whiner: Female and Josh's mate. Always jibbering away.

At one time probably 170 birds of assorted types and 20,000 gallons of tropical fish (mostly African Cichlids) but that was our business. No fish whatsoever now! Wholesale importer of wild caught and breeder of African Cichlids.
Bird Breeders.

[pettersolberg29]

3 slow-worms - 2 oldies and, now, their only child after 16 were born. We released 14 into the wild, and kept a male and female for more breeding

The young male sadly died this morning...

[GridGirl]

Does the spider that lives in my drivers side wing mirror count? I'll even turn the heated front screen and mirror jobbie on for him
soon.

[turves]

3 kids, thats more than enough!!!!

[Rollo]

Two dogs : Rollo and Lilly :D

How neat. Someone named a dog after me :D

I have two cats called Kipper and Piranha. Kipper is a silvery mackerel tabby and Piranha just bites anything that comes near her.

[Eki]

How neat. Someone named a dog after me :D

I have two cats called Kipper and Piranha. Kipper is a silvery mackerel tabby and Piranha just bites anything that comes near her.
How neat. Someone named a cat after Hazel's dog (Kipper) :D

[Hazell B]

It gets worse Eki. Somebody I know named a dog after me!

2 ponies
2 horses (one at home, one away on loan to compete with somebody else)
2 dogs
1 cat
6 chickens
1 partner. Does anyone know how long partners usually live? Mine's 42, and the dogs only last about 15 years so can I expect him to croak soon or am I stuck with him tortoise-type years? :p :

[F1boat]

Three lovely cats.

[Captain VXR]

2 cats

[Donney]

The loveliest Westie of all times.

[slinkster]

Two cats back at the family home - Oscar and Pheobe.

One Leopard Gecko called Gizmo. :)

Small tropical fish tank.

[stevie_gerrard]

Just the 1 guinea pig, it bites but is a ball of fun according to my parents.

[allycat228]

2 black labs ellie and lucy
no cat anymore

[Garry Walker]

Dogs, cats and fish. and myself.

[Hondo]

Sweetie, the Yellow Labrador.

[Alexamateo]

I live in the "Yappy dog house!" :D

2 dogs, a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua

[jimakos]

Dogs, cats and fish. and myself.

I liked a lot the word ''myself'' :rotflmao: :rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[Roamy]

In light of the Global Warming crisis I have just got a "Seal"

[Langdale Forest]

I have a meerkat! :D :rolleyes:

[Roamy]

1 dog. Lab/Collie mix. Stubbornness of a Lab and energy of a Collie.

Gee Spackman I was sure you would have a least one Gerbil :laugh: :laugh:

[Storm]

I got a fawn male Lab puppy a few months ago. Unfortunately had to give it away to a friend though. Being alone all day did not suit him and it was horrible feeling that we were somehow messing up his life. Toughest decision but in the long term I feel the best decision I took.

I still visit him every couple of weeks (my friend lives pretty close by) and he even stays at my place when my friend has to go out-of-town.

He is now a very robust and energetic 7 month old Lab :)

[Camelopard]

4 cats and some goldfish.

[Mark]

I have a little fish :D

[Koz]

I have two cats.

5 years ago, I had 2 german shepherds and 9 puppies!! (German shepherds)

[Valve Bounce]

I live in the "Yappy dog house!" :D

2 dogs, a Pomeranian and a Chihuahua

Hey!! I've got a long haired Chihuahua called Benny. His pic is in this thread, http://www.motorsportforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=129094&highlight=Benny+going+to+boot+camp


post #7

I am hopeless at posting attachments. :( I try, but get lost along the way. :bigcry:

[themo]

Three dogs a English Bull Terrier,A Alsation and a Heinz 57 plus 7 Goldfish

[Daz]

How do your cats and ferrets get along?

The ferrets are kept outside so don't have much contact with the cats. When we bring the ferrets in to the house the cats get on well with them and do try to play a bit with them.

[Daz]

One Leopard Gecko called Gizmo. :)

Small tropical fish tank.

Yeh another person with a Leo. By any chance do you use RFUK at all and are you looking for any more Leo's

[xtlm]

dis 1!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeZgKLiU1bc

well, he is my friends...but is awesome anyway!

[Mark]

It's been a steep learning curve keeping fish. You'd think just put a fish an a tank a feed it once a day, but not a bit of it! Pity two fish had to die along the way however :( .

[Bezza]

I have no pets, and disagree strongly with vegetarianism.

:)

[Easy Drifter]

Yes Mark there is a lot more to keeping fish than just throwing them in tank or pond. Understanding the danger from ammonia, nitrite and the one most forget nitrate. Regular water changes are required. Care not to overfeed are just a few things.
Having been a professional for many years I do know quite a bit about it. Like over 10,000 gallons and thousands of fish. I was also a writer on fishkeeping for consumer magazines.
The ones that brag they kept a goldfish alive for a year. UGH! they can live for 20+ and should live at least 10 years.
Oh and my wife was a Int'l Speaker on African Cichlids.

[Mark]

Yes Mark there is a lot more to keeping fish than just throwing them in tank or pond. Understanding the danger from ammonia, nitrite and the one most forget nitrate. Regular water changes are required. Care not to overfeed are just a few things.
Having been a professional for many years I do know quite a bit about it. Like over 10,000 gallons and thousands of fish. I was also a writer on fishkeeping for consumer magazines.
The ones that brag they kept a goldfish alive for a year. UGH! they can live for 20+ and should live at least 10 years.
Oh and my wife was a Int'l Speaker on African Cichlids.

Ah good. Good to have someone who knows their stuff!

We have a 25 litre, 'Aqua One' tank.. which says fish keeping has never been easier, apparently.

We got Fish 1, which was a small fantail. And he died within 5 days. Mostly due to an argulus attaching itself to its tail and that it also had whitespot, although I didn't know that at the time.

Fish 2, which was a straight tail goldfish, lasted two weeks was okay for the first week and then contracted white spot in the second, I think from a water change I did. Unfortunately we didn't know what the white spots were and by the time I'd googled it and found out what it was, we bought the treatment but, alas, it was too late.
We got the water tested afterwards and the ammonia was sky high, even though we'd only given him one flake a day, I think the filter just hadn't got working properly yet.

Fish 3, a fancy tailed goldfish has been going for 3 weeks now. We've had the water tested and things seem ok and the tank is cycling correctly. We've done two 15% water changes, this time putting white spot treatement in first, as well as the declorinators etc and leaving the water to settle overnight before putting it in the tank.

Although he seems to be ok, he does spend quite a bit of time hiding amongst the plants, or wedging himself amongst them, although usually comes out every 10 minutes or so and swims about a bit. I now think that the big filter they've supplied is too strong. It kicks out once heck of a current which can easily fling the fish from one side of the tank to the other if he gets caught in the full blast. I think he's trying to sheter from the current.

I've currently got a seperate air pump / supply on order which will feed air from the bottom of the tank which will allow me to disconnect the air supply on the filter, which in turn will allow me to use the connector which can move the flow out of the filter in a different direction to try and cut down the current a little bit for him.

[Daniel]

I have no pets, and disagree strongly with vegetarianism.

:)
how can you disagree with vegetarianism? :p It's their choice. It'd be like me disagreeing with you having a pint on a Friday night!

[Bezza]

how can you disagree with vegetarianism? :p It's their choice. It'd be like me disagreeing with you having a pint on a Friday night!

:laugh:

Just being ironic. Somebody at work was on their high horse today about them being a vegetarian and how they disagree with eating meat and how its all wrong with the "I'm holier than thou" attitude. Therefore, I told her that I disagree with vegetarianism which annoyed her. Job done. She shouldn't have brought it up in the first place :)

[Daniel]

:laugh:

Just being ironic. Somebody at work was on their high horse today about them being a vegetarian and how they disagree with eating meat and how its all wrong with the "I'm holier than thou" attitude. Therefore, I told her that I disagree with vegetarianism which annoyed her. Job done. She shouldn't have brought it up in the first place :)
Ah I get you :)

[Easy Drifter]

A tank will take several weeks to cycle naturally There are chemicals to speed up the process, 'Cycle' being one. Suggest you get your own test kit. The dip strips are easy to use. Do not clean your filter the same time you do a water change. That way you keep more of the good guy bacteria. I don't want to go into it here in depth but one bacteria breaks down the poisonous Ammonia into even more deadly Nitrite and another breaks that down into less toxic Nitrate. Note less. Nitrate builds up slowly and water changes dilute it. Adding water for evaporation is not a water change! Chemicals and other things (Nitrates) do not evaporate.
Do you know if your water is treated with Chlorine or Chloramine? Chlorine will break down if left standing overnight, especially if agitated. Chloramine will not and needs to be treated. Natural plants will reduce Nitrate as they use it as fertilizer but you would need a heavily planted tank which goldfish do not like except as salad, depending on the plant. The 'Fancies' like your's do not like a high current so that is what he is trying to avoid. Good observation.
Goldfish are a dirty fish and secrete a lot of waste (ammonia). An air pump and an airstone are a good idea I highly recommend. I do not like the toys. They tend to fail and many small air bubbles are better. It is surface agitation where almost all of the oxygen occurs not the bubbles but they create agitation. There used to be a couple of good UK magazines on keeping fish. Not sure if they are still around. Fancy Publications (US) did put out a good pond publication. Really Goldfish are happiest in a pond but certainly can be kept in an aquarium. You do not need a heater! They are a coldwater fish.
I do not recommend an undergravel filter. Once they clog up, and they will, you have to tear the whole tank down to clean them.
Like any pet, fish require care. For a 25 gallon one more goldfish would be the max. I would suggest and that is pushing it. No more for at least a month.
All fish treatments I have seen, including UK products base the dosage on a US gallon. Over here all tanks, including Cdn. made ones quote size in US gallons. Using litres might be a better way to go for using any treatments.
Keeping fish is really not difficult once you understand the practice.
OOOPS. I did not intend to go on like that.

[edv]

Our house
Is a very very very fine house
With 2 cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard....

Oh no, now I have to post another annoying song in the other thread.

[Mark]

No that is really useful. And it is 25 litres not gallons.

[Easy Drifter]

Ouch. That is really small for a fancy goldfish. I expect you will have to do 25 to 40% water changes weekly as it grows.
Goldfish eat a lot and poop a lot.
What type of fancy is it?
As an aside to all. Do not shop for fish on weekends, or if possible not in the evenings. At those times you get the part timers and all staff are really busy.
Mid week and mid day you get the full time people who know what they are doing, or should.
'Supermarket' (Wal Mart type stores) also do not have trained staff. The 'fish room manager' might have been in shoes or hardware last week.
Speaking from close to 20 years in the trade.

[Mark]

I think it is an oranda but not too sure. If all goes well in a year or so I hope to buy a bigger tank maybe 60 litres or so but space is an issue. Our tank is actually quite large compared to some they have on sale.

He is only little at the moment.

We are hoping to put a second fish in there and maybe a sucking loach but presumably you wouldn't recommend that?!

[Mark]

I have been thinking for a while now that 25 litres is going to be too small longer term. I do have my eye on a reasonably priced 64 litre tank (don't say I need bigger my house is just not that big!)

What's the recommended practice in switching tanks to make sure that we don't suffer from new tank symdrome for a second time.

Perhaps things such as using some water from the old tank in the new then when the fish is transferred keep using the filter from the old tank for a while?

[Easy Drifter]

Would not recommend loach. They like warmer water.
Yes use water from old tank and the uncleaned filter. Will help greatly.
A friend, who is a hobbyist has a rack of 20 x 180 gallon tanks. Then there is his two main tanks. 20,000 gallons and 55,000 gallons. Oh and he is paralyzed from the waist down.