Ping Pong and Fish Maintenance~

Karen, this is the answer for yout comments~ =D

Well, Ping Pong is the common name for a type of goldfish... But i called the ping pong all the time, I ended naming it ping pong. heheheh... i dun really name fish... never had... wonder y... hhmm...

Anywayz, maintenance... Well, its the 1st few weeks, or should i say 1st few months that you need to take note of the tank of fishes... you need to go through the cycle to build up good bacteria in the tank so the ecosystem can maintain itself as well.

Apparently, Melbourne's tap water is too soft for fishes to live in or should i say gold fish to live in... So u need to get liquid conditioner and a pack of minerals. Mine is only a 4litre tank, which is quite small and the amount of conditioner i need is really little! So that bottle and pack i have could probably last me a year???!!! Its quite cheap to set up. It would also be good to have a pH tester kit as well, that's a bit ex. Costs bout $20, but again the powder that helps to shift the pH up or down lasts for a really long time... in terms of yrs!!!

Changing of water... there is this really cool tool u can use... its call the ultra gravelvac... hehehe... it will sifer up all the droppings from the fish... all u need is a bucket to put the end of the tube in and the other end, which the bigger tube is, put it in the water and shake it a little, the water willl start pumping and place it into the gravels, the gravel will get suck up a bit but once u lift the tube away from the gravel, they settle back onto the bed of the tank... cool huh~

My suggestion for u, if u want a tank of fish. Get a small bowl or a small square or rectangle glass box. If u want go to those $2 shop or reject shop. Pet shops usually sell it really expensive but it comes with a few giveaway so depends wat u weigh out to be more beneficial to u... I m willing to do part water change every week, so i do not need a air pump. If u are going to do the same, it is really minimal set up cost. A small bowl will allow u to have 2 fish. THe goldfish i chose were small, but that is because i like them small... so really depends how big is your bowl/tank and how big a fish u want that can fit into that bowl. You can then get just 3 weeds, as there is quite a lot in a bunch and possible add a snail to add life into the tank (not necessary). Snail do clean the tank... a bit... but according to quen... they breed!!!! hhmm... i think i have eggs sitting on my snail shell...(not sure!!??) but if they hatch into baby snail, I will give it to pets wonderland, as they are so nice to me... =D If u set up a tank Karen, I will give u one~ That is if they hatch... hehehehe...

A bowl of 2 fish is a good size to start with... the set up will cost a bit more, but after that its no big deal... if u dun want goldfish... my next suggestion is "white clouds" they swim in a school, so u can get 3 or 6... they are beige/red colour, really cute and small, gives life to your surrounding.. its fun watching them swim too... Apparently, they originated from china - Minnow Mountain. hhmmm... dunno where is that... =X My next suggestion will be the danios... tropical fishes in australia could be a hassle to keep coz u have to take note of the temperature so u need more equipments... thou danios and white clouds are kinda tropical fish... they can live in temperature as low as 18 degrees... =D

So there you go~~~ But speak to the pet shop assistant, if you have more enquires and stuff... source out the price before u start buying~ Camberwell sunday market can be a good place to look for 2nd hand fish tank~ never know wat u can find there~~~ ;)

ZoN (still missing ping pong)