Why!!!!

[LadyTrinity]

My bf came home this morning after getting his car E-tested and he brought back a shark fish. I think he paid 4.99 for it and he put it in the fish bowl. I had cold water in there and fed it.. and he replaced the water with luke warm water and I just looked into the bowl and its laying dead at the bottom of the bowl. :wah: What happened!!! :rubhead:

[~BEBZ~]

Quick thoughts would be that shark fish don't need warm water and he prolly didn't use any water conditioner.

[Daeron]

I assume you're talking about a fresh water shark? They can't go in a bowl... they need a tank with a filter and heat. The water temp needs to be at least 78 degrees. They are a tropical fish. Freshwater sharks are also very sensitive to temp and temp changes... they will go into shock very easily. You must also treat the water with a dechlorinator. Look up care of tropical fish to see all the requirements. Keeping tropical fish like that does require regular maintenence. :)

[Faeawyn]

Don't you have to stabilize the tank first??

[LadyTrinity]

uh oh! Yeah that makes sense. I guess my bf didnt think about that before he bought it. It was in a regular plain old fashioned fish bowl with only water :bangyourh

[Daeron]

Don't you have to stabilize the tank first??
Yes, if you are starting a brand new tank... it must be cycled first. That means you let it run for about a week (for fresh water) in order to build up beneficial bacterias and allow the chemical levels to stabilize, among other things. :)

[~BEBZ~]

Hmm... I thought they didn't need warm water.

But, eneyways, Trin, goldfish and Betta's are the only fish that can go in a plain ol bowl. All others need an air filter, and the chlorine in water will kill any fish. I just murdered a mixed fruit tetra we had because it was a horrible little you know what, put it in the toilet and it was dead in 30 seconds. That's chlorine for ya.

[RowanMegaera]

Hmm... I thought they didn't need warm water.

But, eneyways, Trin, goldfish and Betta's are the only fish that can go in a plain ol bowl. All others need an air filter, and the chlorine in water will kill any fish. I just murdered a mixed fruit tetra we had because it was a horrible little you know what, put it in the toilet and it was dead in 30 seconds. That's chlorine for ya.

That's horrible! It was a living creature, and a fish at that. I mean, how bad could it have been? It wasn't like it was jumping out and biting people and just had to be put down.

[~BEBZ~]

It was attacking every other fish in the bowl, and trying to kill my snail. Technically, I didn't kill it, it commited suicide. I just carried it to the bowl, it jumped out of what I had it in and into the bowl.

[Amethyst Rose]

I'd also like to mention, LadyTrinity, that most sharks can get very large. You should always consider the adult size of a fish before it gets bought and put it in an appropiately sized tank. Most fish bought at the fish store are just babies. :)