Phillip and Fern no longer (Goldfish)

Member Name: mynameisrui

Product:	Goldfish
Date:	06/05/08 (196 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fun, easy to look after, cheap

Disadvantages: none

God bless Phillip and Fern (named after the King and Queen of morning tv). It was just under a year ago since I got my wonderful goldfish and, until 3 days ago, our relationship blossomed. We would spend every evening together. They would play with each other but I'd have to jump in and be the strict one as they would get over excited. Good times. Then one cruel Saturday morning, the Grim Reaper descended and Fern was sent to the big fish tank in the sky. Now poor Phillip is all alone and is clearly missing his queen.

Anyway, back to my review on goldfish. As I said I bought them just under a year ago from Pets at Home along with a delightful pirate tank that was to be their housing for the foreseeable future. The fish cost a couple of quid each and the tank cost £20 and it included filter, gravel, decorations, water treatment liquid thing (because of the chlorine in normal water) and a tub of food. Since then I have spent about a fiver on a tank cleaner and a pirate head to put in the middle of the tank. So all in all, the whole thing cost me about £35 for a tank, cleaner, some decorations and a couple of fish.

Since then the three of us have never looked back. They have been happy as Larry swimming around the pirate head without a care in the world. They really are one of the easiest fish to look after as they need very little attention and can go up to three days without feeding, although I made sure to feed mine up twice a day to fatten them up. All you need to give them is a few flakes each and they'll be happy for the rest of the day. Considering how much food is given to you with the tank then you shouldn't need to buy any more food for at least 4 months and even then it will only set you back a couple of quid.

The tank itself is supposed to be cleaned on a regular basis but I found that it could go up to 3 weeks without needing a clean. Obviously once it reaches 3 weeks it is not in the best state but it can be well cleaned in 10 minutes. The main thing to clean is the water filter and the inside of the tank needs to be wiped as a lot of algae can build up. Other than that you will need to take about a third of the water out and replace that with some new water. I think if you were going to have a serious crack at looking after Goldfish then I'd recommend getting a proper glass tank with all the trimmings. For me, however, I wasn't prepared to spend £100 on a couple of fish

Phillip and Fern grew very big. Obviously goldfish growth is partly determined by the size of the tank so I think they would have got much bigger had they lived in a bigger tank. As I said, I only had a small tank and they both grew to about 2.5 times what they were originally so its not too bad.

I used to actually watch them quite a lot. Phillip and Fern weren't the brightest of fish. Numerous times would one of them do a poo and the other would then go and eat it. On realising what it was, they would then spit it out only to eat it again a minute later. They also used to spend quite a lot of time playing together and fin nipping. My girlfriend has a couple of fish and they never spend any time together so I'm glad mine were compatible. It was in a weird way quite therapeutic to watch them swimming around without a care in the world, eating the gravel because they think its food.

It wasn't all good times though. About 6 months ago Phillip developed Fin Rot. I'll be honest, it was touch and go for a while. Luckily a friend came to the rescue with some treatment and within a week he was back to his old self . There were plenty of medicines to combat it seeing as it is very common and were all relatively cheap. Luckily I spotted it early and it did not develop badly. The main symptoms to look out for are the fins becoming frayed, fin turning white, or even the fin rotting away.

Then, as I said, the worst happened and Fern passed away. We tried all sorts of live saving method's including poking her and putting food near her but alas it was to no avail and it was decided that the time had come to flush her. I won't lie, it was a traumatic moment as she went down that u bend....

Since then we have decided that Phillip will be our last fish and when he dies, we will not get any more fish only because we feel Fern cannot be replaced.

Goldfish are really easy to look after. They don't cost a lot and you don't need to spend stupid amounts on tanks or fish. There is something addictive about them and I did find myself wanting to buy a bigger tank numerous times but you can quite easily spend £35 and have a couple for fish that will last your nearly a year. If you decide to go tropical then you get a much bigger variety of fish and, apparently, it is easier to clean but you will need to get a heater which can be a bit of a pain to main as I've heard.

If you're looking for a pet that is easy to look after then fish are the way forward. I think it's perfect for little children and also in bigger children as it can add a new dimension to a room. They require little outgoings, are easy to clean, and are quite good fun to watch. What more can you ask for that price?

Summary: I loved them and cant see how anyone cant