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Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake

Oh no!

So very very sorry to hear, Mystra! (Hugs.) xxx

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Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake

Omg I didn't realise they'd been ill for so long! You must be exhausted.

I agree with you - sometimes you have to decide if that animal has enough quality of life, and if not, then letting it go is the last caring thing you can do for it. You've given Pedro and Precious a good life and you've put in so much work on them. If you do decide to let him go, then that's not throwing in the towel - you really have done everything you could before coming to that decision. But yes, a very sad decision to have to make.

All the very best xxx

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Originally posted by carlycorn

Sorry to hear mystra. Wont think any less if you decide to throw in the towel, have flushed many a bendy fish myself because I didnt want to see them suffering. Used to work in a tropical fish shop and you kinda get numb when you see bags of fish arrive from singapore and theres maybe a handful out of the 500 fish in a bag that are alive.

Dont be disheartened, maybe run the tank down for a bit and have a rest and come back to it another month. I ran my mums fish tank down and removed it but now she really misses it, says it was therapeutic, might get her a smaller tank though, one she can manage herself without needing buckets and a whole loada muscle to clean it :)

Whatever you decide mystra im sure its best :)

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Originally posted by JanieW

Its never easy losing a fish. Before we moved to Scotland I had five 4' tanks set up..one was fancy Lionheads..one genenal tropical community and the rest rare catfish. I didn't want to transport them all that distance so sold them to the place where I got most.

Two years ago I set up a small cold water tank for my daughter, a loach and a few fantails. All was fine for a year then they all started dying, they would go upside down, righted when placed in shallow water. I heard afterwards that the Council had altered Chlorine levels..locally I don't think our water has any..so the water here isn't ideal so I shall never keep fish again.

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Originally posted by JanieW

Yeah Mystra, sounds exactly the same problem, and for that reason alone i'm done with fish. I had wanted a Mystus Wikkii..but its an extremely expensive catfish..soo no way.

What will you do now?
Keep the fish you have left?

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Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake

Hi, Mystra, been thinking about you.

Yes, people who've never owned them don't realise that fish (and reptiles) have as much personality and charisma and value in the world as mammals ...just one thing though. I started out keeping goldfish - and I had some disasters, until I realised they were better off outside (luckily I have a 200l tank out there) - although that's something you can't do with fancy goldfish and tropicals of course - with chemical levels in modern water supplies they sound very very tricky to keep indeed. But my loach have been fine - and 2 loach together are awesome! I wish I could video their regular 'ballet routine' for you - might have a try. They interact constantly, chase, play, and curl round each other like snakes. So don't worry about a loach setup being boring. Also you can add other fish like guppies or mountain minnows (hardier than guppies) or Chinese bitterling (also easy to keep) for a bit of extra action in the tank. I'm afraid I'm a very lazy fish keeper (I like to keep the tank looking good, and clean, but I'm not technical about it) but (fingers crossed) Hawkeye and Hotlips are still going strong and must be 3 this year; they're getting quite large. I can recommend getting the Lieutenant a friend.

All the very very best. xxx

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Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake

Aww, thanks Mystra, if I lived in your area I'd seriously consider the Lieutenant; I'm honoured you'd trust me with him, but under the circumstances, as I've been a bit extravagant buying Sulah, and I have to keep money in reserve for her adult setup and possibly a larger setup for Shadrach too, to say nothing of Molly's unexpected arrival and her spaying looming on the horizon, I daren't really afford a courier.

I have been looking into it, mind - I did a search on the fishkeeping forum and could only find one same-day firm, which was said to be expensive - I know the same day snake couriers can charge over £60 or so.

It's a pity, but also it might be less stressful for him to go to a new home locally. But thank you again - and fingers STILL crossed for Pedro.

All the very best. xxx

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Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake

Thanks, but no way could I let you do that!But it's very sweet of you, and thanks for the kind words, though I'm not that organised; I'm quite messy and slapdash but the animals do take priority, I'd feel wrong if they didn't ...

However, I've had a brainwave. It only occurred to me this afternoon - but my ex has to go down to London every fortnight, usually on a Saturday, to visit his uncle, who's in a nursing home near the Tate Gallery, is it the left bank, that area. I've yet to ask him, but if it came to the crunch and you did have to rehome the Lieutenant, could it be possible to meet up with Adrian (the ex) and then he could bring the Lieutenant up to Wakefield? I would of course pay you for The Lieutenant and also refund travelling expenses.

I do hope you don't have to rehome him, but it could be a contingency plan. I would love to have him; weather loach are so cool.

That sounds awful about Precious. Poor girl.

Hoping and praying for Pedro to improve. All the very best xxx

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Originally posted by BurnedAtTheStake

Yeah, I hope you can keep him, but happy to be on standby - hope the water change went ok - you won't need to go to the gym with all that hauling buckets about!

All the very best.

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