(no subject)

[transformergeek.livejournal.com]

During this time of year, in a city with so many colleges, it's not unusual to see houses with a bunch of old household items and busted up furniture outside waiting to be taken away by trash collectors.

I often enjoy briefly going through these piles to see if there are any goodies. (Last year I found a size 14 pair of rollerblades!) I noticed that my neighbors were throwing away a mini-fridge, an old sofa, a book shelf, and a fish tank.

That would be cool and all, if it weren't for the fact that the fish tank still had fish living in it.

I checked the house, and nobody was living there. I left it for a few hours, to see if, perhaps, someone was coming to pick it up. No go. Plus, we live in a neighborhood with plenty of outdoor cats, and the tank had no cover.

So, I took in the fish, but I realized that I don't have any fish food, and that all of the pet stores are closed. I don't know how long they've been out there, and I'm pretty sure that I'd be damn hungry if I were in their position. So, two questions:

What common, household foods can I put in the tank? I have bits of bread, and all sorts of spices, and even some cheese... but I don't know what fish eat!

Secondly, the water level is getting pretty low... is there something that I can do about that? Will tap water kill the fish? Is it ok if I use my Britta?

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, they're not anything special. Just your garden variety cheap pet fish. And one cool black sucker fish.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

[ron_newman]

If you give this post a Subject, you'll probably get more response. (And something like this just invites creativity....)

[anyee.livejournal.com]

They'll be okay for another day without food. I'd worry about tossing random food into the tank; bread probably won't kill them, but it might murky up the water.

Britta water is great and often ideal. Tap water is okay, though never warm water since the hot water pipes tend to leech more metal.

Remember that keeping fish well might require things like a light, a filter, etc. Can you describe the fish more? They all need slightly different things.

[dakotakym.livejournal.com]

Here are a couple of ideas about making homemade fish food:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2079006_make-homemade-fish-food.html

http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/management/Gussie_Fish_Food.html

The main things that you have to worry about with tap water and fish are chlorine and metals (their livers can't handle them very well). Leaving water out for 24 hours should take care of this. Some folks have said that they use a Brita filter with good results, and others say to use spring water or get a dechlorinator from the pet store.

Best of luck with the rescued fishies.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I know the Shaw's in Central Square had fish food. Maybe the Porter Square one does, too? I've never looked there so can't be 100% sure.

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Wow, leaving fish to fend for themselves on a September night? That's cold. :( I had terrible luck keeping fish alive when I was 7, but maybe they're more resilient when kept by adults, so best of luck to you and thanks for your kindness to fishies.

[larksdream]

Poor fish!

They won't die if you don't feed them for a while, and in fact if they're in a small volume of water you probably don't want leftover food & increased waste production anyway. On Tuesday head down to Animal Spirit on Mass Ave and pick up some fish food (it's really cheap).

Tap water isn't safe for them, because it has chlorine and / or chloramine in it. Chloramine is the big baddie here. Your Brita filter removes chlorine but not chloramine, and while chlorine will evaporate if you let the water sit in a bowl or tub for about 24 hours before adding it to the tank, chloramine won't. A quick search on Somerville water doesn't get me any solid info, so to be on the safe side I would assume Somerville does use chloramine like most cities do these days. So, no on the tap water.

If you know someone who keeps tropical fish they should have a dechlorinator on hand; otherwise, you can get some at the pet store on Tuesday.

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't a charcoal filter take chloramine out?

[larksdream]

As far as I know, no; it's less "grabbable" than chlorine and the little charcoal filters in a Brita don't really get that much time to filter the water. (They also, for example, don't remove fluoride.)

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

A quick Google for charcoal and chloramine gave snippets like:

- There are three approaches to eliminate chloramines and to prepare water for haemodialysis: (i) activated charcoal; (ii)

- Chloramine Removal from drinking water using activated carbon

- Contrary, water that had passed a charcoal filter or a mixed bed deionizer contained no measureable chloramines

- They say activated charcoal will remove most of the chloramines

Charcoal is good for volatile organics, but I wouldn't expect it to take flourides out any more than I'd expect it to desalinate the water.

[larksdream]

Can you actually find a page where Pur or Brita says that their home filters (tap or pitcher) remove chloramine? I can't, though both list lead and chlorine and Pur lists a bunch of other stuff as well.

I suppose someone who really cared could call them. :)

[zmgmeister.livejournal.com]

I don't know much about tropical fish ( which might be more delicate ) but I used to keep goldfish so I'll share a few things.

- Goldfish will eat almost anything as long as its near bite-size. This includes pieces of chicken, turkey, shrimp, bread, carrots, potatoes. Though mine didn't care for lettuce. No spices, no cheese.

- Fish are cold-blooded animals. Unless very young, they don't need to eat regular meals, goldfish don't even need to eat every day. Excess food is more likely to cause problems.

- Not good to leave a tank of fish outside, temperature swings happen much faster in a little tank than in the pond. Again, they are cold-blooded animals.

- You can add a chemical to the water to take the chlorine out, though there really isnt much chlorine in the municipal water here. You usually you just change 1/3 of the water in the tank by vacuuming the bottom with a siphon, then top up the tank from the tap, matching the tap water to the tank temperature. A kitchen sink hose is nice cause it aerates the water, just doint point directly at fish. Some ppl like to put the tap water in spring water jugs for a few days to let the chlorine evaporate out.

- Watch out for leaks. Fish tanks usually aren't moved with the water and fish in them, except for small fishbowls.

[cowhockey.livejournal.com]

you can get fish food at most grocery stores/target etc. gold fish aren't picky and will eat fish food.

[cowhockey.livejournal.com]

*eat any fish food

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure Petco is open today.

[afty.livejournal.com]

Yup. I was just at the Cambridgeside Galleria, and the Petco there is open.

[publius513.livejournal.com]

I used filtered water in my beta's tank once, and I had a dead fish in the morning. I'd stick with tap water, frankly. Let it rest for a while before you put the fish back in,so they don't end up covered in air bubbles, but they'll be fine as long as they have a filter in the tank.

[overanalyzed.livejournal.com]

Also, make sure that when you change/ add new water the temperature stays constant. You can use a siphoning tube to quickly add and remove water.

[ron_newman]

So ... what did you end up doing?

[transformergeek.livejournal.com]

Went with the toast crumbs.

Then came across the owener the next day. Told him that I had his fish if he wanted them back. He was a real dick about the whole thing, saying that he was just keeping them outside for a few days while he was out on business (Keep in mind there was no lid on the bowl!). So I begrudgingly brought the tank back to him.

I'm trying not to think of what sort of state they're in with him.